Hodgson had been spared by a 92nd-minute goal and the significance of that moment, its impact on Group B, and the release of all that pressure, can hardly be overstated.
England had given everything to pull off this feat of escapology and in the process, Hodgson can take a fair amount of the glory given the way the game changed once he brought on Jamie Vardy and Daniel Sturridge at half-time. Vardy equalised with his first shot at goal and Sturridge’s dramatic late winner was the reward for England’s perseverance in the face of some stubborn Wales defending.
Hodgson also brought on Marcus Rashford during the second half, such was the manager’s determination to find a winner and make sure the occasion would not be remembered solely as a personal ordeal for Joe Hart given the nature of the Gareth Bale free-kick that opened the scoring.
Hart might yet wake up in a cold sweat thinking about the moment because there is no doubt he should never have allowed England to be in that position.
Bale was 30 yards from goal when he started lining up the shot. He struck it forcefully and the Real Madrid player has an uncommon ability to hit the ball with unorthodox swerve and dip, in the manner of an inflatable on a beach.
All the same, the free-kick was not struck with venomous pace and Hart had long enough to work out the trajectory of the ball. Perhaps he was guilty of being too far across to the right of his goal but the bottom line is that a goalkeeper of his distinction should have deal with the ball once he had dived to his left to reach it.
Instead, that was the point everything seemed to go into slow motion as Hart turned the ball against the post and suddenly the Welsh fans at the other end of the Stade Bollaert-Delelis suddenly realised the ball was in the net. Bale was off on his victory run, Hart’s face was in the turf and that was the moment when it became clear England might have to rethink their entire strategy.
Until that point, they had been knocking the ball around reasonably well enough but the wastefulness that cost them against Russia was apparent again in the opening half and perhaps it is also true that everything is catching up with Harry Kane after two years in which he has played 118 times and barely had a proper break. Kane was one of the players removed at half-time when Hodgson decided to abandon his 4-1-2-3 formation and place his trust in Sturridge and Vardy.
Raheem Sterling was also taken off after another undistinguished 45 minutes, notable mostly for a high and inelegant finish when England had the game’s first scoring opportunity. Sterling, who is straying dangerously close to attracting open dissent from England’s followers, turned Adam Lallana’s cross into the crowd and that was really the only time from open play that Wales looked vulnerable in the first half.
Everything changed, though, when Hodgson changed his system and at least the England manager was bold enough at half-time to recognise the switches were necessary. Almost straight away, Chris Coleman’s players were pinned back into their own half. England had a packed defence to get past but the new additions had given them a new sense of directness and 10 minutes into the second half the complexion of the game changed in their favour.
In the process, there was some exceptional officiating to realise that when Sturridge clipped a cross into the centre it was not an England player who applied the next touch. The ball had actually spun off the head of Ashley Williams and though the Welsh players appealed en masse for an offside flag, that meant Vardy was allowed to turn in his shot from close range.
Hodgson might also reflect his team ought to have had a penalty, with the game at 0-0, when Sterling’s cross looped off James Chester and left Kane with a headed chance at the far post. His effort struck the nearest opponent, Ben Davies, then ricocheted on to the defender’s arm but the German referee, Felix Brych, waved on play when a penalty would have been the correct decision.
Ultimately, it did not matter a great deal. In stoppage time, Sturridge linked up with Vardy and Dele Alli, held off Christ Gunter and then turned in the shot that had Hodgson skipping down the touchline.