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England’s newly crowned hero Ollie Watkins went straight to the bench after scoring in the 90th minute in their 2-1 win over the Netherlands in the Euro 2024 semi-final, fulfilling a promise to unused substitutes Dean Henderson and Lewis Dunk.
Watkins has played just 30 minutes in this tournament, coming on as a substitute in the 80th minute of Wednesday’s game, and he sympathised with the fact that the team’s third goalkeeper Henderson and centre-back Dunk had not yet been given a minute of playing time.
“I did promise Dino and Dunky that if I scored I would run over and celebrate with them,” Watkins said on Thursday when speaking on England’s inside show The Lion’s Den at the team’s training base in Blankenhayn.
“Sometimes you feel a little bit left out because you’re not making an impact on the pitch,” added the 28-year-old. “So I celebrated with them and obviously I’ve been through that on the bench as well and I just wanted to make everybody feel special. Yeah, it was nice for them all to jump on the pitch and be a part of it.”
Watkins proved to be something of a prophet for England, predicting that he and Cole Palmer, who also came on as a substitute in the 80th minute, would play a huge role in Dortmund’s crazy finale, with Palmer providing the pass for Watkins’ beautiful goal.
“We were playing together at halftime, passing the ball to each other, and then Watkins said to me we were going to go out there, I was going to assist him and he was going to score — and when that happened, we all went crazy,” said Palmer, who sat next to Watkins on Thursday’s show.
Palmer said the Aston Villa striker had been making perfect runs and producing brilliant shots in training camp for several weeks.
“When you step out on the field, you have to have that belief that you’re going to bring something to the team, bring some energy, and for me, when I got the ball, I knew I had to shoot it selfishly because I might not get another chance,” Watkins said.
Watch the celebrations in your hometown
For a while it looked like Watkins and Palmer would not feature in Wednesday’s game, both making their first major tournament appearances for England, as Bukayo Saka appeared to score England’s second goal. But VAR showed it was offside.
“Obviously it (the offside) was a blessing in a sense too, we had the chance to turn it around and (head coach Gareth Southgate) said, ‘Go ahead and get the win for us’. I think we did that,” Watkins said.
Watkins and Palmer were full of praise for Southgate, who was heavily criticised for his squad rigidity and lacklustre performances early in the tournament but has now become the first England men’s manager to reach two major tournament finals.
“He creates a spirit of togetherness among all the players and this was our first game and we could see how close the lads are to each other and how much time he puts into the lads to make us better and fit for the game,” Palmer said.
As the team celebrated in the dressing room and on the bus back to the hotel, they had already turned their attention to Sunday’s final against Spain.
“Obviously, this is a short turnaround, this is a huge change and it’s going to change our lives, our family’s lives and make everybody proud, so that’s what we’re trying to do,” Palmer said.
The players did take time to watch videos on social media of England fans celebrating their victory at home on Wednesday, with beer flying and fans dancing.
“Of course, everyone continues to support us. There is still one more game,” Watkins told the fans. “The support does not go unnoticed and all the boys have watched the video.”
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