England 2-1 Denmark (AET): Harry Kane hits overtime winner when Three Lions set up Euro 2020 final with Italy | Football news

England captain Harry Kane shot his team to the first European Championship final, striking back with a saved penalty in overtime as Gareth Southgate’s team blacked out the Manager’s icons played 25 years ago in a fierce battle with a 2-1 win over the brave. Denmark.

Southgate has carried his penalty shootout in Wembley since Euro 96, but his three lions wrote their own history on Wednesday night, holding a Sunday show with Italy back in Wembley.

It wasn’t a good day at all, Mikkel Damsgaard was able to finish off the move – 1 – 1. The hosts had a quick free kick 30 minutes into the match.

But England forced a draw home through Simon Kjaer’s own goals, and while they couldn’t get the job done in 90 minutes, for the increasingly tired Danish side who had flown from the Baku semi-finals, most of the 60,000 fans back at Wembley roared with joy when Kane finally won the otherwise brilliant Kasper Schmeichel .

For Denmark, it’s a great ending to an incredible story in this tournament, and they deserve high praise for their accomplishments after Christian Eriksen’s cardiac arrest in the first match.

But England and their supporters can now look forward to one more match and the country’s first major tournament final since 1966.

How the young lions of England made history …

In the start-up phase, these supporters masked the noise that arose before the Scottish and German matches in the tournament. On the big screen, David Baddiel and Frank Skinner sang ‘Three Lions’, and the spirit of Euro 96 was no doubt regained.

This electronic atmosphere rose with early drifting from Raheem Sterling as Mason Mount wrapped around the edge of a Danish box and as Kane strikes a spectacular boundary out of reach of a man in Man City.

But England threatened to have its own repeals soon after. Southgate’s team managed to clear individual errors in this tournament, but Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg robbed Kalvin Phillips, who shot Jordan Pickford, then the goalkeeper went straight to the red shirt with a shot by Martin Braithwaite. .

It was an alarming couple of minutes for England and gave Denmark confidence as Damsgaard bent the shot from the edge of the area. With the start of the first half, Pickford’s line, which refused to land, stretched for more than 720 minutes and set a new English record. A moment later, the ball was in his net.

Damsgaard’s free kick from 25 yards was sublime as the 21-year-old kicked a hard effort under the bar and at Pickford’s fingertips, even if the goalkeeper felt he could do better.

English looked rattling. Pickford gave the ball back. Denmark created a break of almost a second when Sterling’s free kick hit the wall. On the line of touch, Southgate called for his side to calm down.

Tension intensified inside Wembley as Schmeichel pulled an incredible stop to prevent Sterling from turning to Kane’s cross. But minutes later, a similar move led to an English leveler.

Kane fell deep, feeding Bukayo Saka with a great pass, and when Sterling had to push his tournament in the fourth tournament, Kjaer beat him to it and directed the ball to his own goal.

Behind England there was momentum in the final moments of the half, but after the episode, Denmark once again looked most threatening – before Schmeichel made another excellent stop in the evening to keep Harry Maguire’s title at full stretch.

Kasper Dolberg shot Pickford after a second-cut Danish move, but that would be their first and only shot after a goal until extra time, when England finally began to find power in the match when Mount saw the shot blocked and another Schmeichel claimed. .

Within 68 minutes, Southgate sent Jack Grealish and he was in direct action, forcing Daniel Wass to make a reservation-deserving error before he dropped a box in the Sterling building and saw the shot blocked.

England supporters demanded a penalty when Kane went into the box soon after, but ref. Danny Makkelie was given a free kick for a simulation and VAR support. Before Andreas Christensen’s brilliant abduction prevented Maguire from sending Grealish through and Phillips drilled wide at the edge of the box.

During the nail bite final, England drew back the tiring Danish side but still couldn’t get through, John Stones, Phillips and Maguire were unable to convert and Kane was distorted by Grealish’s surgery in the final last seconds of normal. time.

Schmeichel was once again sharp to deny Kane after the restart, and the Leicester man struck a vigorous realistic effort before Sterling fired over the squandering as England pressured pressure.

But then came a breakthrough. Sterling has been England’s guy in this tournament, and he proved decisive again when Joakim Maehle’s journey ended in his slaloming box. It was soft, but after a long VAR check, it stood and Kane stepped up to take it. Schmeichel got behind the domesticated shot, he should have grabbed it – but the ball slipped on Kane’s path to reverse the return and send Wembley wild.

The Danes gave a big extra overtime in the second half to look for a tie, but they were all steamed and dropped to the final ten when Mathias Jensen limped. England stood firm and saw a historic victory with their delightful supporters singing ‘Ole’ every late.

In the last whistle, the festivities began, fans sang ‘football is coming home’ – but the dream is not over yet …

Podcast: It’s almost home … How “new English” could go all the way

Drink it … England are in the big tournament finals for the first time since 1966 after their overtime victory over Denmark at Wembley was in the Euro 2020 semi-finals.

Kate Burlaga joins Rob Dorsett, Pete Smith and Nick Wright to discuss the historic night and whether this “new England” side can go against Italy on Sunday.

Listen and subscribe to your podcast provider

Opta statistics – English back in the last 55 years

• England have reached the first major final (Euro / World Cup) since the 1966 World Cup 55 years ago, the longest difference between the last appearances in the history of the two races.
• England have reached their first ever European Championship final. Their 37 matches (including this match) were the most the teams had played in the competition without ever reaching the finals.
• England have won the European Championship playoff match for the first time in a row, while it is the first time they have done so in a major tournament since winning 3-2 in Cameroon in the 1990 World Cup semi-finals.
• This was the seventh overtime match in Euro 2020, and the World Championships in 1990 and 2014 are the only major tournaments (Euro / World Cup) with more matches for a longer period (8 each).
• Mikkel Damsgaard’s opening for Denmark was Euro 2020’s first free kick goal with the 37th straight free kick.
• Simon Kjaer’s own goal is the first England to benefit from the history of the European Championships, and the third major tournament (against Czechoslovakia and Paraguay at the 1982 and 2006 World Championships).
• Harry Kane is England’s highest scorer in major tournaments (Euros / World Cup), moving to level with Gary Lineker by 10 goals.
• Jordan Pickford set a new record for the English goalkeeper for most minutes with no emissions and overtook Gordon Banks for 720 minutes set between May and July 1966 (a total of 725 minutes).
• At the age of 19 and 305 days, Bukayo Saka became the youngest Englishman to start the match in the semifinals of the major tournament (Euro / World Cup) or later.

What next?

England will play against Italy in the Euro 2020 final on Sunday at 8pm in Wembley.