England beat Denmark 2-1 to reach first major final in over 50 years

The wait is finally over. After 55 years of heartbreak, England are back in the final of a major tournament following their 2-1 victory over Denmark in the semi-final at Wembley. Gareth Southgate and his side have continued to overcome every obstacle thrown in their path and are now only one hurdle away from erasing the scars of yesteryear and winning England’s first major trophy since the 1966 World Cup.

It was an electric atmosphere with 66,000 fans inside Wembley, and England started the game with purpose on the back of this home support. Denmark eventually grew into the contest as the half wore on with England unable to sustain possession for long periods and beat the Danish press. Their troubles intensified in the 30th minute when Denmark opened the scoring from a wonderful Mikkel Damsgaard free-kick that swirled and zipped through the air before crashing into the roof of the net.

This was the first time Gareth Southgate’s side had been put under pressure at the tournament but going 1-0 down seemed to have woken up England from their slumber and they kicked into gear in search of a swift equaliser. Raheem Sterling nearly levelled the scores if not for a superb save from Kasper Schmeichel from close-range, but moments later, Harry Kane released Bukayo Saka in behind the Danish defence and his delicate cross was unfortunately bundled in by Simon Kjaer, who scored the 11th own goal of this tournament.

England dominated the game from that point onwards, with Raheem Sterling and Bukayo Saka continuously causing problems to the Danes with their speed and directness. The Denmark side toiled hard, but the long, arduous nature of their extraordinary journey at Euro 2020 seemed to be catching up with them. 

England launched wave after wave in extra-time only to be continuously repelled by Kasper Schmeichel in goal – who made 8 saves throughout the match. Eventually, the persistent pressure made the difference and drew a mistake from Denmark as England (fortuitously) won a penalty deep into extra-time following a foul on Raheem Sterling.

Harry Kane’s spot-kick was excellently saved by Kasper Schmeichel, but the luck favoured England at Wembley as the rebound fell kindly to the Tottenham striker, allowing him to pass it into the net to put the Three Lions ahead. There was no way back for Denmark following Kane’s goal with England changing to a 3-5-2 and finishing the remaining minutes of extra-time as if it was a training drill.

With this momentous victory, Gareth Southgate and England are through to the finals of the European Championships and are on the cusp of creating history. However, standing in their way is a spirited Italian side that have just overcome an impressive Spain side via penalties and are unbeaten in their last 34 internationals matches.