Having spent all day on Tuesday on UEFA's shitty ticketing portal, desperately hoping to bag myself a semi-final ticket, at 7pm last night, I settled down on the sofa with a couple of beers and the feeling of impending disappointment which a non-Englishmen may struggle to really understand. The omens were there - England were strong favourites, the media and fans optimistic and the match being broadcast live on ITV.
You may wonder why the TV broadcaster has any relevance and perhaps rightly so... so here are some stats (you know how I love my stats) for tournament matches since 1998...
| Broadcaster | Won | Drawn | Lost | Win %age |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| BBC | 14 | 3 | 4 | 67% |
| ITV | 4 | 11 | 8 | 17% |
(The England v. Scotland game was also on ITV)
So despite many England fans already cancelling and making new plans for Sunday, I didn't share their optimism. It's the hope that gets you in the end.
But what about the match itself? Typically for an England performance, the 1st 10 minutes looked good. We pressed high, dominated possession and appeared to be on top. Which inevitably means that we'll slow the tempo down, stop pressing and give Denmark hope. Massive credit to Denmark - we stopped pressing high, which gave them more time on the ball which clearly increased their confidence. They passed it well but didn't really create much.
Then a couple of soft free kicks were given and up stepped Mikkel Damsgaard to score an incredible goal. If England's goalkeeper wasn't a midget, he might have saved it. But it was a great free kick and Denmark deserved their lead. At this point, I thought England might up the tempo again but it didn't really happen. Pickford in particular was determined to gift the ball to the Danish attack at every opportunity (or boot the ball off the pitch).
The main bright sparks for England were Saka and Sterling on the wings. Their pace and ability to beat a man had the potential to cause problems and it was Saka who played in Kane who put it on a plate for Sterling just 7 yards out. Unfortunately, 2 yards is Sterling's limit and he placed the ball straight at a "large" Kasper Schmeichel. Moments later though, we broke down the right again, Saka put it on a plate for Sterling at his preferred distance of 2 yards - Kjaer got there first though and diverted the ball into his own goal. Jubilation in the-gorilla household. the-toddler-gorilla in bed upstairs hearing me cheer and commenting to the-grandma-gorilla "goal".
On to the 2nd half and no changes for either team. Denmark continued to look the better team although there was little to choose between them. Tactically, Denmark were on top and England couldn't seem to create any clear cut chances and put the impressive Schmeichel to the test. England were crying out for some subs, a change of approach which eventually came on 70 minutes, nothing dramatic but the introduction of Jack Grealish. The change made a little difference as England pushed for a winner in normal time - Schmeichel making a good save to keep Denmark in it. But we were heading to extra time.
And finally the changes came. Foden and Henderson replacing Mount and Rice. And with the subs, came a renewed energy. The Danes appeared to be tiring and then the real hammer blow for the Danish fans. Sterling (who never seemed to tire) got one-on-one down the right again, seemed to beat his man and as he was crowded out, felt a gust of wind which threw him to the floor. Penalty to England. VAR would check and seeing how powerful the gust of wind was, upheld the original decision and up stepped Harry Kane. As Kane started his run up, the comentator said:
Harry Kane has scored more penalties for England than any other player.
At which point, I called the commentator a massive dick and wondered why he'd make such a statement at such a crucial time. The commentators curse is real.
So Kane strikes the ball and Schmeichel saves. Oh. But wait, here comes super Harry Kane.... GGGGGOOOOOOOOOOOAAAAAAAAAAALLLLLLLLLLLL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Jubilation again. Foden's face turned a crazy shade of red as he raced off with Kane to celebrate. 15 minutes to go, we were clearly on top and needed to kill the game off. Which we didn't do but a Danish injury put them down to 10 men and we managed to see the game out.
If we were just looking at Extra Time, then England probably deserved the win. But over 120 minutes, I'm not so sure. It's nice to have a refereeing decision go our way in a big moment but it's cruel on Denmark. Very cruel indeed but I've no doubt their fans will feel proud of what the team have achieved.
For me though, it's another 3 days refreshing UEFA's shitty ticketing portal in the hope of being there for our biggest match in 55 years. As you can probably tell, I don't share my country's optimism - Italy look better than us but you never know. We're still dreaming.
The match is live on both the BBC and ITV - the last time a match was broadcast on both? 17th June 2000 (Euro 2000, Group A). England 1-0 Germany. Both teams failing to qualify from the group (behind Portugal and Romania) (source).
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There is a saying that goes like;
England relaxed after the first 10 minutes.
And you can't undermine any team especially in a semi-final.
I didn't want England to go to the final so i was angered when that penalty decision went against Denmark😂😂😂.
Any way I hope Italy can beat them.😂😂😂
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The referee help England, not their hand work
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