Italy Beats England In UEFA EURO 2020 Final
Italy is the Euro 2020 winner defeating England on their home turf. It was Italy’s first time to lift the trophy since 1968.
England had just one shot on goal in the first half but made it count as Kieran Trippier’s shot hit the back on the net in the second minute. After that, Italy dominated most of the rest of the first half with six mediocre shots on goal.
Italy made some changes to their lineup in the 54th minute bringing in Bryan Cristante. With just 20 minutes to go in regulation, Italy’s corner kick was flicked to the back post off the head of Cristante, which saw Marco Verratti head on frame. England’s goalie, Jordan Pickford, saved the first effort, but Leonardo Bonucci was there to clean it up from a yard out evening the match.
Both teams lacked quality chances in the remainder of regular time, taking the game to overtime. Ultimately, after two scoreless 15 minutes OTs, the game ended in penalty shots for the first time since 1976.
Penalty Shots
Italy
Domenico Berardi — GOAL
Andrea Belotti –X
Leonardo Bonucci — GOAL
Federico Bernardeschi — GOAL
Jorginho — X
Goalie — Gianluigi Donnarumma
England
Henry Kane — GOAL
Harry Maguire — GOAL
Marcus Rashford — X
Jadon Sancho — X
Bukayo Saka — X
Goalie — Jordan Pickford
Ultimately the match statistics told the story as Italy held onto the ball 66% of the time and had 19 shots compared to England’s 6; Italian goalie Donnarumma barely touched the ball.
“It was impossible even to think about this, but the guys were extraordinary,” stated Italian coach, Roberto Mancini.
“I don’t have words for them, this is a magnificent group. We were great, we conceded an early goal and had some problems but then we dominated.”
After failing to qualify for the World Cup in 2018, Italy, is now unbeaten in 34 matches, a stunning turnaround made possible by coach Roberto Mancini.
