WAVE OF EMOTION
AHEAD of lockdown early last year, Kieran Trippier played in front of 64,000 Atletico Madrid fans at the Wanda Metropolitano Stadium against Barcelona.
In front of a similar number of supporters, in 2019, he played for Spurs in the same arena in a Champions League final against Liverpool.
The 30-year-old has played to full houses at all of the Premier League’s elite venues.
He has played in a World Cup semi-final inside Moscow’s Luzhniki Stadium.
Trippier has seen and heard a fair bit.
But he has seen and heard nothing like he saw and heard from the 64,950-strong crowd at Wembley on Wednesday night against Denmark.
“The fans for the Germany game and since the start of the tournament have been great,” he says. “But that was like something I have never experienced before in football.
“The fans were just unbelievable – the atmosphere, the national anthem, everything. They never stopped.
“And the good thing about this team and these players is neither do we.
“We try to play good football, exciting football to put a smile on our nation’s faces.
“We’re in a final and it’s something for the fans to be happy about and proud of and enjoy the moment. The fans and everybody in this nation absolutely deserve it.”
While the atmosphere inside Wembley on Sunday should be equally
Trippier shows his thanks to the supporters after the semi-final win over Danes
electric, it is unlikely to faze the Italians. And there are some who reckon it might put added pressure on to a team bidding to end a hoodoo that has lasted over half a century.
Trippier, a veteran of the 2018 World Cup campaign that ended at the semi-final stage, claims this is a much more savvy group of players.
He says: “Throughout the semifinal, I thought we dictated the game.
“As you’ve seen from the start of the tournament to now, we give everything, we don’t stop, we don’t panic, we’re calm. We’ve shown that.
“We’ve come a long way since the semi-final in Russia. We’ve so many good players now, different players from back then.
“It’s about progressing, and I think we have made big steps since the World Cup. It’s all about experience and game management.”
With their long unbeaten run, Italy know all about experience and game management and Trippier knows England are in for a seriously tough night.
He said: “Under
Roberto Mancini, they’ve been unbelievable, it’s like 33 games now they’re unbeaten.
“They’ve had a fantastic tournament and have great experience in the team, quality players. You can’t hide away from the fact that they’re a good side. But we need to focus on ourselves and need to recover well because there’s a game only around the corner.
“We are proud of how far we have come as a team but we want to go further.”
The fans were unbelievable – the atmosphere, the anthem and
everything. They never stopped. And neither does this team