England took on Netherlands in the Euro 2024 semi-final. The three lions defeated the Dutch side by 2-1, thanks to the last minute winner by Ollie Watkins. Gareth Southgate’s side will be heading to consecutive Euro finals. England will face Spain in final on Sunday. The three lions are just one win away from winning the major tournament for the first time since 1966. In the match against Netherlands, one of the many players who stood out was Kobbie Mainoo. Gary Lineker and Micah Richards were impressed by the performance Mainoo put against the Dutch side.
England took on Netherlands in the semifinal of Euro 2024. The Gareth Southgate’s side started the game on a bitter side as they conceded a goal in just 7 minutes. Xavi Simmons dispossessed Declan Rice and hit the ball superbly from outside of England’s penalty box. Jordon Pickford was unable to keep the ball out giving the Dutch lead. In 18th minute, England was awarded penalty for the foul committed by Denzel Dumfries on Harry Kane. The England skipper made no mistake and equalized for the Three Lions. Later, the final goal of the game came in 90th minute when Southgate’s substitutes created magic. Ollie Watkins received ball from Cole Palmer in Dutch penalty area. Watkins’s first touch was amazing and his finish was superb.
Lineker and Richards praising Mainoo
In The Rest is Football podcast, Gary Lineker and Micah Richards took time to speak about the game. Kobbie Mainoo was one of the most important topic in their discussion. To start with, Lineker said ‘goodness me, what a footballer’. Following that statement, Richards said that Mainoo is actually mind blowing. The former Man City full back added that he has been impressed with Mainoo ever since he made his Premier League debut for Manchester United. Richards said that Mainoo is so elegant on the ball, he can drop his shoulders, he can drop forward and on top of it all Richards thinks that Mainoo is extremely calm. Despite being only 19 years old, Richards thinks Mainoo plays like 35 year old veteran of the game. To conclude, Micah said that Mainoo has been the spark that the England national team needed.
“He’s incredible. We talked about Lamine Yamal. Obviously, he is unbelievably talented in a different way. Mainoo is incredibly impressive, and he’s also a teenager” – Gary Lineker about Kobbie Mainoo.
Lineker added that Euro 2024 has been full of emerging stars. To conclude, Lineker said that Mainoo can cope with a cup final as he has already played and scored a goal in FA Cup final against Manchester City. Micah Richards took the spotlight once again and said Mainoo believes in his own quality. Former City full back says that the 19 year old midfielder is always calm in interviews but is always filled with confidence.
Mainoo’s youth stage coach about Mainoo’s early days
Kobbie Mainoo was at Grassroots club when he was five years old. The volunteer coach at the club Steve Vare immediately knew that the kid was special and decided to level him up with different challenges. Vare said that Mainoo was dominating games ever since his arrival and was full of energy running from one end to another. The volunteer coach added that they needed to find ways to challenge Mainoo such as only scoring with left foot or only passing to teammates.
Mainoo always came on top of the challenges and used to win trophies every week. To conclude, Steve Vare said that Mainoo was ready to go into a professional setup at the age of five. United’s future is surely in the safe hands.
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