Penalty heartache for England yet again, but was Southgate the man to blame?
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00:00England's bid to end their 55-year wait for a major trophy ended in agony last night after
00:06they were beaten on penalties by Italy.
00:13Hello and welcome to Golf News Kicking Back.
00:15England's bid to end their 55-year wait for a major trophy ended in agony last night after
00:22they were beaten on penalties by Italy who claimed their first year at 2020
00:28European Championships, I should say, since 1968 when they won it when they first hosted it.
00:35Guys, this is our last Euro 2020 episode and to discuss it all are Matt, Shamsir and Sahil.
00:44You know, I really hoped England would win. I mean, you know, when Luke Shaw gave them
00:49that dream start after, what was it, two minutes, it was a brilliant counter-attack.
00:55Harry Maguire had given away a really cheap corner. He was really nervous in the opening
01:00seconds of the game but it was a counter-attack and in fact Shaw started to move really well down
01:07the left-hand side. It would have been easy for him just to whack it clear but, you know, he got
01:11control of the ball, beat his man, advanced into the box, found himself at the back post. There's
01:15a lovely cross from Trippier, found him there and he gave England the lead. It was a great
01:24start and I think we looked really solid after that and put Italy on the back foot but in the
01:28second half, I think around that 70th minute, they got a deserved equaliser. It was from Minucci.
01:35Extra time came and went and it was to be settled on penalties. Now Southgate has made plenty of
01:44right decisions, I think, during this tournament. He's already come out and said it now that he's
01:50to be blamed for selecting Rashford, Sancho and Saka to take three of the five penalties.
01:56All three were missed but what I want to know is where were the more experienced players when
02:02we needed them the most? Where was the likes of John Stones who didn't take one but has taken it
02:08for his club and scored? Jack Rielish was on the pitch, he could have taken one because in the end
02:15we've left it on the shoulders of a 19-year-old kid to take the most important penalty in the
02:22history of English football. Sadly for him, it's not his fault, it was a poor penalty and it was
02:27saved. Look, we all know world-class players can miss a penalty but I think it was wrong of
02:35Southgate to put such a big responsibility on Saka when he had other options there. It's not like
02:41there wasn't anyone else that he could turn to. Now, even if Saka was happy to take it,
02:46I don't think he should have done it. That's what the senior players are there for
02:49and it looks to me like they've bottled it. What were your thoughts on the penalties, guys?
02:55First of all, congratulations to you Imran. For some reason you seem a little bit more down than
03:00ever. I think you're just going to miss us seeing our faces every morning.
03:07That was one thing I mentioned to Shamsher last night was what an effort Southgate is doing.
03:15You need those changes at the end. I think Stones is one of the guys that took up
03:21for Saka and hence he can step up. Maguire, led by example, looked really strong to take
03:33this penalty very well. Those guys should have been taken on five. You guys like Walker,
03:40Stones, Sterling, Kane, Grealish. There's my five right there. That's just off the top of my head.
03:50I have no idea what Southgate did. We do substitutions at the end,
03:55Rashford did hardly take the ball into our tournament. Saka is very young.
04:04After such a brilliant tournament, it's almost a limp way and those questions that we talked
04:13about all the way through the tournament just come back about the leadership of Southgate.
04:17We thought he'd buried them along with all our quips and comments about him and then he comes
04:23back and he did something mad at the end. It was an unbelievable end to a great match and a great
04:28tournament. We won't forget it in a long time. I think these young guys will escape the albatross
04:43that had been around Pierce and Southgate's neck all these years of being those guys that missed
04:48those penalties, especially Ropsell for Saka's sake. The finger of blame has not been pointed
04:58at the player for missing the penalty this time. It's been pointed at the manager for putting them
05:02under that pressure, as you said. That doesn't take anything away from what Italy did. They were
05:09on the ropes for the first 45 minutes or so. England could have been 2-0 up. If not more,
05:14they had some pretty good chances. It's just that real Mancini determination.
05:20They just didn't give up regardless. Ground England down, ground England down and then
05:25actually got that deserved equaliser and then they went on to finally get over the line once
05:35they got to the extra time. Dreaded penalties once again come to falter England, shall we say.
