England's half-time ratings such as Kane's penalty scores against the Netherlands

England have been handed a first-half start in their Euro 2024 semi-final against the Netherlands after receiving a soft VAR penalty.

A speculative effort from Xavi Simons put the Dutch ahead early on when the midfielder won Declan Rice high up the pitch and drove towards goal.

But Harry Kane was gifted a chance to equalize from 12 yards a few minutes later when he made contact with Denzel Dumfries' shield as he shot into the box. A VAR review advised referee Felix Zwayer to look again and he surprisingly pointed to the spot.

England were on the tail after that and it was the best half of football played by Gareth Soutgate's side in the tournament. When time came, they could have been ahead, with Phil Foden leading the way – the FWA Footballer of the Year had made a goal-line stand, and another hit the far post.

But Dumfries struck again for the Netherlands in a corner, insisting there was still a threat.

GK: Jordan Pickford – 4/10 – The shot from Simons, although hit hard, was close.

CB: Kyle Walker – 7/10 – I should have done more to block Simons at that point to prevent the gun from being taken in the first place. He played an important role in the football that kept England at the top.

CB: John Stones – 6/10 – It is protected from any kind of direct threat to the institution.

CB: Marc Guehi – 6/10 – He is understandably not as lucky as Walker at the other end of the back three but he is flawless with his passing.

RM: Bukayo Saka – 6/10 – He's not as involved as the likes of Bellingham or Foden but it was his run inside to block a shot that led to Kane winning a penalty.

CM: Declan Rice – 4/10 – He was weak in his competition with Simons when he lost the ball which led to England falling behind in the early stages.

CM: Kobbie Mainoo – 8/10 – He seemed to really flourish linking up with the number 10 two finding space in the pockets ahead of him.

LM: Kieran Trippier – 7/10 – He deliberately took a really high position which seemed to block the Dumfries attack.

AM: Phil Foden – 9/10 – Easily his best 45 minutes of the summer. He had one effort stand on the line after dancing through the Defense defense and later hit the post.

AM: Jude Bellingham – 8/10 – When they started 1-0, England were a different beast.

ST: Harry Kane – 7/10 – He didn't deserve a penalty in contact with Dumfries, not the other way around, but he converted it with such confidence.

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