To the north and the west, a million Danish flags bloomed. They were Ukrainian before, and German before that, sprouting from the summer as England’s march through UEFA EURO 2020 condemned the already forgotten shortcomings of others to the shadows.
In Wales and in Scotland. In Ireland, north and south. The tedious and deliberate misunderstanding of the English football outlook continues unabated, joined now by accusations of diving from supporters of teams that have made a sport out of it, and by fully fledged conspiracy theories stated as fact.
One arsehole shines a laser pointer at Kasper Schmeichel and England should be thrown out of the tournament. Boris Johnson did a secret deal with UEFA. England won the semi-final against Denmark because the referee was in on it. These are all real opinions placed on record by real people since the match. And they say it’s England who are dangerously unhinged.
None of this lunacy is the fault of a Denmark team who will always remain the real story of EURO 2020. After losing their first two matches in the most impossible of circumstances, they roared to a semi-final place, growing mightier by the game. They’ve been tough but entertaining, their own run to the last four as impressive as anyone’s. Denmark are easy to appreciate and easier to like.
England brought that progress to an end at Wembley to set up a mouthwatering final against Italy. For the first time since 1966 the national team is 90 minutes away from the kind of glory their next opponents have enjoyed regularly over the last 90 years. Italy is a football nation of seasoned and serial champions; England, a country psychologically scarred by its international failures.
In the last World Cup and these European Championships, Gareth Southgate and England have overcome Colombia, Sweden, Germany, Ukraine, Denmark, extra time and a penalty shoot-out. To put any of this down to the ‘easy side of the draw’ or home advantage is to ignore England’s historic ability to fall at any one of these fences. It’s also disrespectful to a Danish side who could just as easily have knocked them out.
England played out a nervous first half, the occasion undoubtedly having an effect. There were promising and fleeting early moments but it was Denmark who gradually claimed a foothold and quickly converted it into a lead.
Mikkel Damsgaard’s long-distance free kick was sweetly struck and television replays made it look easier to repel than it ever looked in real time. England goalkeeper Jordan Pickford might feel he could or should have saved it regardless.
The award of the free kick by referee Danny Mekkelie was at worst incorrect and at best unusual. England were punished but quickly and belatedly kicked into gear. Kasper Schmeichel was called into action to save from Raheem Sterling at point blank range but was beaten just nine minutes after Denmark went in front.
Harry Kane, dropping deep again, fired a terrific pass into the channel for Bukayo Saka. His zipped pass across goal was waiting to be tapped home by Sterling but Denmark captain Simon Kjaer saved him the job.
From there England dominated long stretches of the match as Denmark tired, but the polish of Rome was largely absent. That they were able to handle their business regardless is a positive sign of what’s to come in the next 18 months.
While Pickford started to show some jitters with the ball at his feet, his opposite number kept Denmark in the match. Harry Maguire’s header, brilliantly saved low, was England’s best chance to win it before extra time. Had Kane heard or heeded a call from substitute Jack Grealish on the edge of the box at the end of a long spell of injury time, there might have been an even better opportunity.
Critics of England’s eventual method of victory have chosen to ignore that they were phenomenal in the first half of extra time. Their fitness and intent were superior and Denmark barely had a kick. Grealish’s powerful shot was saved comfortably by Schmeichel as England pushed to avoid penalties, and the Aston Villa captain was soon involved again.
Fellow substitute Phil Foden did well to create an opening, into which he fed Grealish. He passed to Sterling, who dropped a shoulder to beat a defender on the edge of the penalty area but could only blast over.
As half time in extra time approached, England scored the winning goal. Sterling glided into the box and chopped inside, where Mekkelie awarded a penalty for an apparent foul as the winger was desperately challenged by two Danish defenders.
While it was certainly a penalty that could be considered soft, the contact was there and Joakim Maehle neither touched nor attempted to play the ball. The ensuing controversy was inevitable but the bias on both sides of the debate renders it a pointless one. Though English supporters would surely have a different view if it had gone the other way, ‘England bad!’ does not a compelling argument make.
Kane stepped up and took a quite awful penalty. So bad was it that Schmeichel’s instinct was to save it and hold it rather than sweep it to safety. The ball popped back out of Schmeichel’s grasp to Kane’s feet and he tucked in the rebound. England were jubilant.
Denmark’s unhesitant substitution strategy backfired and they played the second period with ten men, while England manager Southgate took the unorthodox step of substituting a substitute. Kieran Trippier came on, Grealish went off, and England set about holding what they had.
They sat back for most of the last 15 minutes but Denmark had nothing left in the tank. England’s stunning late spell of possession lasted nearly three minutes, entirely depriving the finale of any venom.
Sterling, England’s player of the tournament for many, was still running the channels more than two hours into the game. Extra time was handled brilliantly. The first period was aggressive and fruitful, the second wily and composed. Over the 120-and-some minutes played at Wembley, England were deserving semi-final winners.
Pickford wobbled but his back four were tremendous once again. Maguire, John Stones, Luke Shaw and Kyle Walker were all excellent with and without the ball, contributing to England’s ten shots on target and limiting the Danes to three. Kalvin Phillips and Declan Rice, titans in midfield, played their part too.
England have already made history. Accusations of arrogance abound but their supporters have not taken lightly what’s already being achieved. Reaching the final is historic in its own right and that’s been fully appreciated. This is special and they know it.
The flag emojis are Italian now but Wembley is defiantly and proudly home turf. England have an unfair advantage. Italy should be favourites but not by much, and with England having played more at home and travelled much less than the Azzurri, who’s to say there isn’t more history waiting to be written in the UEFA EURO 2020 Final on Sunday night?
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Chris Nee
@SphinxFtbl