ENGLAND are in the closing stages of preparations for their first major Final in 55 years after coming back to beat Denmark in extra time at Wembley on Wednesday.
An own goal and Harry Kane's quick reaction to his own missed penalty means the Three Lions will meet Italy tomorrow night at 8pm after the Azzurri beat Spain on penalties in the first semi final.
Taking the tournament as a whole, it genuinely feels as if the correct two teams will play for the chance to win the Henri Delaunay trophy.
England made a fairly slow start to the competition with only two Raheem Sterling goals against Croatia and the Czech Republic to show for the Group Stage, either side of a disappointing stalemate against Scotland.
Importantly, though, the defence - over which there had been legitimate concerns going into the tournament - held firm throughout as England made it through a first Group Stage without conceding for the first time since 1966.
The only apparent issue was that the Group D winners were rewarded for their efforts by being pitched by the draw against one of the giants from Group F.
Of course, that was no less than runners-up Germany - though, at least, England got to stay at Wembley, a sure advantage against the weakest German team in a generation in the death throes of Joachim Loew's period in charge.
Nevertheless, the Last 16 match was as intense as expected for a tie between England and Germany.
In an even first half, the consistently outstanding Sterling almost added to his tally with a curling shot which was well saved by Manuel Neuer - while, at the other end, Jordan Pickford had to be alert to smother an effort from Timo Werner.
England made a slow start to the second half but gradually regained a foothold in a contest which looked to be heading towards an extra 30 minutes - and the possibility of penalties.
With a quarter of an hour left to play, though, the Three Lions made the breakthrough from a lovely passing move around the box.
Started by a driving run from Sterling, it was finished off by the same man with the Manchester City forward in the perfect position to tap in Luke Shaw's low cross from the left.
But Sterling nearly undid all of his good work almost immediately by next gifting the ball to Kai Havertz who played in Thomas Muller behind the England backline.
Muller looked a certain scorer as he struck the ball beyond Pickford - but, to disbelieving eyes, the Bayern Munich man dragged his shot wide of the post.
England quickly made Germany pay as a four-on-four opportunity developed. Shaw fed Jack Grealish down the fruitful left side - and the Aston Villa man swung the ball perfectly onto the head of Harry Kane to make it 2-0.
Later that evening, Ukraine beat Sweden with a goal in the last minute of extra time to set up a quarter final fixture against England in Rome last Saturday.
It would be the only time in the competition that England would be asked to play away from Wembley - and the ongoing restrictions surrounding the coronavirus pandemic prevented any England-based fans from making the trip to the Eternal City.
Not that it mattered. Kane, having broken his duck against the Germans, took less than four minutes to make his mark against Ukraine from Sterling's delightful through-ball for only the second goal scored in a first half by England at these Euros.
The Three Lions should have had more than one before the interval against Ukraine in a dominant display - but, within seconds of the restart, made up for it anyway.
An early free-kick midway through the Ukraine half brought a second goal - swung in beautifully by the brilliant Shaw, fellow Manchester United defender Harry Maguire took his international tally to four with a trademark header.
Within another four minutes of that, it was 3-0 and England could relax a little after Sterling, Shaw and Kane combined nicely to set up the main man with another simple header.
This drought for Kane was not the first in his career - and it will not be his last - but it is well and truly over now, and he almost scored a glorious hat-trick goal on the volley soon afterwards.
A poor Ukraine team were reeling and England completed the rout with still nearly half an hour left when Jordan Henderson nodded in a Mason Mount corner for his first international goal on his 62nd cap.
It really could have been a banana skin - and, even though it was a quarter final, the build-up lacked the tension which was present ahead of the tie against Germany.
By this stage, however, the England players clearly had their eyes on a bigger prize than a few boasts against the Germans.
Indeed, against Ukraine, it could be said that the Three Lions produced probably their most complete performance so far in the reign of Gareth Southgate.
England had waited 22 years for a semi final back in 2018 - but, just like London buses, two had arrived one after another (or three if the Nations League is included).
Undoubtedly, though, Denmark would prove tougher opposition than either Ukraine or Germany following their own dramatic journey to the last four.
The Danes had done magnificently to recover from the near-tragic incident of their star man Christian Eriksen collapsing on the field after suffering a cardiac arrest in their opening match against Finland.
And, while it barely seemed really to matter, the two defeats from their first two games merely compounded Denmark's misery.
