AFP, London :
England fed off the energy of a passionate Wembley crowd to beat Denmark 2-1 in extra time in the Euro 2020 semi-finals on Wednesday and now away from ending their 55-year trophy drought.
Gareth Southgate’s men will face Italy on Sunday — again on home turf and roared on by a nation at fever pitch — infused with belief they can make history by winning the Euros for the first time and lift a second major trophy after their 1966 World Cup triumph.
“Probably the best feeling in the world” screamed The Sun’s front page when it hit the news stands Thursday, with a picture of a jubilant England captain Harry Kane celebrating his extra-time winner.
“Kane you believe it!” the Daily Mail splashed, proclaiming “Captain Harry fires us into historic Wembley final”.
Footage of England fans erupting in celebration around the country filled social media and the victory dominated British television news.
But for the crestfallen 1992 champions Denmark, defeat spelt the end of a fairytale run to the last four after the trauma of witnessing star Christian Eriksen collapse in their opening group game against Finland with a cardiac arrest.
A Wembley crowd of almost 65,000 whipped themselves into a frenzy before kickoff with rousing renditions of “Sweet Caroline” and “Football’s Coming Home”, only to fall flat when Mikkel Damsgaard smashed home a 30th-minute free-kick past the despairing dive of Jordan Pickford.
It was the first goal England had conceded in the tournament and the first scored directly from a free-kick.
Just nine minutes later, with the thousands of British-based Danes inside Wembley still celebrating, England pulled level when Denmark captain Simon Kjaer bundled the ball into his own net under pressure from the lurking Raheem Sterling.
Neither side could find a goal in the second half, but the volume reached a crescendo in extra-time when Sterling, who was brought up a stone’s throw away from Wembley, fell under Joakim Maehle’s challenge and referee Danny Makkelie pointed to the spot.
Kane, normally deadly from 12 yards, saw his nervous, weak effort saved by the outstanding Kasper Schmeichel, but the Premier League top scorer was quickest to the rebound and slammed home.
It gave England an advantage they would keep until the final whistle, which sparked scenes of delirium in the stands and on the pitch as the Three Lions players partied.
“When you’ve waited as long as we have to get through a semi-final, the players — considering the limited international experience some of them have — have done an incredible job,” Southgate told ITV. “The most pleasing thing is we’ve given the fans and nation a fantastic night and the journey carries on for another four days.
“We suffered in Moscow (2018 World Cup semi-final) on a night like this and we’ve managed to put that right.”
