At 3:00 a.m. Beijing time on July 12, the final of the European Championship officially began, with Italy playing against England. The two teams fought for 120 minutes to draw 1-1, and finally Italy won on penalties, beating England 3-2 on aggregate, and winning the European Championship for the first time in 53 years.
Compared to England's first final, Italy won the European Championship once in 1968 and finished second twice, most recently in 2012, when it lost to Spain in the final.
In this European Championship, Italy played well, winning three consecutive first place in the group stage, followed by 2-1 Austria, 2-1 Belgium, penalty shootout 5-3 Spain, and reached the final of the European Championship again after 9 years.
Against England this time, Italy has a huge advantage in the past, remaining unbeaten in official matches for 43 consecutive years, with a record of 4 wins and 2 draws, while winning 4 consecutive international competitions against England. In the starting lineup, Italy continued to send a combination of Insigne and Immobile forwards.
Just 117 seconds into the opening, the Italian goal was breached, Trippier sent a cross from the right, and Luke Shaw, who was wrapped up in the back post, volleyed into the net to give England a 1-0 lead.
This goal set the record for the fastest goal in the history of the European Cup final, and it was also the second fastest goal conceded in the history of Italy in international competitions, the first record was the 1978 World Cup against France, when the opening 31 seconds conceded a goal, that game Italy finally reversed 2-1.
In the 66th minute of the second half, Italy's consecutive crazy counterattacks were rewarded, the corner kick was opened, Verratti's header hit the upright, Bonucci scored a supplementary shot, and Italy equalized 1-1.
This goal made Bonucci the oldest scorer in the European Cup final at the age of 34 years and 71 days, and also became the second Italian player to score for the team for the team after Pirlo for two consecutive European Championships, while Italy scored in the Euro 2 final after 2000.
In the end, the two teams played a 1-1 draw in the regular 90 minutes and entered extra time. In extra time, he continued to score no goals and entered a brutal penalty shootout, with Italy winning 3-2 and beating England 4-3 on aggregate to win the title.
After beating England, Italy set 5 big records:
First, after 53 years, he won the European Championship again, and the second crown in the history of the team was born.
Second, with 13 goals, he set a single European Championship goal record in the team's history.
Third, he set a single-time goal record in the team's history with 13 goals, after scoring 12 goals in the 2006 World Cup, the 1982 World Cup, and the 1934 World Cup.
Fourth, he won 17 consecutive European Championships, including 10 consecutive wins in qualifiers and 7 consecutive wins in the main tournament, becoming the first team in the European Championship to achieve this achievement.
Fifth, with a 34-game unbeaten record, it continues to set a new team record, while only one game away from the world record set by Brazil between 1993 and 1996.
After winning the championship in 1968, Italy has finished second twice, the most recent one in 2012, and now it has finally made up for this regret after nine years.