05:45I just want to jump in before you give me your thoughts about another massive mistake that
05:52Southgate made. Obviously, we've mentioned the penalty takers there, but in injury time,
05:57in extra time, Italy had a corner and that's when he made his substitutions. Anyone knows
06:03when you're managing a game, you never make any substitutions then. You especially don't take off
06:08a defender to put an attacker on. He took off Walker to put Rashford on just for the sake of
06:13a penalty. That corner kick came in and I think it was Bonucci or Chiellini who came really close.
06:19He flicked it on, it went to the back post. Lucky for England, ball was cleared. But that was a
06:24ridiculous time to make a substitution for the sake of a penalty. So that was another huge mistake
06:30that he made. Shamsir Khan, what were you going to say? Commiserations, Imran, and to all the
06:39royal, loyal England fans. The game was, I think, to get into the technicalities and everything
06:48before that, I just want to say one thing. It's about mentality, man. It's about mentality.
06:53Italians were mentality monsters yesterday. And even when they were pinned back in the beginning
07:00of the game, they never gave up. Let's start from the penalties.
07:06Like what you mentioned, English team didn't have proper leaders on the pitch.
07:13And even during the penalty discussions, of course, Gareth Southgate
07:19has taken the responsibility of choosing the players and everything. But your senior players
07:23have to go and say that, okay, don't give it to Saka, man. He's just 19 years old. He has never
07:29ever taken a penalty in his career. Because he just recently started his senior career.
07:34The biggest game he had played was Europa League quarter-final or semi-final with Arsenal.
07:39And that was his biggest game ever. And he had a stellar season. He had a good tournament as well.
07:44But don't let him take such a crucial penalty. Even if Southgate decides on that,
07:50being a senior player, you have to go to him. Or if you are a Maguire, you have to go to him and say,
07:56boss, Gaffer, don't do that. We have Grealish, he is a seasoned penalty taker for Aston Villa.
08:03We have Stones, who has done it before. We have Sterling, who has won a lot of things in his career.
08:10Yeah, he has missed a few. But everyone can miss. But don't give it to someone like Saka, man.
08:15It's down to the leadership, the mentality, the quality within the English squad.
08:20Yeah, we can be critical about Gareth Southgate. But I will blame the…
08:25The fair share of blame should go to the senior players as well. And some of Gareth… If you want
08:33to be very critical, some of Gareth Southgate's decisions were absolutely horrendous. Like,
08:39Rashford hadn't kicked a ball in the tournament even. He had hardly kicked in. And yes,
08:46he is a good penalty taker. But he has missed a few in his career. But he is a decent penalty
08:49taker. He is a young football player. But he is a very talismanic figure for Manchester United.
08:54So, no shame in choosing him as one of the kick-takers. But he hadn't touched the ball
09:00before that. It could be his first touch. Yeah, you are right. I just want to jump in
09:04before we carry on there. He hadn't touched the ball. And he took 16 seconds to take that penalty
09:09as well. Referee blew the whistle. He pipped Pogba to shame. Yeah, and that run-up. I hate it.
09:17You know, we have discussed it before when players do that. They try to put off the keeper. But it
09:21looked like he put himself off. He hit the post. But to take that long, clearly the guy is not in
09:26the frame of mind to play a game of football. And it was definitely the wrong choice to take a penalty.
09:31Sorry, Shamsir. Carry on, man. Yeah, that's what. You know, like, even the players, whoever
09:36have missed that. Even Sancho. He hardly had any kick in the game. You need to feel…
09:42Because this game is… It's a European Championship final, man. And it's happening at Wembley.
09:49I think it wasn't the Italians who were faced by the crowd. It was English
09:55players who actually had gone into nerves after seeing such a huge crowd. And you are
10:01giving the responsibility on the shoulders of such young players without even kicking the ball.
10:06That's ridiculous from Southgate. And that's all about the penalties. And I mean,
10:13when you look at the other side, Italians, even after missing the first penalty kick,
10:18you could falter. You could say that, okay, it's all over. But Radha, they were still going all
10:25about it. Like, even when Belotti missed that first kick, he went into Chiellini. And Chiellini
10:30was hugging him. It's okay. It happens. And he was giving confidence to Gigi Donnarumma.
10:37He is such a huge, monumental figure anyway. Anyway, credit to Italians. They are mentality
10:44monsters. And they did the job brilliantly. And to go into the game before the penalties,
10:51I think Mancini did a brilliant job. This was the difference which we were talking yesterday,
10:56between two managers. The gulf in class between two managers, man.
