England Euro 2024 LIVE: Latest news and updates as Jude Bellingham faces possible ban over gesture
Follow all the latest news and updates after Jude Bellingham and Harry Kane spared England’s blushes in the last-16 win over Slovakia
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Uefa is to investigate England’s Jude Bellingham for potential indecent conduct after he was seen grabbing his crotch while looking at the crowd following a last-16 victory over Slovakia at Euro 2024.
England enjoyed the narrowest of lucky escapes to secure a 2-1 win, after a last-gasp bicycle kick by Bellingham took the match to extra time, before Harry Kane headed home the winner.
While Bellingham’s aggressive goal celebration was clearly an angry message to England fans, the crotch gesture was viewed by some spectators as an insult to Slovakia. Bellingham, however, said on social media that he was having a laugh with friends.
“An inside joke gesture towards some close friends who were at the game. Nothing but respect for how that Slovakia team played tonight,” he said.
England will face Switzerland in the quarter-finals after they knocked out defending champions Italy with a 2-0 win on Saturday.
Southgate has a number of questions to answer ahead of the quarter-final, and will face an anxious wait over the fitness of Kieran Trippier, who was contending with injury in the build up to the game, and was taken off in the 66th minute after a heavy challenge.
Follow all the latest updates and reaction after England’s last-16 fixture below.
Who will replace Marc Guehi in England’s defence?
Ezri Konsa’s extra-time substitute appearance against Slovakia may appear to position him as Guehi’s likely replacement, even if he came on at left-back as part of a series of desperate late-game reshuffles.
In 35 Premier League appearances in 2023-24, Konsa led Aston Villa with 62 interceptions and won 59 per cent of his 54 tackles. Guehi, by way of comparison, played 25 times and made just 18 interceptions and 28 tackles, though 68 per cent of those were successful.
Konsa’s 76 per cent success rate in duels was the highest of England’s centre-back options in Germany, as was his tally of 167 won, though he was marked by the Premier League with two errors leading to opposition goals.
Who will replace Marc Guehi in England’s defence?
England will be forced into at least one change for their Euro 2024 quarter-final as Marc Guehi’s suspension leaves Gareth Southgate to consider his defensive options.
Guehi, perhaps England’s stand-out player at the tournament so far, picked up a second booking of the tournament early in the last-16 clash with Slovakia.
Here, we wassess the contenders to take the Crystal Palace centre-back’s place against Switzerland...
England fans praised for behaviour in Germany
England fans have again been praised for their good behaviour as just four arrests were made in connection with the team’s Euro 2024 last-16 match against Slovakia in Gelsenkirchen.
The UK Football Policing Unit confirmed on Monday morning that three people were arrested for obstructing police and abusing stewards at Sunday’s match, while a fourth was detained for fighting in the stadium.
“No major issues were reported yesterday with continued good behaviour from the vast majority of England fans in Gelsenkirchen,” the UKFPU said in its statement.
England came from a goal down to beat Slovakia 2-1 and book their passage to the quarter-finals, where they will take on Switzerland in Dusseldorf on Saturday.
Luke Shaw ‘has a chance’ of featuring in Swiss game
England centre-back Guehi is suspended after collecting his second booking of the tournament, but Luke Shaw could be available having been out since February with a hamstring issue.
Southgate admitted England have “a little bit of problem with our balance without a left-footed left-back” but decided against bringing him on in Gelsenkirchen.
“I think that’s got a chance,” he added. “I mean, we could have put him on, but he’s done so little full team training that that would have been a huge risk.
“A bit more training, a little bit more evidence for us of the level that he’s at will be helpful.”
‘Outstanding’ Swiss present big tactical challenge, admits Southgate
Few understand that better than defender John Stones, who has gone from perennial Premier League champions Manchester City to his fifth major international tournament.
The 30-year-old defender said after the Slovakia win that England could “kind of take the handbrake off” after Sunday’s emotional win - comments that seemed to surprise Southgate.
“(Last night) was an example of cup football,” he said. “Sometimes cup football is about character, heart, the spirit.
“We didn’t defend well at the start and we didn’t play through their press, which was really well organised, and we struggled to break that first line of pressure.
“That wasn’t a handbrake. That was we had a problem that we couldn’t solve getting the ball into the second line of the pitch and there’s a big difference.
