HOME’S WHERE HEART IS IN MOUTH
WEMBLEY IS HELD SEMI-SPELLBOUND ON MAGICAL NIGHT
ENGLAND are in the final of a major tournament.
Just hold onto that sentence for a second. It is one that has not been written or read for 55 years.
The last time it was, a legend was born and a millstone simultaneously created. The weight of the past and the England shirt has hung heavily ever since. Gareth Southgate’s believers stand on the precipice of lifting that weight.
They broke the exhausted Danes in extra-time to haul themselves over the line and into the European Championship final for the first time in England’s history. A lifetime of what-ifs and what might-havebeens are vanishing before our eyes as England stride towards their destiny.And doesn’t it feel good?
As kick-off approached Wembley was awash with a heady mix of excitement, anxiety and the sheer euphoria of being one of the fortunate few to hold one of the golden tickets. A ringside seat for such a show after a year when a jigsaw represented the height of entertainment was a glorious release. The energy pulsed around the stadium with England – and Denmark – supporters in full raucous voice.
The crowd belted out the football version of Atomic Kitten’s ‘Whole Again’ – now a homage to Southgate – then Sweet Caroline, a hackneyed sports stadium sing-along injected with new life at Wembley these Euros.
When the whistle blew England were straight into it. The Danes were no shrinking violets either, mind.TheViking DNA is still buried deep in there.
If the previous night’s semi-final classic between Spain and Italy was a study in latin artistry, this was more of an Anglo-Saxon/Norse bar brawl. There were three fouls and two hoofed long balls in the opening two minutes.
England may have changed into a side comfortable and patient in possession under Southgate and the Danes under Kasper Hjulmand can pass the ball around too, but the physical bedrock to their game still exists. The two games between these sides in autumn were dismal affairs with a 1-0 home defeat for England that saw Harry Maguire, below, sent off and a 0-0 draw in Copenhagen that was an exercise in inertia. But that was Nations League football in empty stadiums; this was a European Championship semi-final in a madhouse.
There were 64,950 inside the stadium, an uptick on the Germany game in the last 16, although still some way short of the 75,862 who were inside the old Wembley the last time England reached the Euros semi-finals.
That was June 26, 1996 – a balmy evening full of hope like last night
which ended in tears. John Major was Prime Minister and Killing Me Softly by The Fugees was No.1 – although Three Lions was about to return to the top of the charts the following week.
If it felt like a lifetime ago for Southgate, it literally was for some of his players – Declan Rice and Bukayo Saka weren’t even born then.
All through these Euros they have made a point of separating themselves from England’s chequered tournament history.
The past was there to be learned from but it was the past; this was their time. Or at least that was their hope. England started confidently but the first tremors came in the 15th minute when Jordan Pickford rolled the ball out to Mikkel Damsgaard. England’s early dominance evaporated.
Then came Damsgaard’s beautiful dipping free-kick – a stadium silencer.
England had ridden through this tournament without jeopardy. Now, wobbling and temporarily muddled, they faced it, behind for the first time after conceding a goal for the first time in 692 minutes.
How they responded. Saka tore Denmark’s defence up down the right and at this own-goal-fest of a tournament Simon Kjaer diverted the ball into his own net with Raheem Sterling about to pounce.
Maguire was thwarted by the flying Kasper Schmeichel as the intensity rose.
England were not planning on leaving anything out there.
They have been admirable ambassadors for the country at this tournament – likeable, relatable, refreshingly normal.
In the end though football – and sport – is always about the result.
Harry Kane, eventually, made sure it went England’s way. Same time, same place Sunday. Be there. England will be.