England coach Gareth Southgate praised his team's spirit and patience after their thrilling 2-1 comeback victory over Slovakia in Euro 2024. Southgate credited the substitutes for making a significant impact, creating goals and stopping Slovakia's attacks.
Southgate commended the team's patience, noting that they could have rushed their attacks but instead chose to wait for the right moment. He humorously noted that the winning goal came from an "old-fashioned long throw-in."
The coach also acknowledged that goalscorers Harry Kane and Jude Bellingham were exhausted but decided to keep them on the field, and it paid off. Southgate admitted that playing through pressure in midfield has been a long-standing issue but was proud of the team's persistence in finding a solution.
He said: "The guys who came on all played a role, be it creating goals or stopping them. That's the spirit they have, and that's what's got us over the line today."
"For a young team, they showed great patience when it would have been easier to move the ball quicker. In the end, it's an old-fashioned long throw-in. The two players that get the goals, we could have taken off 15 minutes earlier because they looked out on their feet, but that's why we stuck with them."
"Playing through the pressure in midfield is a problem we've had for a long time. Today, it took us time to find the tactics to do that, but we kept pushing and probing and, in the end, we created that one chance. We want to be better, but the spirit has got us through it today."
Source: UEFA.com