England recovered from the scare of a Switzerland opener to force the game to extra time and penalties, with Gareth Southgate's side flawless from the spot
(Image credit: Getty Images)
That incredible victory for England over Slovakia had been just enough, just in time for the Three Lions and Gareth Southgate; a scarcely-deserved victory nonetheless snatched in incredible fashion. This was better, but only to an extent - and it was hard not to feel like the tension and the penalties could and probably should have been avoided. England, once again, did just enough...but just enough is good enough for them to be going to another semi-final.
That's no disrespect whatsoever to Switzerland had already claimed a point against Germany in the group stage and beaten Italy in the round of 16, sounding a serious warning shot to an England side who had been unconvincing on their way to this quarter-final clash and left it perilously late to rescue that result against Slovakia.
Having played a 4-2-3-1 throughout the tournament to date, Gareth Southgate changed things up for this game, going to a 3-4-2-1 with Ezri Konsa coming in for the suspended Marc Guehi, Kyle Walker at centre-back, and Bukayo Saka moving to right wing-back.
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England improvement over-stated in tense Switzerland quarter-final
It was a better England performance as a result of those changes, of that there was no doubt, but the BBC pundits’ over-the-top praise for the improvement at half time failed to capture some of the glaring issues England still had on their hands.
Harry Kane did not look right from the first minute: the runs were not there, the leap was not there. It would not be at all surprising to learn in the post-match interviews that he was carrying a knock or an illness, but had been selected regardless on the basis that there is nobody else they would prefer to have on the spot if anything broke his way. Did Southgate not see how that turned out for Portugal on Friday night?
Nothing did go the immobile Kane's way, despite England looking far more fluent in their rhythm and more capable of breaking through the lines, with Saka, Kobbie Mainoo and Jude Bellingham predictably looking particularly capable of taking on their men to drive into space.
Harry Kane had scored England's winner against Slovakia but looked out of sorts against Switzerland (Image credit: Getty Images)
The problems came in the final third. As promising as left-footer Saka was in creating openings from right wing-back, there was nothing from him in the way of end product; right-footer Kieran Trippier, stationed at left wing-back, meanwhile continued to look unnatural playing on that flank.
The obvious solution, surely, was to swap them over to enable both to cross with their favoured feet – especially with a packed Swiss box giving Saka precious little opportunity to do what he does best for Arsenal and drive inside to find shooting angles.
Instead, both he and Trippier kept getting towards the corner of the box, halting to get onto their favoured foot, and having to pass it backwards and inside to Bellingham, Foden or Walker, who would then be faced with an impenetrable wall of red shirts.
Kieran Trippier failed to make an impact from left wing-back (Image credit: Getty Images)
Set pieces continued to be an issue, meanwhile, with one short corner routine drawing groans from the England fans as it ended up getting passed back to goalkeeper Jordan Pickford. Other deliveries ended up straight in the hands of opposition goalkeeper Yann Sommer.
As those problems came more and more to the fore, the initial relief at England’s improvement gave way to a growing frustration and impatience at their deficiencies – not helped at all by Switzerland showing more and more impetus as they gradually took hold of the game early in the second half. Southgate remained stubbornly devoted to Plan A even as it was crumbling before his eyes.
He got his punishment for that Hamlet act: it was, of course, the Swiss who took the lead. John Stones' efforts to cut out Dan Ndoye's ball across the box only succeeded in diverting the ball towards the far post, where Breel Embolo reacted faster than Walker to poke home a tap-in.
Breel Embolo seized his opportunity to give Switzerland the lead (Image credit: Getty Images)
This time, the BBC team got it right: as commentator Guy Mowbray noted, Southgate and England's failure to be proactive in changing the game had once again forced them into being reactive.
On came Cole Palmer for Konsa - after some initial shock and confusion caused by the fourth official erroneously raising Bellingham's number to be withdrawn - alongside Eberechi Eze and Luke Shaw in place of Trippier and Mainoo.
And...well, those subs had little to do with England's equaliser, in truth. Saka put egg on our face by vindicating that Southgate decision to field him on the right: finally finding his first real opportunity to strike at goal, he smashed in a long, low effort off the inside of the far post. Game back on - and extra time again.
Bukayo Saka's goal restored parity for England (Image credit: Getty Images)
This time, however, there was to be no first-minute winner for England; instead, we got the usual tense, don't-make-any-mistakes football that is far more the norm whenever we enter an additional 30 minutes.
Declan Rice and Bellingham both tried their luck from the edge of the box without success, while Fabian Schar later blazed wildly off target at the other end. Xherdan Shaqiri gave England a hell of a scare as his in-swinging corner cannoned back out off the woodwork late on, and a late flurry of Swiss balls into the box had them begging for the final, final whistle.
In the interim, Kane was forced to depart ahead of the shootout as he smashed to the floor inside the England dugout after trying to keep the ball in play, Ivan Toney his replacement. Later, Foden's number was up; on came Trent Alexander-Arnold with an eye on those looming spot kicks.
The tension was already unbearable, but as nothing compared with what still lay ahead.
Cole Palmer stepped up first of all, and lived up to his Cold billing by sending Sommer the wrong way, and Pickford denied a dreadful, Southgate-esque Manuel Akanji effort to hand England an immediate advantage.
Bellingham waited for Sommer to commit one way, then calmly passed it into the net in the other direction. Schar, desperately needing to respond, duly copied Bellingham's approach.
Saka was beaming after gaining redemption for his miss against Italy in the final three years ago, but Shaqiri just about managed to get the ball past Pickford's reach to pile the pressure on Toney to maintain England's slenderest of advantages. That pressure was ignored: his bottom corner effort left Sommer no chance.
Now, all that expectation and threat of disaster fell on Zeki Amdouni instead - but the Burnley man correctly gambled that Pickford would commit one way or the other, instead placing it down the middle.
Was this to be a repeat of Euro 2020? Was that late replacement, sent on to take a decisive penalty, going to miss for Southgate's England again?
No chance. The Liverpool man smashed it home, and England could celebrate. And breathe. And think about doing it all again on Wednesday night.
That prospect is just as nerve-wracking as it is exciting. Don't make us do this again, for the love of god. The improvement has begun, but it can still be better. It has to be better.
But if it is...god, dare we actually dream again, in spite of that thoroughly underwhelming start to Euro 2024, in spite of their failure to truly grasp the nettle here, and in spite of decades of bitter experience?
Steven Chicken has been working as a football writer since 2009, taking in stints with Football365 and the Huddersfield Examiner. Steven still covers Huddersfield Town home and away for his own publication, WeAreTerriers.com. Steven is a two-time nominee for Regional Journalist of the Year at the prestigious British Sports Journalism Awards, making the shortlist in 2020 and 2023.