11:01Southgate had the opportunity to just kill the game off in the first half when Italians were
11:06really rattled. Because they couldn't get into the game. They were absolutely struggling with
11:11their shape. They were really rattled. And what England did? England tried to drop back.
11:17They could have went on and scored their second goal and the game would have been over.
11:21We'll discuss the game a little. I just want Sahil's opinion on the penalties.
11:29Sahil, I mean, I know you were hoping England would win and they gave a good account of
11:34themselves in the whole tournament. But again, it's penalties that come and haunt them.
11:38What did you make of it, man?
11:40I mean, first of all, yeah, you know, you guys mentioned that it's a poor decision to
11:45bring Saka on for the decisive penalty. Like Italy had Jorginho, their main penalty taker,
11:50and he was denied by Pickford. Let's be honest. And yeah, Saka's 19 and
11:55Shamsher said his biggest game was the Europa Semi-Final for Arsenal.
12:00So can you expect him to score? You can't decide that. So it's a debatable decision. Yes,
12:06you can bring on the senior player like Sterling, Grealish. John Stones is a decent penalty taker.
12:12It is debatable, but nothing is guaranteed that any of those three would have also scored, right?
12:18I remember against Croatia, Marcus Rashford, a 19-year-old kid had come on to score.
12:23Sorry, not against Colombia. It was against Colombia in the World Cup. So he was a 19-year-old
12:28kid who had scored that penalty. And okay, yes, Saka came on. He took that penalty. He got saved.
12:34It was not like he skied it. So it's a debatable decision, of course, that maybe could Southgate
12:41could have brought any senior player on. But I won't blame Southgate. You know, it happens now.
12:46Did you expect Rashford or Sancho? You know, they played now enough international football.
12:52They played senior football at a club level. So yeah, yes, they did not get a kick of a ball.
12:57But in the end, Rashford's penalty was poor. Sancho's penalty, he didn't have a run-up.
13:02And Donnarumma saved. He's an intimidating guy. I've mentioned that before. Donnarumma, he's tall.
13:07It's not easy to score past him. Come on. Let's be honest, you know. But you know, I want to,
13:13okay, forget that. I want to give credit to Jordan Pickford. How about that save on Jorginho?
13:17You know, last week, we saw Unai Simon didn't judge it. Pickford did a study and, you know,
13:22he saved Jorginho's penalty and still kept England in the game. But yeah, you know, what else can I
13:28say? It's just, it's just, you know, a tough one to take. That's a great point, Sahil.
13:34There's absolutely no guarantee, you know, even if the senior guys had stepped up to take it,
13:40there's no guarantee. I mean, you're right. It could have had stones come up. You know,
13:44I think he's, I think he's quite a cocky kind of character. He might even try to panic like
13:48he's done before in the past. I remember for Everton in a pre-season game in America sometime,
13:54played against, I think it was against Juventus and it worked. He scored it. But you're right.
13:58You know, you can't, I mean, I'm certainly not blaming the three for missed. I mean,
14:03I think Rashford's penalty was just a poor one. So I just don't like the way he done the run up.
14:07But like you say, there's no guarantee that, you know, the senior players would have scored it.
14:11But should the game have gone to penalties itself? Let's just discuss the 90 minutes and the extra
14:16time. I thought, I thought England had a, well, obviously after that blistering start,
14:20I thought they played really well. They were on top of the game. They had Ince on the back foot
14:24and you could see it on the Italians' faces. They were nervous. They were making mistakes.
14:28The passes weren't coming off. England were just bullying them all over the pitch
14:32with the fans behind them. They won that first half. Absolutely. Italy had a really great chance
14:38to Kiesa when he drove through, hit a drive. It was just wide. In the second half, they came back
14:44a lot stronger and, you know, they were dominating the game and you could tell that there was going
14:48to be a goal for them. It came from Bonucci. It was a great save from Pickford though to keep,
14:55I think it was, I think, I'm not sure who had the shot, but a really good save into the post.
15:00Kiesa was it? And then Bonucci followed up. You could tell that they were going to score.
15:06But you're right, Shamsiri, you were making a point about how they were sitting back. I agree.
15:12You know, it's dangerous. You can't sit back on a one goal lead. It's certainly not enough against
15:16Italy, against anybody. And, you know, my one gripe is with Southgate, with this England team,
15:21with the quality that we've got in that squad, you know, again, they kind of,
15:26they just haven't played that well with the players that are available to them.
