Almost as much has been done by the spirit of the England camp as the team’s quality on the pitch at Euro 2020.
We are regularly bombarded with pictures on social media of players hitting each other’s ears and jumping around on inflatables in the pool, but deep down all the fans in England knew that their side would not be tested yet.
Of course, they had gone through some tough matches against Croatia and Germany, but they had not yet conceded a goal in the tournament and the question remained how Gareth Southgate’s men would react when things were not so rosy.
England’s semi-final match against Denmark at Wembley on Wednesday night gave us our first opportunity to see how they would react.
After a hectic start to the match, England was hit with a hammer blow when Mikkel Damsgaard hit a free kick past Jordan Pickford. It would be very polite to call the strike ‘unstoppable’, because in all honesty it could definitely have been stopped, but now it was time for England to show what they were made of.
In a strange kind of parallel to England’s semi-final appearance at the 2018 World Cup, a free kick from the first half had made it 1-0, but this time it would be England who had to chase the game.
WHAT AN ANSWER FROM # ENG! @ BukayoSaka87 puts it on a plate … and Kjaer can only divert the ball in his own net! #ENGDEN | #ITVFotboll | # Euro2020 pic.twitter.com/XdqeXugLZA
– ITV Football (@itvfootball) July 7, 2021
Southgate’s men immediately bounced back, with Raheem Sterling missing a gilded opportunity to equalize after Kasper Schmeichel had strangled Manchester City’s striker, but we did not have to wait long for the equalizer to come.
Fantastic work by Bukayo Saka along England to the right saw him run free before he squared against Sterling who was denied a fourth goal in Euro 2020 by Simon Kjaer – but the Milan man could only divert the ball in the back of his own net.
England continued to gather after the break and only Schmeichel’s brilliance kept the score level after he somehow clawed Harry Maguire’s goal – headed nod away from goal.
After 90 minutes, the score was 0-0, and the frightening scream in the referee’s whistle signaled extension was on its way.
Now this would be a test of England’s mental character.
Schmeichel saves from the place … BUT CAN SLAMS HOME ABOUT THE AWARD! ???????????????????? # ONE lead in extra time !!! ? # ENGDEN | #ITVFotboll | # Euro2020 pic.twitter.com/kZdBM3deRe
– ITV Football (@itvfootball) July 7, 2021
Despite the obvious nerves in the crowd, the England team continued to flood forward and their big chance finally came when Sterling was brought down in the area by Joakim Maehle. Harry Kane went up and looked like a man with the weight of the world on his shoulders, and despite Schmeichel saving his place, the forward kicked in to beat England in the lead.
With 15 minutes of play left to navigate, England would need to show a lot of noise to keep in the lead and have the courage to drive forward if possible to relieve the pressure – something they did brilliantly.
Despite a few half-chances for the Danes, England looked more likely to take the next goal, and Southgate’s men showed brilliant play management to keep the ball and pass their way to victory.
Of course, you need lots of quality to get into the later rounds of a big tournament, but you need intelligence and character along the way, and England have proven that they have all of the above in abundance.
