England manager Gareth Southgate said that he felt Ivan Toney was “disgusted” after bringing the Brentford striker on during injury time in the Three Lions’ dramatic 2-1 win over Slovakia. Having been outfought for the majority of the match, it seemed as though Southgate’s men would be crashing out of Euro 2024 after a dismal display.
With time running out, Southgate turned to Toney in a last-ditch attempt to change the country’s fortunes. After being crucial during the dramatic turnaround, the England manager revealed at full-time in no uncertain terms how the 28-year-old felt about his late introduction.
Southgate says Toney was ‘disgusted’
Late appearance marked Toney’s major tournament debut
Speaking to ITV at the end of the game, Southgate revealed that Toney was left unhappy with his late introduction, citing that it limited his ability to impact the game. The England boss stated:
“There’s no question that I think Ivan Toney was pretty disgusted when I put him on with a minute to go. I think we’ve made up now. But he’s had a big impact on the second goal as well.
“If you put a sub on at that time, it’s the last throw of the dice. He maybe doesn’t even touch the ball. I completely understand it. I don’t like putting a player in that position. But, we just had a feeling that he might be able to cause a bit of chaos and that happened.”
Despite not having long to make an impact, the striker ensured that he left his mark on proceedings. Toney was in the thick of the action for the long throw that eventually led to Jude Bellingham’s sensational overhead kick to send the game to extra-time.
This was followed by Harry Kane’s winner a minute into extra time. Once again, Toney was crucial to the goal, flicking a wayward Eberechi Eze volley back towards the six-yard-box, allowing his captain to head home from close range.
It was Toney’s first involvement in the tournament, having been left on the bench throughout the group stage. His influence on Sunday evening emphasises the importance of players being ready to change the game whenever they are called upon, something that Southgate had reiterated in the build up to kick-off.
Toney’s Pre-Match Discussion With Kane
Strikers had discussion ahead of kick-off
Toney himself also spoke to the media at full-time and revealed that the assist that he provided for Kane’s late winner was one that the pair had discussed prior to the last-16 tie. He stated:”Obviously I didn’t play for the first three games. You have to be ready, you don’t know when your chance is going to come.
“I was in the right place at the right time to flick it back post where H [Harry Kane] was. We literally spoke about it just before the game kicked off. He put it in the back of the next.”
Toney was also involved in calming tensions between the two sides at full-time. The forward was seen dragging teammate Declan Rice away from a confrontation with a member of the Slovakian backroom staff who had grabbed the midfielder around the throat.