The Lion in Its Den
England coached by Gareth Southgate came into the tournament with plenty of expectations, and not without reason, from a young, exciting, and highly talented bunch of attackers like Sancho, Rashford, Foden, Sterling, Kane, Grealish, and Saka among others.
But it was their defensive solidity that has seen them through the toughest days in the showpiece tournament, an aspect that was initially considered a chink in the armour as the expectation among experts was that the Three Lions’ attack would roar loudest.
While some of the fancied attack mostly warmed the benches in the group stage, those who played, mostly found it tough to get into their free-flowing rhythm. Controlled and with a few gears to go, England topped the group scoring a goal each against Croatia and Czech Republic while playing out a 0-0 draw against Scotland.
Even as the noise rose about the tactics ahead of the next game against one of their bitterest rivals, Germany, Southgate stuck to his guns,…