England dare to dream ahead of Euro 2020 final against impressive Italy
England fans are looking forward to a first major tournament final in 55 years as their team prepare to face Italy in the Euro 2020 final at Wembley on Sunday.
Three years on from their defeat by Croatia in the World Cup semi-final, Gareth Southgate’s men overcame Denmark 2-1 in extra time at a rocking Wembley on Wednesday to reach their first European Championship final.
Italy were also pushed beyond 90 minutes by Spain in their semi-final on Tuesday, but won on penalties to keep their bid for a first Euro title since 1968 alive.
England stand just one game away from ending their long and painful trophy drought, which dates all the way back to the 1966 World Cup.
But Italy are on a 33-match unbeaten run, reviving their reputation on the global stage after an embarrassing failure to even reach the 2018 World Cup in Russia.
A Wembley crowd of almost
65,000 whipped themselves into a frenzy against Denmark with rousing renditions of
“Sweet Caroline” and
“Three Lions (football’s coming home).”
For Denmark, defeat spelt the end of a fairy-tale run to the last four after the trauma of witnessing star Christian Eriksen collapse in their opening group game against Finland following a cardiac arrest.
England have suffered semi-final heartbreak at major tournaments four times since 1966 and those agonising defeats have been etched in the psyche of English football. But Southgate has overseen the emergence of a vibrant young team unconcerned by the failings of their predecessors. “They’ve responded to what was always going to be a really challenging night,” Southgate said of his players, who had not conceded a goal until the Denmark game. “We were so smooth through the quarterfinal and relatively unscathed through the second round. We knew that at some point we were going to concede and we would have to respond.” The semi-final was attended by British Prime Minister Boris Johnson and Prince William, who is president of the English Football Association. Johnson, who initially refused to condemn fans for booing the England team while they took the knee earlier in the tournament, has not ruled out the prospect of an ‘emergency’ bank holiday should England triumph on Sunday.