WILL ENGLAND’S LUCKY ESCAPE AGAINST SLOVAKIA BE THE WAKE-UP CALL THEY NEEDED AT EURO 2024?

England were merely seconds away from disaster in Gelsenkirchen. Slovakia had bullied their way to a first-half lead through Ivan Schranz, and the Central European nation looked destined to book their place in the quarter-finals of the European Championships for the first time as the clock ticked on into stoppage time. However, the Three Lions — on the cusp of another embarrassing round of 16 exit reminiscent of their defeat to Iceland at Euro 2016 in France — were sparred their blushes thanks to Jude Bellingham’s spectacular overhead kick in the 95^th minute. The Real Madrid star, who helped Los Blancos complete a La Liga/Champions League double last season, had been criticised for his performances in Germany ahead of the knockout rounds. However, he silenced his doubters with the sensational strike to force extra-time. Momentum had shifted in England’s favour going into the additional 30 minutes, and it only took the Three Lions 60 seconds to take the lead. Ivan Toney, who Gareth Southgate revealed didn’t want to come in the 94^th minute, headed the ball across goal for Harry Kane to put in the back of the net. The betting for EURO 2024 is firmly back in England’s favour to win the tournament for the first time in Germany. However, the lucky escape against Slovakia needs to be a wake-up call for the Three Lions as their lacklustre performances in the group stage and numerous calls for big performances have gone unanswered thus far. Things are only going to get harder for England as we enter the business end of the tournament as well. Southgate’s men will face Switzerland in the quarter-finals on Saturday evening, and the Swiss have already proven their worth against top sides in this tournament. Murat Yakin’s side are the only team to stop Germany from winning thus far in the competition, as they held the hosts to a 1-1 draw in the final game of Group A — in which Julian Nagelsmann’s men equalised to avoid defeat in the 92^nd minute — while the Swiss beat Italy 2-0 in a commanding round of 16 performance. Following on from that, England will likely face the Netherlands in the semi-finals. The Dutch have a formidable squad on paper and they have played some nice football at this tournament, including their recent 3-0 dismantling of Romania in the round of 16. Portugal, Germany, Spain or France will await the Three Lions should they make it to the final in Berlin on July 14, and they will need to bring their A-game if they are to prevail against one of Europe’s elite sides. The concern is, though, that there were clear signs they needed to improve from all three of their group stage encounters, yet there haven’t been any signs of the England team rallying together to put on better and more convincing performances. Hopefully, as they looked down the barrel of a national disaster against Slovakia and were dangerously close to being knocked out of the Euros with their tails between their legs, the Three Lions will finally wake up. As already mentioned, they remain the favourites in the England EUROs betting markets, but you wouldn’t be in a hurry to back them to win the tournament going by what we have seen thus far.