Netherlands 0-1 England
Many a football betting fan were unsure with what to make with the squad Gareth Southgate brought to the Netherlands. Even I wasn’t sure how this young squad, lacking many of their star players, would even perform abroad.
However, many were pleasantly surprised after this seemingly ragtag gathering pulled off an impressive victory against the Flying Dutchmen. Their betting odds for their upcoming match against Italy should get better after this win.
The first notable performance from this busy bunch is the man between the post. Jordan Pickford displayed fine reflexes in his first stint as England‘s No 1. While he did flirt with disaster whenever he let his feet touch the ball, he more than made up with brilliant saves that stopped Memphis Depay and friends from scoring.
The other noteworthy performances came from the defence. Led by captain Jordan Henderson, the English managed to hold off whatever attacks were done by the men in orange kits. John Stones, Kieran Trippier and Harry Maguire played good-enough defence to render their opposition scoreless.
The attack was also showing signs of great promise. Raheem Sterling and Marcus Rashford were dashing all over the place, giving the Dutch defence a lot of problems. Southgate’s strategy of just lobbing it into the danger areas worked well to their advantage as it made the most out of their speedy strike force.
Of course, Ronald Koeman didn’t let the English trample all over his yard and instructed his men to be hard-nosed. There were a couple of close calls that could have easily led to more goals if Jesus Gil deemed it so.
However, it didn’t take long until England’s relentless attacks bore fruit. Danny Rose low-crossed the ball from the left in the 59th minute. Dutch shirts intercepted the ball. The ball rolled out of the box. Jesse Lingard corralled the ball and smashed it into the goal. Jeroen Zoet wasn’t able to push the ball away and it slid straight to the net.
There should be no doubt that England are hoping for better things this time. Nobody wants to jinx it, but maybe good things are in store for this team.
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