England captain Harry Kane hailed Jude Bellingham's stoppage-time overhead kick against Slovakia as one of the best goals in the country's history as they came from behind to win 2-1 in Gelsenkirchen on Sunday.
Bellingham's 95th-minute goal rescued a struggling England side, who trailed Slovakia for most of the round of 16 tie, and forced the match into extra time.
Kane scored the winner for England in the 91st minute, and Gareth Southgate's side held on to prepare for their quarter-final clash against Switzerland on Saturday.
“That's the desire and the attitude of the boys and everyone involved. It seemed difficult for a moment, but we have to keep going,” Kane said in a post-match interview.
“We worked on a lot of details during the week. A couple of days ago we worked on a long shot and we said we might need it. We had to be prepared for everything. That's what Jude does. It was an incredible goal. One of the best in the history of our country, I think.
“He's a great player. He works very hard for the team. There's been a lot of talk about him in recent days and he shows what he can do. In important moments he steps up and that's what we needed.”
“We know we'll do whatever it takes. If we have a game like this in the quarterfinals, so be it. We had to give it our all, and that's exactly what we did today. We could have done better, we could have played better. But ultimately it's all about the results, and that's what matters to us. So we can enjoy tonight and hopefully build on that momentum for the rest of the tournament.”
Despite mounting evidence to the contrary, Southgate said he still expected an equaliser even as time ran out.
“I had a strange feeling that the game wasn't over and I know that sounds ridiculous. We were pressing and probing,” Southgate said. “In the end, it was the goal we kicked inside the box that gave us the goal.”
Bellingham's goal was England's first shot on target of the match.
He didn't have to wait long for his second as Kane headed home to score his seventh goal in his last seven knockout matches at major tournaments. He was also a record holder for the country in 65th place.
England, fifth in the world, have not won a major tournament since their only triumph at the 1966 World Cup.
“We're not here to make the quarter-finals but to have a night like tonight was fantastic and now we're up against a Swiss team who have been very good,” Southgate said. “We've got a couple of days to recover and prepare for them.”
Information from The Associated Press was used in this story.
