England meet Italy in Euro 2020 Final.

 England meet Italy in Euro 2020 Final.

We had a hunch but we could never be entirely sure. But it came to pass. It did happen. Let the bells ring out from the highest steeple. Let us sing it from the rooftops. We can hardly contain our excitement anymore. England will meet Italy in the Euro 2020 Final. We must be dreaming this. Please wake us up. We'd almost given up all hope. We were beginning to think the day would never arrive but it has. All of those false dawns, the quarter final calamities, the semi final blunders can now be dumped in a dusty attic along with those lovely 1966 World Cup Final rattles, flags and banners. The past has gone and it's not coming back any time soon. 

Last night the dulcet tones of Neil Diamond's now celebrated 'Sweet Caroline' could once again be relived by a heaving, seething, feverish Wembley crowd of 66,000 whose very emotional presence sufficiently galvanised an England team who have finally re-discovered their identity. It may have been a long time in coming but all good things come to those who wait. This was the iconic moment when the vast multitudes of England supporters could finally let go of their frustrations, anxieties, their ever present sense of desperation and lingering disappointment. Sunday evening can't come quickly enough. 

Finally, after all of those penalty shoot out horrors and bloopers, the extra time angst and anguish and those teeth clenching moments when you simply wanted to go to bed early, this was the night of nights. How England have waited for retribution, justice being seen to be done and now could be that time. Italy lie in wait as Gareth Southgate's England prepare to face an Italian side who must be champing at the bit. Bring on the gladiators. 

This might be considered to be 55 years of emptiness and hollowness, that numbing feeling you get when you just can't win a football match that may have been harder than you'd first thought. In 1966, Bobby Charlton's explosive shooting from distance, Martin Peters radar vision and foresight, Nobby Stiles grit, Jack Charlton's height and Geoff Hurst's livewire opportunism were responsible for one of England's  happiest and triumphant afternoons when the World Cup finally arrived on English shores. 

Roll forward another 30 years and an England side guided by the chirpy, chipper and cheeky Terry Venables, took Germany to a place that they'd rather not have been. When the lunging leg of Paul Gascoigne couldn't quite convert a low, cut back cross into the German net, all of the good work that had been completed by the sensational 4-1 thrashing of Holland meant nothing at all. The sheer poetry of their victory over Scotland had now been nullified by a German side who fell behind to an Alan Shearer goal for England in the opening minutes only for the Germans to equalise shortly after half time. England were beaten by Germany in a horrible penalty shoot out. 

Then, as if the ghosts of World Cup 1990 in Italy that had haunted Sir Bobby Robson's England six years earlier had never gone away, they were still hovering around the darkest corners of English football. But now the 55 year gap could be obliterated by the passage of time. England, under Gareth Southgate after the nearest miss of a semi final against Croatia in the Russian World Cup of 2018, now  got it absolutely right. Some things are destined to take place because they just do and there can be no room for argument. 

England reached their first tournament Final since 1966 and that fact alone seems to just niggle and rankle with the disillusioned England pessimists who just can't bring themselves to admit that perhaps the national side just can't break free of the hoodoo which renders any success to be impossible. When the final whistle went last night some of us checked our blood pressure, the racing pulse and then let out the most relieved roar of ecstasy.

On Sunday they meet Italy in the Euro 2020 Final and for those who have followed the woes and troubles of the England football team throughout the decades and years, this felt like a radical change of fortune. The experts tell us that this is the best prepared and most thoroughly equipped to deal with any kind of setback. The astonishing advances made in the field of sports science, diet and high technology have smoothed England's route to a successful place where everything goes according to plan. 

After all those years of tears and toils, laborious football that always did look socially awkward and  wounding hurt, England's  self consciousness became painfully apparent. Now they could stop contemplating their navel, sit up straight and just play the game to their personal specifications. This is a new England, a harmonious England, a melodious England and an England where the collective takes precedence to the individual. 

The generations have come and gone. For much of the first half of this tense but gripping Euro 2020 semi final, England struggled, spluttered, flickered in patches and then seemed to get lost in a complex maze of their own making. This is not merely a case of stage fright because they must have rehearsed their lines and besides Denmark were clearly not Germany. This is not to suggest that Denmark were in any way technically inferior to the Germany of 1996 since last night was very much a level playing field. 

When John Jensen struck that fabulous drive which was instrumental in Denmark winning Euro 1992, it seemed highly unlikely that the Danes would ever repeat the feat. But here they were again 32 years later with a team swept along on a tidal wave of emotion and poignancy. In their first group match against Finland their leader of the pack Christian Erikssen had collapsed with a heart attack. There were occasions when Denmark missed Erikssen's guiding spirt, calming influence and playmaking virtuosity. 

England enjoyed the briefest control during the opening stages of last night's game. But then Danish enterprise, the ability to take the initiative and then run with the baton, seemed to work in their favour. Their football had clearer lines, neatly drawn angles and passing that had Gareth Southgate's men reaching for any kind of  effective medicine and a protractor of their own. Denmark were sharper with their ball and far more enlightened, a team whose accurate passes to feet and willingness to keep their opponents at arms length, made England's task initially more demanding than some people had been expecting. 

