Euro 2020: Italy vs. England Match Recap
Italy kept their nerve in the penalty shoot-out to become the champions of Europe after a 1-1 draw with England on Sunday night.
England were roared on by a home crowd at Wembley and got off to the perfect start, scoring inside three minutes. Keiran Trippier's cross from the right found Luke Shaw unmarked at the back post and the left-back smashed it home to give his team the lead.
The goal was met with wild celebrations as England looked set to win their first-ever European Championship. Italy would then slowly come back into the game. The visitors came close to equalizing in the 35th minute when Federico Chiesa stormed forward and lashed a left-footed effort just wide of the post.
As the game entered the second half, Chiesa continued to threaten for Italy. At one point, he danced between defenders in the English box to find room for a good low strike that Jordan Pickford saved well.
In the 66th minute, Italy finally found their equalizer. After an in-swinging corner caused chaos in the box, Marco Veratti looked to head home at the far post. However, Pickford did well to push the ball onto the post but was unable to recover as on-rushing Leonardo Bonucci put the ball in the back of the net.
There would be little other action for the remainder of the 90 minutes as the game headed to extra-time. While both Pickford and donnarumma" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Gianluigi Donnarumma had to be alert to break up some threatening crosses, there was little in the way of clear-cut chances. With neither side able to break the deadlock, the game headed to penalties.
England looked ready for glory following an early Pickford save and some confident finishes from both Harry Maguire and Harry Kane. However, after both Marcus Rashford and Jadon Sancho were not able to convert, Jorginho was in a position to win the tournament for Italy with his spot-kick.
Having scored the winning penalty in the semi-final, it was a big surprise when Pickford pulled off a spectacular save to keep England in it. 19-year-old Bukayo Saka then stepped up knowing he needed to score to keep his side's chances alive. However, he saw his effort saved by Donnarumma to end the contest.
The win capped a monumental effort from Italy, who were led throughout the tournament by the experience of captain Giorgio Chiellini. They will look back at their wins over both Belgium and Spain and of course their heroic performance in the final at Wembley for years to come.
As for England, while there are many positives to take from the tournament, the wait to win their first major title since 1966 will go on.