THERE are rarefied moments in sport when the heart misses a beat, when the blood runs cold, when time stands still for a second.
Moments when you doubt the evidence of your own eyes.
But then you process what you’ve just witnessed.
And then the only natural human reaction is to yell: “F*** my old boots!”
And when Ollie Watkins swivelled to beat Stefan de Vrij and struck the sweetest of shots low into the far corner, this was one of those thrilling moments when a nation is united in euphoria.
An Oliver twist that even Charles Dickens couldn’t have written.
The clock read 89min and 59sec. And England were into their first major final on foreign soil.
Watkins now sits alongside Geoff Hurst, David Platt and Paul Gascoigne.
Like Jonny Wilkinson, Ben Stokes and Mo Farah too, he owns a moment which will be seared into the national consciousness for eternity.
When you have been following the England football team throughout most, or all, of these 58 years of hurt, you watch Watkins turn and shoot and you are convinced that ball will ping back off the inside of the post.
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Or graze the outside of the post. Or that Holland goalkeeper Bart Verbruggen will turn it wide.
So when the ball nestles in the onion bag, you have to perform a double-take.
And then you scream.
But then you look for a linesman’s flag.
And then you wait for the dreaded VAR check.
Even though there clearly couldn’t have been an offside or a foul.
Because fatalism is at the core of following the England men’s football team.
And this adds to the drama. Because this sort of thing doesn’t happen to us. We don’t reach finals on foreign soil.
Least of all in Germany, with the Germans eliminated almost a week ago.
And we don’t dominate possession against the Dutch — who had long since resorted to lumping it long to their big man, 6ft 6in Wout Weghorst.
Just as we never used to win penalty shootouts, as the Three Lions did against Switzerland.
Just as we never scored 96th-minute bicycle-kick equalisers, as Jude Bellingham did when England were dead and buried against Slovakia in the last 16.
This is a reversal of the natural order. This is Gareth Southgate’s England.
So where does the Watkins moment rank among those most dramatic and glorious in English sporting history?
Hurst produced not just one, but two, of them in extra-time against West Germany in 1966.
First, there was the crossbar and the Azerbaijani linesman.
Then the “They think it’s all over…” moment when Hurst completed his hat-trick with a rocket after delirious supporters had already invaded the pitch.
But you need to be a pensioner to remember those moments.
For the rest of us, there was Gascoigne’s sensational goal against Scotland and his dentist’s chair celebration at Euro 96 — just a minute after David Seaman had saved a penalty from Gary McAllister with England leading 1-0. That was special and yet it was only a group-stage match.
And it arrived in the 79th minute, not the last second of normal time.
The greatest parallel was Platt’s extraordinary turn and volley in the final minute of extra-time against Belgium, at Italia 90.
Like Watkins, Platt was a relatively unsung Aston Villa player who had arrived as a substitute.
But that was a last-16 match, not a semi-final.
Wilkinson’s drop goal to win the 2003 Rugby World Cup final against Australia was special.
But England were favourites and everything was set up for Wilkinson to slot that ball between the posts.
The fly-half was Clive Woodward’s go-to man.
He wasn’t a supposed bit-part player like Watkins.
In my quarter of a century covering elite sport, none of those genuine heart-stopping England moments involved the men’s football team.
There were several such moments during the 2005 Ashes, when England’s cricketers regained the urn after 16 years in a breathless, epic series.
And then Stokes’ golden summer of 2019 when he played a remarkable innings in the World Cup final and England won with a run-out from the final ball of a super over after the match was tied.
Just weeks later, at Headingley, Stokes and the bespectacled everyman No 11 batsman Jack Leach shared a ridiculous 76-run final-wicket partnership to win an Ashes Test.
I noted at the time that it was like watching Superman and Clark Kent in the same place. When Stokes cracked the winning boundary and a sun-baked Western Terrace rose as one with their arms aloft, that was a time-stands-still moment too.
But England didn’t win that series.
