Italy snatched the European Nations Cup title after beating England 3-2 on penalties after the end of normal and extra time with a 1-1 draw in the final of the tournament, which was held on Sunday evening at Wembley Stadium in the capital, London.
The original time of the match ended in a 1-1 draw, and the two teams resorted to extra time in two halves, but they failed to resolve the result throughout the two halves, to rule for penalty kicks from the penalty mark, which the Azzurri decided in his favour.
Amidst about 60,000 English fans excited for the first title in the tournament, which England did not manage to qualify for its final match in its history, Luke Shaw scored an early English goal in the second minute of the match.
A goal for England!!!!!!
Luke Shaw signs the first England goal after a great cross from Trippier 🔥#Euro2020 |
#Italy_England pic.twitter.com/Z4KFdXQ4Iq
— beIN SPORTS (@beINSPORTS) July 11, 2021
Shaw turned Kieran Trippier's cross, with a powerful direct shot at a low height, the Italian goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma failed to tackle it, and it fell into his net amid tumultuous English celebrations on and off the field.
Perhaps the England team did not expect this rapid progress, after which it decided to retreat to its midfield and secure its defense and rely on counter-attacks, leaving control of the ball to its Italian counterpart, who failed throughout the half to translate his control into goals or even dangerous attacks, thanks to the good defensive organization of his opponent, who was stubborn to finish Attacks before they reach his penalty area.
The only exception was Federico Chiesa's start in the 35th minute, which he finished with a powerful ground shot that passed near the left post of the England goal.
🇮🇹 Chiesa made a single effort to shoot and threaten the English goal, his ball was just a few centimeters away from the England goal.
😮#Euro2020 |
#Italy_England pic.twitter.com/If9ijagb8e
— beIN SPORTS (@beINSPORTS) July 11, 2021
The Italian pressure continued in the second half, as the entire England team retreated to the defense, and the 56th minute witnessed an Italian penetration of the English defense, which was ended by Lorenzo Insigne with a strong shot in the left corner, but the English goalkeeper Jordan Pickford saved it successfully.
The attack opened the appetite of Chiesa, who shot again in the 62nd minute in the left corner, but Pickford excelled and also successfully blocked it.
But the continuous Italian pressure resulted in the equalizing goal in the 67th minute, scored by Leonardo Bonucci, from a corner kick that resulted in an English defensive confusion and ended with the goal of the Italian amendment.
A goal for Italy!!!!!!
Bonucci snatches the equalizer and ignites the match 🔥#Euro2020 |
#Italy_England pic.twitter.com/ARIjheq0AO
— beIN SPORTS (@beINSPORTS) July 11, 2021
The goal made the English abandon the defense, but the Italian team did not retreat from the constant pressure, and Domenico Berardi almost reinforced the second goal for Italy in the 73rd minute when he faced Pickford, but the ball crossed the bar.
Close!
Berardi fires over…#EURO2020 pic.twitter.com/tTlofrmn23
— UEFA EURO 2020 (@EURO2020) July 11, 2021
Despite the continued control of the ball by the Italian team by 71%, the two teams failed to resolve the result in the original time of the match to extend for two additional periods.
The end of the original time for the final match between Italy and England with a draw
Who will decide the fiery match?
Follow the events of the match, moment by moment 👇 https://t.co/1pTeRFlyJy#Euro2020 |
#Italy_England pic.twitter.com/7uZdAIrYsG
— beIN SPORTS (@beINSPORTS) July 11, 2021
England liberated their defensive style in the first extra half and began threatening Italy's goal for 10 minutes, after which the Italians regained the offensive initiative and almost scored the goal in the 103rd minute, had it not been for Pickford's alertness, who blocked the dangerous cross before it reached Italian striker Federico Bernardeschi, who was directly in front of the goal .
Bernardeschi started the second extra half with a powerful free kick that Pickford saved, Harry Kane responded with a dangerous cross that Donnarumma saved before reaching Harry Maguire, the advanced.
He continued to fail to resolve the attacks from the two teams, bringing the match to the final decisive stage through penalty kicks, which the team decided in his favour.
Domenico Berardi started scoring or a penalty kick for Italy, as well as Harry Kane for England, but Andrea Belotti missed Italy's second kick after Pickford saved it brilliantly, allowing Maguire to advance to England by scoring the second kick.
Bonucci scored the third kick for Italy, while Marcus Rashford missed the third for England.
Federico Bernardeschi advanced to Italy by scoring the fourth kick, while Sancho missed England's kick with a wonderful save from Donnarumma, but Pickford restored England's hope by blocking Jorginho's kick.
But Bukayo Saka missed the fifth English kick as Italy won the title.