Italy win Euro 2020 after defeating England in a penalty shootout

[DHONI183]

Italy vs England UEFA EURO 2020 final

It was a great game, a seriously good final, and one which tested the supporters on both the sides to the extremes.

 

[SangasCoverDrive]

The best metric for judging which side is dominant on the field is to look at time of possession percentage. Italy was ahead by something like 64% to 36% which showed utter dominance. Yes, England was ahead by a goal but no good team sits on a one goal lead.



No. Football is a team game. It is not about which of players are better, it is about which team is better.

The best English players Kane and Sterling were shut down by the Italian defensive unit to the point that people are asking where were they? I think the two had a total of zero shots at the Italian goal

Italy would win 5-0.

Sterling dived though but Bjorn Kuipers was not having it and asked him to st eff and get up.

 

[dildilpak]

Sterling dived though but Bjorn Kuipers was not having it and asked him to st eff and get up.

Yup, that was really funny

 

[IAJ]

The best metric for judging which side is dominant on the field is to look at time of possession percentage. Italy was ahead by something like 64% to 36% which showed utter dominance. Yes, England was ahead by a goal but no good team sits on a one goal lead.



No. Football is a team game. It is not about which of players are better, it is about which team is better.

The best English players Kane and Sterling were shut down by the Italian defensive unit to the point that people are asking where were they? I think the two had a total of zero shots at the Italian goal

Italy would win 5-0.

Oh no, fotball is a team game? I didn’t know that. Thanks for your kind information.

5-0 to Italy? Lol you’ve completely lost it you troll and I also understand why you are quoting me. As mentioned in another thread to you: No more replies to trolls.

 

[Napa]

The football IQ of nations like Italy and Spain is very high. Germany also was good but it is in decline. England's football IQ has been mediocre for quite a while.

After the initial mistake when the Italian defender, giving Kane too much importance, didn’t cover the far post, the Italian defense allowed zero shots at the goal. A spectacular performance by the defensive unit (not individual players but the unit as a whole)!!!



https://www.aljazeera.com/sports/2021/7/11/euro-2020-final-italy-v-england-live

That is right, after the English goal in the 2nd minute, they went the next 118 minutes without a shot at the goal!!!

Maguire showed how a proper penalty is taken. You aim for a box about 4 feet by 3 feet at the two top corners of the goal, and hit the ball at those corners at speed. No goalkeeper can stop that. That is how the German team which didn't lose a penalty shootout since 1976 did it. The last 3 English penalties were pathetic. If you are going to hit the ball on the ground and not even at the edge of the goal at speed, you have only a 50% or worse chance of making it. You are just a poor penalty taker. No clue why Southgate couldn't identify who his best penalty takers were?

And there are posters like [MENTION=18398]IAJ[/MENTION] who believe England would beat Italy 4-1 in a 5 game series .
Italy in now 5-0 against England in tournament knockouts, which is an accurate predictor of the result of a 5 game series between them. Remember this number, 0 shots at goal in 118 minutes.

[MENTION=139664]street cricketer[/MENTION] [MENTION=131701]Mamoon[/MENTION] [MENTION=151127]Manunited18[/MENTION] [MENTION=154845]SangasCoverDrive[/MENTION] [MENTION=144052]Bi_Jamalo[/MENTION] [MENTION=48620]Cpt. Rishwat[/MENTION]

 

[Technics 1210]

Disaster result. Killed much needed national tonic. England haters acting like vultures.

 

[DHONI183]

Italy vs England UEFA EURO 2020 final

All in all, the last month or so was amongst the times of my month. I had a great time watching the matches with my family, staying up till night at night, enjoying every moment of it. The best bit of the tournament, even if England had won, was the fact that it has returned to me a beloved one, a person possibly most beloved to me in my life, after a disagreement and boycott of over three years, as we watched the matches together and had immense fun. The added fun of it was of course the fact that my nieces have now reached an age of understanding the game and they too were fully into it.

I thank my Creator for having blessed me with good health, and times, to have watched such an exciting tournament which almost felt like a month of vacation and a break from the daily life. I thank UEFA, all the organisers, the participating teams and staff members, and everyone else involved, for having organised such a wonderful tournament. Trust me, there lies immense fun in watching these sports events if you cherish it with a sense of gratitude.

Cricket World T20, to be held in October this year, will be my next stop! Waiting eagerly for that as well.....

Ah´, and, thank you everyone over here as well for providing all the interesting insights and analysis.

 

[street cricketer]

Firstly England should have started with Grealish and Foden/Rashford or at least have made the subs early in second half.

