Aston Villa fans will be proud of Ezri Konsa after he put in a brilliant performance to help England beat Switzerland on penalties in the quarter-finals of Euro 2024.
The Aston Villa centre-back was handed his first start of Euro 2024 and his first major tournament start after Marc Guehi had to miss out through suspension.
It’s hard enough to play in these big-pressure games, but given that Ezri Konsa has only come off the bench once this tournament, then it’s not exactly like he is match-sharp.
But you didn’t feel it was that way as he produced a defensive masterclass against a strong Switzerland side.
One of the strongest aspects of the Swiss team is the fact that they work better as a team than most, have a hard-hitting midfield and a very dangerous attack, including Breel Embolo and Dan Ndoye.
Yes, England and Konsa were unfortunate that Embolo’s goal was deflected into the path of the Swiss star to open the scoring, but for most parts, a lot of dangerous attacks were sniffed out by the Villa man himself.
There will be some who will argue that Konsa was his side’s best player in the first half, with Arsenal’s Bukayo Saka, who netted the equaliser and scored his penalty, was awarded the Man of the Match.
But during one period of the game, Konsa let Embolo know what he is all about and Gareth Southgate was applauding on the touchline, according to BBC Sport reporter Alex Howell.
It has been a long time coming, but Konsa is deserving the plaudits he is getting right now and a certain Unai Emery will be very proud.
Gareth Southgate applauds Ezri Konsa
“Gareth Southgate stands and claps Ezri Konsa after he wins a free kick after a physical battle with Embolo,” wrote the BBC news reporter.
“Konsa has been good in the backline today and has dealt with everything so far.”
What took Gareth Southgate so long?
For years and years, Southgate looked towards Villa Park and regularly picked Tyrone Mings for England squads, and rightly so.
But how he didn’t see the performances of Konsa season in and season out is baffling.
Plus, it’s not like England were blessed in the centre-back department like they are at right-back, in fact, they pretty much needed players for that role.
But it took Aston Villa getting to the Champions League to realise what Konsa is all about and now the footballing world is beginning to appreciate him.
