Later on Wednesday evening at Wembley Stadium, the European Championship semi-finals between England and Denmark, it is 1-1.

In the middle of the second half, England coach Gareth Southgate senses that his team needs fresh impetus in attack, so he calls Jack Grealish over.

The 25-year-old is only a substitute in the English squad, but the fans love him.

Cheers swept across the stadium as they realize Grealish is coming on.

With a deafening roar from the stands, he runs into the square. It will be a short outing for the crowd favorite. Because when England took the lead in extra time, Southgate Grealish immediately switched back to replace Kieran Trippier - an additional defender. It's a tactical move, Grealish has done nothing wrong.

Had it gone wrong, fans and media in England would have blamed Southgate.

But the coach was right, England are in the European Championship final.

After the final whistle against Denmark, Southgate cheered with the fans with an uncharacteristic exuberance: he clenched his fists in their direction, shouted his relief and sang "Sweet Caroline" by Neil Diamond with the players.

It was a considerable outburst of emotion for a man whom the Guardian recently likened to an "assistant principal" and described as a "wise uncle of the nation".

Better safe than sorry

Southgate has led England back to a European or World Cup final for the first time since winning the 1966 World Cup. "Thirty years of hurt" was sung by the English in 1996 in the famous "Three Lions" song. This has now turned into 55 years in which England did not win any more titles. This Sunday (9 p.m. in the FAZ live ticker for the European Football Championship, on ZDF and MagentaTV) it could be over, and Southgate would suddenly become the most important English national coach since world champion Sir Alf Ramsey.

The 50-year-old, who had already led England to the semi-finals at the 2018 World Cup, was criticized during the tournament. He was tactically limited, it was said, he lacks the courage to tickle the full potential of the squad, which is made up of top players, especially on the offensive. In fact, Southgate is more defensive on the team: But their preferred 4-2-3-1 system with a back four and two defensive midfielders has proven itself.

Better safe than sorry

- it's

safe to say

- not everyone shares this view. When the line-ups for England's first group game against Croatia were published, the hashtag “southgateout” was trending on Twitter.

Anyone who listens to Southgate in interviews can hardly imagine how he makes the players in the dressing room hot for a game.

He speaks calmly and deliberately, smiles mildly and answers in detail, alternately looking at the floor and at the questioner.

Always serious, always personable.

Trippier gave a glimpse of Southgate's team speech before extra time after defeating Denmark.

"Be patient," Southgate advised them, "your chance will come."

The mood in the English EM camp is consistently described as relaxed.

This week, photos made the rounds of the professionals in the pool squeaking happily on inflatable unicorns.

The coach proved in September last year that he can do other things.

Debutants Phil Foden and Mason Greenwood had secretly met with two women at the hotel in Reykjavík after the Nations League game against Iceland, despite the Covid 19 restrictions.

Southgate sent her back to England before the next game.

He was “more than disappointed,” he said: “Trust must be rebuilt.” Today, Foden is part of the EM squad.

Regarding the substitution and replacement of Grealish against Denmark, Southgate said that he only wanted to counteract a Danish final offensive.

"We made the decision, and it wasn't an easy one, but Jack got it," said Southgate.

"I don't mind, boss," Grealish said to him later.

"We're in the final."