Euro 2020: Uefa opens disciplinary proceedings against England – as it happened

That’s all for today. The news, if you missed it, is that Italy will play England in the final of Euro 2020 at Wembley on Sunday evening. Meanwhile, Uefa have opened an investigation into the conduct of England’s fans during the semi-final win against Denmark - use of a laser pen, booing the Danish anthem and use of fireworks in the stadium are all on the agenda.

Thanks for reading, emailing and commenting today. If you think it was a penalty or if you don’t, regardless, have a lovely evening.

I think all the writers of today’s 4,445 blog comments can get behind this:

8 Jul 202112.43 EDT

Paul MacInnes

One thousand Italy supporters are to be shuttled into the UK this weekend to provide an officially sanctioned Azzurri chorus for the Euro 2020 final against England.

Media update from Italy -

Following on from PA Media’s scoop with Grealish’s former PE teacher, here are is an anecdote from Phil Foden’s youth team coach, Joe Makin, of the Reddish Vulcans in Stockport:

“Phil wasn’t involved in any club so it was just a natural marriage. Phil was just a level above everyone else straight away,” Makin said. “I invited him into Reddish Vulcans and the second time he came down to training he was in a match - every time the ball dropped it dropped to him, which was no coincidence. A dad comes sidling over to me and says ‘Who’s the new boy there with the left foot? Where’s he come from? And I just said... ‘Heaven’.”

“There was always an air of ‘this boy’s going to be a player’,” Makin said. “As he got a little bit older it became more obvious but because of his size and physicality he was going to have to be protected a little bit. It’s an old cliche but all he ever wants to do is play football. First out, last to go in. Banging balls against the walls, juggling. His dedication and application is just first-class. If England win this and he gets a little bit of a role in that final, I think you will see a different Phil Foden on the pitch next season. He will be demanding the ball.”

I’ve been thinking about the Sterling penalty decision for seven-and-a-half hours straight, and I have come to the following conclusion which I think wraps it all up:

It’s one of them ones, isn’t it?

Gary Lineker says it (yes, that) might actually be two penalties:

“I had Italy down as favourites after the group stage and have seen nothing to change my mind since,” comments Topher. “But England really do have a chance; we’ve got probably the player of the tournament in Sterling, a resurgent Kane (who had his best game of the tournament last night), we’re solid defensively and calm (apart from Pickford occasionally). It was such an odd experience watching England and expecting them to win, expecting them to turn it around when we went behind, expecting them to find a way. Had it gone to penalties I would have expected them to win those. I trust them.”

I got a cool 11-1 on Italy pre-tournament. And if England prevail, well, I’m an England fan. It’s win-win!

8 Jul 202112.29 EDT

Jessica Murray

The Conservative MP Lee Anderson will not watch England in the Euro 2020 final on Sunday as he continues his boycott of their matches over the players’ decision to take the knee, but he concedes he will be checking the score on his phone and cheering on the team.

Right on cue, an email from Luke Jones:

“The worst thing about England winning the semi-final is that it all but guarantees that the final will turn on a VAR decision or an interpretation of “clear and obvious error.” Call it naive or honourable, but Denmark simply don’t engage in the kind of new-wave theatrical stylings that England (particularly Kane and Sterling) have made their calling card in this tournament. Italy, of course, are the old masters in the dark arts. It would have been nice for the neutrals if the final included at least one team that doesn’t include “flinging your arms in the air and throwing yourself to the ground” as a main facet of their attack.”

Certainly, the potential for some dreadfully tiresome VAR controversy in the final seems high indeed. But on the plus side - VAR has been used sensibly at this tournament. And that fact isn’t changed if you happen to believe VAR should have overturned last night’s penalty.

Björn to do it

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At least the Dutchman knows that should there be a controversial decision to be made in Sunday’s final, fans’ reaction to it will be entirely sane and measured.

“When you think about it the real winners of the Euros are Portugal because they’ve managed to hang on to the title and trophy for five years,” comments philippeblades. “If England do win it, it’s coming home (but only for three years) as the next Euros will be in 2024.”

So true. Now, I’m only here until 6pm, and we still need to decide who invented football, and therefore, establish whether or not it’s coming home to England or Italy (or to ancient Greece ... or Wales ... etc.)

“I think Sunday will be won and lost, (and let’s face it, probably lost), in midfield, where Rice and Philips will be competing for control with Verratti and Jorginho,” comments SlabheadsRevenge. “At times last night those two looked hopelessly outnumbered and I really worry for them if Southgate doesn’t come up with something. Sadly I’m not sure there is anything to come up with other than letting them have most of the ball and playing on the counter, but Italy will be too savvy for that.”

