The German referee who will take cost of England v Netherlands on Wednesday served a ban for match-fixing within the past. And he additionally has a historical past with Three Lions star Jude Bellingham.
By Tom Gillespie, News reporter @TomGillespie1
Gareth Southgate has stated he’s “not concerned about who the referee is” after it was confirmed the official for tomorrow’s night time semi-final clash served a six-month ban for match-fixing.
German referee Felix Zwayer additionally has a historical past with England star Jude Bellingham – with the midfielder criticising him after his then Borussia Dortmund staff misplaced 3-2 to Bayern Munich in December 2021.
Southgate gave a information convention alongside England captain Harry Kane as they put together to face the Netherlands in Dortmund tomorrow night time.
Asked about the selection of referee, the England boss stated: “I feel all people is aware of how I take care of referees. We have full respect for each referee.
“I feel there is a proper technique to conduct your self in the direction of officers. I feel it is crucial for the picture of the sport.
“So, no, I’m not concerned about who the referee is.”
Bellingham’s historical past with referee
One of the speaking factors of England’s event up to now has been the staff’s lack of steadiness as damage issues going through Luke Shaw imply the aspect haven’t had a pure left-back.
Newcastle defender Kieran Trippier, who is right-footed, has been occupying the place – however Shaw got here on as a late substitute throughout England’s quarter-final win over Switzerland on Saturday.
Asked if Shaw may begin in opposition to the Netherlands tomorrow, Southgate stated: “Luke has been injured for 4 months, it wasn’t a risk for him to play till the final match.
“He made a great contribution to the sport. So that is the choice we now have to make, whether or not he is prepared to start out, whether or not that is one of the simplest ways to make use of him.
“But, yeah, we’re very glad to have him again. He clearly offers us steadiness, a unique steadiness with the staff.”
Read extra:
Southgate says what followers assume of him is ‘irrelevant’
Pickford’s not-so-secret weapon
Toney exhibits off extra no-look skills
Fans go wild as England beat Switzerland
Southgate’s males, who had been criticised for some lacklustre performances on their path to the quarter-finals, go into the tie in opposition to the Netherlands after a much-improved exhibiting in opposition to a powerful Switzerland aspect on Saturday.
The Swiss went 1-0 up within the 75th minute earlier than a cultured strike from Bukayo Saka put England stage 5 minutes later.
The recreation went into extra-time earlier than England scored all 5 of their penalties to present themselves an opportunity of reaching the ultimate of the event for the second time in a row.
Asked about the criticism Southgate and the aspect confronted earlier than the quarter-final, Kane stated: “I feel through the years since Gareth has been right here and since I’ve been captain, we have dealt with that actually effectively and I feel this event has been no completely different.
“The expectation has possibly been just a little bit completely different from the beginning and possibly the noise has been a bit louder however I feel we have all dealt with that actually effectively and a few gamers will use it as motivation.
“Some players will block it out and ultimately it’s just down to what we want to achieve and we have a really close togetherness, not just players but staff as well and we’ve all been in the same direction for a while now and that’s all we are thinking about.”
England must overcome a powerful Netherlands aspect in an effort to attain the ultimate on Sunday – with the Dutch exhibiting resilience to return from behind to beat Turkey 2-1 of their quarter-final clash in Berlin over the weekend.
The winner of England and the Netherlands will play both Spain or France within the closing.
The Netherlands’ journey plans for the semi-final had been thrown into disarray on Tuesday after their practice to Dortmund was cancelled.
Dutch supervisor Ronald Koeman and his aspect had been because of journey by practice from their base camp in Wolfsburg on Tuesday night, in time for his or her pre-match media duties at Signal Iduna Park.
Instead, they had been knowledgeable by Deutsche Bahn, who run the German rail community, that their journey had been cancelled after a technical concern on one other practice induced chaos on the road.