What were you doing last night at 8pm. I was in a sports bar near The Angel, with a group of friends. What a roller coaster we had. When the Netherlands scored, the whole place fell very flat. Then the penalty. As soon as we saw the playback and that there was a VAR review, we knew that it would be a penalty and that Harry Kane would do the business. From that moment on, it looked like there would only be one winner. One of my friends had put £10 on a 1-1 draw. Two minutes before the winner, I said "cash it in now". He could have had £50. I knew that we'd score. Palmer and Watkins had added another dimension to the team. I am not a Harry hater, but it was clear that we needed fresh legs. I felt sorry for Phil Foden coming off, he'd had a great game. When Watkins banged in the winner, the whole place erupted and the party started. Even the bouncer, who had the demeanor of the most miserable man in the universe cracked a smile. It was by far the best England performance of the tournament. England have been solid if uninspiring thus far, but last night they played with a degree of freedom that had been missing. Just about every player had their best game. It is worth noting that nearly every goal England have conceded has been a 'worldie'. Last night was no exception. As a football fan, all I can do is stand back and admire the strike from Simons. As admirable was the way he shrugged Declan Rice off the ball. Fortunately that one moment of brilliance was just about all that the The Netherlands had. One aspect of the win that made me very happy was the fact that the Dutch manager was Ronald Koeman. It was poetic justice and karma that he got knocked out, in no small part because of a rather soft penalty. We owed it to the cheating sod who should have been sent off in the 1994 World Cup before scoring the winner from a free kick. In truth his team didn't really turn up.
And so, on to Sunday's final. Spain is an altogether tougher proposition than the Dutch. England need to be absolutely on top of their game to get anything. The Spanish are a brilliant team and they will not allow us the domination of possession and time on the ball that we had last night. But we have players that can hurt them. If Foden, Bellingham, Saka, Kane and co play as we know they can, then we have a very good chance of winning. We have to believe.
The False Dots recorded a very special song to cheer England on. Have a listen! We think it's a rather good football anthem.
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