Against all odds, England staged a dramatic reversal on the Euro stage, returning the trophy to Italy. After more than an hour of tense moments, England appeared to be within reach of the Delaunay Cup, only to be undone by Bonucci's fumble in front of the goal. In the penalty shootout, England lost without a doubt, Southgate's handpicked Rashford and Sancho failed to hit, Saka had a chance but failed to break the deadlock. Such a bizarre script seems to have been scripted only by providence, and England, and Southgate in particular, seem to have done it to themselves. England has been the companion of others' success many times, this time, they are once again the losers, but also created two records: the history of the European Cup, for the first time, a team can break through two consecutive levels in the penalty kicks; the competition, but also for the first time a team can break through two consecutive levels in the penalty kicks and win the championship - Italy did it.
In the history of the European Cup, only two finals have been played to a penalty shootout.In 1976, Czechoslovakia took all five penalties before Panenka scored a scooped penalty to beat West Germany. England, however, conceded three consecutive penalties after taking the lead, becoming the first in the tournament's history. Italy also conceded three penalties in the 1994 World Cup final, but not consecutively. Two finals, Czechoslovakia and England are the opening of the lead, the former eight minutes to turn the situation, less than 30 minutes to expand the results; England set a new record for the fastest goal in the final. West Germany equalized a minute before the end of the legal time, Czechoslovakia suffered a blow but did not panic, will be practiced before the game penalty kicks routine to play, and finally won the championship. After Italy's equalizer, England had a chance to turn the game around, but were unable to do so against a veteran defense. The penalty kicks, which they claimed to have practiced for months, exposed their weaknesses in front of the real thing.
Czechoslovakia missed the 1974 World Cup, the final opponent is the reigning European Cup champion, the World Cup newcomer; England is the last World Cup fourth, the absence of Italy. Italy against the odds to win the championship, is England "gift" of the time. The "three meow" has countless reasons not to play extra time - the previous four finals extra time, three of them advanced the ball of the party failed to solve the battle in the statutory moment, two died in the golden ball; they have countless reasons not to bet on penalties, Italy has not only been in this way screened themselves, but also in the Euro 2000 semi-finals, Italy has been in this way to screen themselves. Italy has not only screened itself in this way, but also in the semi-finals of Euro 2000, less than two people stayed up to the penalty kicks to screen the Netherlands, and in the 2006 World Cup finals pressed France. England could not help but play overtime, confused planted in the mutual shooting penalty kicks, can not help but let people ask: Southgate this is why the pain to come? Knowing that there is a tiger on the mountain, favoring the tiger mountain?
Without looking at the penalty kicks, the drama of the final, and three years ago in the World Cup semifinals to face Croatia is very similar. Both were in the early grabbing of the first (Trippier in the fifth minute penalty free kick goal), unable to expand the war, but also unable to control the situation, lost to the opponent who is better at the game. The same storyline played out in this year's UEFA Cup final: Manchester United needlessly fought Villarreal for penalties, and lost. United's lineup was far stronger than their La Liga rivals, and was broken by a set piece; England's lineup was far stronger, and was broken by a set piece. Rhetoric are praised Mancini with troops like God, a hand of 70 points of the card, playing a 120 points of the results. But we have to see, Mancini in the screening game met two "English" coach, lucky enough. Martinez started in England, will not defend; Southgate is authentic "national products", also will not defend, both have in the Premier League with the team relegation of the previous record. Solskjaer is also from England.
The two substitutes of the Manchester United link have to take the blame for the missed penalty kicks; Southgate organized the two to take the blame for the penalty kicks, but also should take the blame, and his pot is even bigger. When Rashford and Sancho came on, a lot of United fans had a bad feeling about it, and unfortunately it was true. It was clear at the time that they were put on the pitch with the task of taking penalties. England fans didn't know whether to cry or laugh when they messed up. Since the intention of having them on the pitch was to take penalties, why did Southgate take the blame? Could it be that the screening of Germany, where he replaced Grealish, was not the key to victory? He replaced Grealish in and out of the team for Denmark, but didn't he also praise him? With the results to verify the process, certainly not fair enough, but the soccer itself is a result to verify the process of the movement, and two victories, Southgate's fate is good: against Germany, Muller's single shot flew away, otherwise the last 16 to overtime; against Denmark, the referee gave a penalty in overtime.
