Agony for Lions as Italy Beat0811 England in Shootout to Lift Euro 2020

nland's ‹id to end their śś¢ear wait for a ma“or troph¢ ended in the familiar aon¢ of defeat in a penalt¢ shootožt

as tal¢ claimed the žro ŘŖŘŖ crown at em‹le¢ǯ

n a niht of anticipation, tension and žltimate heart‹rea” in a feverish atmosphere,

nland loo”ed on cožrse for their most “o¢ožs da¢ since řŖ

žl¢ ŗşŜŜ when ž”e Shaw ave them the perfect start after two minžtesǯ

tal¢, žn‹eaten in řř matches ‹efore this ęnal, slowl¢ eded their wa¢ ‹ac” into the ame and were level in the Ŝŝth minžte when eonardo onžcci požnced after nland oal”eeper ordan ic”ford tžrned arco erraĴi's header on to a postǯ

And after a tense period of e¡tra time failed to ęnd a winner, it was on to penalties and ‹iĴer disappointment for

nland manaer areth Sožthate and his pla¢ers, who had one into this ęnal on a wave of e¡pectation and hih emotionǯ

nland missed three of their ęve penalties, arcžs ashford hiĴin a post and ianlžii onnaržmma den¢in adon Sancho ‹efore - so cržell¢ for sžch a ęne ¢ožn pla¢er - Arsenal teenaer ž”a¢o Sa”a also saw the iant tal¢ oal”eeper save his spot-”ic”ǯ arr¢ Kane and arr¢ ažire were on taret for nland while ic”ford ”ept hopes alive with saves from Andrea eloĴi and orinho while omenico erardi, onžcci and ederico ernardeschi scored for tal¢ǯ he tearfžl ŗş-¢ear-old Sa”a, who showed sžch cožrae to step forward, was consoled ‹¢ nland team-mates and manaer Sožthate ‹žt there was no real consolation for them or the e¡pectant fans pac”ed into em‹le¢ǯ

nland's ¢ears of hžrt o on ‹žt it loo”ed for the ęrst řŖ minžtes of this ęnal that the moment the cožntr¢ has waited more than ŘŖ,ŖŖŖ da¢s for had ęnall¢ arrivedǯ

Sožthate's side came ęrin ožt of the ‹loc”s and the manaer's one chane of replacin Sa”a with Kieran rippier paid an instant dividend as he ran on to Kane's perfect pass to ęnd the onržshin Shaw at the far post and he s•a––ed an e–phatic ęnish past onnarž––aǯ

n•and were žp and ržnnin and žred on ‹¢ a vastǰ fren£ied crowd the¢ had this talented, streetwise

talian side on the ‹ac” foot žntil the¢ sžddenl¢ ained a foothold in the closin phase of the ęrst halfǯ

tal¢ dominated possession, nland lost impetžs and it was no sžrprise when the¢ restored parit¢, then loo”in the more li”el¢ winners as Sožthate's side, so fžll of ržnnin earl¢ on, started to la‹ožr, particžlarl¢ after losin the ožtstandin eclan ice to a ”noc”ǯ