Substitute Ollie Watkins scored a stoppage-time winner to send England into their second successive European Championship final on Wednesday as they finally showed their style to beat the Netherlands 2-1 on a memorable night in Dortmund, Germany.
With the game looking set to head into extra time, Watkins received a pass from fellow substitute Cole Palmer and fired a powerful shot in off the far post.
“Unbelievable. I've been waiting for that moment for weeks,” Aston Villa striker Watkins said after the match. “It's taken a lot of hard work to get to where I am today and I'm grateful to have been given the opportunity, and I've taken it with both hands and I'm delighted.”
“I swear on my life I told Cole Palmer, 'You're going to come in here today and you're going to set me up.' And that's why I was so happy with Coley.”
Xavi Simons brilliantly put the Dutch ahead after seven minutes, and England equalised 11 minutes later through a Harry Kane penalty.
Chances came and went in an action-packed first half. Things calmed down in the second before the final drama that sends England to play Spain in Berlin on Sunday.
“It's a historic achievement, an incredible achievement,” Kane said as England reached their first major final on foreign soil. “To achieve what we've achieved away from home is really special.”
“We talk about being ready, you can have five minutes, one minute, but you can make a difference, you can win a tournament, and Ollie has been waiting, he's been patient and what he did was extraordinary.”
It was a frenetic start as Simons stole the ball from Declan Rice and curled a spectacular shot into the top corner, and although the 'Orange Wall' behind the goal erupted, it proved to be something of a false dawn.
England equalised when Kane was caught by the studs of Denzel Dumfries as he shot, earning a VAR-reviewed penalty which the England striker headed into the bottom corner.
Five minutes later England came desperately close to getting a second goal when Phil Foden brilliantly beat a series of tackles almost to the line, and when he finally got a shot off, Dumfries was there to clear it off the line.
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The Dutch centre-back was back in the spotlight shortly afterwards when he rose superbly to take a corner but his header crashed off the bar, only for England to respond with a fantastic curling effort from Foden that hit the post with the keeper beaten.
England fans, who had been bored into silence at their previous three games, could hardly believe what they were seeing and won the singing battle despite being vastly outnumbered.
Foden, Jude Bellingham and Bukayo Saka were playing with the swagger they had shown all season for their clubs, while the incredible 19-year-old Kobbie Mainoo was racing through midfield like a veteran.
It was a transformation that was scarcely believable, as the team that had barely managed to get a shot off against Slovenia, Slovakia and Switzerland sent crosses high and low, tried to find through balls and even had a couple of backheels in the box while forcing Bart Verbruggen into three lengthy saves.
Holland introduced striker Wout Weghorst for the second half, while England brought on Luke Shaw, but England seemed to lose their energy and played confidently.
For fans who saw the same pattern in the 2018 World Cup semi-final against Croatia and the Euro 2020 final against Italy, where England were forced to come from behind after dominating early on, it was a concern. But this time, manager Gareth Southgate took drastic action by taking off Foden and Kane after 80 minutes and bringing on Watkins and Palmer.
Saka sent in a low Kyle Walker cross in a rare attack but it was ruled offside. However, Palmer, who has looked dangerous every time he has come on in the tournament, played a pass to Watkins to cause chaos.
It was a disappointment for the Dutch, who have now lost four semi-finals since winning the title in 1988.
“My feeling was that in the last 20 to 25 minutes our team was a bit fresher than England, but they scored a great goal and that's how football is sometimes,” said Dutch coach Ronald Koeman.
“I won't say it was bad luck, because it was a great goal. And we can be very proud of our national team; we had a great tournament.”
Spain is the favorite in the final, according to ESPN BET, with The Red at -155 and England at +120 to win the tournament.
