Jude Bellingham scored a spectacular goal for England against Slovakia on Sunday, but Gareth Southgate has confessed that they almost substituted him.
Ivan Schranz’s goal in the 25th minute gave Slovakia the lead, which they maintained until stoppage time.
Jude Bellingham equalised in the fourth minute of added time with a stunning bicycle kick, and Harry Kane completed the comeback in the first minute of extra-time.
The Three Lions were on the verge of elimination but the goal from Bellingham saved them from a humiliating upset defeat at the hands of Slovakia.
It could have been a lot different for England and Southgate if he had taken off the Real Madrid midfielder.
‘We were thinking should we take him off, but you know he is capable of those sorts of moments,’ Southgate said, as reported by the Metro.
‘With 15 minutes to go you wonder if he is out on his feet.
‘We know in the game itself we needed to better with the ball, we couldn’t find the right solutions in the first half and we did it better in the second.
‘Under that pressure they kept probing. In the end it is the old fashioned long throw that gets the goal, those moments can happen when you keep wearing a team down.’
The Three Lions will now come up against Switzerland in the quarterfinal of the competition.
Their performances have been criticised heavily and despite the late win against Slovakia, they were not at their best yesterday.
Southgate will be hoping that his team finds their best form as they are now about to enter the final stages of the competition.
England have played four matches in the tournament so far, having won two and playing two draws.
However, their performances in those matches have been underwhelming and with the competition now in the knockout stage, there is no room for error.
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