Aston Villa defender Ezri Konsa came on as an extra-time substitute as England claimed a narrow 2-1 win over Slovakia at Euro 2024 on Sunday.
Gareth Southgate should count himself lucky because England were abject once again and they were very fortunate to progress to the quarter-final stages.
Before the game, there was talk of what changes Southgate would make, with Kobbie Mainoo coming into the starting XI for Conor Gallager and there were also suggestions Aston Villa’s star defender could start at left-back.
That was because of a potential injury issue to Kieran Trippier, who did start, but was forced off in the second half and Cole Palmer came on, with Arsenal’s Bukayo Saka moving to fullback.
Ezri Konsa got his chance in extra-time when he came on for Jude Bellingham and Southgate reverted to five at the back.
This was the Aston Villa star’s tournament debut and his first taste of this summer’s Euros, which in truth, haven’t been great for the nation and the belief that they can win it all is pretty low.
Either way, it was still a great moment for Konsa and he expressed his delight on Instagram.
The 26-year-old, who helped Unai Emery’s side to Champions League football, stated that it’s ‘a dream to make my tournament debut’.
In the comments section of Konsa’s IG post, he was lauded and applauded by several of his club teammates, including from ex-Villa striker, Tammy Abraham.
Ezri Konsa makes Euro 2024 debut as England beat Slovakia
Jacob Ramsey wrote: ‘My boy. Congrats’, Morgan Rogers added ‘So happy for you’, with Leon Bailey sending heart emojis.
Matty Cash applauded his fellow right-back and Tommi O’Reilly told him that it’s ‘deserved’, as Tammy Abraham stated ‘That’s it’, added with a heart emoji.
Ezri Konsa to start for England against Switzerland?
Since making his England debut, Konsa has mainly been deployed in the fullback roles by his international manager.
But he could now be used as a centre-back against Switzerland in a huge quarter-final clash on Saturday.
Marc Guehi is suspended and Trippier went off injured. That leaves two places up for grabs in the backline and you expect Konsa to take one of those for the next game.
You hope it is at centre-back because it’s what he does best and he shouldn’t have any issue dealing with the threat of Swiss’s forward line.
The post Tammy Abraham & several Aston Villa players react as Ezri Konsa makes Euro 2024 debut appeared first on Aston Villa News.
