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England

does not bend or break, but that was a well-known virtue, unbeaten as it remains in this European Championship. The Roman epiphany of this Saturday consisted in discovering that England also bends, also breaks, that it is an anvil and it is also a hammer. All the offensive flow that was supposed to be a loaded selection of top-quality gunners was unloaded on a

mentally solid

Ukraine

until its self-esteem was in ruins on the basis of rival goals. They have made a commendable championship those of

Shevchenko

, but they found an opponent who manages records that are not within their reach.

Kane

, a big hitter and growing after a disappointing start to the tournament, had a lot to do with his undeniable redemption in the quarterfinals.

Making good their status as favorites, England thus reach the penultimate step of the European Championship for the third time in their career to try to correct a historical anomaly. Neither in 1968 nor in 1996 it managed to pass from there, being the only great team that has ever lifted the continental scepter. It is written, he has not even played a single final, a glaring gap in his record that he will try to correct on Wednesday against the enthusiastic Denmark at Wembley, the scene of the last three matches of this European Championship. There is no place like home.

Or yes, because his outbreak occurred in the only match of the tournament that he is going to play in exile.

And he cooked it as it is done with the best elaborations, simmering the game to finish it off with a strong heat stroke at the right moment to leave it ready to serve.

Ukraine tried to control the English temperature and, when she wanted to tell, it was she who had burned.

The return of Sancho

Kane's goal in the fourth minute, stretching her toe into the box to take advantage of an imaginative serve from

Sterling

, gave England the context in which they feel most comfortable.

Southgate

had arranged a lineup to seek the imbalance on the wings, rehabilitating a

Sancho

who had only played six minutes in the entire tournament and returning to the line of four defenders. The complete success of his plan was only at the expense of nerves and urgencies beginning to surface in the Ukrainian ranks in the form of risk-taking that forced capital mistakes.

But if something shows a victory in the 121st minute, already exhausted with euphoria, like the one he achieved against Sweden in the round of 16, it is the value of patience in football. So Shevchenko's players, good students, remained unmoved after Kane's early strike, giving England room to braid sterile possessions that only Sterling was able to enrich with his electricity. When that happened,

Bushchan's

gloves

saw to

it that nothing changed.

Ukraine's problem was the fragility of their stoicism, as there is no way to ignore the urgency when they already have two goals on the rival scoreboard. Well, Shevchenko's plan exploded after the break in just five minutes. First

Maguire

on an indirect free kick and then Kane polished their heads off

Shaw's

two shipments

. The Ukrainian collapse was inevitable, emotionally broken, already known before the epilogue of his great participation in the tournament. Surely the Ukrainian coach then regretted having taken advantage of

Kryvtsov's

injury

, at the end of the first half, to subtract a central and add a winger. It didn't matter.

Henderson's

goal

, after game time, simply served to confirm that the night had no more history.

Southgate took the opportunity to remove the alerted footballers and the most worn out of the field with the aim of keeping their clean sheet.

He did it, buckling a round performance.

England is now a hammer, but it is still an anvil.

And he already feels that this Eurocup has to be, finally, his.

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Know more

  • sports

  • Euro 2020

  • England National Soccer Team

  • Ukraine National Soccer Team

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