We might've rode our luck in that game, but you know what, I don't care. It certainly wasn't a spectacle of a game, although it had all the ingredients you need for a great football match, it had world class players, disallowed goals, overturned penalties and if that wasn't enough some controversy involving spider cam. The main thing this game had though was the undeniable brilliance of Jude Bellingham. England's number ten pretty much dragged his country kicking and screaming into the semi final, now I wouldn't say he did it single handily because that would be unfair on the other England players who certainly had a part to play in this win over Norway. Jude was however head and shoulders above everyone else on that Miami pitch.
I had said I was worried coming into this game, nearly as much as I was for the game against Mexico, the reason being because despite being the favourites for both, these games were potential banana skins, both for different reasons, Mexico because of their home advantage and the altitude, Norway basically because they had a potential match winner in Haaland.
I thought England were comfortable and in control for the most part of the first half, without really posing much of a threat, I didn't mind the possession football albeit a bit toothless, I just thought we were doing what Spain do to teams which is not give the ball away and wear the opposition down, and to be fair considering how hot and humid it was, this seemed like a good plan. Our out ball in the early exchanges was Noni Madueke, who was playing very wide on the right, first time he received the ball out there he used his pace and got round the back of the full back only to play a poor ball into the box, if my memory serves me correct that was the only time the Arsenal attacker got round the back, after that he was pretty ineffective and insisted on cutting back and passing a 45 yard pass to Konsa. I don't want to dig out the young man but he's performances in this tournament haven't really been good enough, maybe going forward he will only be used from the bench.
On the half hour England's controlled possession turned into chaos when John Stones under hit a back pass but luckily Jordan Pickford anticipated the danger, this moment seemed to change the whole game and Norway seem to realise they had a chance, Haaland then followed this up with a header, that was comfortably saved by Pickford, before Norway took the lead, Schjelderup's cross deceived Pickford, hit the post and went in. 1-0 to Norway and England had gone from being in control to being all over the place. Norway continued to press and had a couple of chances to extend their lead. Then two minutes into first half injury time Jude Bellingham's beautiful piece of skill in the box, jinked past the defence and shifted the ball from his right to his left foot before firing into the far corner and giving his England team a massive boost going into the break. With two more minutes left to play of injury time Kane came close forcing the Norwegian keeper into a save before seconds later actually finishing off a good move that looked like giving England a somewhat undeserved and highly unlikely lead, however the lino on the far side had raised his flag and Kane's goal was rightly chalked off. England had finished the first half strongly and at last looked like they had a goal threat in them.
Tommy Tickles started the second half off, by making two tactical changes, the ineffectual Madueke was replaced by Saka, and the obvious unfit Rice was replaced by Eze, this meant Bellingham had to drop back in to midfield, and unfortunately this seemed to restrict his benefit to the team. Despite England finishing the first half so strongly Norway were still looking the brighter side and thought they had taken the lead after a succession of corners lead to the ball being turned in on the line, only for the effort to be chalked off because of a push in the build up to the corner from Haaland on Elliott Anderson, England riding their luck again. For the rest of the half Norway continued to look the better team, Reece James came on to sit in midfield and give Bellingham a chance to return to his number 10 role. Spence and Rogers are also introduced before 90 minutes were up, Saka had been causing problems down the right, but Norway continued to look dangerous and came the closest to scoring when Ajer's header hit the bar. With the game all level at full time the thought of this going all the way to penalties was looking a real prospect, at this point I was pretty convinced that Norway were going to win this and Haaland was going to be the man to break our hearts, to be fair I was ok with this as I thought, the Norwegians had been the better team and probably deserved it on points. I also thought that Bellingham had reached his limit and was looking knackered after the work he had put in to this game, so Imagine my surprise when Morgan Rogers' shot was spilled by the keeper and Bellingham was the first one to react and score from the rebound. I have always said that watching England isn't enjoyable, although this wasn't as stressful as the last half an hour against Mexico I knew that we were going to have to see this out again under immense pressure. It did look though as if we would have a chance to put the game beyond doubt from the spot, but after review Djed Spence was adjudged to have initiated contact from the defender after a fantastic run into the box and alas the penalty was overturned, probably fair given what had happened in the game up until then, but I have seen them given.
At half time in extra time Haaland was replaced and it was only then that I truly believed that we were going to hang on and get to the semi final for only the fourth time in our history. With only 10 minutes remaining Tommy Tickles made his final sub, bringing on cult hero Dan Burn for the magnificent Jude Bellingham, If I wasn't sure we were going to win before this my mind was made up now. There was a bit of huff and puff from Norway at the end but England weren't letting them blow their house down. Job done in the end and another performance that was nowhere near perfect, however you cannot criticise the balls and resilience this group of players has, they just don't know they are beaten.
As for the controversy about the ball hitting the spider cam cable before Bellingham's equaliser, I had know idea that this had happened until the end of the game, but lets be honest that is not the reason that England won, The way Jude Bellingham was playing even if that goal had been disallowed then knowing him he would've just gone and scored again, probably out of spite.
Bellingham will rightly get all the plaudits, but every single player deserves credit for the hard graft they put in, also Tommy Tickles, his substitutions were just perfect again, he isn't afraid to correct decisions in game and doesn't mind changing things early if it isn't working. Also it was a breath of fresh air hearing his post match interview saying that he still expects more from his team, I love it.
So now the semi final awaits against Argentina, their 3-1 win over Switzerland looks straight forward on paper, but it was as hard if not harder as our tussle with Norway. By all accounts (yep, I feel asleep at half time) Switzerland were on top for much of this game and looked like the eventual winners until the 70th minute, with the score at 1-1, Breel Embolo was sent off after a VAR check. Originally the Argentine Parades had been given a yellow card for a foul on Embolo, after review it was obvious that Embolo had not been touched and had dived, this meant that the yellow for the Argentinian was overturned and Embolo was booked for his dive, as it was a second yellow card he had to be sent off, yes it is probably a bit harsh on Switzerland and if the ref had not decided to book the Argentine in the first place then nothing happens, but then why dive to get someone booked? For me as sad as it is, Embolo has shot himself in the foot, don't dive you keep 10 men on the pitch and you may reach the semi final. After that moment it was a backs to the wall performance from Switzerland, but unlike England they weren't able to keep the door shut and ultimately in extra time Argentina scored twice to make it 3-1 and got the job done.
Only four teams remain in this years World Cup now, can England finally stop there 60 years of hurt and go on and win it? I'm still not convinced but I tell you what they aint half gonna give it everything they have got to try and make this dream a reality, that's for sure!!
