Tripp of a lifetime
‘I HAVE NEVER EXPERIENCED ANYTHING LIKE THIS’
Ahead of lockdown early last year, Kieran Trippier played in front of 64,000 Atletico Madrid fans inside the Wanda Metropolitano Stadium against Barcelona.
In front of a similar number of supporters, in 2019, he played for Tottenham in the same arena in a Champions League final against Liverpool.
The 30-year-old has played to full houses at all of the Premier League’s elite venues.
He has played in a World Cup semi-final inside Moscow’s Luzhniki Stadium.
Trippier has seen and heard a fair bit through his career, but nothing like he saw and heard at Wembley on Wednesday night.
He said: “The supporters for the
Germany game and since the start of the tournament have been great. “But that [the atmosphere against Denmark] was like something I have never experienced before in football. “The fans were just unbelievable – the atmosphere, the national anthem, everything. They never stopped.
“And the good thing about this team and these players is neither do we.
“We try to play good football, exciting football to put a smile on our nation’s faces.
“We’re in a final and it’s something for the fans to be happy about and proud of and enjoy the moment.
“The fans and everybody in this nation absolutely deserve it.” While the atmosphere inside Wembley on Sunday should be equally electric, it is unlikely to faze England’s Italian opponents.
And there are some who reckon it might put added pressure on a team bidding to end a run without a trophy that has lasted over half a century.
Trippier, a veteran of the 2018 World Cup campaign that ended at the semi-final stage, says this is a much more savvy group of players.
He said: “Throughout the semifinal, I thought we dictated the game.
“As you’ve seen from the start of the tournament to now, we give everything, we don’t stop, we don’t panic, we’re calm. We’ve shown that tonight.
“We’ve come a long way since the semi-final in Russia. We’ve got so many good players now, different players from back then.
“It’s about progressing, and I think we’ve made big steps since the World Cup.
“It’s all about experience and game management.”
With their long unbeaten run, Italy know all about experience and game management, and Trippier knows England are in for a seriously tough night.
He said: “Under [Roberto] Mancini, they’ve been unbelievable, it’s like 33 games now they’re unbeaten.
“They’ve had a fantastic tournament and they’ve got great experience in the team, quality players.
“You cannot hide away from the fact that they’re a good side. But we need to focus on ourselves and need to recover well because there’s a game just around the corner.
“We are proud of how far we have come as a team but we want to go further.”