There was a wit and sensitivity about Denmark's football with Joakim Maehle prowling hungrily for goals and opening up England's jittery defence, Andreas Christiensen joining up with his attack and making some devastating overlaps on the English wings and Kasper Dolberg sensing opportunities to make the most of Denmark's growing confidence. Denmark were nobody's pushovers and this was a side to be reckoned with, a side who had got to the semi final because no obstacle was insurmountable. 

When the highly rated Mikkel Damsgaard swung his free kick viciously over a jumping England wall and high into the net for Denmark's opening goal, England looked like startled rabbits in the headlights. England had not conceded a goal thus far in Euro 2020 but here was a nervous Jason Pickford flailing at thin air and wondering if it was going to be that kind of night for his national team.

Somehow though Denmark just faded into the woodwork, their spirits floating over the Wembley arch and disappearing rather unfortunately into the distance.  England slowly regained their attacking momentum as if the importance of the occasion had woken them up. There were the incessant round of short, sharp passes in compact, little squares and rectangles. The patterns were forever shifting and evolving, changing direction and then running into a red cul-de-sac of Danish barriers. It was football of a bewildering quality and beguiling switches from one flank to the other. What a welcome sight.

Once again the eminently reliable Harry Maguire and John Stones were a classic double act, reading the game in front of them almost by memory and then blocking the Danes on sporadic attacking onslaughts. Mason Mount was forever wriggling, wiggling, darting and dashing, a model of stability and enthusiasm, seeking cracks in the Danes now fragile defence. Both Declan Rice and Kalvin Philips were shining defensive shields in front of their back four. Rice fetched and collected before launching easy passes for Raheem Sterling to run into, Philips never looked flustered and almost glided past the Danes with the ease of an ice skater executing the most complicated of manoeuvres.

There can be little doubt that Manchester United's Luke Shaw could ever have believed that he'd be given the licence and freedom to burst forward into the heart of his opponents. During Euro 2020 Shaw has been consistently excellent while those around him could only drool with admiration. But goals were the making of England and their equaliser was quite the most heartwarming sight. 

Once again the goal originated deep inside their own half, the ball shuffling smartly between English feet with a wonderful polish about it. Then the bright Arsenal youngster Bukayo Saka, anticipating the slide through pass to him, flew down the line at the rate of  knots before reaching the by-line and cutting the ball back to the onrushing Raheem Sterling sliding in to bundle the ball into the net. The goal though was an own goal by Danish defender Simon Kjaer. 

The second half though more or less flashed by into anonymity with neither side able to claim any advantage. England threatened briefly then lost their way when the vital ball should perhaps have been more clinical and ruthless. Denmark didn't really look as if they had any of the right attacking solutions, their first half domination just evaporating into the ether. 

In extra time England picked up from where they left off after an hour of the game, penning the Danes back into their own half and calling on their more attractive repertoire to win the game. The ball began to stick adhesively to Raheem Sterling's feet and the Manchester City winger, who was born within cheering distance of Wembley, went straight at the Danes as if he had something to prove which of course was never the case. Philips, Saka and Shaw were now shredding the Danish defence and laying waste to the Danes Viking heritage. 

Then Sterling took off on another of those pacey, frightening runs that send shivers down opposing defences. Once again he burrowed his way to the by-line, leaning into his defender and drawing the inevitable challenge. Sterling seemed to go down in instalments but then seemed to flop deliberately to the ground, a legitimate tackle perhaps but open to doubt. After a couple of minutes of delay and VAR deliberation, the referee, convinced that his original penalty decision was the right one, pointed to the penalty spot. 

A penalty was given. Harry Kane, with the apprehensive eyes of the whole of England watching, eyed Kasper Schmeichel in the Danish goal with all the intense concentration of a man who knew what the consequences of his actions would be. Kane stepped forward and knew exactly where he wanted the ball to go. A slight hesitation sent the ball thudding into Schmeichel's hand and the keeper kept out Kane's penalty. Oh no, they cried not again. Surely not. History was repeating itself again. In a split second the ball fortunately rebounded straight at Kane who slotted home the winning goal for England. 

With minutes to go of the second half of extra time, England simply ran down the clock with a dazzling exhibition of one touch passing that seemed to go on for ages. It was keep ball at its most protective and then the whistle blew. Wembley went wild, crazy and bonkers. It was utter mayhem and delirious delight. After almost a year and a half of global disaster, 60,000 England fans exploded into the most ear splitting cheering ever heard at Wembley. There were songs and chants, passionate support from every corner of the ground and an almost spiritual expression of joy. 

So it's England against Italy in the Euro 2020 Final at Wembley on Sunday evening. The church parishioners may be excused their weekly session of prayer and worship. England will be planning for the following week's lifting of all Covid 19 resrrictions with street parties perhaps. England will also be bracing itself in the hope that after everything that has gone before there will be no unnecessary distractions from the task at hand. England could be European champions by late Sunday evening but even that simple image is too good to be true. For 1966 read England 2020. It's long overdue and we won't care a jot how it's done. England would like but now maybe is not the time to expect.