San Francisco Chronicle - (Sunday)
Kane carries England into semifinals
England is going back home — with something to play for. Harry Kane scored twice — early in each half — and England overwhelmed Ukraine 40 on Saturday in Rome to reach the European Championship semifinals for the first time since 1996.
It was the only match of Euro 2020 that England had to play away from Wembley Stadium and it was the team’s most dominant performance of the tournament.
“I’ve said it all along it’s all about peaking for the right time,” Kane said. “We are on the right track.”
After failing to score in the group stage, Kane now has three goals in two matches after also scoring in the 20 win over Germany in the round of 16. Harry Maguire and Jordan Henderson also scored as England kept a clean sheet for the fifth straight match.
It marked the first time that England scored four goals in the knockout stage of a major tournament since beating West Germany 42 in the 1966 World Cup final.
England now goes back to London to face Denmark on Wednesday. The Danes beat the Czech Republic 21 in Baku.
Italy will face Spain in the other semifinal match Tuesday, with the final next weekend also to be played at Wembley.
Denmark 2, Czech Republic 1:
The Danes, who have developed into a surprise contender after their tournament began with midfielder Christian Eriksen suffering cardiac arrest on the field, advanced to the semifinals with a fast start on a hot and humid night in Baku, Azerbaijan.
Thomas Delaney’s bouncing header in the fifth minute off Jens Stryger’s corner and Kasper Dolberg’s 42ndminute strike were all the Danes would need. Czech Republic forward Patrik Schick scored his fifth goal at the beginning of the second half, putting him even with Cristiano Ronaldo as the tournament’s leading scorers.
The place in the semifinals is the furthest Denmark has progressed at a major tournament since winning Euro 1992.