And if these two teams play a series of 5 mathes England would win 4-1 because they have better players, quicker players and if you understand football properly there is no doubt there whatsoever which players are better.

Italy have been terrific, no doubt about that, and I personally have been an Italian fan since 1990 WC. But this version of Italy is not a better side than this very England side.

I believe Southgate messed it up with changing to 5 defenders and got too defensive and even when they had the opportunity to kill the game they didn't, esepcially in second half they started to believe 1-0 was enough, and that is never a safe lead in football.

For me this Italy side was Denmark of 1992 and Greece of 2004.

Italy won it, alright, good for them. But I still believe this England side is better. And if they can get a Biesla type of manager they will be a force even in the next WC. The fans of PL clubs have so much hate for eachother that it sorts of hamper the national team, where the patriotic desire is absent.

Bhai, Italy are on something like 30+ games unbeaten streak now. Sure they aren't the same as the best of past Italian teams, you don't have the likes of Pirlo, Totti and Del Piero anymore and Chiellini and Bonucci are old. But still the likes of Veratti, Jorginho, Barella, Chiesa, Insigne are all very good players. Not to forget Spinazzola who was one of the players of the tournament and Donnarumma who is arguably the best goal keeper in the world and the rightful heir to Buffon. They weren't always the most dominant, but always defended solidly and did just enough to win in the end in true Italian style.

England players get a lot of hype because of the English media and Premier league which serie A doesn't enjoy. Foden, Mount and Sancho are impressive young players, Sterling dribbles a lot but doesn't make the crucial pass often, Saka is very young but inexperienced as he showed in the final. England despite possessing players like Foden, Mount, Grealish, etc., always play in a typical dour style that puts me off watching them. Contrast them to Spain who are a bit inexperienced, but much more creative in the midfield even if they lack a true finisher in the style of Harry Kane or even David Villa or Torres in the past. England teams almost always play a non attractive brand of football in world tournaments.

The Premier League always get a lot of hype due to the english media and other leagues don't get as much, but time and again, sides from La Liga (even other than Barca and Madrid) and serie A have performed better in european competitions. I personally grew up following the La Liga and the less fancier sides like Sevilla, Bilbao, Villareal never got as much hype from the media as some of the English clubs got even if they played better in european competitions and beat english sides in the Champions league and Europa League. I personally don't like the english style of playing even in the premier league, I find it less creative and I prefer the Spanish style more, but that's just me. Although I admit England have some very good young creative players in Foden, Mount and Sancho who can perform better under a more attacking manager like you say.

 

[SangasCoverDrive]

People are not talking enough about Donnarumma’s demeanor after saving the penalty. Now compare that to Pickford who celebrated his save as if he’s won the WC and his behavior during the match is usually like a gawaar and very Sarfraz-esque. Always shouting at players.

 

[PetroDollars]

Italy have gone something like 35 games unbeaten for a reason. While Italy might not have players of the individual price tickets of their England counterparts, the football they produced as a team throughout the tournament was far superior, although that dropped off with the loss of the highly influential Spinazzola. Even yesterday their passing interplay was on a different levels to England.

I think those people who are looking at England as having the better players maybe don't understand that the game is about team dynamic and not price labels. Premier league players often look a lot better in their club sides because they are surrounded by the best players from all over the world. When you take them out, a lot of the flair goes with it, and you are left with a workmanlike England.

Doesnt really matter about international matches, other than Euros and WC, most players dont really care about them matches and try every excuse in the book to try and skip them.

There passing and interplay was only better when southgate parked the bus, when harry kane was dropping and shaw and tripper were pushing up the pitch, it was causing all sorts of problems for the italians, Declan rice ran the MF in the first half, Kane was pulling and dragging Chiellini where ever he wanted.

Then, we parked the bus, shaw and tripper made it 5 at the back, kane stopped dropping and the italians could boss the MF.

But like you said the game is about team dynamics, its also why they play well for clubs, not because of being with other foreign players but because they are well drilled in with there team mates.

 

[PetroDollars]

People are not talking enough about Donnarumma’s demeanor after saving the penalty. Now compare that to Pickford who celebrated his save as if he’s won the WC and his behavior during the match is usually like a gawaar and very Sarfraz-esque. Always shouting at players.

I always felt he was the white version of Sarfraz, LOL

But TBH, he had a good match, he almost saved the goal, had it not bounced to Bonucci, and his save in the penalties with his short height were good.

 

[SangasCoverDrive]

I always felt he was the white version of Sarfraz, LOL

But TBH, he had a good match, he almost saved the goal, had it not bounced to Bonucci, and his save in the penalties with his short height were good.

