The hour of steadily mounting pressure on the Denmark goal was the like of which England have not produced in 25 yearsGareth Southgate values control almost above anything else. For England, this has been a tournament about control. He has talked about aping Portugal at Euro 2016 and France at the World Cup, of learning how to manage games. But there are two ways of controlling games. There is controlling games by attacking, as England did with remarkable intensity and consistency between the start of the second half and the end of the first half of extra time, and there is controlling the game as England did in the second half of extra time, keeping the ball away from Denmark...
Semi-finals are meant to be tense struggles and Denmark pushed Southgate’s side all the way at WembleyOn into that new frontier. As Harry Kane turned to celebrate, with 103 minutes on the clock and the ball still spinning in Kasper Schmeichel’s net, England’s players seemed to be floating above the Wembley turf, taking in great fragrant gulps of air, eyes wide, fixing that moment in time.It had been a long road there, fringed with hazards and notes of danger. Related: England beat Denmark in extra time to set up Euro 2020 final with Italy Related: England’s dreaming: now a final awaits for the first time since 1966 Continue reading...
Without bellowing nor rage the manager plotted a route back into the semi-final and now the Euro 2020 final awaits There were 33 minutes on the clock at Wembley when Gareth Southgate decided that he had to do something before England descended into the kind of demented, frazzled state not seen in a major tournament since Brazil’s implosion in their World Cup semi-final against Germany seven years ago.Southgate being Southgate, a rather restrained gesture followed. There was no bellowing, no flinging of the arms, no rage as he plotted a way back into the semi-final. After all, it was a time for composure. England were a goal down to a smart and dangerous Denmark, their run of clean sheets ended...
Gareth Southgate has built an England team to challenge the old, misguided narrative created by previous failuresWe’re not creative enough. We’re not positive enough. We’ll go on getting bad results, getting bad results, getting bad results.An interesting thing about years of hurt and all those oh-so-nears. When the lyrics to the great and apparently inexhaustible Three Lions were written, England had played only seven proper tournaments since they’d actually won the World Cup. Just one of those had been anything close to a near-miss. Related: Revitalised Harry Kane turns England into powerful attacking machine | Barney Ronay Related: England played like a dream but this is reality for Southgate's assured side | Jonathan Liew Continue reading...
Like all Danes I feel proud to be represented by a team who have shown vulnerability and togetherness after their traumaI am proud to be Danish. Now more than any time before. To watch the Denmark players act the way they did, to see the way they shouldered responsibility in the heat of the moment after Christian Eriksen’s collapse and to see the way they cared for each other was incredibly admirable. It makes me proud as a Danish person but also as the captain of the women’s team. The whole country feels the same: immensely proud to be represented by these players and this team in this tournament but also in general. In that moment this tournament became bigger...