England secured a brilliant 2-1 win over Belgium in the UEFA Nations League on Sunday night.The Three Lions came into the game at Wembley Stadium as distinctive underdogs having struggled against Iceland and Denmark in their previous two games in the competition.That's not to mention the fact that Belgium are ranked by FIFA as the best team in the world and secured two World Cup victories over England at the 2018 tournament alone.
England 2-1 Belgium
Gareth Southgate's men looked to have their backs against the wall early on, too, with the Red Devils coming a linesman's flag away from opening the scoring through Yannick Carrasco.
But there was refereeing intervention of a crueller kind just minutes later as Eric Dier felled Romelu Lukaku to concede a penalty, which the fouled player duly converted with aplomb.
However, fast-forward to the second-half and England completed the turnaround with Mason Mount benefitting from a deflection off Toby Alderweireld's leg to put the hosts 2-1 up.
England's first-half penalty
That's all well and good, but how did England go from having their defence pummelled minute after minute to scoring the goal that saw them overtake Belgium in their UEFA Nations League group?
Well, it revolves around the fact England bagged themselves a penalty of their own to ensure the scores were level going into the half-time break.
Although plenty of supporters will unabashedly opine that England were rightfully given a spot kick, let's just say that the incident involving Jordan Henderson wasn't exactly a stone-waller.
The offending party was Thomas Meunier who clearly had his hand on the Liverpool captain as he made a run towards the six-yard box but, yeh ermmm, the reaction was somewhat dramatic.
Meunier mocks Henderson
Nevertheless, the referee deemed it sufficient to award a penalty and Marcus Rashford extended his incredible week after earning an MBE by converting past Simon Mignolet from 12 yards.
Case closed then, right? Well, not exactly, because it's clear that Meunier was still feeling aggrieved about the decision that earned him a yellow card as he consulted Henderson at full-time.
But alas, the Borussia Dortmund man didn't just have a friendly chat with his England adversary, he literally reenacted the incident and then proceeded to mock how Henderson went to ground.
You can check out the amusing clip down below:
GIVEMESPORT's Kobe Tong says
To be honest, I have my sympathies with Meunier because, in an ideal world, I'm not sure such minimal contact should be given as a penalty.
However, we've got to face the realities of the modern game and Meunier should know that you're dicing with death - well, a penalty - by way of handling a player so indiscreetly in the area.
But regardless of whether you think it's a penalty or not, we love to see two professionals discussing the incident after the game, even if Meunier maybe took things too far with the impression.
Knowing Henderson, however, I'm sure he would have taken the incident in good jest and at the end of the day, it was the pivotal moment in an England victory that will go down in the history books.
It's the first time that England have ever beaten the team ranked number one by FIFA and therefore, that means, beyond any doubt at all, that it's coming home next summer. You know it's true.