by Ben Ayuko
{image by Sky News}
England set out to secure their status as the top team in Group C when they took on Slovenia. Gareth Southgate, the England Manager, has recently come under fire from his own people (the English) after some lackluster performances in the opening 2 group games. Knowing this he really needed a performance from his team to get the fans on his side.
If anything, he may have started riot. A protest. A demonstration even. Like the taxbi- look, it wasn’t good.
England had one or two good moments in the whole game. 1st, a goal ruled out due to an offside in the buildup {admittedly, a good play}. And 2nd was good sequence of play that culminated in a weak effort on goal from substitute Cole Palmer. Other than that, England failed to create anything of real note for the whole 90min. They were equally as likely to lose the game as they were to win it. The spectators were so displeased, they began throwing their empty beer cups at Gareth Southgate. Okay, maybe they’re treating him a little harshly considering he is literally coaching their national team. But English fans have always been that way with their own people. Who can forget the whole Beckham episode before he “mad up for it” with ‘That’ freekick vs Greece. Or the whole racist debacle at the last Euro tournament with Saka, Rashford and Sancho because they missed their penalties in the final. All we can ask is, is anyone really surprised they never win anything?
Anyway, the game ended 0-0.
Elsewhere, Denmark and Serbia played out a 0-0 draw, securing Denmark 2nd spot in Group C and qualification for the next round.
Fun fact, there has only been 1 win in 12 games in this group, which came from England on the opening day against Serbia. Denmark and Slovenia have drawn all their games, while England and Serbia drew 2 of theirs, each. This, of course means Serbia’s loss to England is also the only Loss experienced in this group.
It just might have been the most uneventful group.