Gareth Southgate explained his decision to take off substitute Jack Grealish was a defensive one during England’s 2-1 victory over Denmark.
The Three Lions booked a place in their first major tournament final in 55 years after they came back from a goal down to beat Denmark in extra-time.
Grealish was only introduced in the second half of the match with 20 minutes of normal time but was then hooked in extra-time after Harry Kane scored England’s winning goal.
“Jack had a brilliant influence on the game,” Southgate explained. “Raheem [Sterling] was such a threat that it was either going to be Phil [Foden] or Jack to get the solidity without the ball.
“We still needed to get that pressure up the pitch. We sank a little bit too deep for five minutes or so. “We just needed to keep the ball and it took us five minutes to work that out. When we started to keep it, we were running the clock down with a lot less anxiety.”
Southgate insisted the call was not an easy one for him and revealed Grealish was not upset with the substitution.
“Raheem was causing so many problems all night it had to be Phil or Jack coming off, it was not an easy decision,” Southgate said. “They’ve found ways to win matches in whatever circumstances they’re in,” he continued.
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“Leading from the front, going behind, extra time, penalties, they’ve found those solutions. I felt we were dominating in the last half hour of normal time. Extra time we had more legs and energy.”
The England manager also confirmed the substitution had nothing to do with a possible injury to Grealish ahead of the final with Italy on Sunday.
“At the moment it seems everybody come through the game OK in terms of injury,” Southgate said. “Not sure this is the best moment to assess everything, but they’re not reporting anything.”