His short height helped him. It's easier to dive when you are short rather than tall like Donna.

 

[Saj]

Perfect start for England ruined by a negative approach from Southgate.

This Italian team is good but nowhere near the level of some of their great teams.

If England had gone for it and got a second goal in that first half then it would have been very difficult for Italy to come back. Instead they sat back, defending deeper and deeper, asking for trouble.

 

[PakEngFan]

Gutted. All the stars aligned and we still lost. We won’t have a better chance of winning euros then this. The likes of France and Belgium were out who I thought will be the main threat for us as well as Spain. Couldn’t have asked for an easier route to the finals and we still lose. Doesn’t help when you have chokers throughout the team. Sterling is the Hashim Amla of football. Bottled it against Lyon then against Chelsea and now here.

 

[SangasCoverDrive]

LOL at Saka being the best young player in the world. He wasn't even the best young player in the England team. He should be compared to that Doku guy from Belgium rather than Chiesa who is like a million times better than him.

 

[Bi_Jamalo]

 

[Napa]

Another thing to note is the disparity in the number of passes in the table I posted above. Italy had 756 passes compared to 341 for England. Even if you deflate by the time of possession, Italy had 12 passes for every 1% time of possession compared to nine 9 passes for every 1% time of possession for England. Italy combined better as a team.

 

[OldWarHorse]

England were tactically outdone in the second half and should have pushed for the winner in ET, not let it go to penalties. Its management that let them down, and Southgate has to do better

Its still a very young side and they have some brilliant talent who were unused and plus more to come through next season. They will be among the contenders in Qatar next year

 

[Saj]

I don't understand why some of the English media is still raving about Southgate's supposed great tactical awareness. He made a total mess of that final.

 

[Saj]

LOL at Saka being the best young player in the world. He wasn't even the best young player in the England team. He should be compared to that Doku guy from Belgium rather than Chiesa who is like a million times better than him.

He's nowhere near the best player in the world.

Only a blinkered England fan would think that.

 

[SangasCoverDrive]

He's nowhere near the best player in the world.

Only a blinkered England fan would think that.

England fans and media.

 

[Napa]

I don't understand why some of the English media is still raving about Southgate's supposed great tactical awareness. He made a total mess of that final.

Any coach whose team has only 38% of possession in a game has no "tactical awareness". The fact that England has 0 shots at goal the last 118 minutes of the game says that their offense was dominated by the Italian defense.

Italy had 756 passes compared to 341 for England, Italy knew how to play as a team. I can't remember the last time there was such disparity in time of possession and number of passes when top teams played each other in the final of a major tournament.

 

[PetroDollars]

I don't understand why some of the English media is still raving about Southgate's supposed great tactical awareness. He made a total mess of that final.

To his credit he made the nation fall in love with the team again, what had been missing for about 20 years. For that media and pundits just rave about him.

 

[Bi_Jamalo]

Any coach whose team has only 38% of possession in a game has no "tactical awareness". The fact that England has 0 shots at goal the last 118 minutes of the game says that their offense was dominated by the Italian defense.

Italy had 756 passes compared to 341 for England, Italy knew how to play as a team. I can't remember the last time there was such disparity in time of possession and number of passes when top teams played each other in the final of a major tournament.

Not just coach is to blame. Its also players lack of skill.
None of the English players are really world class.

 

[Technics 1210]

A technical blunder from the first whistle to Saka's penalty miss.

 

[Napa]

Not just coach is to blame. Its also players lack of skill.
None of the English players are really world class.

I agree except I think maybe Kane is world class.



England also needs to stop having the same guy do double duty as coach and captain

 

[The_KING]

The Premier League always get a lot of hype due to the english media and other leagues don't get as much, but time and again, sides from La Liga (even other than Barca and Madrid) and serie A have performed better in european competitions. I personally grew up following the La Liga and the less fancier sides like Sevilla, Bilbao, Villareal never got as much hype from the media as some of the English clubs got even if they played better in european competitions and beat english sides in the Champions league and Europa League. I personally don't like the english style of playing even in the premier league, I find it less creative and I prefer the Spanish style more, but that's just me. Although I admit England have some very good young creative players in Foden, Mount and Sancho who can perform better under a more attacking manager like you say.

I agree with everything. I grew up following La Liga too. Premier League is the most overrated league in the world. We always hear that it's the best league in the world. The only aspect it is the best is the physicality. English football fans are obsessed with pace and power players. Players who have very little technical ability, but are quick and strong. Players who are passion and speed merchants, who can put in a shift but they have no footballing quality.

