Voodoo Jack casts his spell to make the difference for England


He made things happen, including the all-important goal, and so may have earned his place for the last-16 tie

With 67 minutes gone at Wembley, with the game starting to sag a little and stretch towards its slightly fretful end notes, Jack Grealish could be seen walking slowly, steeped in a sudden fug of melancholy, towards the far touchline. It was a walk with a touch of theatre, a degree of flounce.

It would be wrong to read too much into it. Grealish flounces when he’s happy. He had, earlier, flounced all over the opening 20 minutes of this game, creating the opening goal and, together with the hugely impressive Bukayo Saka, reworking not just the trajectory, but the basic sense of joy and possibilities around this rather gaunt and mannered England team.

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Related: Bukayo Saka’s versatility has Czechs flailing and England flying | Jonathan Liew

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