【Text/Observer Network Deng Ruikan】
"Football home!"
"Misspelled, back to Rome!"
Before the final, The English and Italian fans began to fight early. The European Championship, which they had been waiting for five years, finally decided a winner.
In the end, the Blues defeated the Three Lions 4-3 (3:2 on penalties) at Wembley, with only 7,500 supporters present (about 55,000 English fans), to lift the Delaunay Cup for the second time in history.
It is worth noting that the England players Rashford and Sancho, who were replaced by penalties at almost the last moment, lost all of them.
Today's game, England took advantage of the home advantage to make a fantastic start. At 1 minute and 57 seconds, left wing-back Luke Shaw and right wing-back Trippier completed the connection, the former relying on the cover of Sterling and Kane in the box, left-footed pumping to play the rebound ball, Donaru did not react quickly, 1-0.
Subsequently, the Italian team wanted to launch a fierce attack, but England pressed through the midfield, so that the former could not organize a rapid attack calmly and was forced to attack the positions that were relatively not very good. More than ten minutes after conceding the goal, the Italian team was once confused.
At this time, the coach Mancini carried out efficient on-site scheduling, and the defensive line increased the difficulty of the English team to hold the ball at the same time, increased the tandem and control of the midfield, and "surrounded" the England team.
At half-time, although the Italian team failed to score, but the possession rate was as high as 65%, it has fully gained the initiative, and it has achieved 33 consecutive unbeaten games before the game.
In the second half, the two sides continued their previous tactics, england continued to lose the ball, and the defense gradually began to run. There was still a counterattack in the first half, which simply disappeared.
In the 66th minute of the match, Italy's possession rate of more than 70% finally earned a goal. Bonucci scored in a melee in the penalty area to pull the game back to the same running line. At the age of 34 and 71 days, he became the oldest player to score in the Final of the European Championship.
At this time, Southgate woke up like a dream, and immediately adjusted the three-centre-back lineup to 4-2-3-1, and replaced Saka and Henderson at the same time to add fresh blood.
On the other side, The best form in italy's attacking end, Chiesa Jr., was injured in a physical collision and had no choice but to leave the field. The England team breathed a sigh of relief.
Since then, neither side has been able to rewrite the score, and the 90-minute battle ended, 1:1, and the game went into extra time.
At this point, everyone remembered the prediction of England football star Irving, "1:1 in overtime, England won 2:1." ”
However, this is not the case. In extra time, both sides played more cautiously, and in the blink of an eye, they entered a penalty shootout.
It is worth noting that in the last minute of the game, Southgate replaced Sancho and Rashford, and he never expected that this substitution would become a killer against himself.
In the first round of penalties, Berardy and Kane both hit.
In the second round, Pickford saved a penalty from Italian striker Belotti.
In the third round, England's Marcus Rashford hit the neutral post with a free throw.
In the fourth round, Sancho England's penalty was saved by Donnarumma.
In the fifth round, Pickford saved Zoginho's penalty. But the 19-year-old Saka failed to withstand the pressure, and the penalty was saved by Donnarumma, and England lost three consecutive penalties.
In the end, Italy defeated England 4:3 (3:2 on penalties), sweeping away the haze of not reaching the World Cup in 2018, and after 53 years, the second time in history to lift the Delaunay Cup.
Italian coach Mancini burst into tears
Goalkeeper Donalumma won the Award for Best Player for his outstanding performance.
At the same time, the Italian team also fulfilled their pre-match promise: to win the championship for left-back Spinazzola, who had a broken Achilles tendon.
Two atypical teams
The two final teams of this competition give everyone the impression of being "atypical".
The Italian team is the most obvious, changing the previous pure defensive counterattack style, and the offensive end is more aggressive. The Italian team with Insigne, Berardi and Immobile as the "locomotive" this year gives people the feeling of "rushing", from defending to attacking without dragging mud and water, and the desire to move forward is unprecedentedly strong. If it weren't for left-back Spinazzola's injured exit, Italy's attack in the last two games would have looked better.
In the back line, the "second elder of The Dark Underworld", who is 70 years old, is still unstable. Chiellini, 36 years old and 331 days old, the oldest player in the European Championship final; 34 years and 71 days old Bonucci, the oldest goal scorer in the European Cup final. On these two "fossils", there is still no problem in fighting for 120 minutes.
On the other side, England, under Southgate's guidance, put defence in the first place, conceding just one goal in six games before the final. Rashford and Sancho in the arsenal have few opportunities to play, and the more they attack and defend, the more they can gain the trust of the coach.
In this competition, England feels like it has a method. Although occasionally "happy football" still appears, more often it is methodical. The solid structure of Players such as Maguire, Phillips, Rice and Luke Shaw in the midfield allows Sterling to attack boldly with confidence. If you insist on saying the disadvantages, it may be that Southgate is too conservative, and the weapons in his hands have not yet been used.
The good news is that the team is still young, the average age of 23.5 years old is envious of others, I believe that after the experience of this competition, England will achieve another good result in next year's World Cup.
"It was a special journey. We are united in believing that it is only through the most difficult years that we can achieve special results. This team is just getting started and they will continue to make you proud, both on and off the field. The England team wrote on social media.
Three points to watch the ball? Work? see!
On the afternoon of the 11th, the fan base that had been quiet for a few days became lively again.
"Three points or not?"
"Look, or wait a few more years."
"Brothers look good, I get up at six o'clock to see the highlights."
Due to the time difference, the opening time of the European Cup is not friendly to Chinese fans, especially the prime time, which always forces people to choose between going to work and watching the ball.
At about 3 a.m. on the 12th, the number of people who got up to watch the ball exceeded expectations.
"Don't go to work tomorrow? ... Today. ”
"The last game, don't look at it, how to say, who wins?"
"The mouth definitely supports England, psychologically, a little afraid."
"Sure Italy, you England are so happy."
Obviously, after the final opponents were finalized on the 8th, everyone made up the game brain early, and got up today to see if they were "prophets".
Don't look at the neutral fans in the group, they can also make a decision the moment the opening whistle sounds. It's like tossing a coin to make a choice, and the answer is already in the mind. The basis is what it is, it is not clear, it may be a certain star, it may be a grudge between two teams, and so on.
Whether it is "sleeping before seeing" or "immersive", the atmosphere in this game group is in place.
At halftime, Xiaobian chatted with familiar friends for two sentences, there were peers, there were golfers, and there were those who were not particularly familiar with football.
Everyone has their own reason to watch the ball, whether it is from a professional point of view or a hobby.
Of course, today, the label "final" definitely accounts for the largest proportion.
I believe that many fans are the mentality of the above friend: look happy. Perhaps in the eyes of hardcore fans, this is a bit "unfaithful" and may even call them "pseudo-fans".
But if you think about it, this is not a bad thing, but it reflects the influence of football.
Recalling the annual international competition, "out of the circle" is almost inevitable. In this competition, the "Coca-Cola storm" brought up by C Ronaldo and other stars, the 11 oolong balls that created history, the Hungarian stadium was full, etc., have all been on the hot search.
Every fan has his own story, and football, as the world's number one sport, connects everyone like a bond.
Screenshot of fans answering questions about watching the net
How many people were sleepy-eyed on the bus to the office building early this morning, still passing by as usual, the only difference being that they were reminiscing about stories from the same stadium at the same time.
This article is an exclusive manuscript of the Observer Network and may not be reproduced without authorization.