England left dreaming after semi-final win.
Written by @RA_Sikdar
55 years of pain, nearly moments, false dawns, early sunsets, heavy expectations, heavier disappointments and the crushing desperation aren’t over yet, but they’re closer than they’ve ever been.
A first major tournament final since 1966 when today’s pensioners were children and World War II was still a living memory for most people. A first European cup final, 25 years after the country thought it was coming home, 25 years after Gareth Southgate was forced to hoist the nation’s disappointment onto his shoulders until now when he carried them into the final and finally, let the aching, searing memory of that shared failure go. In doing so, Southgate redeemed himself and unleashed a summer of dreams, frenzied expectancy and hope.
England overcame a night where nerves were shredded raw by the tension of a hurdle they could never overcome since 1966: the semi-final stage. If we always thought England were a quarter-finals team, at least they occasionally progressed beyond that. Now there was real tension and fear. England had something to lose, something to feel ripped out of their hands by an opponent coming into the game with an altogether very different kind of emotional story to knit the team together, one rooted in tragedy and resilience, a story more inspiring than anyone else’s.
Denmark were worthy semi-final opponents and for 120 minutes were combative adversaries who wouldn’t go away, who wouldn’t fall. The weight of 60,000 plus pouring their emotions onto the pitch first served as the fuel for England’s frenzied start when they hassled and tormented Denmark with a very English kind of high-tempo intensity. The pressing wasn’t very calculated, it wasn’t very methodical, it didn’t create any clear openings — but it was pressure. The kind of pressure befitting a game of this magnitude between two teams desperate for their emotional arcs to have the conclusions they deserved.
Denmark slowly came into the game. England’s 4–2–3–1 was designed to create space in behind the Dane’s attacking wing-backs but in the middle there was a different narrative unfolding. Increasingly, Denmark assumed control with superior manipulation of the ball. Mason Mount is a fine footballer but his defensive coverage leaves something to be desired. The two English pivots could not get a hold of the midfield and were overrun. You suspect this might not have happened had Jordan Henderson been playing, and this is the risk for England in the final against Italy where not only will the Italians have the midfield advantage in technique but they will look to outnumber England. Southgate might very well opt for the 5–4–1 and have Shaw and Trippier stepping forward to help Rice and Phillips.
On the right-hand side this might very well be necessary. Insigne is fast and will look to exploit space in behind Trippier but against Kyle Walker he would be outmatched for pace. On the other side, Maguire would be able to offer Luke Shaw support against the excellent Chiesa. But in the middle, against Barrella, Verratti and Jorginho, England’s duo of Rice and Phillips will come up short and overwhelmed unless Southgate finds a way to congest the middle.
The issue here with the 4–2–3–1 was that Sterling and Saka didn’t always track back and Denmark were able to isolate England’s full-backs, particularly during the first half. They took the lead with a magical free-kick and perhaps that was the best thing to happen to England in preparation for a final with Italy. It’s very conceivable that they could trail Italy. The sort of emotions required to deal with that adversity was never explored in this tournament because England never trailed anyone, never even conceded a goal. Here they tasted it, were given a feeling of what it was like to be England in a semi-final, to feel what their manager did in 1996 and so many others before them.
And then they went to work.
In terms of talent alone, this isn’t the best English side. That will probably always belong to the 2004–2006 iterations which should have done more than measly quarter-final exits. But this is a side defined by its harmonious collectivism, superb team cohesion and sense of shared purpose. They didn’t wilt under the brief Danish storm in the first-half but gathered themselves, and attacked.
People will talk about the softness of the penalty but those of us who have followed England for years will see this simply as injustices finally being corrected. England were unfairly disallowed a goal in Euro 2004 when Sol Campbell looked to have knocked Portugal out. They were unfairly disallowed a goal in World Cup 2010 when Frank Lampard’s shot had clearly crossed the line but wasn’t given, as England went on to lose to Germany. All these moments, all these pressures, collectively manifesting when England were trailing. And it didn’t even matter.
Harry Kane has rediscovered himself in the knockout stages with four goals after calls for him to be dropped. He is the complete forward, the best England have had since Gary Lineker, probably even better than him. He drove the Three Lions forward, collecting ball from deep, threading a sublime pass for Saka to square across goal. Raheem Sterling didn’t get the finish but it was his run that forced the own goal, his run that had so often troubled Denmark. The man who has been tormented by the English tabloids at times has been country’s player of the tournament, perhaps the player of the tournament itself. He was, once more, fantastic.
And that is the other thing about this English side. It’s an expression of the modern-day English patriotism that you can get on board with: progressive, inclusive, filled with a sense of solidarity, shared purpose and common values. The country has been bitterly fractured by politics but the football team has served as a bridge between groups of people who have lost the capacity to have conversations with each other. They have shown that for all the differences, people still share the same England team. The meanings of what England is too them will differ, as reflected in the reactions to taking the knee, but it is an England team that everyone collectively holds in their hearts. You couldn’t always say that about the previous teams, though it was clear ethnic minorities cared deeply about the national team then too. But the multi-ethnic essence of this England side is what reflects the modern-day national story of who we are as a country: different, yet united by some fundamental commonalities, and above all, desperate to see football finally coming home.
