England and Italy will battle it out for the ultimate tonight
Fifty-five years. It’s easy to pass over or not appreciate the enormity of that timescale. But it’s not just a stat or a number to be thrown around.
It’s longer than the lifetime of many of the supporters who were inside Wembley or watching on from afar on Wednesday night. It makes up the majority of the lifetime of plenty more who witnessed Gareth Southgate’s side carve out a moment of English football history.
It’s a timeline which stretches back over early childhood memories. Vague recollections of white shirts on TV screens during distant summers, when something important was taking place but, whatever it was, disappointment was the final feeling.
As the years moved on, the context became clearer – but that deflation repeatedly returned. The excitement, the belief was always crushed by the blows of defeat. The realisation it wasn’t going to be this time. The lump in the throat. The tears.
How harsh those losses felt when you were young. So in love with the game, so certain of your heroes – and so unprepared for what awaited them.
For different fans the let-downs will be more keenly felt in different eras but from Mexico to Italy, Belgium to Ukraine, Japan to Brazil, England and their supporters have travelled the world in search of success and only found heartache.
Whether you’ve been in for the whole stretch or just done relatively little time, we’ve all been trapped in the prison of pain that has been supporting England. The inescapable disappointment. ‘All those oh-so-nears/wear you down/through the years’.
But after all those years of hurt, Gareth Southgate’s young side have begun to unpick the lock.
Undimmed and undeterred by the failings of their predecessors, they’ve cast off the shackles of the past. A penalty shoot-out win over Colombia. A first knockout match victory over Germany since 1966. And now a first major tournament final since the other one.
Wembley roared with freedom when Harry Kane followed up his penalty to smash England past Denmark and into Sunday’s showdown with Italy.
It was a celebration incomparable to anything previously seen in the new incarnation of the national stadium. After a year and a half of lockdowns, restrictions and enforced distance from football, there were scenes to treasure. Fans running down aisles. Fans climbing on other fans’ shoulders. Fans with their hands on their heads, unable to take it all in.
It was an outpouring of pent-up passion and joy. The goal snapped the tension of the tie but the emotions around the ground were super-charged by what had gone before.
Good times never seemed so good, as one of England’s adopted anthems for this tournament goes. But it is the suffering that makes it taste all the sweeter.
There is one more step to take. But this is an England side to believe in again.
The defence has been beaten just once – by a brilliant free-kick. The only direct free-kick that’s been scored at these Euros. Goalkeeper Jordan Pickford is already assured of the golden glove award.
He’s faced fewer shots on target than any team in the tournament, just 2.2 per match. That’s testament to Kyle Walker, Harry Maguire, and John Stones in front of him – three players better for the experience of their own England heartbreak in the semi-finals of the World Cup – and a reborn Luke Shaw. Shawberto Carlos, as his team-mates call him!
Kalvin Phillips and Declan Rice have provided protection and control in midfield, playing with a composure beyond their years, while Raheem Sterling has been this team’s go-to man. The boy from Brent has embraced the role, running at opposition defenders whenever the ball is at his feet.
The captain, Kane, is transformed from the early games of the tournament, when he was on the fringes of the action. He has delivered in key moments and looked better with each match. In Russia he faded as the World Cup progressed, here he looks increasingly inspired by what his team are doing. He’s one strike away from another golden boot.
Alongside him, Bukayo Saka is one of the stories of the summer, elevated from squad player to star performer, while Jadon Sancho’s cameo against Ukraine, and the bursts of fan favourite Jack Grealish, have demonstrated the strength in depth Southgate can call upon.
It’s a team which promotes important messages off the field, and it’s a team which has adapted and thrived when faced with different challenges on it. They’ve broken records and made history, surpassing all who came before them since the heroes of 66.
We never stopped dreaming. But this is real. And on Sunday, glory beckons…
Team news
England came through 90 minutes and extra-time against Denmark in the semi-finals with a clean bill of health, meaning all 26 members of Gareth Southgate’s squad are available for Sunday’s final.
Instead of fitness or injury headaches, Southgate’s focus will be on finetuning formation and tactics, with a number of key selections still under consideration.
Saka, England’s only alteration before the Denmark game, has staked a decent claim to start the final alongside Harry Kane and Raheem Sterling, though will face competition from Jadon Sancho, Jack Grealish and Phil Foden.
Like England, Italy survived extra-time and penalties against Spain in the semi-finals without sustaining injuries.
However, the Azzurri remain without star performer Leonardo Spinazzola after his impressive Euro 2020 campaign was abruptly cut short by an Achilles rupture in the quarter-final victory over Belgium, meaning Chelsea’s Emerson Palmieri will continue to deputise at left-back.
Expected Italy XI: Donnarumma; Di Lorenzo, Bonucci, Chiellini, Emerson; Barella, Jorginho, Verratti; Chiesa, Immobile, Insigne.
Euro 2020 update is by courtesy BetWay. Bet responsibly. Not open to persons under 18 years.