8 Jul 202112.11 EDT

Jonathan Wilson

“There is controlling games by attacking, as England did with remarkable intensity and consistency between the start of the second half and the end of the first half of extra time, and there is controlling the game as England did in the second half of extra time, keeping the ball away from Denmark with such efficiency that they managed only one touch in the England box in that period. Control, it turns out, doesn’t have to be boring.”

8 Jul 202112.08 EDT

Marcus Christenson

Italy scouting report:

Goalkeeper: 9/10
Defence: 9/10
Midfield: 9/10
Attack: 8/10
Manager: 10/10
Squad depth: 8/10

8 Jul 202112.06 EDT

David Conn

“In a euphoric country, it is important to maintain focus on what the manager said this would all mean, in his remarkable open letter, “Dear England,” released three days before the tournament began, the very day after Boris Johnson refused to condemn the booing of the players.”

We (by which I mean, commenters and emailers on this blog) don’t seem to be able to move past the Sterling penalty decision. So let’s just admit defeat and keep discussing it.

“I remember seeing Shilton interviewed a while back, not long after Maradona’s death,” comments Beckersbeard. “He still hasn’t gotten over the fact an opponent ‘cheated’ their way past England to a semi final, and I know he isn’t the only one of an England persuasion who feels that way. In fact, there are plenty. All those people must be disgusted to see England back in a major final through cheating/deception, whatever you want to call it. I assume they won’t be watching on Sunday.”

Hmm. Well, there’s clearly a difference between punching the ball in the net, and going down easily under a challenge from a defender. Mæhle’s decision to put his foot across Sterling from the right, with the England forward moving at pace, was naive in the extreme, and that naivety was punished. Sterling was looking for a foul - it was at best a soft penalty, and at worst it was a dive. The problem is, I don’t think the various video angles are completely conclusive, and the people who have taken a certain view of it now are probably never going to be talked into changing their minds.

Of course, there are plenty of examples of England diving at tournaments - Michael Owen in 1998 v Argentina being one that springs to mind. And I am sure that had England been eliminated due to a penalty decision like last night’s, there would be anger from the fans. But what’s to be changed at this stage? Do people expect England to offer to replay the match? If there is one thing that Christian Eriksen’s cardiac arrest showed us, it’s that there are more important things in life than a game of football.

PA Media have spoken to Jack Grealish’s former PE teacher, Tom Seickell. And here is what he had to say:

“He caused that kind of buzz we don’t often see. With that freedom of expression which he has - and Phil Foden has as well - he is probably the closest thing since Gazza was gracing our pitches. Even when he was at school there was limited amount of coaching we could do with Jack. Having been at Villa since he was six he was already showing so much talent. You put him in a PE lesson or training after school, you are focusing on the kids who are going to benefit from the coaching. It was just about keeping him level-headed and hoping he would do the business when playing for the school, which he did. He is a free spirit and Jack has always done what he wanted to do. If you try to condition him into playing in a certain way I don’t think you’ll get the best out of him.”

While we’re on the subject of past England and Italy tournament meetings ... is there ever a bad time to remember Andrea Pirlo’s penalty against Joe Hart in 2012? Class.

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Fun fact about Sunday’s referee, Bjorn Kuipers, from WarrenBeatty in the comments: “He’s the same referee of Italy-England in WC2014.”

That is a fun fact.

“The weak spot in this England squad is Pickford,” chimes in spannerman99. “Southall won’t be wanting the final to go to penalties.”

Big Nev? I imagine he’d probably enjoy seeing a shoot-out? Oh, you meant Southgate. Pickford wasn’t half bad in that shoot-out with Colombia in 2018.

It has emerged that Roy Keane went to a Neil Diamond concert 10 years ago, and enjoyed it, but had an argument with a woman next to him who was ‘singing the songs out loud’.

Roy’s had some pretty late sessions in his time ... has he ever seen ELO at the Birmingham NEC, though?

Getting a taxi across from south west to south east London at 10.30pm last night was quite an experience. It was going off! Especially in the high street in Balham, where traffic was at a standstill.

It still wasn’t as bad/good as Naples on Tuesday night, though -

Björn Kuipers will be on the whistle at Wembley on Sunday. Press release from Uefa as follows:

“The UEFA Referees Committee has announced that Björn Kuipers from the Netherlands will referee the UEFA EURO 2020 final between Italy and England, which will be played on Sunday 11 July at 20.00 local time (21.00CET) at Wembley Stadium in London, United Kingdom.

