The dream ended with a nightmare. Penalties. The best scriptwriters could hardly have constructed a more painful narrative. You can imagine the conversations in the writing room. Penalties? Too cheesy, surely? Gareth Southgate, the albatross of 1996 still hung round his neck, choosing the penalty-takers? Wouldn’t that be an absurd coincidence? Beating Germany to get to the final? The audience can’t be expected to believe that. Put Southgate, his squad, the fans, the country through all these traumas, and at Wembley, too? Well, football can be stranger than fiction. Many millions just watched that traumatic drama; it churned their guts and broke their hearts, and it was all too real.
Sobering up, there’s a huge amount for England to be proud about. The team, after all, isn’t usually seen in the final stages of any major international tournament. By now, most English football fans would be neutrals, deciding whether they’d prefer, say, France or Spain to prevail – fine viewing, but hardly the same as seeing Harry Kane and company on the pitch. This time, the ecstasy and the agony lasted until the last kick of the tournament.
On the night, Italy recovered from their early shock – unprecedented in Euros history – and England were fortunate to have made it to extra time and then to penalties. There’s no shame in England losing to such a team and in such a way, cruel as it feels. It will not be long – indeed a year earlier than usual – before the World Cup comes around again. No one should be getting the sack. This squad is not finished writing this new chapter in history. It is something of a turning point.
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