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Roy Keane was quoted to have said “the two best teams made the final” following England’s famous Euro 2020 semi-final victory over Denmark on Wednesday night and to a degree, he is right its felt by many in what he said.
However as both Italy and England gear up for a crunch battle royal finale at Wembley Stadium to become the winner of Euro 2020, both teams have sure changed from their last time of international dominance with time taken to resurrect themselves into the international stage once more.
Italy – Vincero. Vincero
Unlike England who managed an amazing run to the semi-finals of the 2018 World Cup in Russia, Italy watched from afar as they failed to qualify alongside a host of other notable nations including the Netherlands, United States, Chile, New Zealand and Cameroon who also failed to qualify for a plane ride to Russia.
However whilst the fallout from the 1-0 aggregate loss to Sweden (pictured above) for Italy was messy to say the least with manager Gian Piero Ventura refusing to resign before eventually being sacked with a host of long term players including Gianluigi Buffon, Danielle De Rossi and Giorgio Chiellini all declaring their retirement from the Italian side within a few days of the second leg result.
It did give the Italians a kick to change up and shake up ahead of 2020 after two disastrous World Cup campaigns in 2010 and 2014 where they failed to qualify for the knockout rounds before altogether not qualifying for Russia alongside only having made one solid attempt on getting to the final of the Euros during the decade with a runners up place achieved in 2012. It went without saying that the 2010’s were particularly nasty to the side who had dominated well in the years before following their 2006 World Cup triumph.
On 14th May 2018, former Manchester City boss Roberto Mancini was hired as the new manager of the Italian side. He would immediately start working on amending the errors made by his predecessors by working excessively hard to mix the squad whilst fielding new blood onto the Italian scene.
The days of Buffon, De Rossi and Totti were gone for good as a result with now a new Italian side here to show themselves to be who they are and rightly so as the side qualified for Euro 2020 with two games to go.
In Mancini’s 38 games so far as manager of the Azzurri, he has won 28 of those matches with eight draws and only two losses. If England defeat Italy, it will be Mancini’s third defeat in 39 matches which is quite remarkable however should the Italians win on Sunday, it’ll keep that same record of defeats in place that Marcelo Lippi had during his first spell as Italy boss of which he departed following the famous World Cup final victory in 2006 after two years in charge.
Since Mancini’s first game in charge which was a 2-1 friendly victory over Saudi Arabia in May 2018, only 10 players from that matchday squad still remain in the team that has taken the Euros by storm this summer. Proof that whilst getting rid of the deadwood was required, it also allowed a much younger squad to come in and take shape with the median age of the squad being 27 now when compared to the median age of the Euro 2016 squad which was 29 years old.
The youngest player in the current squad is 21 in Giacomo Raspadori who had spent the previous three years working his way up through the Italian youth teams whilst the youngest player in 2016 was Federico Bernardeschi at the age of 22 who is still part of the Italian squad.
Mancini has rejuvenated the Italians into this forceful side with an attacking flare with 12 goals scored in their six games so far which made them the side with the best goal difference from the group stages. However only Spain have scored more during the tournament thus far and that could be set to change on Sunday night with just two more goals required to change that tune for good.
Its safe to say that with Mancini at the helm of things in Italy, you should expect them to be a force to be reckoned with at Qatar 2022 in less than 18 months time as this side will no doubt grow from strength to strength in the meantime even post-Euro 2020. With powerhouse sides like Germany and Argentina in transition over the next year as their old greats come and go, Italy may be the new force to be reckoned with once more after a poor decade rotting away in the shadows after their German success in 2006.
England – Back For Good?
Yes we’ve quoted English pop group Take That who did split up in 1996 which is the last time when England did last reach the semi-finals of the European Championships but a lot has changed between both 1996 and 2021 and obviously the year of the last final England got to in 1966 and 2021. Doctor Who has changed face 12 times since whilst Sir Cliff Richard has also released 35 studio albums since we last reached the final of a men’s cup competition.
However this squad was born out of success and despite only nine players from the 2018 World Cup semi-final reaching squad still in the England setup, its a squad that like Italy, its looked towards the next generation. Gone are the days with Liverpool and Tottenham having the honour of seeing five of their players in the England squad with that number now down to one for both sides respectively with now a few players having moved abroad to sides in Germany and Spain in order to develop their talent further.
Whilst England hasn’t expected success during this tournament, it was more hoped that we could see the Three Lions get this far with this competition being the closest to a home tournament that many of the squad may ever get again in their careers. And its on that merit with crowds expanding at Wembley from a modest 22,500 from the group stage games to an eventual 60,000 for the semi-finals and final, that has no doubt boosted the mood and spirits of the side that have grown in quality and determination to finally get to a first final in 55 years.
For Gareth Southgate in particular, reaching the final is a chance to finally put to bed that nightmare from that dreadfully reminded day in 1996 when he missed the deciding penalty for England to be kicked out of their home tournament in Euro 1996 at the semi-final stage at Wembley. Its probably more than poignant that on route to the final, England overcame Germany 2-0 at Wembley in their first win over them in 55 years since that famous day in 1966 where the Three Lions won the World Cup.
This England squad in particular have done remarkably well for their club sides as well with ten members of the squad having won a competition of some sort whether it be the league or a cup this season. By breeding that mentality alongside a humbling attitude towards how to approach international fixtures, its not like past teams where the best players thought they were above everyone else.
For many, this squad assembled by Southgate is very reminiscent to that of the “Golden Generation” assembled in the early 2000’s where we had so much talent on offer yet we were only able to progress to the Quarter Finals of the World Cup. However this squad have gone above and beyond that already with two consecutive semi-final appearances on the trot achieved which cannot be applauded enough.
With more rising talents coming through the England setup both at international and club level, what’s to say that the squad we may see in 2022 for Qatar may be ever so different in some way to that of whom have achieved these brilliant exploits in what is being described as a “home competition”.
For the likes of Bukayo Saka and Jude Bellingham, with this as their first competition with England and by no means their last if their form continues over the next few years, when the Euro’s roll around to Germany in 2024, then maybe they will be at their peaks. Alongside that of Mason Greenwood, Jadon Sancho, Trent Alexander-Arnold and Aaron Ramsdale, the squad can definitely be dominating the international stage for a number of years whilst continuing to answer the critics who continue to undermine Gareth Southgate’s squad that has developed in confidence over the past month in each and every game.
Regardless of the result, expect both the dominance of these two teams who have been through hell and back to get to this final to continue into Qatar 2022 and even Germany 2024 and who knows, maybe even USA/Canada/Mexico 2026?
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