89:57. That's the time on the clock when Ollie Watkins takes his first touch inside the Dutch penalty box in this tense Euro 2024 semifinal between England and the Netherlands. A few seconds earlier, Declan Rice had pinged it forward, too hard for Kobbie Mainoo to trap comfortably, but the ball had bounced out to Cole Palmer. The moment the Chelsea man got the ball, Watkins had set off, dragging Stefan de Vrij with him. And Palmer had played a neat, simple ball to him. With the ball at his feet, he is now squaring the centre-back up, but de Vrij's experience is coming to the fore here. Holding his ground, he marshals Watkins to a much tighter angle than the England striker would have liked.
Watkins had been cooling his heels on the bench until eight minutes before this moment. Decidedly second choice at the start of the tournament, behind captain and talisman Harry Kane, he'd dropped to third choice after Ivan Toney's heroics in England's first knockout game against Slovakia.
A little forgotten amidst all the inaction was that coming into the Euros, he had probably been the most in-form English attacker. Revitalised as a goalscoring centre-forward under Unai Emery - who had asked him to stop running the channels (in the diagonal manner he used to, from the middle to the wings) and instead asked him to focus on staying within the confines of the penalty box a la Edinson Cavani and Carlos Bacca --Watkins came to Germany on the back of 27 goals and 13 assists across all competitions for Aston Villa. His pace, combined with new-found directness, had wreaked havoc all season long in the Premier League, but Gareth Southgate hadn't been convinced with a 20-minute cameo against Denmark in the group stages... and firmly on the bench he was stuck.
89:58. By now de Vrij is fully satisfied with what he has done. Dragging Watkins into an angle so acute the xG for a shot from there is 0.06. But this version of Watkins is pure instinct and goalscoring menace. The first touch he took one second previously has perfectly set it up for him to turn on the spot and hit the ball, and that's what he does. In one fluid motion he turns and smashes it low and hard, straight through de Vrij's legs...
England had been much the better side in the opening half, especially after Xavi Simons stunning opener, and as controversial as the Harry Kane penalty had been, it would have been hard to argue they weren't the better side. The second half had descended to an attritional farce by the time Watkins had been subbed on, along with Palmer. The Netherlands tried but simply weren't good enough to lay a glove on England and the English on their part seemed content to sit on the 1-1.
Which is when Southgate made the most un-Southgate of substation calls... for he brought the duo on for Harry Kane (pretty anonymous apart from the penalty) and Phil Foden. It was a big call, especially considering the more imposing presence of Toney available, but it was one that Watkins had predicted at half-time. "Unbelievable, I've been waiting for that moment for weeks. I swear on my kids' lives that I told Cole [Palmer], 'we are going to come on today, and you are going to set me up'," Watkins would say after the match.
89:59 and the net is rippling. Bart Verbuggen has put in a dive, but the shot is too inch perfect. Nailed into the inside of the side netting on the far post. 2-1 England with a second to go in the ninety. Cue absolute bedlam.
Before this match, Watkins had just made 13 appearances for England, spread out over three years, scoring three goals. Now, his fourth is one of the most important in recent English footballing history.
Instant impact in the semi-finals ⚽️
Ollie Watkins ��@Vivo_GLOBAL | #EUROPOTM pic.twitter.com/eFeH78pKj3
- UEFA EURO 2024 (@EURO2024) July 10, 2024
Watkins would say in the post-match presser, "The goal, that's my bread and butter, running in behind and causing the defence trouble. You don't get the opportunity very often, so I had to be greedy, I had to take it." Before adding, "I don't think I've hit a ball that sweet before."
It's been a long time coming for Watkins. Having started his professional career ten years ago at League Two side Exeter, it's been a long and at times painful climb to the top of the pyramid -- via Weston-super-mare (non-league) and Brentford -- but now, aged 28, he's lived out the kind of childhood dream every young footballer has. With one swoosh of his right boot, he's put his country into a major tournament final.
And for that, Oliver 'Ollie' Watkins takes our Moment of the Day from Day 21 of Euro 2024.