The England football team on Saturday created history by reaching the semi-final of the football World Cup after 28 years. They achieved the feat after beating Sweden 2-0 in the quarter-final.
Harry Maguire scored the opener in the 30th minute for England before Dele Alli extended the lead to 2-0 in the second half. England dominated the game all through the game giving very few opportunities to Swedish players to launch counter attacks.
England’s overall possession was 58% compared to a dismal 42% by Sweden. Men with three lions also had more shots than their Swedish counterparts. Of the 12 shots, England had two on target with converting into goals. As for Sweden, they had six attempts at goals but only three were on target. However, unlike England, they simply couldn’t convert any of their attempts into goals.
England’s historic success in Russia has caused unprecedented excitement in the country with fans already singing ‘IT’S COMING HOME!’ anthem in a reference to the World Cup.
Speaking after the match, Dele Alli told BBC, “It’s a great achievement for the team and we owe it to the fans. They have been believing in us. It was a great performance from the team. It’s always nice to score especially on occasions like this. I don’t think it was my best performance but to get a goal is unbelievable and it’s an amazing feeling to get to the semi-final.
Alli singled out the England goalkeeper Jordan Pickford saying that the latter had ‘proved in the last game how big he is for this team and we will all be celebrating together.’
Former Germany head coach, Jurgen Klinsmann agreed with Alli. He said, “What really impressed me was Jordan Pickford’s overall game and his distribution. His body language was always positive. You had the feeling he commanded his box.”
Maguire, the scorer of first goal for England, said, “You can’t get better than that and we’re through – that’s the main thing. We felt we could dominate the ball today. We knew set-plays would be a big thing.”
Asked if football is coming home, Maguire told BBC 5 Live, “Hopefully! Fingers crossed.”
Former England great, Chris Waddle, said that it was ‘quite emotional actually to see England reach the semi-final.’