News of Eriksen's improvement seemed to galvanise the Danes, however - as they scored four goals twice in back-to-back games against Russia and Wales before beating the Czech Republic in the quarter finals.
Denmark had made a series of quick starts during this good run - and, at Wembley on Wednesday, went ahead again through a direct free-kick which was sweetly struck by Mikkel Damsgaard from 30 yards.
It was the first successful direct free-kick of Euro 2020+1 after 36 previous attempts - and, more pertinently for England, the first goal of the tournament conceded by Pickford.
The Everton goalkeeper will feel he might have done better with the goal and he played throughout the night with a certain fragility which has previously blighted his game.
Nevertheless, his form up to the semi final had been nothing short of excellent with his place as number one in the national team surely now firmly re-established.
But, while there were a few more nerves around the England team during the semi final than in previous matches, the Three Lions did not panic - and, not long before half time, it was 1-1.
Teenager Bukayo Saka got round the back of the Danish defence and crossed towards Sterling who would have had a fourth goal of the tournament if skipper Simon Kjaer had not put through his own net in front of him.
England were better in the second half - but, as time ticked by, extra time for the first time this summer became something of an inevitability.
Normally a period racked with nerves, England instead played with fantastic attacking intent from the start.
Leicester City's Danish goalkeeper Kasper Schmeichel was forced into saves from Kane and Grealish before Sterling, on the right byline, attempted to weave around the Denmark defence, only to go down.
Penalty given - a contentious decision, a soft one perhaps, but it is only the wilfully blind who deny there was contact between the right hip of Joakim Maehle and Sterling's left knee.
In any case, Kane had already been denied a far more obvious shout for a penalty inside the 90 minutes when he clearly had his legs hooked from him by Christian Norgaard.
In their quarter final against the Czech Republic too, Denmark had scored from a corner which should have been given as a goal kick.
All of this indeed without even flicking the history pages of football back any further than the last couple of weeks.
For sure, England have suffered enough wretched decisions over the years, far worse than that penalty decision on Wednesday night - although the individual with the green laser pen personally lost any such moral debate with his (or her) singular action.
Simply put, though, England were the better team on Wednesday against a Danish outfit which could be forgiven for being emotionally exhausted at the end of this tournament - and which was out on their feet by the end of extra time.
The Three Lions ran the clock down with ease - and, at one stage, engaged a period of spell-binding keep-ball which produced 53 passes across more than two-and-a-half minutes of continuous possesion.
Italy, then, will be another step up again for this young England team who show a greater maturity under Southgate than his selection which reached the World Cup semi finals in 2018.
England have improved their ability to keep the ball, have a more varied attack, a better defence than for which they are given credit - and therefore, a greater ability to ensure matches are played at a tempo of their own dictation.
Just consider how different the semi finals against Croatia in 2018 and Denmark on Wednesday played out.
Three years ago, England made a fast start and took the lead - coincidentally from a direct free-kick - before defending deep and tiring badly in the second half and in extra time.
Against Denmark, there were no such issues - for England at least.
Against Denmark, there were no such issues - for England at least.
Of course, Italy also head into the Final on the back of a remarkable resurgence inspired by coach Roberto Mancini since his appointment in 2018.
In 2018, Italy were not at the World Cup hosted by Russia - the first time since 1958 that the Azzurri had failed to qualify - following a 1-0 aggregate defeat in the playoffs to Sweden.
Unsurprisingly, the failure caused a crisis in Italian football - but, under the calm and determined tutelage of Mancini, the Italians have rapidly become a force again.
After all, Italy head into the Final on the back of a sequence of 33 unbeaten matches, breaking the previous national record of 30 in their Last 16 tie against Austria.
And, while starting centre-backs Giorgio Chiellini and Leonardo Bonucci may now have 70 years between them, they have seen and learned every trick in the trade and so still offer valuable protection to 22-year-old goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma.
Not that the much younger age of Donnarumma should fool anyone, for this is a man who already has 32 Italian caps having made his debut in Serie A for Milan at the age of 16.
Unusually, though, Mancini's Italy is not solely based on a solid defence - both full-backs are encouraged to push forwards and goals come from all over the pitch, with six different players in the goals at Euro 2020+1 so far.
Realistically then, Italy - on the back of this tremendous run - should be considered to be the favourites, regardless of the odds which are actually being offered.
Nevertheless, it will be a close-run thing if England continue to play as they have been throughout this tournament - and are buoyed by a fanatical support at Wembley.
