It was the early afternoon after the night before and Düsseldorf’s Altstadt had returned to something like normality. The streets were largely clear, there were brass bands parping in the square, and sitting quietly and heavy-lidded in the restaurants were the remnants of England’s travelling army.
After England’s nerveless victory over Switzerland, during the penalty shootout at least, the Three Lions have gone back to their base in Blankenhain to prepare for Wednesday’s semi-final against the Netherlands. For many of the supporters, meanwhile, tens of thousands of whom were in the city for the game, their tournament is over. The airport was calling, but with a few extra memories tucked inside the hand luggage.
“It was an unbelievable experience,” said Callum from Lincoln, his voice hoarse from Saturday’s celebrations. “It’s my first time at a tournament and the atmosphere has been so good. Everything before the game, the buildup, all the flags – it was great. But the penalties were weird. It was nothing like watching it on TV at all. I just wasn’t nervous – I knew they were going to do it.”
Phil Campbell and his friends had travelled from Nottingham for the game and recalled the “bedlam” and “carnage” that followed Bukayo Saka’s thrilling strike that drew England back into the match with 10 minutes remaining. “At one point my resting heart rate was 150,” Campbell said. “Watching the game, seeing England win on penalties, it was a bucket-list thing. There’s lots of people at home jealous of us being out here. I think tickets were going for £400 before the match but we wouldn’t have sold them for anything.”
Switzerland had been on top in the second half and had looked like progressing after Breel Embolo scored a tap-in on the 75th minute, but Saka had other ideas. The Arsenal star was named the man of the match and, on top of his inch-perfect goal, calmly scored his penalty, three years after becoming a target of racist abuse over his miss in the Euro 2020 final.
“I was happy to be able to see England win on penalties, and I was especially happy for Saka because of all the abuse he got in 2021,” said George from Bedfordshire, who had travelled out with his brother and father after completing his GCSE chemistry mock exam on the Friday afternoon. “We scored five out of five, you can’t complain about that.”
Nearly 17 million people watched England’s victory on the BBC One and the team have reached three semi-finals in four tournaments under Southgate, a record no England manager can match. After the match Southgate spoke of the “hurt” he had felt over the abuse he has received from some sections of the England support, with beer cups thrown at him after the group stage draw against Slovenia. Opinions on the manager remain divided among the travelling fans, but even those who dislike his approach seem willing to acknowledge his success.
“Southgate did us proud in 2018 and ’21 but the World Cup I felt was a bit of a stretch,” said Campbell. “He’s done enough now that if he does leave he’ll be given a fair crack of the whip. It’s time for him to move on, our play has been turgid, but every England fan would rather win by playing turgid than play well and lose.”
“I’ve been harsh about Southgate at times – we don’t put the ball in the box enough for me,” said Callum. “But it’s hard to argue against three semi-finals and this game was an improvement on the ones before. I accept that it’s tournament football, it’s hard to get right and there’s a lot of pressure.”
As for the teenaged George, he was more positive. “You can’t be too harsh about Southgate and if we lose to the Netherlands playing well you can’t fault him,” he said. “Our biggest problem now will be getting past the Netherlands defence. But I’d rather face them than Turkey because [Turkey] have been so unpredictable. I think we’ll win. Spain or France in the final will be a very different challenge, but we could go all the way.”
At this point, as they began to make their way to the U-bahn, George’s father spoke up. “Whatever happens we’ve had some memories to last us a lifetime,” he said. “Especially for a dad travelling with his two sons.”
