England Vs Slovakia Euro 2024 Round Of 16: England broke Slovakian hearts, as The Three Lions script a memorable comeback to beat Slovakia 2-1 A.E.T. (After Extra Time), as an injury-time equaliser from Jude Bellingham and an extra-time winner from captain Harry Kane sealed the deal for underfire head coach, Gareth Southgate.
Slovakia took a first-half lead against Euro 2020 runners-up and looked like pulling off a heist of the tournament, until a 'certain' Real Madrid talisman appeared out of the blue and forced extra time, as Jude Bellingham's rapid rise is taking no stopping. The 20-year old scored a world-class bicycle goal to level things up and was awarded the Player of the Match for his antics.
"You're 30 seconds from going from home, feeling like you've let your nation down, and one kick of the ball and everything's great. It's 20 or 30 seconds until we're out of the European Championship and the mood now is a massive difference, and [we'll see] what it can do for the team going forward. It's a massive moment but it's a long tournament and we'll only decide in the next two weeks how important it is," said Jude Bellingham in the post-match interview.
"When it is that late in the game and 1-0 down in knockout football you need to find a way to claw yourself out of the hole you're in. That's right up there. To score that type of goal in that moment to keep our dreams alive is one of the best. [Jude Bellingham] What a player. To score that type of goal in that moment just shows the type of person he is. It is not easy to get through in any stage and to get to a quarter-final is very pleasing. Hopefully we can use the momentum and take it forward now," said England captain Harry Kane, who scored the winner for The Three Lions.
'More Pride Than Disappointment': Slovakia Coach
While Slovakia's Euro 2024 journey comes to an end, their head coach Francesco Calzona is immensely proud of his side and stated that his side was very 'unfortunate' in their loss against England.
"I feel more pride than disappointment, because we played a great match against a top team who are among the favourites to win the tournament. We were on a par with them, we gave away very little but unfortunately in the end it went the way it did. In extra time, we were in their half of the field for pretty much all of it. I'm proud that we forced them to defend, to bring on extra defenders to protect the result," said Calzona.