Fine Euro 2020 got ending it deserved: Neil Humphreys
Attacking Italians encapsulate a positive tournament
The Italian media summed up not only a nation's triumph, but also an uplifting tournament that defied our expectations.
Troppo bello. Too beautiful.
The headline in Gazzetta dello Sport nailed it.
Euro 2020 and the Azzurri somehow conspired against a pandemic, blowing that omnipresent cloud aside and leaving a bit of joy in its place.
Giorgio Chiellini had to be the one to lift the trophy. Italy's craggiest character defined his country's unlikely victory. The 36-year-old is slightly slower than his rivals, definitely older and maybe not as mobile as the Three Lions.
But he stuck to a perfect plan and encouraged his teammates to push forward, always forward, always attacking, always entertaining. By the end of the tournament, the storylines of Italy and Euro 2020 had merged.
Their combined tale was about overachieving in underwhelming times, utterly determined to turn all negatives into positives.
Italy coach Roberto Mancini took a limited squad and made the most of its attacking potential. His English counterpart, Gareth Southgate, took a squad with unlimited potential in attack and gave them a limited approach.
Justice was inevitably served.
The Italians reached the final with a consistent 4-3-3 that maximised Federico Chiesa and Domenico Berardi and still provided defensive cover through Jorginho.
Even in the final, Mancini doubled down on his attack, as if reminding us that Euro 2020 had a mandate to lift spirits, not dull them. He brought Berardi on, pinned England back and waited for Southgate to make a move.
He didn't. He baulked. He froze in the Wembley floodlights. An empathetic leader for a young squad and the ideal ambassador for these troubled times, Southgate has won hearts everywhere. But he still hasn't won a decisive knockout game against elite opposition.
While Mancini boldly changed his front five, Southgate played for penalties, leaving his most creative options on the bench for far too long. When it really mattered, the old England returned, stepping backwards and passing poorly.
Southgate almost made a mess of getting Marcus Rashford and Jadon Sancho on in the 120th minute to take penalties. With Mancini doing his best Machiavelli, the Three Lions went a bit Monty Python. The farce was with them.
But the Italians were a force for good throughout Euro 2020. From Chiesa's attacking raids to Marco Verratti's midfield dictatorship and Chiellini and Leonardo Bonucci's ability to morph into human Rottweilers, the Azzurri were fabulous fun.
And as for the freakish Gianluigi Donnarumma, if the goalkeeper ever loses interest in single-handedly winning shoot-outs, he has a lucrative future in the Blumhouse horror franchise. The colossus is terrifying and yet strangely endearing.
Like the Azzurri, he had to be close to perfect to prevail. He was. They all were. The Italians ensured the tournament didn't leave a bitter aftertaste for anyone still cringing at the wretched behaviour of every "ENG-GER-LAND" cliche.
Once the euphoria of reaching a first final in 55 years dissipates, England must acknowledge that a terrible tournament was had off the pitch.
It began with the booing of anti-racism gestures and ended with three black Englishmen being racially abused online.
In between, a city square was annexed and trashed. Wembley barriers were knocked over. Thugs without tickets smashed their way into the stadium, punching and kicking stewards and legitimate ticket holders, including women and children.
Football didn't come home. Violence did. Again.
A day of reckoning is needed to address the usual disconnect between a wonderful multiracial England team that represent their nation's future and a knuckle-dragging minority of face-painted plankton that dwell in a vicious past.
They just didn't belong in a tournament that showcased the best of humanity, the pursuit of excellence and our love of a happy ending.
The Danes brought all three to the party. Christian Eriksen's shocking collapse was soon overtaken by the universal goodwill that followed, along with his recovery and his country's mesmerising run to the semi-finals.
And then there were the upsets. The Czechs beat the Dutch. The Swiss beat the French and Cristiano Ronaldo beat everyone to the Golden Boot to remind us that he's not from this earth. His only kryptonite is time itself.
The tournament delivered more goals, colours and fans than anyone reasonably predicted, as if there was an unsaid, collective agreement to give a defiant middle finger to the relentless misery of the previous year.
They sang "Football's Coming Home" at Wembley. But really, Euro 2020 was a Redemption Song.
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