It Didn’t Come Home – Euro 2020 Wrap Up – The Finals
England fielded – it can be argued – it’s best 11 for the last 50 years this year. Marquee names such as Harry Maguire, Harry Kane, Marcus Rashford, Raheem Sterling, Jadon Sancho and Luke Shaw adorned the line up along with many, many more 1st league players. And while they advanced all the way to the finals and scored the opening goal in the 2nd minute, it was instead the Italians, the Azzurri, who denied the homecoming. What happened? How did a squad with no superstars take down the team of destiny? It would take a trifecta of events.
The first event took place 4 years ago when the soccer mad country of Italy’s team failed to even qualify for the world cup. It was the first time since 1958 that the Azzurri missed the most prestigious event and it resulted in an entire retooling of the management and team. And the result was a youth movement, hungry to show it’s bona fides. Every game they played in this tournament; the Italians played aggressively. No team wanted to win as badly as the Italians. Like a shark on a seal, the Azzurri swarmed and harassed any opponent who had the ball and this tactic forced turnover after turnover, the opposition never able to have the time he wanted to make a clean pass.
So it was in the Finals after the first fifteen minutes, the Italians stole the momentum back from England and never gave them a moments piece – harassing, harassing, harassing. It must have frustrated the normally stoic British.
And it played into Italy’s hands that the English manager, Gareth Southgate, decided to try and defend the opening goal making defensive substitution after defensive substitution throughout the 2nd half. This was the second event, a critical mistake in tactics by the Manager which allowed the Azzurri to score and tie the game. In fairness, however, it must be noted that England had ridden to the finals on the strength of it’s defence. Coming into the game, the 3 Lions had only surrendered one, lone goal, so Southgate sticking to his strategy might have seemed like wise council. Moreover, it wasn’t the critical event that cost England the Championship.
No it was the third and final event, England missing 3 penalty kicks in the finale that made certain the result.
So the better team won, but not the team with the most talent. Not that it takes away from the accomplishment of the Italian team. No, instead it only enhances the profile of a team of dedicated individuals, focused together on a target that culminated in this victory, the team’s 34th in a row.
Congratulations Italy!