As the dust settles on England’s penalty heartbreak in the Euro 2020 Final, we take a look at three lessons which the Three Lions have learned over the past month.
Last night (11 July) saw England suffer the typical pain of a heartbreaking defeat on penalties despite having led the shootout 2-1 after the second round of spot-kicks, as Italy eventually prevailed 3-2 in the penalty shootout after coming from behind in a 1-1 draw.
Now as the dust settles on that difficult defeat in the Three Lions’ first final since 1966, here are three lessons which England can take heart from across the last month as focus turns towards 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar.
Character
With a squad average of just 25.3 years, it is hard to not ignore the amount of character in this young team because if they can display such character of unity, determination and grounded passion now, they will only continue to grow in quality and experience moving forward individually and together as a team.
We also cannot ignore the fact that these players are not afraid to stand up against social issues like racism, poverty and sporting opportunities for working-class youngsters, which is something that we can’t say about past England squads.
The penalty shoot-out and aftermath in particular highlighted the character of this England squad because despite initial tears, they showed bravery in celebrating their achievements of the last month in front of their fans with Southgate quick to console Bukayo Saka in a strong show of squad unity.
Speaking of Saka, he will be the defining symbol of England’s character after stepping up to take that decisive final penalty at just 19 years-old, who was participating in his first senior international penalty shootout when more experienced players like Raheem Sterling ducked their responsibility.
Whilst many choose to criticise this team for their removal of their runner-up medals immediately after collecting them, a better way of looking at that particular moment is of this team refusing to settle for second and instead deciding to use it to motivate them to further success.
Need For Attack-Minded Football
From Gareth Southgate’s perspective, this tournament might of seen England play a mixture of defensive and attack-minded football yet questions will be asked of whether Southgate needs to opt for more attack-minded football in future if they’re to improve their title challenge.
Last night’s performance in particular highlighted this particular point because after smashing their way into an early lead, England just sat back for much of the match even after Bonucci’s equaliser with their best chances often coming from set-piece play instead of going on the attack.
I therefore feel like Southgate needs to go away and reflect on his tactical and substitute decisions, which ultimately played a huge role in the Final because we simply didn’t attack enough when on top, whilst his substitutes came on too late with Marcus Rashford and Jadon Sancho taking cold penalties.
Now if Rashford and Sancho had come on earlier and England showed more attacking intent, penalties might of not been needed or possibly been a better story, yet small tactical mistakes from Southgate proved costly but will certainly provide him with lessons to implement for next year’s World Cup.
Pride Reinstalled in England
Having begun the tournament whilst slowly coming out of a third lockdown, there is no doubt that the Three Lions has reinstalled pride back into the country with people from all walks of life united to cheer on the young team throughout the tournament in houses, fan zones and pubs.
We cannot forget the fact that England played six of seven matches on home soil as they saw off teams like Croatia, Germany and Denmark to reach the final, yet pride rose throughout even despite penalties denying us at the last hurdle and is evident across social media and streets across the country.
Although incidents of hooliganism and racist behaviour sadly unfolded either side of the final, it is great to see that the majority of Brits behaved sensibly with pride and maturity because we only have to wait 16 months to go again at 2022 World Cup in Qatar with an advantage of it falling mid-season.
England’s historic run has also brought major benefits to the UK’s hospitality economy with fans packing pubs and restaurants with TVs, which is a welcome morale boost for workers in that industry who had encountered several lost months of business through three lockdowns since March 2020.
It is therefore impossible to not feel pride in these young England players because they have lifted the country at a time when they needed it most morale wise, just like Italy needed the same lift in spirit after enduring a horrific first wave in Spring 2020.
On that note, Italy and England meeting in the final was the perfect finale because both teams have lifted morale in their countries to resurgent heights regardless of the eventual result, following a difficult 16 months amidst Coronavirus pandemic.
Finally, whilst football failed to physically come home in the form of a trophy, our pride certainly came home with England’s Twitter feed posting a powerful poem about the importance of unity in the sport like a family and community.
We made some history, but couldn’t achieve the one thing we’re all dreaming of.
But football is about more than trophies, and we’ve seen that all summer.
Coming home? Perhaps it was here all along. pic.twitter.com/plyrlEZjzr
— England (@England) July 12, 2021
Now as England’s Lionesses take their turn on home soil next summer, let harness those valuable lessons learned from this summer and give the women’s team the same support and passion as we showed our men over the last month.
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