15:30It could be such a different looking England team. It could be such an attacking team if
15:34they wanted it to be. But, you know, there's always that cautious approach, you know,
15:38defend first and keep it tight, which is great. You have to do that. Football isn't just about
15:43trying to score goals and winning games. There's other aspects to the game. But I think, again,
15:47way too much effort and concentration has been placed on that when there's the likes of people
15:51like Saka, Sancho, you know, Grealish, Foden, on the bench, ready to play. If these guys are
15:57starting, you know, we could have been seeing an England team that was playing, you know,
16:00just as attacking as Italy. What do you guys think? Yeah, I think, first of all, you're bang
16:08on there about, you know, not calling it off. I said earlier that they could have been 2-0 up
16:13before half time. After that early goal, brilliant finish by Shaw, by the way. What a match to score
16:22your first goal for England. Absolutely amazing in the second minute as well. Where's that been
16:29all these times? I mean, Shaw's, you know, tournament of his life. I don't know where
16:34this Shaw's been, you know. You know, as I said, he went from a third-choice back player,
16:42according to Mourinho, to this absolute superstar on the wing. I mean, he's been brilliant.
16:47Great start for England and they were pressing, they were pushing, the Italians were
16:55rattled, they were setting to every ball and, you know, just a little bit of luck also, you know,
17:02kept the score down. But as I was doing a commentary last night, I was saying England,
17:07this was getting a little bit deeper and a little bit deeper and a little bit deeper.
17:12And then after this, that was just the first half came to an end. The second half,
17:17they just went a little bit deeper and a little bit deeper. I was like, no, I said that there's
17:23a goal coming here, there's a goal coming here and then boom, Peruzzi. And then from there,
17:28the heads dropped and I was actually concerned that England might not see out the 90.
17:33Not the most historic of extra times, but the Italians,
17:42you see in quite a lot of these kind of season teams now, they don't panic, they don't change
17:47their game, they just keep going, keep plugging away. They know that the chances will come and
17:52they've just got to take them when they do come. Bonucci did pick for the great keys,
17:57that was absolutely amazing last night. Absolutely brilliant game. Pickford was the
18:03one to deny him, he should be the guy that should have got that goal. But Bonucci was
18:07there on hand and they just banged it in at the far post. And from then on, I think that
18:16it was in the back of England's head, we should have won this. We shouldn't be level,
18:21we shouldn't be going to penalties. Did I just think penalties? Oh no, I just thought penalties.
18:26And then that's when England lost the game, they started to out-think themselves.
18:31Southgate himself panicked. We all know what he's like with an England penalty.
18:40England were as much to blame for their own downfall as it was for
18:43Italian determination and quality, I think.
18:48Southgate probably told the players, look, I've missed a penalty in the past, you can too.
18:57That would have been the advice given. Getting into the game, man, yeah. Like what I was
19:02mentioning earlier, England started brilliantly. That goal, actually Italy got called and
19:11absolutely wallied by Xoberto Carlos into the net. That was a brilliant goal. What a time to get his
19:19first senior goal for England.
19:21That is not going to catch on.
19:24Xoberto Carlos.
19:28And ever since that, Italy were absolutely rattled and England could have capitalised on that and
19:36they could have scored the second goal and finished the game off in the first half itself.
19:39But rather, after 15, 20, I think it was 25 minutes, they just started dropping back and then
19:45Italy started to get little, little control in the midfield. Even then, Italians were not in
19:52right shape. Barela was having a bad game. Like what we had mentioned, if you want to get the job
20:00done on Italians, you need to have the advantage over them in the midfield and they were having
20:06that. And Jorginho, Verratti and Barela were struggling in the beginning as Rice and Phillips
20:13and this guy, even Mount, were pressing very, very hurriedly and brilliantly. So the game
20:21plan was working properly for Southgate. But then, even Southgate wouldn't have expected
20:26England to score such early in that game. Then it started, I don't know, they started dropping
20:34back and then the half-time came and things changed. Basically, Mancini took control of
20:40the situation. That is the difference between a class manager and an average football manager.
20:47Like Southgate has done brilliantly. I am not taking any credit away from him. But the difference
20:53in class is obvious there. This guy is a serial winner, Mancini. He has done it in the past.
