With blood and sweat, but only the English made it to the finals

What could you expect?

English for the Danes, who are able to win and are fairly correct, even scoring. At the European Championships, no one has yet been able to take the gates of the English while knocking out the Ukrainians and Germans and beating the Czech Republic and Croatia in the group.

Although many are neglecting the English game, Federal Captain Southgate has a precise plan, he wrote in its analysis Balázs Muraközy. The combination of the young gold generation, the classic veterans, the well-organized defense, the well-thought-out tactics and the work of the backing team made the English national team finally fit to make it to the finals and even win the tournament.

The Danes make up one of the most sympathetic teams in the Eb, not only because of the way they handled Eriksen’s drama, but also because of their play. In the straight relegation round, Wales and the Czech Republic were said goodbye, the group played a lavish half against Belgium – although they were eventually knocked out – and the Russians were beaten 4-1.

What did the match bring?

First, busy first half. Initially, the English pushed rather if they didn’t work out big situations, but they owned the ball and moved promisingly primarily on the left. Shaw and Sterling were particularly active, but in the 7th minute Kane put the ball from the right edge in front of the goal, in vain because Sterling was behind.

Not long after, in the 13th minute, he had his first goal shot of the match. The Danes tried to make a bounce – not the first time – but Walker listened to the ball, quickly played it forward to Kane, who passed it on to Sterling, and finally the ball got stuck in Schmeichel’s hand.

After 15-20 minutes, the Danes started to come to life, Højbjerg and Braithwaite also tried, but reached no more than a corner. Then they had more and more of the ball, the English pulled back. In the 25th minute, Damsgaard could have fired from inside the 16th, but failed to hit the goal.

Not so five minutes later, when he hooked a huge goal from Pickford’s net from a free kick, it was true that a better position could have been defended by the English goalkeeper.

The English found themselves in an unusual situation, they were never at a disadvantage at this European Championship, which was evident in their game. The Danes, on the other hand, were courageous, playing the English midfield nicely in places.

However, the English soon managed to calm down and they really didn’t want to go to the break at a disadvantage. In the 38th minute, Schmeichel had to defend a huge one: as Kane entered again from the right at the beginning of the match, Sterling arrived in front of the goal but fired it directly into the goalkeeper.

A minute later, Kane – who played well throughout the first half, often stepped back to build attacks – teased Saka, Sterling was the target again, but eventually the sliding Kjær got the ball into the goal. It was the 11th self-goal of the tournament.

The first minutes of the second half were more on the English side, and Mæhle’s nice start hit Dolberg, but Pickford had to defend. Then, after Braithwaite’s pass, he was forced to knock out the ball again.

Yet in front of the Danish gate came the next really big situation. Mount arched the ball to Maguire’s head from a free kick, Schmeichel had to stretch so much that he could almost push it with his fingertips to the goal. In a few minutes, however, Dolberg could shoot again, though there was no strength in it, he came into Pickford’s hands from the middle.

In almost moments, there were more or less opportunities in front of the gates. In the 60th minute, Shaw broke into the penalty area, rolling the ball into the middle, dribbling dangerously from the corner of Højbjerg towards the goal, eventually becoming a corner.

The Danes exchanged three, Poulsen, Wass and Nergaard also joined, and the English came Grealish to replace Saka. In the 73rd minute, Mount curved from the right, Schmeichel had to snatch the ball from under the top bar, saving a corner.

For the remaining quarter of an hour, both teams had promising construction sites, with the English in particular being active, but they were also unable to create a really big situation either. Thus, like Tuesday’s semi-final, there was a two-fifteen-minute overtime.

In the 94th minute, Kane was in position, shooting from the corner of the five, but Schmeichel defended. Southgate then set out on another exchange, with Foden and Henderson replacing Mount and Rice.

The overtime brought superiority to the English, Sterling played dangerously in his new place on the right and worked nicely with Foden. The earlier substitution, Grealish, also offered Schmeichel a shot, then Sterling tried again. The English apparently wanted to take it to the vineyard in front of the penalties.

In the 103rd minute, the turn came, if not exactly as the English had imagined. In another attack, Sterling fell within the box and although it was not entirely clear whether Mæhle or Jensen was fouled, the referee sentenced a penalty which remained in effect after the video. Kane’s penalty was saved by Schmeichel, but he could no longer block the rebound.

For the second half of the overtime, Southgate unexpectedly brought down the replacement Grealish and sent the winger Trippier in his place. In the last ten minutes, the Danes tried to push, but they were even at a human disadvantage, as Jensen could have been injured but could no longer send anyone into his place.

The heroic fight did not lead to a result: when the English got the ball, they cleverly hid it rather than quick attacks, in the end even Sterling could have kicked another goal if Schmeichel hadn’t defended it.

Remaining 2-1, Sunday’s Anglo-Italian final will be held at Wembley.

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