Sunday July 11, 2021
The English team was so close but at the same time so far from reaching their first European Championship. They lost in a vibrant penalty shootout to Italy. A correct games of those led by Gareth Southgate who had no fortune in the shots from the twelve steps.
By Nicolás Indo
Jordan Pickford: Great game for one of the best goalkeepers of the tournament where he played a leading role in the penalty shoot-out by covering Belloti and Jorginho’s shots, but in the end it did not do much to achieve the final goal. In the 120 ‘minutes he showed a lot of security under the porch.
Kyle Walker: A correct match for the Manchester City player where he had the difficult task of neutralizing Lorenzo Insigne, one of the best players in the tournament. Quick in the crossings and with great clarity when going out playing with dominated ball.
John Stones: One of the figures of the match where he had the difficult task of marking Ciro Immobile, the Italian area benchmark, so good was his task that Roberto Mancini had to replace the Lazio striker due to his little participation in the game. In the second half he had more homework, especially after the Italian goal, but of all he was seen with a lot of solvency in the crosses.
Harry Maguire: A complex match for the Manchester United defender where he had to mark Federico Chiesa, a key player in the Italians’ attack. He had good crosses, but at the same time he was inaccurate to go out playing. In addition, the second half was clearly exceeded by the speed of Chiesa, who luckily for him retired injured. In the penalty shootout, he converted his penalty with a powerful and unapproachable shot.
Kieran Trippier: The Atlético Madrid player was one of the highlights of the match. In the match he had a correct performance on the time of making the back and forth on the right wing. He was replaced at 70 ′ by Saka, just after the tie in Italy.
Kalvin Phillips: Another of the great revelations of this European Championship. A player who in this match had the difficult task of neutralizing both Barella and Jorginho and managed to do it perfectly in the first half. Correct match for Marcelo Bielsa’s pupil at Leeds United.
Declan Rice: Outstanding performance by this young West Ham midfielder. Clear when managing midfield times. He had a lot of precision to command the transitions between the defense and the attack of the English. He was replaced with clear signs of fatigue, in his place Jordan Henderson entered.
Luke Shaw: Undoubtedly the best of England in the 120 minutes of the game. Where he scored a great goal after two minutes, in the rest of the game it was a constant headache for Di Lorenzo, especially with the climbs up the left wing. A consecrating match for the Manchester United player.
Mason Mount: Ungrateful game for the Chelsea midfielder since he did not have much participation in the attack of the English and in the play of the goal of Bonucci the mark of Marco Verratti escaped him.
Raheem Sterling: Although he was neutralized for a large part of the game, he still managed to disturb the iron defense of the ‘Azzurra’, where he even managed to get a yellow card from Leonardo Bonucci. Without a doubt, the Manchester City winger was one of the best players in the European Championship.
Harry Kane: The scorer of this European Championship had a correct game despite not having participated much in the game, but he had a key role at the time of being delayed where he was even important in the goal play. On penalties he was in charge of starting the shoot-out and he did it as usual: unapproachable goal.
Bakary Saka: The purpose of his entry was with the idea of being able to attack on the right side of the English attack. However, it was very well marked that he was deprived of his individual imbalance. However, he managed to upset Giorgio Chiellini, who received a yellow card after a heavy infraction against the Arsenal player. He will be remembered for being a player who missed the last penalty of the round with which Italy was proclaimed champion.
Jordan Henderson: He entered with the difficult mission of replacing Rice, one of the best players in the game. He had a correct meeting with great precision both in the passes and in the mark. He was replaced in the 120 ‘by Sancho.
Jack Grealish: Entered at minute 98 ‘in replacement of Mount. His entry was somewhat late, but the minutes on the court managed to be a danger for the Italian defense especially when he was looking for assistance. In what little he played, he did more than Mount in the game.
Marcus Rashford: He entered for Henderson in the last minute with the mission to participate in the penalty shootout. Unfortunately it did not do much good, because he sent his shot to the post.
Jadon Sancho: Like Rashford entered with the aim of kicking penalties and also missed his shot that was stopped by Donnarumma.
Gareth Southgate: At the beginning of the duel he neutralized in a good way the best weapon of the Italians, the midfield. In the second half, after Bonucci’s goal, he could not read the game and was delayed in changing Grealish. In minute 120 ′, Rashford and Sancho entered with the idea of converting their penalty kicks, but unfortunately it did not work.
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