Ollie Watkins' Heroics Propel England to Euro 2024 Final
Watkins had been cooling his heels on the bench until eight minutes before this moment. Decidedly second choice at the start of the tournament, behind captain and talisman Harry Kane, he'd dropped to third choice after Ivan Toney's heroics in England's first knockout game against Slovakia.
A little forgotten amidst all the inaction was that coming into the Euros, he had probably been the most in-form English attacker. Revitalized as a goal-scoring center-forward under Unai Emery - who had asked him to stop running the channels and instead focus on staying within the confines of the penalty box a la Edinson Cavani and Carlos Bacca -- Watkins came to Germany on the back of 27 goals and 13 assists across all competitions for Aston Villa. His pace, combined with newfound directness, had wreaked havoc all season long in the Premier League, but Gareth Southgate hadn't been convinced with a 20-minute cameo against Denmark in the group stages... and firmly on the bench he was stuck.
89:58. By now de Vrij is fully satisfied with what he has done. Dragging Watkins into an angle so acute the xG for a shot from there is 0.06. But this version of Watkins is pure instinct and goal-scoring menace. The first touch he took one second previously has perfectly set it up for him to turn on the spot and hit the ball, and that's what he does. In one fluid motion he turns and smashes it low and hard, straight through de Vrij's legs...
England had been much the better side in the opening half, especially after Xavi Simons' stunning opener, and as controversial as the Harry Kane penalty had been, it would have been hard to argue they weren't the better side. The second half had descended to an attritional farce by the time Watkins had been subbed on, along with Palmer. The Netherlands tried but simply weren't good enough to lay a glove on England and the English on their part seemed content to sit on the 1-1.
Which is when Southgate made the most un-Southgate of substitution calls... for he brought the duo on for Harry Kane (pretty anonymous apart from the penalty) and Phil Foden. It was a big call, especially considering the more imposing presence of Toney available, but it was one that Watkins had predicted at half-time. "Unbelievable, I've been waiting for that moment for weeks. I swear on my kids' lives that I told Cole [Palmer], 'we are going to come on today, and you are going to set me up,'" Watkins would say after the match.
89:59 and the net is rippling. Bart Verbuggen has put in a dive, but the shot is too inch perfect. Nailed into the inside of the side netting on the far post. 2-1 England with a second to go in the ninety. Cue absolute bedlam.
Before this match, Watkins had just made 13 appearances for England, spread out over three years, scoring three goals. Now, his fourth is one of the most important in recent English footballing history.
Watkins would say in the post-match presser, "The goal, that's my bread and butter, running in behind and causing the defense trouble. You don't get the opportunity very often, so I had to be greedy, I had to take it." Before adding, "I don't think I've hit a ball that sweet before."
It's been a long time coming for Watkins.