“The 48-year-old Dutchman, an international referee since 2006, will be the first referee from the Netherlands to take charge of a UEFA EURO final. It will be his seventh UEFA competition final, having previously refereed the 2018 UEFA Europa League final between Olympique de Marseille and Club Atlético de Madrid; the 2014 UEFA Champions League final between Real Madrid CF and Club Atlético de Madrid; the 2013 UEFA Europa League final between SL Benfica and Chelsea FC; the 2011 UEFA Super Cup match between FC Barcelona and FC Porto; the 2009 UEFA Under-21 European Championship final between Germany and England; and the 2006 European Under-17 Championship final between Czech Republic and Russia.”

Here’s what else we’ve got going on right now:

Tour de France live:

Tennis live:

ODI cricket live:

It’s all happening, it really is.

Olivier Giroud to depart Chelsea for Milan? Talks ongoing, tweets Fabrizio Romano:

PA Media here with an England news bulletin on ... not very much, in truth. It has emerged, though, that all the players from last night have done a recovery session today, while Phil Foden and Kieran Trippier joined the non-playing squad members in a conventional training session:

“England’s preparations for the Euro 2020 final got under way at sunny St George’s Park on Thursday. Roberto Mancini’s Italy lie in wait at Wembley this weekend after the Three Lions secured a 2-1 extra-time win against Denmark in Wednesday’s semi-final. Gareth Southgate’s starters against the Danes did recovery work as attention turned to the Azzurri, with substitutes Jordan Henderson and Jack Grealish joining them working indoors. Phil Foden and Kieran Trippier came on in extra time but took part in the main session, unlike fellow introductions Grealish and Henderson. Southgate reported after the game that “it seems like everybody’s come through the game OK in terms of injuries” but admitted it was not the best time to assess everything given the adrenaline that came with victory.”

Danger all over the park -

If Insigne can just go ahead and score four goals in the final, my pre-tournament bet on him for the Golden Boot will prove a roaring success.

One thing I noticed on Tuesday: while Morata’s equaliser for Spain was superbly worked and excellently finished, there did suddenly seem to be a yawning Verratti-shaped hole in the central defensive midfield area for Italy. He had been withdrawn from the action by Roberto Mancini a few minutes earlier, and I fancy that goal would not have occurred had he still been on the pitch.

Verratti leads the tournament’s tackle charts, by the way: he has made 21 up to and including the semi-final. Sergio Busquets, now eliminated with Spain, is the closest on 14. England’s top tackler has been Kalvin Phillips of Leeds, who has made 11 before Sunday’s final.

8 Jul 202110.44 EDT

Ed Aarons

“Marco Verratti believes Sunday’s Euro 2020 final between Italy and England will be decided by which side cope better with the pressure of a “history-making” match.

“These matches are there to be grabbed – we must win,” Verratti said. “They want to win clearly because they are playing at home and have never won a European Championship so the details will decide things. We must focus on our playing style and put aside everything else. These matches can put you under a lot of pressure and I think that the team that plays with a mind that is free will gain the upper hand.””

“I hate England and wanted them to lose,” states JohnBarnesOnToast, with devastating honesty. “But I have to concede that they were the better team, deserved to go through, and the penalty decision was a fair one. Horrible for me to admit that, but it’s undeniable.”

Over in SW19, tennis is happening, and Daniel Harris is blogging -

“Wacky comments on this thread,” says Archie Staircrow. “Maybe a post-pandemic madness. Enjoy yourselves folks! My god if Scotland (don’t laugh) were in the final I would be absolutely buzzing with excitement and joy. Your feelings about current government or state of country should not really have any bearing on this. Lighten up! Get some sun and have a socially distanced beer.”

I endorse this view.

A quick bit of non-Euros news here: the new Roma coach José Mourinho has come over all ‘when the seagulls follow the trawler’ in a pre-season press conference, reported by Reuters.

“In football the word ‘time’ sometimes does not exist, but in this case it does and that is fundamental,” Mourinho said. “The club does not want success today and problems tomorrow, but a sustainable project for the future. That is the main reason I am here. Now it is time to work. I am not here on holiday.”

Oh, and this is pure Mourinho: “In my last three clubs, I won Premier League with Chelsea, three cups with United, reached a League Cup final with Tottenham. What is considered a disaster for me is what other coaches have never achieved in their lives.”

A couple more shots from England training hi-jinks below.

