England 2 Denmark 1Â
Maybe it really is coming home.
The song that originated 25 years ago as a lament for England’s failure to match the achievement of the boys of 1966 in reaching a final was ringing round Wembley on Wednesday night after yet another breathtaking roller-coaster of a match that ended with Harry Kane firing Gareth Southgate’s side into the final of Euro 2020.
England will face Italy back here on Sunday, and to win they will need all the resilience they showed tonight.
Denmark’s fairytale run came to an end, but they put up one hell of a fight and took the lead through a stunning free-kick from Mikkel Damsgaard on the half-hour mark.
England equalised nine minutes later when Danish captain Simon Kjaer turned Bukayo Saka’s cross into his own net, but the sides could not be separated over 90 minutes, with Kasper Schmeichel in inspired form in the Danish goal.
He was only beaten in the 104th minute when Kane finally scored, lashing home a rebound after Schmeichel had saved his penalty. It was that sort of night, and the celebrations erupted at the final whistle.
England’s fans had been singing “Football’s coming home” from well before kickoff, and with good reason given their side’s growing form and confidence.
Southgate’s only change was Bukayo Saka returning from injury to replace Jadon Sancho on England’s right wing, and Denmark were unchanged from the side that beat the Czech Republic.
England started like a steam train, with Raheem Sterling and Luke Shaw looking to cause havoc down the left wing, a rich source of goals in this tournament so far. Kane drilled in a low cross from the right, but Sterling could not reach it, and then the pair combined again only for the Manchester City forward to shoot weakly at Schmeichel.
It was fast and furious from the home side, but the Danes defended devoutly and started to break with dangerous intent. Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg robbed Declan Rice in midfield but shot straight at Jordan Pickford, and then Damsgaard curled a shot high and wide of the England goal.
When the Sampdoria striker finally made the breakthrough, it was a self-inflicted wound from England. Mason Mount fouled Kasper Dolberg close to the halfway line on Denmark’s right. There seemed little immediate threat, but as the ball was floated in, Luke Shaw fouled Andreas Christensen 30 yards from goal. Although Pickford was thorough in lining up a defensive wall, he was caught out as Damsgaard hit a perfect free-kick that went up and over the six-man barrier, and dipped in under the crossbar, brushing the keeper’s fingertips as it went in.
England slowly recovered composure, and Saka played in Kane on the right. His first time cross found Sterling eight yards from goal, but he hit his shot straight at Schmeichel. A minute later, Kane and Saka combined again, as the captain dropped deep before threading a superb through ball that took out four Danish defenders and put Saka in on the right. The Arsenal man drove his cross low towards Sterling in the centre of goal, but Kjaer got their first and diverted the ball into his own net.
Half-time brought a brief respite, from the action and emotion on and off the pitch, but it picked up straight after the break, if anything more intensity. Harry Maguire was booked for crashing in Kjaer at a free-kick and then thumped a powerful header at goal only for Schmeichel to claw it away at full stretch.
Dolberg fired in two shots that Pickford dealt with, and at the opposite end, Shaw almost forced another own goal with a low cross after good work from Saka, Mount and Sterling. Mount had a shot blocked, and then curled another into the grateful arms of Schmeichel.
England’s fans got what they craved in the 69th minute when Jack Grealish replaced Saka and the Aston Villa man was promptly flattened by Daniel Vass.
Mount, increasinly influential, fired in a cross form the byline that Schmeichel had to tip away from under his crossbar, and minutes later Kane thought he had got a penalty when he went down under after a tangle of legs with Christian Norgaard. Referee Danny Makkelie was not impressed and VAR agreed with him.
The action did relent and the game opened up even more as players tired and made mistakes. Christensen went down injured cutting out a through ball and had to be replaced, and Denmark were hanging on. When the fourth official indicated six minutes of stoppage time to be played, the Danes looked desperate while England went in search of the winner. Phillips drilled one shot wide and another high, John Stones put a header off target and Maguire had another header saved by Schmeichel.
The first period of extra time was much of the same, almost a training ground exercise of attack versus defence, as England swarmed around the Danes trying to break down a seemingly impenetrable rearguard. Schmeichel embodied the Danish resistance most, almost single-handedly keeping England out at times, and he produced another fine stop to beat away a long range shot from Grealish.
But he could only hold out for so long, and the breakthrough came shortly before the midway point of extra-time. Sterling burst towards the byline from the right, Joakim Maehle caught him with an outstretched foot and Makkelie pointed to the spot. A cursory VAR check meant Kane had the task of putting England ahead. The Spurs man, usually deadly from the spot, hit his penalty too close to Schmeichel and the keeper saved it, but Kane reacted quickly to fire the rebound home. Cue bedlam.
ENGLAND 4-2-3-1: Pickford; Walker, Stones, Maguire, Shaw; Rice (Henderson 95), Phillips; Saka (Grealish 69 (Tripper 106)), Mount (Foden 95), Sterling; Kane
DENMARK 3-4-3: Schmeichel; Christenen (Andersen 79), Kjaer, Vestergaard; Stryberg (Wass 68), Hojbjerg, Delaney (Jensen 88), Maehle; Braithwaite, Dolberg (Norgaard 68), Damsgaard (Paulsen 68).
Referee: Danny Makkelie (Netherlands)
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