Italy crowned European champion after beating England on penalties
Wembley Stadium — Italy players celebrate winning the penalty shootout against England. England’s wait to end its wretched run in major international competitions, stretching all the way back to 1966, will go for at least another year until the World Cup is hosted in Qatar. Luke Shaw’s goal inside the opening two minutes gave England a lead it looked like it would hold onto all night, before a goalmouth scramble midway through the second half allowed Leonardo Bonucci to poke home an equalizer for Italy.
🇮🇹 Scenes in Rome as Italy win EURO 2020! 🥳@azzurri | #ITA | #EURO2020 pic.twitter.com/3bRGBIjpzH
— UEFA EURO 2024 (@EURO2024) July 11, 2021
England had suffered innumerable heartbreaks on penalties over the years and this time it was Italy’s turn to inflict yet more pain on beleaguered English fans as Marcus Rashford, Jadon Sancho and Bukayo Saka all missed from the spot.
During the wild Italian celebrations, Bonucci who had been immense all night and rightly earned the man of the match award — screamed “it’s coming to Rome” into the pitch side camera to rub yet more salt into the wounds of English fans.
Few would have expected Italy, which failed to qualify for the 2018 World Cup, to reach the final prior to the start of Euro 2020, much less win the entire competition, but Roberto Mancini’s side quickly established itself as one of the contenders after three thrilling group stage performances.
Gianluigi Donnarumma, Italy’s hero in the penalty shootout with two fine saves, was deservedly named the player of the tournament and the goalkeeper heads up a group of talented stars that should ensure this side remains competitive for the foreseeable future.
As for England, this defeat is likely to sting for quite some time to come for players and fans alike, but the squad at least has the consolation of knowing it has provided the country with a tournament run not seen for more than five decades.
Wembley Way, the famous road leading up to England’s national stadium, was heaving as many as seven hours before kick off. Many of the fans in the early afternoon didn’t even have tickets, instead choosing to just soak up the atmosphere before moving on to watch the match elsewhere.
The fridges that stocked beer in one of the grocery stores closest to Wembley Stadium were almost completely empty by late morning.
For the vast majority of fans in attendance, this was something they had never experienced in their lifetimes. It had been 55 long years since England was last in a major international final and fans have known only heartache and disappointment since that World Cup triumph in 1966.
One couple considered it such a momentous occasion that they decided to get married on Wembley Way just hours before kick off, both dressed in full wedding attire and holding up England shirts with “Mr” and “Mrs” printed on the back.
Even when cheering on ‘golden generations’ of the past, England fans have never supported their national team with a fervor quite like this. Southgate and this group of players deserve much of the credit for stirring up such a feeling of national pride.
By the time the national anthems came around, neither of which were booed by opposition fans, Wembley felt as though its very foundations were rocking.
When Shaw scored, then, with less than two minutes on the clock, the 60,000 or so fans inside the stadium raised the decibels to levels this ground has never heard before.
Extra time continued in much the same vein with neither side able to stamp its authority on proceedings, both perhaps too nervous to commit at this late stage.
Southgate threw on Rashford, 23, and Sancho, 21, for the penalty shootout but both men went on to miss as England suffered an all too familiar fate.
