Horror in 60 minutes: Inside England’s calamitous Nations League meltdown [Photos]

England suffered yet another semi-final heartache after being beaten by The Netherlands [Courtesy]

It never gets any easier watching England.

This time, they threw it away in the most ridiculous fashion with a comedy of defensive errors to gift Holland victory and expose England’s naivety at the top level.

It was humiliating, a lame surrender as Gareth Southgate’s men fell apart seemingly unable to cope when it comes to pressure situations.

They were architects of their own downfall as it was their own mistakes which ultimately gifted Holland victory to leave England’s fans enduring yet another hard-luck story.

John Stones’ mistake in extra time led to Holland’s all-important second goal before Ross Barkley’s kamikaze back pass compounded the agonising defeat.

England’s players sank to their knees at the end with the travelling fans largely having left in despair while there was a smattering of boos from those who remained for the final whistle.

You do wonder whether England will ever learn from their mistake and be able to compete because this was a glorious chance of winning silverware just thrown away.

The Nations League could have been a stepping stone and it was all there for England because they took the lead through Marcus Rashford’s first-half penalty and yet allowed the game to just slip away.

They can point to the disappointment of Jesse Lingard having a goal ruled out by VAR when it must have been the England substitute’s little toe which was offside.

But there can still be no excuses for the way they capitulated in extra time in what seemed such a familiar theme from last year’s World Cup semi-final.

They went ahead against Croatia in Russia, let the game slip away from them and then lost their heads in extra time.

They are supposed to be learning from their mistakes, improving along the way and yet the worry for Southgate is that the painful lessons of defeat are not being heeded.

England did not start with any of the players who played in the Champions League final which must be seen as a gamble by Southgate and also a reason for defeat.

But equally, the others just did not show enough strength or maturity and, for all the young promise in the squad, they are still found wanting at the top level.

Holland have made great strides under Ronald Koeman and they have clearly overtaken England with Southgate’s ambition to be among the world’s elite looking like faith horribly misplaced.

They have promise as Rashford put them ahead after 31 minutes, showing nerves of steel to convert a penalty having been brought down by Dutch defender Matthijs De Ligt.

Marcus Rashford (left) opened the scoring for England from the spot [Courtesy]                                                                          

But Rashford went off injured at half time, was replaced by Harry Kane and yet England lost their grip on the game as Jadon Sancho wasted a brilliant headed chance to put Southgate’s men 2-0 up.

From there. Holland’s pressure grew until De Ligt made amends for his first-half mistake as he got between Kyle Walker and Stones to head home a 73rd minute equaliser.

De Ligt towers to nod home the leveller [Courtesy]                                                                                                                              

 

De Ligt celebrates his leveller [Courtesy]                                                                                                                                                

Ten minutes later, Lingard thought he had won it for England when he went through, put the ball in the net only for VAR to rule he was offside.

  Lingard's goal was disallowed by a VAR decision [Courtesy]                                                                                                         

The game became scrappy but England’s failure to put their foot on the ball and show an authority allowed Holland’s class in midfield to take charge as man of the match Frenkie De Jong ran the game.

But as the game went into extra time, England fell apart. The second goal will forever haunt England as Stones was caught horribly in possession, dawdling on his own box.

In the first half of extra time, John Stones slipped after taking too much time on the ball [Courtesy]                                         

Memphis Depay’s shot was initially saved by Jordan Pickford only for Quincy Promes to follow in for the rebound and the ball went in off Walker to put Holland ahead after 97 minutes.

Memphis Depay’s shot was initially saved by Jordan Pickford only for Quincy Promes to follow [Courtesy]                             

Then as England chased the game they became more ragged. Stones’ pass put Barkley under pressure and his clumsy back pass played in Depay who set up Promes for another goal.

Stones’ pass put Barkley under pressure and his clumsy back pass played in Depay                                                                     

It was cruel, heartbreaking and leaves England wondering if they will ever fulfil their potential at the top level.