England into Euro 2020 final

LONDON, England (AP):

England have broken through their semi-final ceiling at major football tournaments. A title match awaits for the first time in 55 years.

Harry Kane converted the rebound after his initial penalty was saved in the 104th minute to give England a come-from-behind 2-1 win over Denmark in extra time in the European Championship semi-finals at Wembley Stadium yesterday.

England will return to their national football stadium on Sunday to play Italy and will be competing in their first final since the 1966 FIFA World Cup. That remains England’s only international title.

In the intervening 55 years, the English have lost in the semi-finals four times in either the World Cup or the European Championship. For that reason, this will go down as one of the most significant victories in English football history, and the celebrations demonstrated just that.

Kane led the jubilant England fans in a crowd of more than 60,000 — the biggest gathering for a sporting event in Britain since the coronavirus outbreak nearly 16 months ago — in a rendition of Sweet Caroline. The players and management walked around the perimeter of the field, waving to fans and then their loved ones. England coach Gareth Southgate was serenaded with a song, and he would have appreciated this win more than anyone.

SEMI-FINAL LOSSES IN THE PAST

Two of those semi-finals losses — in 1990 and 1996 — were decided via a penalty shoot-out, with Southgate missing a crucial kick in one of them against Germany. And a shoot-out looked like where England and Denmark were headed until Raheem Sterling wriggled into the area down the right, cut inside, and fell under the challenge of Mathias Jensen.

The contact looked minimal, and a video review was needed.

Denmark goalkeeper Kasper Schmeichel guessed the right way to block Kane’s penalty, but the England captain reacted quickly and put the ball into the net from six yards out.

Denmark’s players, whose emotionally charged run to the semi-finals was powered by a resolve to win the title for Christian Erisken after his collapse on the field with a cardiac arrest during the group stage, were almost on their knees by that point.

And Danish hopes of an equaliser were damaged by having to play with only 10 men for the second half of extra time after Jensen was forced off injured. Denmark had already used up its six substitutes by then.

England showed another side by rallying for victory after conceding a goal for the first time at Euro 2020 when Mikkel Damsgaard scored with a free kick in the 30th.