Maybe now you’ll start believing in him.
Maybe now, before it’s too late, you’ll say you were wrong about Gareth Southgate.
Now that he has led England to the European Championship final twice in succession, you might be tempted to acknowledge what he has meant to football in this country.
Maybe now is the time to stop throwing beer glasses at him, ridiculing him and making him a stranger in his own land.
Because in this football cathedral at the heart of German football, Southgate gave a masterclass in coaching on one of the most important evenings of his career.
Ollie Watkins scored the winning goal in the 90th minute to send England through to the final of Euro 2024
The England substitutes ran onto the pitch to celebrate with the goalscorer
Gareth Southgate has been criticised but his substitutions have been spot on and fans need to start believing in him now
And finally, an England manager and team who refused to conform to the beloved national model of heroic failure won over the Netherlands to the European Championship final against Spain in Berlin on Sunday.
England waited until the last moment again, calling on the resilience that Southgate had taught them. Ollie Watkins scored the winning goal in the last minute, giving England a 2-1 win and breaking the hearts of the Dutch.
Southgate started with his captain and talisman Harry Kane, despite many saying he should be out. Kane rewarded him by taking a penalty in the first half and scoring after the Dutch had taken an early lead through Xavi Simons.
The Dutch and their coach Ronald Koeman were outclassed by Southgate in this match and reacted to his changes for much of the game.
And when Kane tired late in the game, Southgate turned to Watkins and removed the captain. And Watkins paid him back a million times over.
So England are off to Berlin against a Spanish team with all the talent, including 16-year-old Lamine Yamal. Spain will be favourites. England will not worry about this. Not this England. Not Dear England.
This victory means that England will play the final of a major tournament on foreign soil for the first time. Maybe now we can finally stop all the whining about England winning despite Southgate, not because of him. This was his win. This was his win all night long.
Southgate had made just one change to the team that beat Switzerland in the quarter-finals, bringing back Marc Guehi from suspension to replace Ezri Konsa. UEFA also stuck to their selection.
The European Football Association refused to heed the call to replace German referee Felix Zwayer, who had long been involved in a match-fixing scandal and had recently been criticized by Jude Bellingham when Bellingham played for Borussia Dortmund against Bayern Munich.
Harry Kane equalised from the spot for England after committing a foul in the penalty area
The England captain made European Championship history as he has now scored more knockout goals than any other player in the competition
England opened fiercely and energetically. That is not often written in this tournament. The Netherlands were their equal and within seven minutes they had taken the lead.
Xavi Simons stole the ball from Declan Rice deep in the England half, took a few steps forward and then unleashed a stunning right-footed drive from 25 yards that beat Jordan Pickford in sheer pace and venom. The ball was still rising when it curled into the back of the net.
England rushed to find an equaliser. Jude Bellingham’s private game of head tennis was rudely interrupted by an unintentional headbutt from Jerdy Schouten, Kane forced Bart Verbruggen into a sharp save with a low shot and Kane whistled a shot over the bar.
As he took that shot, Kane was flattened by a high foul from Denzel Dumfries that was ruled ‘reckless’ by VAR and Mr Zwayer was awarded a penalty. England have a wealth of nerveless penalty takers these days, but Kane is still the daddy of them all. He took the ball and fired it low into the corner.
England thought they had taken the lead midway through the half when Foden brilliantly weaved through the massed ranks of Dutch defenders and found himself in the penalty area. In almost the first time in the tournament we have seen his quick feet dance and he squeezed the ball between Verbruggen’s legs. The England fans behind the goal thought the ball was in but Dumfries chipped the ball off the line.
Xavi Simons had put the Netherlands ahead within seven minutes with a fine shot from a distance
Simons celebrated his first goal of the tournament for the ‘Orange Wall’
If England’s previous matches had been largely dull, this was dynamite. Dumfries headed an England crossbar from a corner, Foden curled a left-footed beauty past Verbruggen, but watched in despair as the ball deflected off the outside of the post.
England played beautifully, Kobbie Mainoo was the best player on the pitch, breaking any sign of Dutch momentum, moving the ball quickly and accurately and generally dominating the midfield. Foden stepped it up a gear. Kane looked a completely different player. Saka played about as well as he had against the Swiss, which set the bar high.
Both managers made changes at half-time, Southgate changing tack and introducing Luke Shaw for the formidable Kieran Trippier, Koeman switching to Wout Weghorst, a decent striker and an even better agent provocateur.
The Netherlands were outclassed in the first half and they knew it. They turned the second half into a war of attrition, keeping England at bay, fighting their way back into the game and making England wish they had scored again when they had the upper hand.
The Dutch gave England a scare midway through the half when Virgil van Dijk forced a free-kick that landed awkwardly on the edge of the penalty area. Van Dijk couldn’t get his shot going but Pickford had to dive cleverly to his left to clear the ball.
Bellingham was shown a yellow card for a foul on Stefan de Vrij, which was less of a foul than a good old fashioned 50-50. Both men slid into it, neither backed down, both could have been injured but they weren’t. Bellingham shot his old friend in black a withering look.
Phil Foden came very close to giving England the lead when the score was 1-1 but his shot was cleared off the line
Foden also had an effort that hit the outside of the post in the first half as England pressed for a goal
But Watkins was ultimately the big winner and England can now look forward to the final against Spain on Sunday.
It felt as if the momentum of the game had swung to the Dutch. They had regained their composure and confidence and England were slipping into one of their worst habits: playing on the back foot.
The game was crying out for a change from Southgate. England were lucky with 15 minutes to go when the ball fell invitingly to Simons, 12 yards from goal. If Simons had struck it as beautifully as he had his goal, the Dutch would have been ahead, but he missed his volley.
England thought they had taken the lead when Saka swung in a cross from Walker, but Walker was caught offside. Southgate then made the substitutions. Kane, who was tired, was replaced by Ollie Watkins. Cole Palmer replaced Foden.
Palmer fired high and wide and then, just as the clock approached 90 minutes, Watkins took Palmer’s pass with his back to goal, turned his man smoothly and fired a superb low ball past Verbruggen’s desperate dive into the far post.
