England Clinches Slim Win in Euro 2024 Opener
England’s Euro 2024 journey kicked off with a narrow 1-0 win over Serbia, putting us at the top of Group C. Jude Bellingham was the hero of the hour, nodding us ahead in just the 13th minute, thanks to a lucky deflection from Bukayo Saka.
The first half had us on the edge of our seats. Kyle Walker nearly made it two with a daring dash into the box, but his attempt zipped wide, missing both Phil Foden and Harry Kane. We were riding high, but boy, did things get twitchy towards the break.
Post-halftime, the tables turned. Serbia turned up the heat, and we kinda lost our rhythm. There was a shout for a penalty from Aleksandar Mitrovic, but it was a no-go from the ref. Subs Dusan Tadic and Luka Jovic nearly put one past us as they hunted for an equalizer, and Gareth Southgate held off on making any switches until it nearly cost us.
When Southgate finally did shuffle the pack, Jarrod Bowen almost made an immediate impact, serving up a cross that Harry Kane headed towards goal, only for Serbia’s keeper, Predrag Rajkovic, to make a stunning save.
The pressure didn’t let up. Jordan Pickford had to be on his toes, tipping over a fierce shot from Dusan Vlahovic. And as the clock ticked down, we were all begging for that final whistle. Hanging by a thread, but we made it through!
With Slovenia and Denmark drawing earlier, we’re in a sweet spot for advancing to the knockouts. But if we want to go far, we’ll need to bring our first-half magic, not the jittery play we slipped into later on.
