Despite loss, England has cause for optimism
While collective sense of heartbreak lingers, Southgate & Co. will contend in upcoming tournaments
LONDON (Reuters) – It didn’t come home, nothing’s coming home. Instead, a battle-hardened Italian team extinguished England’s delirious Euro 2020 dreams, ending the Wembley party in the cruelest fashion with a penalty shootout defeat in the final on Sunday.
As the Italian players sang and danced, kissed and cried, bathed in sparkling ticker tape, for the English it was another false dawn.
The whole of England had been brimming with hope and expectation, but the Italians had the last word, and used it well.
“It’s a unique pleasure to see 58,000 people leave before the trophy presentation,” Italian defender Leonardo Bonucci said dryly.
“Now the cup is coming to Rome. They thought it was staying here, I’m sorry for them but Italy has once again taught a lesson.”
So while Italy now has two European Championships to add to its four World Cup triumphs, England’s wait for silverware stretches into a 56th year.
Not since their sole World Cup triumph back in 1966 have the English tasted success, but they could hardly have come closer with a bunch of exciting players who have put fun and pride back into the Three Lions shirt.
It was just their rotten luck that they met an inspired Italian squad whose experience perfectly countered England’s sometimes-callow weak spots.
Former national team manager Steve McClaren said England’s hopes of winning a major trophy are alive and well and that Gareth Southgate’s squad had learned valuable lessons from the final, as well as
the 2018 World Cup semifinal defeat to Croatia.
“We are contenders now for every competition ...” said McClaren, who was sacked as England manager after failing to qualify for Euro 2008.
“We will learn from the two tournaments, semifinal and a final – they’ve had moments that will be character building and that is what it is all about.
“Gareth has given us a team to be proud of, he has united the nation and he has given us hope for the future and in the future there is hope.”
On Sunday, it had all started so brightly, for the host side when it took the lead inside two minutes through a cracking Luke Shaw goal, but the Three Lions were then reeled in by a cannier, more experienced side on the night.
For all the giddy excitement and promise of England’s youthful side, ultimately it came down to a test of nerve, and three of England’s youngsters were found wanting when the stakes were highest.
Whether 19-year-old Bukayo Saka and fresh substitutes 23-year-old Marcus Rashford
and 21-year-old Jadon Sancho should have been down to take penalties is a debate that will rage.
In the event, they all missed in the shootout and the dream was over.
A glimpse through social media reveals the “Anyone But England” brigade has grown in number as this tournament has progressed. Unsettling footage of bare-chested men, fueled by lager, tearing up city center squares before the final will have done nothing to win the English any neutral fans.
The streets around the stadium were already slick with beer, with broken glass crunching underfoot several hours before kick-off, but inside the ground there had been a feeling of real optimism, and only the hardest of hearts would not feel for this England squad.
Sport can sometimes be accused of exaggerating its ability to change society. Overblown as it is, however, to suggest these footballers have united a nation riven by political and social disharmony, they have played with a joy that has lifted the spirits of a country still bitterly divided by the decision to leave the European Union, and split by the government’s handling of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The writers of that ubiquitous Three Lions song, which promised “It’s coming home,” referenced “30 years of hurt” in that track originally released ahead of Euro 96. You can almost double that period of sporting misery now, but England is inching ever closer.
The dark days of the 1970s – where England’s deflated soccer stars were left to sit at home watching the likes of Haiti, Zaire and Australia compete at World Cups for which they had failed to qualify – are long forgotten, as are more recent times when playing for England seemed an ordeal to be avoided rather than an honor to enjoy.
This young England group, and its manager Southgate, have done much to recast the English national team in a more positive light, and they will have more chances to go one step further on the biggest stages.
England’s next chance of winning silverware will be the 2022 World Cup in Qatar.
Five Italy, three England players named to all-tournament team
Five players from champion Italy and three from runner-up England were named in the Euro 2020 team of the tournament announced by European soccer’s governing body UEFA on Tuesday.
Italy goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma – who was named the player of the tournament – along with defenders Leonardo Bonucci and Leonardo Spinazzola, midfielder Jorginho and winger Federico Chiesa were all selected in the line-up.
Donnarumma saved two England penalties en route to a 3-2 shootout win after the teams had fought out a 1-1 extra-time draw in Sunday’s final at Wembley.
England right back Kyle Walker, center-back Harry Maguire and forward Raheem Sterling were also included in the team of the tournament, which was named by UEFA’s technical observer team.
Spain midfielder Pedri, who was named the young player of the tournament, was also among the top 11 players, alongside Denmark’s Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg and Belgium’s Romelu Lukaku.
Sterling scored three goals for England, while Lukaku scored four times for Belgium, which was knocked out by Italy in the quarterfinals.