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You know what these images suddenly reminded me of? Training photos of England’s rugby team in the days after they defeated New Zealand in the Rugby World Cup semi-final in 2019. Spirits were high, even Eddie Jones was smiling as he told journalists that England were happy to have ‘another week in the comp’.

England lost the final to South Africa, of course, and in hindsight Jones admitted that he got the week wrong in terms of how the team prepared. What has that got to do with England’s footballers now? Fair question. But it must be hard to stay 100 per cent mentally switched on, given the celebratory mood in the camp, following their very considerable achievement of reaching the final.

“I completely agree with your analysis of Spain v Italy,” emails Peter Van. “Spain are a boa constrictor: impressive but non-venomous, imposing, will kill their prey slowly but inexorably stifling it. Italy however are a sidewinder: quick, fast, aggressive, venomous.

“I wanted to bring England into this metaphor, but my knowledge of herpetology is as limited as that of football. I do know there are only a few snake species native to Britain, one of which is the adder. Maybe we’re an adder? A black adder? What snake does sweet Gareth resemble? Over to you.”

England (and/or Southgate) are the guy on the right? I’m not sure if that’s a good thing, or not ...

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“It’s been said that Kane’s penalty was taken very poorly,” says Eliot Argy. “It’s just as well though, had he taken it perfectly, aiming to tuck it just inside the post, the keeper would have parried the ball around such post for a corner. As it happened ... well, we all know what happened.”

Alas, there are no rebounds in a shootout.

“This tournament may have seen the start of a new strategy, re: free-kicks,” emails Michael Greville. “The last-second ’sideways shuffle’ by the Danish wall unsighted Pickford. Without it, no goal. Just imagine! The winning goal might have been the result of a bit of underhanded skullduggery! Of course the Dames would claim just to be ruthlessly exploiting a situation to their benefit.

“Some suggest the Danish wall got too close to the English, so broke rules. Don’t think so here, but I think Italy did appear to break rules in an earlier match. They had an ‘exploding wall’, where they all ran in different directions as the kick was taken, with at least one runner getting too close to the defending wall. The aim, again, to distract the goalie (like the runners behind the line in American Football).

“The referee (and England) may need to be wary of this in the final!”

Stick ‘em up!

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“Nice of Eddie Jones to say that Gareth Southgate “needs no advice from me” (14.16),” says Michael Keane. “Trademark humility from EJ there after his England team finished second last in the Six Nations. Mind you, they did manage to beat Italy so let’s hope their association football playing cousins can emulate that.”

Are you predicting the score to be 41-18 on Saturday?

John Boon is already looking to the future, he writes: “With this tournament almost at an end, and regardless of the result on Sunday, I’d be keen to peer in to the future and think about Qatar. The biggest calls will be on the right and midfield, for me, and potentially Harry Kane’s understudy.

“Will Walker still be able to maintain his motor until then? If not, I would like to see Wan-Bissaka given a run in the next set of qualifiers as he looks as sturdy defensively as anyone. Is there a way to sneak Jude Bellingham in to midfield? Might provide more of a goal threat than Phillips perhaps. And, is Calvert Lewin going to keep improving or can Tammy Abraham regather form? Could Mason Greenwood evolve in to the long term option in the middle or is he not robust enough?
Finally, very keen to see how Noni Madueke progresses at PSV. Maybe not one for Qatar, but I expect he’ll be more on peoples radars very soon.”

So many questions, John. I am sure Southgate will already be thinking about some of them.

The tide is high.

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Some PA on the mashup we all need...

Eddie Jones believes “humble, curious” Gareth Southgate will have the perfect plan for England’s Euro 2020 final against Italy.

England rugby head coach Jones has struck up a strong relationship with his football counterpart Southgate, and hailed the Three Lions boss for his history-making exploits.

England will take on Italy at Wembley on Sunday, in their first major tournament final since 1966 – and Jones has no doubts Southgate will have his players fully prepped.

“Gareth’s a humble, curious, very well-educated coach,” said Jones. The thing that impresses me is that for a young coach, he carries himself in the way of someone with a lot more experience. And he’ll know what to do. He doesn’t need any advice from me.”

Some teams have done well, some less so. Tell us about it.

Marco Verratti is full of praise for England, although previously admitted the penalty decision last night was “generous”.

“I think England did a great job. They got to the final for the first time and this says a lot,” Verratti said. “They conceded only one goal, so it is a very solid team, great players, a very balanced team and I think they did deserve to get to the final.

“I’m happy we will be playing them in a great stadium, it’s going to be a great final. It’s the dream you have as a kid, as a footballer. We’re happy England won and now it’s all down to the final, which I think will be an epic final, and history-making either way.”

