England’s stand-in captain, Gary Cahill, was left disappointed after Slovakia forced a 0-0 draw. Their inability to find the scoring edge against Slovakia made them finish 2nd behind Wales.
Despite enjoying significant possession over the two halves, England was unable to net a goal even after a score of chances was created. Defensively, England showed class but were not troubled much by Slovakia’s nowhere-to be-seen attack. The balls which came to them were comfortably dealt with by Gary Cahill and Chris Smalling. However, Gary Cahill’s appearance seemed to be cut short by a hip-injury scare in the starting quarter of the game, but after a little break he came back on the pitch and played for the full 90 minutes.
Defensively solid, Cahill has managed 86.5% passing accuracy with an average 4.3 aerials won over the course of 270 minutes played in this year’s EURO.
It is a positive for Roy Hodgson, as his defense showed resilience despite being troubled rarely against Slovakia. Also, the in-form duo of Cahill and Smalling allows Hodgson to be least worried about his defense.
The Chelsea man is desperate to show his class after a disappointing season with Chelsea. With his performances he is giving Conte every reason to keep him at Stamford Bridge next season.