Already, England have achieved so much this summer with the improvement on their semi final showing in 2018 and the more convincing manner in which this run to the Final has been achieved.
There is just one final step now to take for this team, which has thankfully ignored the hot air and obfuscation of politicians and other outsiders to represent truly all that is good about modern England.
For certain, if they take it, no one shall sleep long on Sunday night for the celebrations which victory would bring. Nessun dorma, indeed.
➡️ SEMI FINAL • 07-July 20:00 ITV • London (ENG) - after extra time
DENMARK 1 Damsgaard 30
ENGLAND 2 Kjaer 39og, Kane 104
DENMARK Schmeichel, Christensen (Andersen 79), Kjaer (c), Vestergaard (Wind 105), Stryger Larsen (Wass 67), Hojberg, Delaney (Jensen 88), Maehle, Braithwaite, Dolberg (Norgaard 67), Damsgaard (Poulsen 67) Unused subs Skov, Skov Olsen, M. Jorgensen, Lossl, Cornelius, Ronnow Booked Wass
ENGLAND Pickford, Walker, Stones, Maguire, Shaw, Phillips, Rice (J. Henderson 95), Saka ((Grealish 69) Trippier 105), Mount (Foden 95), Sterling, Kane (c) Unused subs Rashford, Ramsdale, Mings, Coady, Sancho, Johnstone, James, Bellingham Booked Maguire
Referee Danny Makkelie (NED)
➡️ SEMI FINAL • 06-July 20:00 BBC • London (ENG) - after extra time
SPAIN 1 Morata 80
ITALY 1 Chiesa 60
• ITALY won 4-2 on penalties
Olmo - Moreno - Thiago - Morata
Locatelli - Belotti - Bonucci - Bernardeschia - Jorginho
SPAIN Simon, Azpilicueta (M. Llorente 85), Garcia (P. Torres 109), Laporte, Jordi Alba, Koke (Rodri 70), Busquets (c) (Thiago 105), Pedri, F. Torres (Morata 62), Oyarzabal (Moreno 70), Olmo Unused subs De Gea, D. Llorente, Sanchez, Gaya, Ruiz, Traore Booked Busquets
ITALY Donnarumma, Di Lorenzo, Bonucci, Chiellini (c), Emerson (Toloi 74), Barella (Locatelli 85), Jorginho, Verratti (Pessina 74), Chiesa (Bernardeschia 107), Immobile (Beradi 61), Insigne (Belotti 85) Unused subs Sirigu, Acerbi, Cristante, Bastoni, Florenzi, Meret Booked Toloi, Bonucci
Referee Felix Brych (GER)
➡️ QUARTER FINALS
| 02-July | 17:00 | SWITZERLAND | 1-1 | SPAIN | St Petersburg (RUS) |
| ITV | Shaqiri 68 | (1-3) aet | won on penalties Zakaria 8og | ||
| 02-July | 20:00 | BELGIUM | 1-2 | ITALY | Munich (GER) |
| BBC | Lukaku 45+2pen | Barella 31, Insigne 44 | |||
| 03-July | 17:00 | CZECH REPUBLIC | 1-2 | DENMARK | Baku (AZE) |
| ITV | Schick 49 | Delaney 5, Dolberg 42 | |||
| 03-July | 20:00 | UKRAINE | 0-4 | ENGLAND | Rome (ITA) |
| BBC | Kane 4, 50, Maguire 46 J. Henderson 63 |
➡️ LAST 16
| 26-June | 17:00 | WALES | 0-4 | DENMARK | Amsterdam (NED) |
| BBC | Dolberg 27, 48 Maehle 88 Braithwaite 90+6 | ||||
| 26-June | 20:00 | ITALY | 2-1 | AUSTRIA | London (ENG) |
| BBC | Chiesa 95 Pessina 105 | aet | Kalajdzic 114 | ||
| 27-June | 17:00 | NETHERLANDS | 0-2 | CZECH REPUBLIC | Budapest (HUN) |
| ITV | Holes 68, Schick 80 | ||||
| 27-June | 20:00 | BELGIUM | 1-0 | PORTUGAL | Seville (ESP) |
| ITV | T. Hazard 42 | ||||
| 28-June | 17:00 | CROATIA | 3-5 | SPAIN | Copenhagen (DEN) |
| ITV | Gonzalez 20og Orsic 85 Pasalic 90+2 | aet | Sarabia 38 Azpilicueta 57 F. Torres 76 Morata 100 Oyarzabal 103 | ||
