 ENGLAND’S EURO 2020 CAMPAIGN

by Silvio Scicluna

Friday 11th June 2021. The day the curtain was belatedly raised on Europe’s showpiece football tournament for national teams, a year later than planned due to the unprecedented effects caused by the global coronavirus pandemic. Yes, it felt strange to be holding EURO 2020 in 2021 but better late than never, as they say.

This edition of the Euro’s was meant to be special in that instead of the usual practice of having one host country, this year’s matches were to be played in different countries across the continent, opening opportunities for more fans to enjoy this football spectacle from their own country. How ironic then that such an initiative would go on to be diminished with the pandemic’s effects. Most stadia operated with reduced capacities and it was a shame seeing such great venues like Rome, Wembley, Munich, Amsterdam et al being only half full, or less. There were some exceptions though. Budapest and Copenhagen, for instance, allowed full capacities and these provided electric atmospheres.

The upshot of this initiative by UEFA was that some countries had the advantage of playing most of their matches at home, albeit without a full stadium backing. And it was in this context, playing the majority of their matches at Wembley if they played their cards right, that many were tipping England to be one of the favourites to lift the trophy. Added to the fact that the current England side contained some of the most exciting young talent seen in recent years, there was definitely an air of optimism in the country this year. Some might argue that it was more a case of overconfidence, flamed in no small measure by strong national media coverage and equally overhyped on social media. But if there was a touch of overconfidence amongst the pundits and fans, this was definitely not the case with the national coach Gareth Southgate who was always at pains to remind everyone to keep their feet on the ground and take each match as it comes, one by one.

And so England kicked off their campaign at Wembley against Croatia, who many agreed that they could prove to be the toughest opponent in an otherwise relatively kind looking group on paper. Played in stifling early afternoon heat very much atypical of London, the match was unremarkable, and England did enough to win 1-0 with a Raheem Sterling goal in the second half. Their next match would be against arch-rivals Scotland and contrary to what everybody was predicting I was wary of this fixture, simply and purely because whenever these two rivals meet, form goes out of the window. Derbies are great levellers and sure enough this match turned out to be quite even with Scotland definitely raising their game. They had to because they were coming off a disappointing home defeat against the Czechs in their opener, but you just knew they would be up for it anyway. A 0-0 draw ensued, and Southgate did get a certain amount of stick in the aftermath especially for showing a lack of desire to attack more an opponent who, on paper at least should have been no match for England. But Southgate, ever the pragmatist, favoured a cautious approach which would ultimately bear fruit as the group progressed. The final match was against the Czech Republic and England already knew prior to kick off that qualification to the next phase was guaranteed due to results elsewhere but Southgate stressed that a win was a must to top the group and stay at Wembley. Another 1-0 victory, again with Sterling getting the only goal, and top spot was secured.

On to the round of 16 and there had been some concern amongst England fans prior to the Czech game as to who the potential opponents in the next round would be. Winning the group would mean meeting the runner up from the so-called Group of Death and so it transpired that it would be another arch-rival in Germany which would need to be conquered if England were to progress further. But, looking a bit further forward, if (big IF) they were to win, then a much kinder route to the final beckoned. Therefore, many were prepared to take this ‘risk’ if you like. Then again, if a team seriously aspires to win a tournament, it is bound to meet some of the big nations at some point so might as well get on with it. Following the expected hype and narrative in the build up to any England vs Germany fixture, where many made it a point to remind us just how long the years of hurt were for England in trying to beat Germany, the end justified the means and a stirring 2‑0 victory had the nation on cloud nine. Sterling (again!) and the erstwhile quiet Harry Kane got the goals and together with that Thomas Muller miss (!) further cemented the dream

of many that maybe, just maybe, football was coming home this year.

The incentive for England prior to the Germany match, if ever they needed any more to try to beat them, was that a quarter‑final against Ukraine awaited them. And so it was that, for the first and only time in the tournament, the squad relocated from St. George’s Park and Wembley and travelled to Rome for a game against what many were seeing as the weakest team left in the tournament. Ukraine scraped through their group as one of the four best third placed teams but did produce a dogged performance in the previous round to beat a much fancied Sweden side late in extra time. England gave their strongest performance and a 4-0 thrashing was just reward for a display of attacking verve and clinical set play. Kane continued his resurgence with two goals whilst Harry Maguire and Jordan Henderson finished off two inviting crosses from dead balls.

And so now England were one game away from something which had never been achieved for some 55 years, a place in the final of major international tournament. Back at Wembley, Denmark stood in their way. A Denmark side for whom the tournament started with heartbreak, but thankfully not with tragedy, when the whole world looked on in horror as their captain Christian Eriksen collapsed in a heap during their opening match. Much angst was felt as the player was administered CPR and a defibrillator on the pitch after he suffered a cardiac arrest. He was rushed to hospital and the match suspended. Thankfully, news filtered through that the player was doing fine and play was eventually resumed. Denmark lost that match 0-1 to Finland and also the following one to Belgium. But they somehow managed to qualify by beating Russia in their final group game and were by now flying on a wave of national euphoria and togetherness triggered by that Eriksen episode. This made them a dangerous opponent for England and so it proved to be. Extra time was needed after an own goal equalised a stunning opener from Denmark, followed by a goalless second half. The winner for a 2-1 victory came via a controversial penalty which was luckily put away on the rebound by Kane after his initial effort was saved. The nation erupted and then breathed a collective sigh of relief and elation in equal measure as the fact that England were actually in a final started to sink in.

Sunday 11th July. The final. The big one. The ultimate hurdle, Italy. A nation who more often than not tends to do well in tournaments and which this year were determined to erase bad memories of not having qualified for the previous World Cup, something almost unheard of for them. Under coach Mancini, they were on an impressive run of unbeatability and were steady if not spectacular. Almost everyone agreed that it was a 50/50 match which could go either way. And so it proved. England gave credence to the narrative that this could be their year by sprinting out of the blocks into an early lead given to them by an unlikely source in fullback Luke Shaw, who it must be said however, was having a brilliant campaign and who for me was the real player of the tournament. But from then on, England seemed to be happy with just a slender lead and slowly surrendered possession to an opponent which you knew would eventually get at least one chance to equalise. This they did in the second half, albeit in a scruffy manner from a corner. Extra time turned out to be a tepid affair with both sides seemingly focused on a penalty shootout. And here is where it all went wrong again for England. Memories of previous heartaches in penalty shootouts were in recent years forgotten somewhat after a couple of successful ones in the World Cup and Nations League. But the ugly spectre raised its head again as three unfortunate, but courageous England players missed their penalties whilst only two did likewise for Italy.

So, football did not come home in the end, but went to Rome instead. For us England fans here in Malta, it was especially galling to lose to our arch-rivals Italy, and in such a heart-breaking fashion. Another massive disappointment after such high hopes makes me wonder if my generation is destined to ever see an England team win a major tournament. I had still another three years to arrive in this world when England won the World Cup in 1966 and I have lost count of the many episodes of hurt since. Optimists, on the other hand, tell me that with so much talent available for England at this moment in time, surely ultimate victory at a major tournament is not a question of if but when. I guess we’ll all just have to continue to wait and live in hope.