AAfter 112 seconds of the grand finale, Luke Shaw extended his right arm. The English left-back ran into the Italians penalty area when he saw that there was no defender there to watch him. With the outstretched arm he tried to draw his teammates’ attention to it as inconspicuously as possible. Then Kieran Trippier crossed the ball in his direction.
When 118 seconds were up in the grand finale, Luke Shaw extended not only his right arm, but also his left arm. He ran out of the Italians’ penalty area as conspicuously as possible, where the defenders had discovered him in the meantime. But by then it was already too late.
When the grand finale, which was supposed to last more than 120 minutes, had not even expired two minutes, Shaw, Manchester United’s defensive specialist, had extended his left foot between his hand movements and flanked the ball, the Trippier, in the middle had, caught with the full span – and sunk inexorably in the gate. After 116 seconds it was the fastest final goal in European Championship history to date.
The right punch line
On Sunday evening, Luke Shaw and the English national football team put their opponents from Italy in the final of the European Championship in a situation that they had not been in the six previous games: behind. Suddenly they had to catch up in the Wembley Stadium in London not only against the resistance of the English on the lawn, but also against the resistance of the English in the stands.
Most teams would fail because of that, not these Italians. The central defender Leonardo Bonucci scored the 1-1 in the 62nd minute. Then it went to extra time, to penalties. The Englishman Saka failed as the last shooter. And so the European Championship ended with a result that matched the concept: an away win. 4: 3 for Italy on penalties.
Italy coach Roberto Mancini later said: “We conceded an early goal, but we reacted and deserved the win. We are happy, I hope that the people in Italy will celebrate. “His counterpart Gareth Southgate said:” We are incredibly disappointed. (…) At the moment it just hurts a lot. I’ve decided who will take the penalties. Nobody is alone. We won as a team and we lose as a team. When it comes to the penalty shoot-out, it’s up to me. “
The pictures of the final
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An Italian summer in London Calling
The Italian triumph was the fitting punchline of this pan-European tournament that England and Italy were allowed to play for the title in the end. Among the major football nations of the continent, their teams were extraordinarily united this summer, although, as is usual in this globalized sport, their players have been drawn from different clubs from different leagues. You could see that in the line-ups in the final.
For example, Kalvin Phillips (Leeds United), Kieran Trippier (Atlético Madrid) and Declan Rice (West Ham United) played in the English starting XI, while Giovanni di Lorenzo (SSC Napoli) and Emerson (Chelsea FC) played in the Italian. These are not stars in their clubs and leagues, but stars in their roles. Their national teams have now benefited from this, because the short preparation phase means that they have to rely on specialists – and coaches who identify and deploy them as such.
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