Lunchtime for me. Will Unwin is now going to step in and studiously ignore/post literally every comment [delete as applicable] about the England penalty decision.

“England were fabulous,” comments superstar74. “Last night was the finest team performance I can remember since we stuffed Germany in Germany 5-1, and we don’t have a team of mega stars now, just a well oiled machine. The win was fully deserved. Did Sterling go down lightly? Maybe, but on balance they should not have had their free kick. The one weak link for me? Jordan Pickford ... He was awful for their goal, if he had been stood in the right place he would have caught it. Besides that, great great performance, and unlike Russia, I always felt like they were going to win it, and they knew it.”

No disagreement from me that Pickford was poor for the Denmark goal. Then again, he was exceptional against Germany, in fairness to him. Maybe we should reignite that debate from 2018 about whether or not he could have left the Colombian shot, that led to the corner, that led to the Mina goal?

PA Media have sought out Jordan ‘Speedy’ Pickford’s former PE teacher Alan Fisher. Selected quotes below.

“He was ‘Speedy’. That was his nickname and it’s stuck with him. He wanted to do everything at 100mph - and he still does. Last night, I can remember Gareth Southgate shouting across to him, ‘Cool down, slow down a little bit’ ... You want to be on that edge, you want to maybe be walking that fine edge of being in control and just being a little bit out of control.

“He came through and by the end of Year 11, he was a very mature, level-headed lad who was very, very focused on his football. A boy from the north-east has gone on to represent his country at the highest level - to any pupil, boy or girl now, it’s a carrot for them to aspire to be like that. It’s mentioned throughout the school as we do PE lessons, etc: this is where Jordan Pickford came, this is where he played football on those fields, he walked those corridors, he sat in registration just like you this morning.”

Quotes here from Sir Gareth of Southgate - on Italy’s record, and how the match against Denmark won: “I think Denmark have only lost four matches out of 30-odd,” he said. “Italy’s record is even better than that. They’ve been a top team for the last couple of years. We followed their progress closely. We know the way they play. They play with great energy, they play with great style. They’re, as always, difficult to score goals against so without doubt they deserve to be in the final. They’ve beaten two top teams to get there in Belgium and Spain.

“It’s the biggest possible test we could have. We’ve a day less to recover but we have got to prepare from now and of course it’s wonderful to have that opportunity to take them on.”

On England’s ability to see the semi-final out: “What we said to them before the game is that they’ve found ways to win matches over the last three or four years in whatever circumstances it’s taken,” Southgate said. “Whether leading from the front, whether that’s been having to come from behind, whether that’s taken extra time, penalties, they’ve found those solutions. We wanted them to have the confidence in that and so I felt very dominant in that period, the last half an hour of normal time. And of course the extra time I think we had a bit more legs, a bit more energy. Denmark made a lot of changes early on in the game and weren’t able to change later. But the strength of our bench has been an asset, there’s no question about that. The depth of the squad is why we are where we are and the mentality of the squad is why we’re in the position we’re in.”

On Jack Grealish’s withdrawal in extra time after coming on in the 69th minute. “We made that decision, not an easy one, but Jack has totally understood it,” Southgate said. “In the end he said to me ‘well, gaffer it doesn’t matter, I’m not really bothered because we’ve got to the final!”’

It’s only the England-are-in-a-bloody-final Fiver!

“When Jordan Pickford scores the winning penalty against Italy at Wembley, retro tops will be off and the tattooing of Gareth Southgate’s face will be booked for the earliest opportunity. Most importantly of all, the country will finally find out what football coming home actually means. Or, obviously, England could lose.”

Here’s Will Unwin:

“The ancient Welsh sport/warfare called Cnapan is the real football ancestor,” comments showmaster. “Teams in the hundreds fought to get a wooden ball soaked or boiled overnight in animal fats to their home parish church while the opposing neighbouring parish did the same to their church. All males in the villages took part, sometimes on horseback, across rivers and through swamps. One game was reckoned to be with 2,000 on foot besides the mounted lunatics. Often enough the result was decided when night fell or there was nobody left standing and how many miles the Cnapan was from the respective churches was measured.

“Wales are, of course, current world champions. At the Gateshead Garden Festival in 1990 there was a Cnapan International between England and Wales. Wales won easily, partly because the English team did not know the rules. Thankfully the Welsh played nice and nobody died, which was unusual.”

That’s the funniest comment of the day by some distance. Informative too. Thanks!