There it is. The semi-finals all done and dusted, and no real surprise. It’s an Italy vs England final at Wembley on Sunday night.
The Italians made hard work of it. The Spanish turned up and dominated the ball even though we thought it would be the Italians to take the game to them. Italy dropped deep, took the pressure in, and it was a breakaway goal from Federico Chiesa that got them in front.
But the Italians couldn’t hold firm.
The Spanish came back into it. It was a big call by Luis Enrique to have Alvaro Morata on the bench, but he came on and got his goal to level the game 1-1. The game went to extra time and then into penalties. I’ve got to be honest, I’ve always fancied the Italians – I’ve been on their side slightly throughout this tournament – but they’ve also earned it. Jorginho took a fantastic penalty to put the Italians in the Euros Final.
England had the home advantage at Wembley – it was fantastic to see the fans there. It was them that dominated the ball. But again, a well-organised and honest Danish team went in front from a fantastic free kick from Mikkel Damsgaard. England showed character. Not having been behind or even conceded a goal in this tournament, England showed that they could get back into the game.
They fed off the crowd’s energy, and it was an own goal by Simon Kjaer that got them level. When the game went into extra time, it was the Danes that looked like they ran out of steam. Denmark sat back at the edge of the box and invited pressure until a very, very controversial decision by the Dutch referee gave a penalty from what looked like a dive from Raheem Sterling. He should have gone to see the VAR replay, but he didn’t – he was committed to his decision.
It was Harry Kane who stepped up. Although he didn’t score the penalty, he finished off the rebound and to be honest, it never looked like the Danes were going to get back into it, and it’s now England that find themselves in the EURO 2020 (2021) Final to face Italy – and what a matchup that’s going to be!
Italy vs England. I’m going to predict an Italian win by three goals to one. Forza Italia.
- Italy to win the game 3-1 is on offer at 33/1 (34.00).
- Italy to win the game is available at 2/1 (3.00).
- Italy to lift the trophy is at 19/20 (1.95).
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*Odds subject to change. Odds correct at time of publishing.