“I think the game against the Swiss will throw completely different tactical problems - just as difficult, just as complex and a different solution to solve.
“But we’ve got a few days to recover and that’s going to be important because the energy levels that were required, whether we’ve got any injuries, we need to assess.
“Obviously we lose Marc (Guehi) for the next game as well, so plenty for us to think about.”
‘Outstanding’ Swiss present big tactical challenge, admits Southgate
Young star Bellingham epitomised that spirit when acrobatically striking home in stoppage time to salvage England’s campaign before hitting back at those talking “rubbish” about them afterwards.
“He was 21 yesterday and he’s doing unbelievably well,” Southgate said. “I understand his world better than a lot of people, I think. His world is different to pretty much every other 21-year-old in the world.
“He’s had an incredible impact on his clubs, his national team already, but he’s still a young man and he is going to say things, react to things, in a way that young people will.
“But what he can provide us are these moments where he grabs things by the scruff of the neck and his character, and his personality creates moments that can change a big game.
“That’s what he has given to us again. Two hugely important goals for us in this tournament already. He’s a great boy, he’s super to work with, wants to do well.
“Also, I think he knows that we’re trying to help him through all of these challenges and hurdles that the different environment of the national team brings because it is a different environment.”
'Outstanding’ Swiss present big tactical challenge, admits Southgate
“You build on the spirit that they’ve shown, the belief that they’ll have gained from that,” Southgate said.
“Equally, we’re not naive. We’re going to play a team that have looked outstanding, not just in this tournament but for quite a while as well. That’s going to be a big tactical challenge for us.
“We know that the level of our game will need to be higher, but there was a spirit and there was a togetherness that has been building.
“We’ve had a lot of problems to solve through this whole lead into the camp, through the tournament.
“We’re putting a plaster over different things and giving young players opportunities. We’re somehow finding a way.
“I can imagine how everybody is going to react to that, even though we’ve won. But we’re still in there and the one thing that can’t be questioned is the desire, the commitment, the character.”
‘Outstanding’ Swiss present big tactical challenge, admits Southgate
Gareth Southgate knows stumbling but spirited England have to raise their game if they are to stand a chance of beating “outstanding” Switzerland in Saturday’s Euro 2024 quarter-final.
A trip to Dusseldorf awaits after Jude Bellingham came to the rescue with a 95th-minute overhead equaliser against wily Slovakia on Sunday before Harry Kane sealed a 2-1 extra-time win.
England were seconds away from their tournament coming to an end in humiliating fashion, only to squeak through to a fourth successive major quarter-final under Southgate.
The fighting spirit was as impressive as their overall performance was alarming in Gelsenkirchen, with far better needed from the Euro 2020 runners-up against the Swiss on Saturday.
Pickford hails England’s ‘golden boy'
But mindset can only take a team so far, with Southgate well aware their performance must go up a level against Switzerland if they are to progress to the Euros semi-finals.
The team 19th in FIFA’s world rankings finished as runners-up to hosts Germany in Group A and went on to knock out holders Italy 2-0 in the round of 16.
“Another tough opposition,” Pickford said. “Like I said at the start of the tournament, every game’s a tough game.
“The levels keep stepping up and we as England have got to step up again against another tough side, against Switzerland, with some top players.”
Asked if he has a message for fans, the England goalkeeper added: “Keep believing in us. We’ll go 100 per cent, give 100 per cent for the badge all the time, and we need them behind us because they’re a massive part of us.
“The atmosphere they create for us gives us an added edge.”
Swiss present huge tactical challenge, admits Southgate
Gareth Southgate knows stumbling but spirited England have to raise their game if they are to stand a chance of beating “outstanding” Switzerland in Saturday’s Euro 2024 quarter-final.
A trip to Dusseldorf awaits after Jude Bellingham came to the rescue with a 95th-minute overhead equaliser against wily Slovakia on Sunday before Harry Kane sealed a 2-1 extra-time win.
England were seconds away from their tournament coming to an end in humiliating fashion, only to squeak through to a fourth successive major quarter-final under Southgate.
The fighting spirit was as impressive as their overall performance was alarming in Gelsenkirchen, with far better needed from the Euro 2020 runners-up against the Swiss on Saturday.
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