| 28-June | 20:00 | FRANCE | 3-3 | SWITZERLAND | Bucharest (ROM) |
| ITV | Benzema 57, 59 Pogba 75 | (4-5) aet | won on penalties Seferovic 15, 81 Gavranovic 90 | ||
| 29-June | 17:00 | ENGLAND | 2-0 | GERMANY | London (ENG) |
| BBC | Sterling 75, Kane 86 | ||||
| 29-June | 20:00 | SWEDEN | 1-2 | UKRAINE | Glasgow (SCO) |
| BBC | Forsberg 43 | aet | Zinchenko 27 Dovbyk 120+1 |
➡️ SCORERS
5 Cristiano Ronaldo (Portugal), Patrick Schick (Czech Republic)
4 Karim Benzema (France), Emil Forsberg (Sweden), Romelu Lukaku (Belgium), Harry Kane (England)
3 Georginio Wijnaldum (Netherlands), Robert Lewandowski (Poland), Haris Seferovic (Switzerland), Raheem Sterling (England), Kasper Dolberg (Denmark), Federico Chiesa (Italy), Alvaro Morata (Spain)
2 Manuel Locatelli (Italy), Ciro Immobile (Italy), Andriy Yarmolenko (Ukraine), Roman Yaremchuk (Ukraine), Denzel Dumfries (Netherlands), Xherdan Shaqiri (Switzerland), Memphis Depay (Netherlands), Yussuf Poulsen (Denmark), Ivan Perisic (Croatia), Kai Havertz (Germany), Matteo Pessina (Italy), Thorgan Hazard (Belgium), Pablo Sarabia (Spain), Ferran Torres (Spain), Lorenzo Insigne (Italy), Mikkel Damsgaard (Denmark)
1 Breel Embolo (Switzerland), Kieffer Moore (Wales), Joel Pohnjanpalo (Finland), Thomas Meunier (Belgium), Stefan Lainer (Austria), Goran Pandev (North Macedonia), Michael Gregoritsch (Austria), Marko Arnautovic (Austria), Wout Weghorst (Netherlands), Karol Linetty (Poland), Milan Skriniar (Slovakia), Raphael Guerreiro (Portugal), Aleksei Miranchuk (Russia), Aaron Ramsey (Wales), Connor Roberts (Wales), Ezgjan Alioski (North Macedonia), Kevin De Bruyne (Belgium), Attila Fiola (Hungary), Antoine Griezmann (France), Robin Gosens (Germany), Diogo Jota (Portugal), Irfan Kahveci (Turkey), Christoph Baumgartner (Austria), Andreas Christensen (Denmark), Joakim Maehle (Denmark), Nikola Vlasic (Croatia), Callum McGregor (Scotland), Luka Modric (Croatia), Aymeric Laporte (Spain), Viktor Claesson (Sweden), Adam Szalai (Hungary), Andras Schafer (Hungary), Leon Goretzka (Germany), Joakim Maehle (Denmark), Martin Braithwaite (Denmark), Sasa Kalajdzic (Austria), Tomas Holes (Czech Republic), Cesar Azpilicueta (Spain), Mislav Orsic (Croatia), Mario Palasic (Croatia), Mikel Oyarzabal (Spain), Paul Pogba (France), Mario Gavranovic (Switzerland), Oleksandr Zinchenko (Ukraine), Artem Dovbyk (Ukraine), Nicolo Barella (Italy), Thomas Delaney (Denmark), Harry Maguire (England), Jordan Henderson (England)
11 own goals Merih Demiral (Turkey) v Italy, Wojciech Szczeny (Poland) v Slovakia, Mats Hummels (Germany) v France, Ruben Dias (Portugal) v Germany, Raphael Guerreiro (Portugal) v Germany, Lukas Hradecky (Finland) v Belgium, Martin Dubravka (Slovakia) v Spain, Juraj Kucka (Slovakia) v Spain, Pedri (Spain) v Croatia, Denis Zakaria (Switzerland) v Spain, Simon Kjaer (Denmark) v England
➡️ RED CARDS
Grzegorz Krychowiak (Poland) v Slovakia
Ethan Ampadu (Wales) v Italy
Harry Wilson (Wales) v Denmark
Matthijs De Ligt (Netherlands) v Czech Republic
Marcus Danielson (Sweden) v Ukraine
Remo Freuler (Switzerland) v Spain
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