Euro 2021 Final
England Handed Crushing Loss on Penalty Kicks
England was hosting their first major tournament final in nearly fifty years. And just like the last time, the Three Lions were actually in the Final, with a chance to win.
In fact, England went ahead in just the second minute, after Luke Shaw scored to stun Italy. At that point, it looked like my own prediction of what would happen in this match was going to come to fruition. Indeed, England looked sharp and resembled champions for most of the rest of the first half.
Then something happened, and the momentum shifted. Italy came out in the second half, and they hung onto the ball. The English side seemed unable to hang onto the ball. When they got the ball, it seemed too often that someone would simply kick it away, effectively spoiling any chance at making something of the relatively rare times when they possessed the ball.
Finally, the inevitable happened. Italian Leonardo Bonucci broke through, scoring a goal in the 67th minute, taking advantage of his team's pressing attack and getting an easy goal after a rebound from a nice save by English keeper Jordan Pickford. Just like that, the game was tied.
Yes, it was tied officially. But it felt like more than that. It felt like even more than a mere momentum switch, for that matter. What it felt like, watching it, was that England had had the air knocked out of it. From that point onward, Italy seemed to enjoy almost total control. The English side had some chances, but more often than not, their efforts seemed to lack conviction. They visibly seemed to lose confidence in their own ability to win the contest, and the championship.
At this point, I have to make an admission. I work overnights, and needed some sleep before my shift. The idea was that I would stay up to watch this major championship, and it felt like I should probably be excited to watch it. But my fatigue grew and grew, in large part because the Italian side was predictable to a fault. They almost never took chances, and certainly no unnecessary ones. They displayed some brilliant passing, and indeed, they wore down their opponents in this one, England, much like they wore down their other opponents in this tournament, as well. But unless you were a strong fan of Italy, the game felt like it had all the excitement of watching pain dry. I could feel my beard growing in and, before long, just decided to forget it and go to bed. Frankly, it already felt like what the outcome was inevitable. Hoping to be wrong, I went to bed and fell asleep.
Upon awakening, pretty much the first thing I wanted to do was check. And yes, things had happened exactly as I had imagined, unfortunately.
It came down to penalty kicks. England historically has had their hearts broken in penalty kick shootouts in major tournaments, and this one was no exception.
Allegedly, it was an exciting penalty shootout. However, Italy won. You just got the sense, watching how Italy seemed to be playing it safe to a fault, passing and passing - often backwards - just seemingly to stall until they got down to it with the penalty shootout, that this was what they had really wanted in the event of a tight game. It seemed that they sensed that England would just be too nervy once the penalty shootout came.
And so it was. Italy wins the Euro 2020, or Euro 2021, on the penalty kick shootout. They certainly looked like the best team throughout the second half, and there was no arguing that they were dictating the tempo of the game by that point. It was hardly exciting to watch, unless again you were a passionate fan of either side (although I cannot imagine that it was fun to watch for those strongly pulling for the Three Lions). What it felt like, particularly from the time that Italy got the equalizer by Bonucci, was that they had seriously hurt their opponent, and then just leaned their weight on them the rest of the figurative fight, wearing them down. England seemed to lose all of their energy, and suddenly seemed unable to mount any sort of real attack. Italy's offense was too methodical and hung onto the ball a vast majority of the time, and their defense seemed to recover quickly from any even brief and even mild lapses. For all intents and purposes, it felt like Italy had won this match as soon as they scored. Not only the English team, but the English fans all seemed to lose hope, it felt like. They tried to sing and cheer their team on (I heard them singing "God Save the Queen" at one point), but even this felt half-hearted. From that point onward, it never felt believable that England would or even could win this thing. Despite having picked them to win, I myself never believed that they could do it after that goal. It is rare to see a game turn so completely after one score or one instance, but that is how this one went.
For the Italians, this is their first Euro championship since the last time that they won it, which also happens to be the only previous time that they won it, back in 1968. True, they have won four World Cup titles, which are obviously even bigger, but they seemed to be less effective in the Euros. They had made it to the Euro Final twice since, and had fallen short both times. But in this case, the third time indeed proved to be the charm.
As for the English, they now have enjoyed two very impressive deep runs into major tournaments. They made it to the Final Four of the World Cup in 2018. And in this tournament, they did even better, reaching the Final, and getting so agonizingly close to winning it all. But this also felt like almost a tease in retrospect, something cruelly designed to maximize their heartbreak. It is England's second best ever showing at a major tournament, and indeed, they enjoyed a very successful and exciting run, in the 2018 World Cup, and especially here in the Euro. They won their group, and then knocked out their long time tormentors, Germany. They crushed Ukraine, and then outlasted Denmark, albeit on a controversial call. And they even took an early 1-0 lead in the Final, and seemed capable of winning the whole thing for most of the first half, and even early in the second half. But all of that surely also makes the ultimate disappointment that much worse. This one truly felt cruel, all the more because it happened right at home.
However, the English are a very talented team, and they really did enjoy a great tournament. It can also be said that they are improving, getting closer. They have a good, serious coach, and a very good, talented team. With the World Cup just around the corner, really, perhaps they can regroup and make another solid run, because this team has a real chance to do something there.
Meanwhile, congratulations to Italy on another major title added to their already impressive collection of championships and distinctions.
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