PREMIUM
England fans wearing masks of Matt Hancock, Boris Johnson, Chris Whitty and Rishi Sunak at the fan zone in Trafford Park, Manchester ahead of the UEFA Euro 2020 Final between Italy and England. Picture date: Sunday July 11, 2021. PA Photo. See PA story
FOOTBALL became a political football in the House of Commons yesterday. Strictly speaking, off-pitch rather than on-pitch activities dominated discussion, though for the umpteenth time the “whole House” was invited to admire how brilliant England had been and to take example from the way they had dived for penalties, declined friendly handshakes from their Italian opponents, scowled where the Azzurri had smiled, and petulantly refused to wear their losers’ medals. Marvellous.
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Harry Kane consoles Bukayo Saka after his missed penalty
Credit: GETTY IMAGES
And at 10.52pm, England’s dream died. With one torturous penalty miss by Bukayo Saka, it was all over, the country’s four-week thrill ride derailed in the most wretched possible fashion. It turns out you can practise all the psychology and breathing exercises you want with these shoot-outs, but you cannot expunge the national team’s immutable capacity for shooting themselves in the foot from 12 yards out.
History demanded that a resolution had to be reached in this fashion. After more than half a century of spot-kick horrors, it was perhaps the only suitable way to discover if this new-look England had the mettle, with so gigantic a prize on the line. Ultimately, they found they did not, several players crumpling to the ground as the pain overwhelmed them, as they recognised how wonderful a chance they had squandered.