Top Europeans leagues are way more technical. Spanish players playing in the worst team in La Liga probably are technically better than the best English players playing for top English clubs. And lets not even forget football intelligence. There is a reason England don't win anything. Because they lack football intelligence and technical ability, compared to the Spanish, Italians, Germans, French, Brazilians, Argentinan's, Dutch, etc.

The football education in England is atrocious at grass root level.

 

[The_KING]

I don't understand why some of the English media is still raving about Southgate's supposed great tactical awareness. He made a total mess of that final.

Because Southgate has got all of his mates in the media, who will never criticise him. The likes of Gary Neville, Ian Wright, Rio Ferdinand, Frank Lampard are all his mates, who played with him or know him pretty well. They are never going to criticise him. If this was some foreign coach, they would have ripped him apart for England's performance in the final after scoring early on.

 

[Napa]

The only aspect it is the best is the physicality. English football fans are obsessed with pace and power players. Players who have very little technical ability, but are quick and strong. Players who are passion and speed merchants, who can put in a shift but they have no footballing quality.

Prime example being Sterling. Guy takes off at a high speed and and runs towards defenders and as soon as a defender touches him he takes a dive hoping for a penalty.

Top Europeans leagues are way more technical. Spanish players playing in the worst team in La Liga probably are technically better than the best English players playing for top English clubs. And lets not even forget football intelligence. There is a reason England don't win anything. Because they lack football intelligence and technical ability, compared to the Spanish, Italians, Germans, French, Brazilians, Argentinan's, Dutch, etc.

The football education in England is atrocious at grass root level.

Totally agree, the fact that the Italians had more than twice as many passes shows the disparity in quality.

If a team can’t pass and coordinate, it is not going to win.

 

[street cricketer]

I agree with everything. I grew up following La Liga too. Premier League is the most overrated league in the world. We always hear that it's the best league in the world. The only aspect it is the best is the physicality. English football fans are obsessed with pace and power players. Players who have very little technical ability, but are quick and strong. Players who are passion and speed merchants, who can put in a shift but they have no footballing quality.

Top Europeans leagues are way more technical. Spanish players playing in the worst team in La Liga probably are technically better than the best English players playing for top English clubs. And lets not even forget football intelligence. There is a reason England don't win anything. Because they lack football intelligence and technical ability, compared to the Spanish, Italians, Germans, French, Brazilians, Argentinan's, Dutch, etc.

The football education in England is atrocious at grass root level.

I just find the long ball game and hoof it in the air physical style of many premier league teams very unattractive. Having followed La Liga and primarily Barca, they rarely if ever lost possession of the ball through hopeful long balls. Losing possession was considered the highest sin in that Barca side and they caressed the ball with utmost skill and technique when in possession and immediately swarmed the opposition player when they lost the ball.

Heck, many of the stars in the premier league were ex La liga players like Aguero, Diego Costa, Torres, De Gea (Atletico Madrid), Silva, Mata (Valencia), Herrera (Bilbao), Cesc (La masia product) etc. Even the coaches like Pochettino (Espanyol), Bielsa (Bilbao) and Pep (Barca) had success in La liga before they transferred to the Premier league. The only thing that the La Liga lacks is the hype and media coverage that the English premier league gets in comparison to La liga which isn't followed as widely as the EPL even among south asians.

 

[OldWarHorse]

Prime example being Sterling. Guy takes off at a high speed and and runs towards defenders and as soon as a defender touches him he takes a dive hoping for a penalty.



Totally agree, the fact that the Italians had more than twice as many passes shows the disparity in quality.

If a team can’t pass and coordinate, it is not going to win.

The same Italians had even lesser possesion and the deficit in passes was even greater against the Spaniards in the semis.

Its not simple as that, lot of it is due to tactics and style of play and using what is advantageous.

England in the first half overloaded the wings and looked comfortable, but come second half, tired legs and then the game turned with just 2 CMS against Italy's 3 and paid for it. When they changed formation the game was back in a deadlock and neither team created anything.

Only massive difference in quality was in management and experience in handling the penalties.

 

[Cpt. Rishwat]

I just find the long ball game and hoof it in the air physical style of many premier league teams very unattractive. Having followed La Liga and primarily Barca, they rarely if ever lost possession of the ball through hopeful long balls. Losing possession was considered the highest sin in that Barca side and they caressed the ball with utmost skill and technique when in possession and immediately swarmed the opposition player when they lost the ball.