So, okay, Southgate just lost to fate? Fate, too, has a law of conservation. But if you don't die, God will more or less take care of you. Under greater pressure, Southgate could not hold back and, like many of his predecessors, committed the same death-defying act. A lot of people blame Saka for being useless on the bench, but Foden was injured in practice before the game, and if you need to change the formation and play a lefty on the right, there is no excuse for Saka to come in. Southgate's death knell was witnessing the situation being forced upon him, but not replacing Grealish earlier to increase possession up front and relieve pressure at the back. England scored in the 2nd minute, conceded in the 67th, and didn't put Italy under enough pressure for a long hour, with only Luke Shaw's shot on target in the first half. Leading won't kick? Most of the blame lies with the manager: a lead in a World Cup semi-final and the situation is forced; a lead in a UEFA Europa League semi-final and the situation is forced; a lead in a Europa League final and the situation is forced. Over and over again, if it's not your pot, who else's can it be?
The more invisible mistake is the failure to avoid the shortcomings. Italy in the final before, has played two overtime, the team's defense veterans hanging, already insufficient physical capacity; 8 strong against Belgium, and folded the left guard Spinazzola. England's average age of 25 years old, the second youngest national team in the history of the competition. This visible advantage, why not use? Compared to technology, England is not as good as Spain, but not worse than Italy, high press, Italy will be very passive. Moreover, this year's competition, the legal time can be replaced by five people, and overtime can also be replaced by one person. England should drag Italy's fat ones to be thin and thin ones to be dead just by spelling out the number of people in the family. The result? England grabbed successively, routinely contracted, ceded the initiative. There is no pressing, not fighting physical, is the biggest miscalculation.
Other than fitness, substitutions, anything else? Before the match, the author had a strong premonition that Stones was targeted by the opponent. Sure enough, Italy's corner kick tactics hit England's back seven inches. The corner kick was opened to the front point via Locatelli's swing to the back point, Bonucci grabbed the front point and feinted, Chiellini and Verratti identified and paralyzed Stones and Mount at the same time. Verratti's header, which should have gone straight through the goal, rebounded off the post and was timed to land at Bonucci's feet. Stones was brought down by Chiellini, but the referee wouldn't catch this as both pulled. With Stones nullified at this point and Munt unable to clear the third drop, the odds are that this goal is going to go wrong. Two years ago in the Europa League semi-final, Stones' backpass led to England being equalized, Walker oops, and England not reaching the final. Know how England got turned back by Croatia? Perisic scuffed the back of a header and Mandzukizi leapt out from behind Stones to go one-on-one with Pickford.
The concerted defense of Walker and Stones on the right has been a gaping hole for England. Just because the previous opponents didn't capture the moment doesn't mean Italy can't either. Italy positional warfare can not find the time, will inevitably play from the set piece. Southgate, Martinez and Solskjaer, all in the defense of set-pieces on the amateur, is no coincidence. Catching set-pieces, to spend a lot of sweat, repeated sharpening. England clearly have a shortcoming in this area. Early replacement of Grealish, England even if you can not do to stop being penalized for set-pieces, but can significantly reduce the pressure of defending set-pieces. Three fatal goals were conceded, the earliest appeared after 70 minutes, on the one hand, England was forced to take a beating, on the other hand, it shows that the defense players in the pressure of the attention is not concentrated.
Failure to win the championship, very regrettable. But England has still made great progress, reaching the quarterfinals of three consecutive tournaments, eliminating Germany in the screening rounds and reaching the final are all happy gains. Mancini's today is also the result of lessons learned after experiencing numerous ups and downs in the screening rounds. Southgate may be able to make a breakthrough in next year's World Cup if he can focus on the problems exposed by the three setbacks. This year's Europa League into the final, to a large extent, is the tournament postponed, the results of the new blowout. The previous year in November, I pointed out: the postponement will be favorable to the three meow, before the final week, I said England into the final to be considered passable, and they also did. Criticism is to expect each other to improve, Italy did not reach the World Cup, who would have expected them to win the European Cup?
