England 2, Denmark 1: Euro 2020 final awaits as Gareth Southgate and team exorcise another ghost of tournaments past
England are in the final of a major football tournament. This is not a drill.
Fifty-five years after the nation’s male footballers last contested a trophy, this England team will return to Wembley on Sunday for a Euro 2020 final against Italy with sights set on silverware.
It is their reward for a hard-fought semi-final win over Denmark and means that generations who weren’t alive in 1966 will get to experience a final of their own, and in Ultra-HD rather than grainy footage.
At this rate, there is a very real danger that Three Lions will have to be consigned to the archives. Champions don’t have any years of hurt to sing about.
Chalk up this win over Denmark as another victory for Gareth Southgate over England’s ghosts of tournaments past.
Having exorcised the penalty curse in 2018 and buried their inferiority complex against Germany earlier at Euro 2020, the semi-final hoodoo is now over too.
The last four has proved too high a hurdle on three occasions since England won the World Cup but this time, despite a stumble, they soared over it.
One by one, Southgate is removing the monkeys from England’s back and demolishing the arguments of those who would still doubt him and this group.
Which is not to say this was easy. When is it ever where the England team and tournaments are concerned?
Reassurance to be found as England flirt with exit
Mikkel Damsgaard put Denmark ahead with a fine dipping free-kick. Suddenly it was the minority of the 66,000 in Wembley making the most noise.
Although Raheem Sterling swiftly rode to the rescue again, the game was on a knife-edge until the 104th minute, when Harry Kane was quickest to the loose ball after his penalty was saved by Kasper Schmeichel.
Yet there was almost something reassuring about the jeopardy. England’s progress through Euro 2020 had been too serene. The nation expects that they at least flirt with heartache.
Denmark were excellent, as they have been for much of this tournament, and pushed England very hard.
Their campaign has naturally been defined by the cardiac arrest suffered by Christian Eriksen in their opening game with Finland, and the team’s dignified and gallant response.
They are about much more than that, however. And although they have been resolute, they have also been exciting, clever and tactically fascinating.
Damsgaard’s goal was not totally against the run of play and the Danes did very little wrong all evening.
England deserved this, though, for their courage in carrying the fight, their skill in unpicking supremely well organised opposition and their unrelenting intent.
Bukayo Saka buzzed. Kyle Walker darted. Luke Shaw drove. Harry Kane orchestrated. Kalvin Phillips snapped. Harry Maguire towered. Declan Rice probed. And, once again, Sterling changed the game, forcing Simon Kjaer to put through his own net.
In spells they were electric, feeding off the crackling energy at Wembley, swarming around and all over Denmark with an intensity not shown in earlier games.
Was Southgate telling them to hold back in the group stage? Controlling their excitement levels to avoid burn-out? Whether by accident or design, they are peaking at just the right time.
Sterling and Kane lead callow side into final
They also showed great resilience after falling behind for the first time in this tournament.
Denmark scoring first wasn’t exactly in the script; this game was meant to be something of a formality.
Until suddenly it wasn’t, and this young England team had to keep their heads and conjure the moment of quality needed to get back in the game before it began to slip away.
As against Croatia and Germany, up stepped Sterling, the boy from Wembley, and later Kane, who led his more callow troops like a grizzled veteran.
After full-time, the players celebrated as though they had already won the tournament.
Rice leapt on Maguire’s back and saluted the England fans behind the goal. Kane led the players and staff in a chorus of Sweet Caroline.
In a sense they have already succeeded at Euro 2020. Whatever happens against Italy, by navigating the semi-final they have taken another step forwards.
It is difficult to imagine how it can all go up a notch, but on Sunday we will see. England are in the final of a major football tournament. This is not a drill.