England qualified for the knockout stages of Euro 2016 following their draw against Slovakia (0-0). But they give the first place in Wales. Slovakia, finish in third.
Qualified but frustrated. The English have dominated Slovakia throughout the evening, without scoring, having to be content with a draw (0-0) and get their ticket to the knockout stages. The draw has meant that they have finished in second place in Group B which could give them a challenging opponent in the next round.
It is the Welsh that crushed Russia 3-0 in the other match that seized the top spot of Group B. At least this time around, England didn’t suffer the same fate in Saint-Etienne as they did in the World cup of 1998, where they were eliminated. This is England’s 10th game without defeat in normal time since Euro 2004, which looks good for them, and could bode well for future games in this tournament.
They will now go on to play in Nice against the second place of group F on the 27th June. Slovakia finishing 3rd in the group, still keep their hopes alive although the road ahead for them will be harder.
As in the opening match, the Three Lions have done so many good things, except finding the back of the net. With six new players in the team, Roy Hodgson was taking a risk incorporating fresh blood in such a crucial match. During both the first and second halves, England was dominating, but could not find a way past the Slovakian defence, despite many attacks on goal.
Vardy and Sturridge did not have the same success that they did against Wales (2-1). And in the middle, Wilshere was not able to make it happen, Rooney finally coming on in the second half to try and shake it up.
Opposite, the Slovaks were therefore effective defensively. Nevertheless, they had a slight return to form at the start of the second half but failed to exploit terrible misunderstanding between the Hart and Smalling in the 53rd minute.
