'I swear on my life' - Ollie Watkins' stunning Cole Palmer prediction came true for England

Ollie Watkins has explained how he predicted that Chelsea star Cole Palmer would provide the assist for his winning goal for England.

Watkins scored the second and decisive goal for the Three Lions in the 2-1 victory over the Netherlands in the Euro 2024 semi-final. Xavi Simons had opened the scoring for the Netherlands before Harry Kane equalised from the penalty spot a few minutes later.

The match remained all square for the majority of the contest, with Bukayo Saka believing he had put England ahead only for his effort to be ruled out for offside. Watkins replaced Kane from the bench in the 81st minute and scored the winning goal for the Three Lions in stoppage time.

Watkins was one of five substitutions made by England boss Gareth Southgate. Palmer was another player introduced from the bench, with the Chelsea star replacing Phil Foden at the same time as Watkins' introduction.

Speaking after his historic moment for England, Watkins revealed what he and Palmer spoke about on the bench minutes before the winning goal. The Aston Villa striker explained how he predicted that Palmer would provide him with an assist for a goal before the duo entered the game.

"Unbelievable. I’ve been waiting for that moment for weeks," Watkins told ITV Sport. "It’s taken a lot of hard work to get to where I am now. I’m grateful I got the opportunity and I grabbed it with both hands and I’m delighted.

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"I swear on my life, on my kids’ lives, I said to Cole Palmer, ‘We’re coming on and you’re going to set me up’ and that’s why I was so happy with Coley [Palmer], I knew as soon as he got the ball he was going to play me.

"You’ve got to be greedy, touch and shoot and when I see it going into the bottom corner it’s the best feeling ever."

Watkins added: "There’s been a lot of criticism but at the end of the day we’re in the final and that’s all that matters. Forget all the outside noise, we’re in the final.

“We’ve got that kind of bounce-back factor, going a goal behind seems to kick us into gear. We never give up. We’ve won on penalties and come from behind. There’s one more game now – we’re ready."