20:59He has seen such situations in his career many times. You remember the Aguero goal in the last
21:05kick of the game. The famous game against QPR. So he has seen everything, man. He has seen
21:12everything. The Aguero moment. So this guy wasn't intimidated by anything and he made the right
21:18changes. He brought in Cristante in the midfield, taking off Barela, who had a poor game.
21:24Ever since Cristante came into the midfield, Italy started to have more possession.
21:28They started to play their way. And England helped Italy, actually. They started dropping
21:34back even further, like what Matty mentioned. I think they were in the Fulham Road.
21:38And they were sitting back that badly. And then, you have to mention one more thing.
21:46Declan Rice was having one of the games of his life. And I don't understand why he was taken off.
21:52That was strange.
21:53I think, yeah, a slight nod, but you are right. What a difference that was when he came off.
21:59Because he was absolutely in control of that midfield with Phillips there. And you know,
22:03man playing just ahead of them. That was, for sure, Rice's best game in an England shirt,
22:08in any game. I think that's probably the best I've ever seen him play. He was really in control
22:11of everything, breaking up the play, putting the tackles in, you know, pass the ball easy,
22:16made some good driving runs as well. But you are right. As soon as he came off,
22:19the Italians came really strong into it.
22:23Yeah, because Henderson haven't had a great tournament, you know, haven't played enough.
22:27And we thought that he will be the cool head, but he was making the mistakes. He was not
22:32properly passing. That is not his… I don't know. That was unlike Henderson. Maybe he's
22:37intimidated by the situation. Anyway, Italians were the ones who were going to score the second
22:42goal after the equaliser. The winner, they were the most probable one to get it. But
22:46then their best player, Chiesa, got injured. So basically, you know, Italians started without
22:52Spinazzola. He has been one of their best players of this tournament. And then throughout the game,
22:58their best player was Chiesa. And then Chiesa got injured. So we were thinking,
23:02okay, this could be England's year, maybe, because of this bad luck to Italians. But then
23:07there were two guys at the back for Italy, man. They were absolutely rock-solid.
23:12The Bonucci's and Chiellini's… Man, if you are learning football, if you are a young kid
23:17learning football, you can just watch them. These guys are the universities of defending.
23:20Absolutely brilliant. You know, one guy is 36, the other guy is 34.
23:25You know, the Wembley crowd was actually fuel for them to perform even better. They were not
23:32intimidated at all. They were taking it as a challenge. And even the pull on Saka by Chiellini,
23:39man. You can't get past me. There is no way you can. And Bonucci was absolutely class. I think
23:48he was passing. Even from the back, he was spraying in passes. He was giving confidence
23:53to the team. And he scored that goal like a poacher. You know, that's brilliant from him.
23:59So I think Chiellini and Bonucci were absolutely monumental in that defence. And the morale of the
24:05team, you know, like these guys, the mentality monsters, man. They have seen it all. They have
24:11done it with Juventus. You know, they are mates. They know each other very well. They were taking
24:16control of that game completely from the defence. That is absolutely brilliant. And again,
24:20Jorginho had another good game even after limping off earlier in the game. But
24:25towards the end of the game, he was taking control of it completely. He was making
24:28interceptions. I think he made the most number of interceptions in the whole tournament.
24:32So we have to give credit to him. Though he missed the crucial penalty. This time,
24:36he was not ice-cold. It was a great save from Pickford. But yeah, Italians overall did the job.
24:43And Roberto Mancini, the difference in the class between the managers were clearly evident.
24:48You know, I was watching the panellists on the sports channel, watching the game live. And
24:53Peter Schmeichel was on. And he made such a brilliant point. It is about Bonucci and Chiellini
24:59and Donnarumma. This just sums them up perfectly. He said, look, there are three of those players,
25:04all different players, two centre-backs and a goalkeeper, but there is one brain. So you have
25:10three players and they absolutely know exactly where all three of them are, who is in charge
25:15of what situation. Those three play so well together. I thought that just summed up the
25:20Italians really well by Peter Schmeichel's comment yesterday. I think that was absolutely spot on.
25:25Sahil, what did you think of Italy overall?
25:29I mean, first of all, it's safe to say that I think every football fan has fallen in love
25:34with Chiezzo's style of playing. You know, he really, really rattled every player in that pitch.
25:42And he was just outstanding, you know. He's got power on his both feet. You know, he was just
25:48brilliant. First of all, he just really... And he took that save by Pickford on Chiesa.