Heck, many of the stars in the premier league were ex La liga players like Aguero, Diego Costa, Torres, De Gea (Atletico Madrid), Silva, Mata (Valencia), Herrera (Bilbao), Cesc (La masia product) etc. Even the coaches like Pochettino (Espanyol), Bielsa (Bilbao) and Pep (Barca) had success in La liga before they transferred to the Premier league. The only thing that the La Liga lacks is the hype and media coverage that the English premier league gets in comparison to La liga which isn't followed as widely as the EPL even among south asians.

The Premier league used to be a lot more long ball hoofing, but the ban from Europe after the fans caused a disaster in the Heysel stadium back in the 80's forced a change of thinking. Following that spell out of Europe the British teams went all domestic and that brought a spell of prehistoric tactics which went unchecked for years until once they were back in European football their limited techniques were badly exposed.

Since then British clubs have recruited more and more players from abroad and the game has become quite a lot more sophisticated, even if it is still not as technical as teams from Spain or Italy. If you think it's long ball now, you should have seen what they were doing in the 90's.

 

[Sirris]

One thing out if this tournament: I had enough of penalty shootouts and want golden goals to be brought back.

 

[Napa]

The same Italians had even lesser possesion and the deficit in passes was even greater against the Spaniards in the semis.

Its not simple as that, lot of it is due to tactics and style of play and using what is advantageous.

England in the first half overloaded the wings and looked comfortable, but come second half, tired legs and then the game turned with just 2 CMS against Italy's 3 and paid for it. When they changed formation the game was back in a deadlock and neither team created anything.

Only massive difference in quality was in management and experience in handling the penalties.

While watching the Spain and Italy game, I said Spain was the better team. Italy was lucky to win that one.

 

[Cpt. Rishwat]

While watching the Spain and Italy game, I said Spain was the better team. Italy was lucky to win that one.

Spain played the best possession football, but they had no goal threat. Their strikers were poor, and in general they showed very little killer instinct in the penalty area.

 

[OldWarHorse]

While watching the Spain and Italy game, I said Spain was the better team. Italy was lucky to win that one.

Yeah but Spain lost because they lacked cutting edge in the first half inspite of having all the possession in the world.

In fact they dominated possession stats against everyone but won just a single game in regulation time. As I said its not so straightforward

 

[Napa]

Yeah but Spain lost because they lacked cutting edge in the first half inspite of having all the possession in the world.

In fact they dominated possession stats against everyone but won just a single game in regulation time. As I said its not so straightforward

I mostly agree. Possession plus good finishers makes a great team. However, it is not possible to win games consistently with < 40% possession. England had 38% and zero shots at goal in the last 118 minutes.

I accept your criticism that I was being simplistic in n just talking about time of possession.

 

[PetroDollars]

The same Italians had even lesser possesion and the deficit in passes was even greater against the Spaniards in the semis.

Its not simple as that, lot of it is due to tactics and style of play and using what is advantageous.

England in the first half overloaded the wings and looked comfortable, but come second half, tired legs and then the game turned with just 2 CMS against Italy's 3 and paid for it. When they changed formation the game was back in a deadlock and neither team created anything.

Only massive difference in quality was in management and experience in handling the penalties.

Totally,
people who dont understand football and dont watch football make these absurd assumptions based on tabloid headlines and act like experts.

The only reason Italy enjoyed so much possession is because England scored such an early goal, the losing team is always bound to control the possession and passing, scoring so early was what undone England.

The same people are now trying to claim Italy are technically so good as are the european sides apart from england. Italy are the most boring park the bus team there is, they got lucky against spain, a poor spainish too and are called a defensive masterclass for the performance, if they had lost the same people would have called them boring and rubbish.

They'll attack england for losing the final, when they didnt even expect england to even get to the quarters, i wouldnt take them too seriously. One of the above posters even claimed brandon williams is a better left back then luke shaw and harry Maguire as being rubbish.

 

[Technics 1210]

Because Southgate has got all of his mates in the media, who will never criticise him. The likes of Gary Neville, Ian Wright, Rio Ferdinand, Frank Lampard are all his mates, who played with him or know him pretty well. They are never going to criticise him. If this was some foreign coach, they would have ripped him apart for England's performance in the final after scoring early on.

Yup.

Back in the day before social media or smartphones, the papers would rip into the Manager, these days it's all about pretence. BBC should sign Roy Keane.

 

[Technics 1210]

One thing out if this tournament: I had enough of penalty shootouts and want golden goals to be brought back.

Golden goal doesn't sell well. The drama and tension of a penalty shoot-out in a final is unmatched.

 

[Giannis]

One thing out if this tournament: I had enough of penalty shootouts and want golden goals to be brought back.

golden goals and silver goals were a terrible idea