Italy won Euro 2020 by dominating England in the final at the end of the penalty shootout this Sunday at Wembley (1-1, 3 tab to 2).
The curse of the semi-finals finally defeated, and the home advantage assured here in London, theEngland had to go to the end to finally afford a European Nations Championship – the first capital trophy of the country since the 1966 World Cup. It was without counting this eternal Italy, four-time world champion and now double continental champion. A privilege that the Nazionale had not known in Europe for 53 years and the 1968 edition.
Despite the unrest around the stadium before kick-off, caused by hordes of euphoric and a bit hoppy supporters, it was not necessary to arrive late at Wembley on Sunday evening. Especially not for the supporters of the Three Lions. Two minutes (1’57 to be precise), that’s all it took for the English to find the loophole in this final. This by the grace of a pretty signed volley Shaw, following an applied cross from Trippier and an admirable return of the ball from Kane (1-0).
The bad pickaxes of Southgate
The tone thus set, the subjects of His Majesty however did not know how to drive the point home, a little too much stuck undoubtedly in the tactical diagrams a little cautious stamped Southgate. So the Italians, picked cold, took the opportunity to embolden a little and gradually take the game on their own. Chiesa and Insigne – by far the most threatening Azzurri in the first hour of the game – took charge of the summons, then Bonucci, as an opportunist fox of the surfaces, ended up rewarding his own at close range after a post struck by Verratti from the head (1-1, 67e).
So asphyxiated, the English struggled to resist until the extension – balanced extension in fine between two selections exhausted by an intense month of competition. With shots on goal looming on the horizon, Southgate was careful to throw Rashford and Sancho into battle in the 120e minute. Two bad picks since they finally failed in the exercise of the penalty, stumbling like the unfortunate Saka on a Donnarumma named best player of the tournament. Pickford yet had well repelled the attempts of Belotti and Jorginho, but the successes of Berardi, Bonucci and Bernardeschi were enough. Italy reigns over the Old Continent again. Continent that the country of football has never conquered …
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