England made history on Wednesday night when they qualified for their first European Championship final ever with a 2-1 victory against Denmark in the semi-finals of Euro 2020.
Gareth Southgate’s side had so far not conceded a single goal at Euro 2020 when they started their last four matches. The Three Lions safely navigated out of Group D thanks to 1-0 victories against the Czech Republic and Croatia, while their only points lost in the competition came against Scotland on match day two.
Convincing victories against Germany and Ukraine followed in the knockout rounds before their semi-final match against Denmark.
Just three years after their defeat in the 2018 World Cup semi-final against Croatia, Southgate’s side looked to go better and reach the final of a European Championship for the first time in their history, and they did just that thanks to their own goal from Simon Kjaer and an extra goal for Harry Kane – after a missed penalty – gave England a famous victory.
It was a free kick from Mikkel Damsgaard that had originally given Denmark the lead at night, with Jordan Pickford perhaps wrong for the goal that is in the middle of the net.
The Three Lions bounced back quickly, however, when Kjaer turned a dangerous ball in the six-yard box to his own net with Raheem Sterling threatening behind him.
After wave, after wave, after wave of the second half pressure against the tiring Denmark team, the game would go to extra time – an extra time where Kane would appear as England’s hero.
The results mean that it is England who go on to the Euro 2020 show event to meet Italy after Roberto Mancini’s side secured a dramatic penalty win over Spain on Tuesday night.
⚽️⚽️⚽️⚽️⚽️⚽️⚽️⚽️⚽️⚽️Harry Kane is now @ England’s top scorer in major tournaments (EURO, #WorldCup), along with @GaryLineker on 10 goals pic.twitter.com/8uyw6EBXbY
– FIFA World Cup (@FIFAWorldCup) July 7, 2021
After writing their own story to reach the final, if England can beat Italy on Sunday night, they will only manage their second piece of great international silverware, 55 years since their World Cup triumph in 1966.
In the meantime, Denmark’s campaign is over because there will be no playoff game in this summer’s competition.
