England Get Closer To Realizing Football Is Coming Home, Advance To Euro 2020 Final After Beating Denmark 2-1

JAKARTA - Harry Kane's goal in extra time brought the England national team to win the semifinal match against Denmark with a score of 2-1 at Wembley Stadium, London, Wednesday local time.

Kane scored in the 104th minute, having slapped the ball back from his own penalty which was denied by goalkeeper Kasper Schmeichel.

The goal broke the deadlock that had lasted since the 39th minute after Mikkel Damsgaard's free-kick goal for Denmark was answered by England through an own goal from opposing captain, Simon Kjaer.

With this result, England reached their inaugural final at the Euros as well as their first final at a prestigious tournament since winning the 1966 World Cup.

As reported by Antara, despite appearing to dominate the match after kicking off, England actually had to fall behind due to Damsgaard's free-kick goal in the 30th minute.

Starting from Luke Shaw's careless mistake that violated Andreas Christensen, England's goal for the first time collapsed at Euro 2020 through the execution of an accurate free-kick from Damsgaard which did not give goalkeeper Jordan Pickford a chance to anticipate it.

England fought back and in the 38th minute found Raheem Sterling's precise shot stopped brilliantly by goalkeeper Kasper Schmeichel.

Unfortunately, a minute later Bukayo Saka escaped control on the left side of the Danish defence, releasing a well-dated cross into the face of goal where Sterling was waiting. Kjaer tried to cut the pass, but instead scored an own goal to make the position 1-1.

The show of skill between Pickford and Schmeichel occurred early in the second half. Pickford denied two good chances from Kasper Dolberg and Martin Braithwaite, while Schmeichel saved the Danes from Harry Maguire's dangerous header.

England then had more possession of the ball, but was unable to break the deadlock and the 1-1 score lasted until normal time, forcing the match to be continued into extra-time 2x15 minutes.

Since the first extra-time began the ball was almost always in the half of the field Denmark and England forced Schmeichel to make two swift saves from Kane and Jack Grealish.

In the 102nd minute, the referee pointed to the spot after Sterling was brought down by Joakim Maehle and despite protests from the Danes, input from VAR allowed Danny Makkelie to award England a penalty.

Kane, the first executioner, found his penalty predictable and was denied by Schmeichel, lucky for England the ball threw up not far from the captain who snatched it straight into the net to give the Three Lions a 2-1 lead in the 104th minute.

Entering the second half with the lead, Gareth Southgate was forced to pull off a seemingly injured Grealish and field Kieran Trippier who was placed in midfield alongside Kalvin Phillips and Jordan Henderson.

On the other hand, Denmark, who was left behind, inevitably had to get out of the pattern of defensive play they applied in the first round of extra time, unfortunately, the attack from Kasper Hjulmand's team never showed results.

England has been in counter-attacking situations that have put Denmark at risk but seemed to have chosen not to rush their chances and tended to try to keep the lead.

One of them in the 120th minute when Sterling broke through from the right side to receive a pass from Kane, unfortunately, the finish from a tight angle was still managed by Schmeichel.

Even so, England's 2-1 lead remained when the final whistle sounded to confirm the Three Lions' move to the Euro 2020 final.

England is getting closer to realizing the slogan Football is Coming Home. The Three Lions supporters often use this phrase every time their proud squad appears in a major championship such as the Euro or the World Cup.

Football is Coming Home is a lyric piece from a song called Three Lions by The Lightning Seeds with David Baddiel and Frank Skinner. This song was created to encourage the England national team that will compete in the 1996 European Cup.

Will football come home? The answer lies on Sunday, July 11 after England faces Italy at Wembley Stadium.