England managed to see off Sweden, which means that Zlatan Ibrahimovic, having lost a bet to David Beckham, will have to wear an England jersey and eat fish and chips at Wembley! Here are the top five talking points from England's win:
The Three Lions on Saturday advanced to the semi-finals for the first time after 1990, beating Sweden 2-0. And while English fans are still pinching themselves because it is hard to believe that they are indeed in the semi-final, here are 5 talking points from the match it was:
England has 11 goals in this Tournament so far and while this is a remarkable feat in itself, eight of them have come from set-plays which some argue are not the best depiction of fluency amongst the players. However, that has not stopped England from winning as seen in the last match where a header from Harry Maguire from Ashley Young’s corner helped England set down an early marker on the half-an-hour mark.
Sterling has been like a fish out of water for the most part. Sterling missed numerous chances throughout the match, showing the kind of profligacy that could’ve more stark consequences if England had lost. A player of his calibre should really be putting the ball in the net or passing to an open teammate.
Jordan Pickford, the Everton keeper was called into action multiple times during the second half as the Three Lions came under some pressure from their opponents. He made a brilliant save early into the second half from a dangerous header from Marcus Berg and the other came when he blocked a shot from Viktor Claesson.
Sweden considered defence to be its talisman and while this approach had earned them dividends against Mexico and South Korea, but England were too good. Giving a side with England’s pace so much room turned out to be fatal in the end.
If it does come home, and it’s still a huge if which will involve beating one of Croatia/Russia and Belgium/France, England will have done it the Tottenham way. There are five Tottenham players in the England squad including Harry Kane, Dele Alli, Eric Dier, Kieran Trippier and Danny Rose. Of these, they’ve all played important parts with Kane the tournament’s top scorer, Dele Alli scoring today and Trippier’s deliveries being compared to Beckham's at his peak.
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