Jude Bellingham saved England’s chances in the final minute of added time against Slovakia – and Geoff Hurst, who scored the most important goal in his country’s history, spoke highly of it.
Geoff Hurst hailed England’s stunning comeback against Slovakia as more exciting than his own famous World Cup hat-trick winning goal.
Geoff Sarr, 82, urged fans to back Gareth Southgate’s side, recalling that Sir Alf Ramsey’s 1966 team were also booed. After the 2-1 victory he said: “What a way to finish the game. Two of the most exciting moments in the history of the tournament in England.”
“It was better than the third goal (in terms of excitement) because the game was over before the goal was scored. Maybe we’ll go home? I hope so.”
He added: “Like I said, maybe we’ll come back home. People forget that when we won in ’66 we got booed after the first game. Maybe that’s a sign. Go England.”
Fans are vying for tickets for Saturday’s match against Switzerland, with at least 30,000 expected to be in the stadium for the quarter-final in Duesseldorf.
Goalkeeper Jordan Pickford had a passionate message for Three Lions supporters yesterday. He said: “Keep believing in us. We will give 100 per cent. We will always give 100 per cent for the badge. We never give up and that was definitely the case last night.”
Captain Harry Kane, speaking of Jude Bellingham’s overhead kick to equalise and his header to win the game late on, said: “Jude’s goal and mine are two goals you can watch over and over again and see the reaction of the crowd, see the footage of the fans in the pub and at the Box Park.
“I’m proud to have made people so happy, and of course if we go on to win it will make it even more special.”
While players may be looking at the positives, fans are concerned about performances and team selection.
Dan Crawley, 47, from Watford, Hertfordshire, said: “We’re simply not good enough. There’s no way we can beat Switzerland if we play like that again. Southgate needs to make changes. He’s too conservative.”
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