A second-string England beat Germany at a major tournament. Germany. History isn’t littered with examples of that.
But here we are with this Under-21 team. Wingers playing central midfield, a goalkeeper racing to chest down high balls 40 yards away from his area when under pressure.
A stylish outfit, even with the majority of Lee Carsley’s big hitters starting on the bench for a game of little consequence.
England were already through, had already topped this European Championship group and booked a quarter-final with Portugal on Sunday. The only thing riding on it was whether they could send Germany home.
That, it transpires, was never in doubt on a night they again displayed a suave, playing within themselves by the end.
Cameron Archer had them ahead after four minutes, guiding past Noah Atubolu from an incisive Jacob Ramsey’s pass and they never looked back.
England might have added three more by the time Harvey Elliott collected James Trafford’s throw inside the central circle and, with a mild similarity to Michael Owen in 1998, drove and clipped into the far corner as defenders furiously backpedalled. Truly outstanding individual work midway through the first half.
Germany created chances, Trafford producing one sprawling stop to thwart Kevin Schade’s header, yet this felt frighteningly comfortable. England were even squabbling between themselves for not being out of sight at one point.
Carsley had handed seven tournament debuts out in eight changes. By and large, you would not have noticed and that speaks to the depth within this squad. Cole Palmer, normally a forward, looked at home in a deeper central midfield role, picking possession off the back four next to Oliver Skipp.
It has been a fascinating group stage to watch and not just because they have chalked up three victories without conceding a goal. Blurs of movement have overpowered opponents in specific moments and Carsley will need more of that in Kutaisi at the weekend.
Portugal, spearheaded by Valencia’s Andre Almeida, are significantly more technical than anyone England have faced so far and should have more tools to combat a team so in sync with each other.
Sadly, the FA have yet to field any bids from broadcasters back home and fans are stuck streaming on UEFA’s website instead. Surely that has to change as performances become more complete and the knockouts begin.
