On the final stage of the European Cup, Luke Shaw's instantaneous lightning breakthrough and Bonucci's quick response to equalize saw England and Italy draw 1-1 in regulation time, followed by a goalless draw in extra time for both sides. In the end, through a penalty shootout, Italy beat England by a total of 4-3, ending a 53-year title drought and lifting the Euro trophy once again.
In the penalty shootout, while Italy conceded for Belotti and Jorginho, England were even worse, with three young players, Rashford, Sancho and Saka, also conceding penalties and paying the price for their youth.
England have a long-standing fear of penalty shoot-outs, having fallen on a total of seven occasions in their history, including penalty shoot-out defeats at the 1990 World Cup, Euro 1996, 1998 World Cup, Euro 2004, 2006 World Cup and Euro 2012.
In this year's European Cup, Italy won all the matches and deserved to win the championship. They beat Belgium, Spain and England, who had the advantage of home field, in the knockout rounds. The Italian team led by Roberto Mancini was civilian but with high tactical quality, united as one and showed strong toughness. In the penalty shootout in the semi-final and final, Italy had the last laugh.
The win over England took Italy's winning streak to 15 games and its unbeaten streak to 34, the sixth time Italy has won the WC, behind Germany's seven. Not only did they beat England, they also dumbed down Kane, benefiting Messi and Crowe to some extent.
Crowe left the Euros early with 5 goals, Kane scored 4 goals before the final and was the biggest rival to challenge Crowe for the Golden Boot and the favorite for the Golden Boot after Messi. However, in the final, Kane was completely lost in the Italian defense, failing to score and missing the Golden Boot. England failed to win the title and Kane lost his chance to compete for the Golden Ball.
In this summer of 2021, C Luo won the golden boot of the European Cup, and Messi won the golden boot of the Copa America, this pair of absolute pride is still the superstar that makes the world attention. Compared with many competitors, Messi won the national team competition for the first time, achieved a major breakthrough, but also elected to the Copa America MVP, coupled with the honor of the La Liga Golden Boot, it can be said that the Ballon d'Or is already firmly in the bag.
