ITALY DEFEATS ENGLAND IN EMOTIONAL BATTLE OF EURO 2020

Mon 12 July 2021:

Italy were crowned the winners of the EURO 2020 on Sunday after defeating England on penalties at London’s iconic Wembley Stadium.

Italy reached victory during a penalty shootout, scoring three goals to England’s two. The match was held at England’s home field of Wembley Stadium in London, a year after the COVID-19 pandemic forced the postponement of the tournament.

England made a great start to the match with an early goal by Luke Shaw from six yards out in the second minute, assisted by Kieran Trippier with a cross.

Shaw scored the quickest goal ever in a EURO final and his first goal for his nation.

Following the goal, Italy took control of the match, but they failed to break England’s defense and create scoring chances.

They had only one shot on target during the first half.

England expected a penalty after Raheem Sterling fell in the penalty area, but the referee did not agree with him at the beginning of the second half.

Italy were dominant in the second half and came close to scoring with Federico Chiesa in the 62nd minute, but his shot was blocked by Jordan Pickford.

In the 67th minute, the Azzurri finally levelled. Marco Verratti’s header was denied by Pickford, but Leonardo Bonucci hit the rebound into the net.

Bonucci, at 34, became the oldest player to score in a European Championship final.

The match went into extra time after both sides could not find more goals in regular time, with a 1-1 score.

In the 97th minute, England’s Kalvin Phillips fired a volley from the edge of the box but missed the target.

Both teams could not score during extra time and the match then went into penalties.

Italy went on to beat England 3-2 on penalties and won their first European Championship trophy since EURO 1968.

Italy’s performance Sunday spotlighted the team’s strong record in real-time, having avoided a single loss for 34 games in a row.

The win also marks the first time Italy has won the Euro tournament since 1968. That said, the team has reached the finals three times over the last two decades and has four World Cup championships.

For England, Sunday’s game held much higher stakes; their advancement to the finals sent shockwaves throughout the country as the first time qualifying in the team’s history.

After decades of losses and an inability to secure an international championship win since the 1966 World Cup, the country rallied around their team’s closest shot at victory.

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