There was Super Saturday at the 2012 London Olympics when Jessica Ennis, Greg Rutherford and Farah all nailed track-and-field gold medals in the space of 44 minutes.
And we must not forget that the England women’s team — unlike the men — have been crowned European champions.
When Chloe Kelly netted the winner in extra-time against Germany, in 2022, twirled her shirt above her head and cavorted across Wembley in her sports bra, that was an iconic moment and a breakthough for the women’s game.
ENGLAND stormed into the final against Spain thanks to Ollie Watkins' last-minute strike in the 2-1 win over Holland.
It was a brilliant team performance, but how did each player rate?
SunSport’s Tom Barclay ran the rule over Southgate’s boys, and here’s how he rated them.
Jordan Pickford: 7
Bigger goalkeepers may have got a stronger hand to Xavi Simons’ early stunner – though that was being hypercritical. Solid stop to deny Virgil van Dijk after the hour.
Kyle Walker: 7
Looked re-energised after some lumbering displays and bombed on at times in the first half, despite his role on the right of a back three. Last-ditch tackle on Cody Gakpo was spot on.
John Stones: 7
Strong in possession. He looks to have benefited from regular game-time after rarely featuring for Manchester City in the last few months.
Marc Guehi: 6
Came back into the side after suspension ruled him out of the Switzerland game. Had an unenviable task of making the big man Wout Weghorst after the break.
Bukayo Saka: 7
Razor-sharp in the first half, winning tackles, making runs and dribbling the ball proficiently. Less of an impact after the break, had a goal ruled out for offside and was booked.
Declan Rice: 6
Lost possession for Simons’ thunderous opener but grew into the game, mopping up where necessary. Poor pass when Kane was open midway through the second half.
Kobbie Mainoo: 8
Was England’s youngest-ever player to play in a major-tournament semi-final, aged 19years 82 days, and had a stormer in the first half. Great bursts forward, vital tackles, and his interplay with Foden was a joy.
Kieran Trippier: 6
We all know by now that he is playing out of position, so again he was limited going forward and reliable defensively. Subbed at half-time for the more natural Shaw.
Phil Foden: 7
The first 45 minutes was by far and away his best half of the tournament. Thought he’d scored when his shot was cleared off the line by Denzel Dumfries, and cracked the post with a cracker. But was then surprisingly subbed.
Jude Bellingham: 5
Back at the ground where he made his name but struggled to make much of an impact on his old stomping ground. Fortunate it was not he that was subbed.
Harry Kane: 6
Won and dispatched the penalty to go joint top-scorer in the tournament with three goals. Had looked more mobile initially but still tired badly after the break and was taken off.
SUBS
Luke Shaw (for Kieran Trippier, half-time): 6
Looked assured for a man who has been out for so long.
Ollie Watkins (for Harry Kane, 81): 9 and STAR MAN
Surprisingly given the nod over Ivan Toney as striker sub as Southgate looked for more pace in behind. Brilliant finish into the corner to win the game – you could not ask more from him.
Cole Palmer (for Phil Foden, 81): 7
Had his big chance in the final minutes but shanked it horribly wide – but then fed Watkins for his wonderful winner.
Gareth Southgate: 8
His switch to a back three against Switzerland helped dig out the win there, and here it had his team finally playing some great football in the first half. The team went into their shells again as the game wore on and you feared the worst – but you have to say his decision to bring on Ollie Watkins was a masterstroke.
But the longest-running national sporting obsession is the England men’s team and their elusive hunt for silverware.
That’s what makes the Watkins moment — Take My Breath Away and off to Berlin — arguably the most astonishing since 1966.
Perhaps on Sunday night, in the final against Spain, that moment will be swiftly eclipsed.
Who knows. Anything seems possible right now. There’s a feeling of fate and destiny about this campaign.
There would be no logic in England defeating Spain, the best team in the tournament.
But then where’s the logic in those moments when your heart misses a beat, when the blood runs cold, when time stands still, when you cannot believe your own eyes?