25:54What a save that too, you know. And, you know, first of all, I had mentioned also yesterday that
25:59England will come out with flair in the first half. And they did. You know, Shaw scored. I don't
26:04know how he scored that. That was a very tough goal to score because usually I've seen people
26:08sky that over the top. So yeah, but again, as usual, after halftime, Garrett Southgate's
26:15five at the back. You know, they played, as you guys mentioned, they're playing too deep.
26:19Not the best game for Harry Kane, let's be honest. We've not mentioned him till now.
26:23You know, he was not having his best game. You know, he was strong, obviously, in the air. But
26:27he didn't have a shot the whole game. Remember that. You know, for Italy also,
26:31Immobile came off at the 50th minute, which was stunning for me. Like, they played without a
26:36natural striker. But then after, like, Chiesa coming off due to an injury, Italy also slowed
26:42down, if you notice. You know, England came back. You know, Sterling made some good runs.
26:46And if you guys remember Bonucci's unbelievable tackle from the back on Sterling when he came in
26:51the box. You mentioned, like Shamsher mentioned, that these two guys are the Picassos of defending.
26:59But in the end, you know, it can't be sad. You know, Italy just, you know, they just,
27:03they went all over England after the second half. And that goal, it's not a lucky goal. Yes,
27:07it came off a deflected save from Bigfoot. But the Italians wanted it more. They were getting
27:13at the back of it. Bonucci came and scored a poacher's goal, you know. You know, this guy
27:18can do everything, defend, score. They've just shown it. And they played well. And England,
27:24some guys, you know, some tactical decisions of Southgate questionable. Like, after the goal had
27:31come from Bonucci, I was shouting, like, it's time to bring on Grealish on, bring Grealish on.
27:36And then he comes on in the 100th minute. Was it accepted or not? Debatable. You know,
27:42bringing on Henderson, okay, just stick with Rice and Phillips. Why bring Henderson on?
27:47You know, it's all debatable decisions. You know, I don't want to blame the manager at all. He's
27:51done his, he's done a fantastic job. You know, it's not easy to come in a final. Beckham, Gerrard
27:57Scholes have nominated. He's come with such a young team. You know, Gerrard Southgate deserves
28:01the credit he's got. But India, nobody cares who comes second. It's always about first place. And
28:06Shamshir said, Mancini's seen everything about that Aguero goal. So, this is, he's used to it
28:12and he's, his experience won it. And, you know, it's just a tough moment for England fans today,
28:18really. Yeah. You know, it could have, they may have, there was a, there was a moment in
28:23second half in India, an extra time when Jorginho put a really reckless tackle on Green. He caught
28:30him. He was over the top. It was studs up right in front of the referee. I mean, I really thought
28:35he was going to be shown a red card. I mean, I've seen him given for softer ones than that,
28:39but he stayed on the pitch. I mean, this is all, you know, we're just guessing that, but had he
28:44been sent off then, possibly, you know, that might've given England the impetus to go on and
28:49try to win it in extra time. Do you think that would have changed anything if he had been sent
28:55off? Do you think he should have been a red card? Well, yeah, I think he should have been sent off,
29:00but I think the, what in the referee's mind saved him was the fact that it was the other foot was
29:08grounded and maybe he was like, he was just kind of, he was going back and that's why it was raised.
29:15If he'd gone to VAR, they'd have said, yeah, that's a red, but he didn't. And that's why
29:22he stayed on the pitch. I mean, there's so many what ifs, you know, it's like you can say,
29:26well, if Pickford had saved the other penalty, would England have won, you know?
29:34Yeah, the referee didn't have his finest match. He'd missed quite a few things and got a few
29:39things wrong. Didn't consult upstairs, actually, when he should have on a few things.
29:45But yeah, I think that all in all, just these fine margins of one can win and lose a match,
29:54and I think England were so close in so many of those finest margins that, as I said, on any other
30:00day, we could be talking about knighthoods here and, you know, open top buses instead of what ifs
30:07and what might have beens. And there's so many times I've said this before, that, you know,
30:14that's what football's all about. You just don't know what could happen in any given game,
30:19because, you know, you look at the likes of Denmark getting as far as they did,
30:23Ukraine doing very well, and then, you know, Hungary having the absolute brilliant tournament.
30:32There's so many of these plotlines, you know, subplots all the way through this whole tournament.
30:40It's just that's what's made it so wonderful. And it's what's made, again, even the finals,
30:47there's been a lot more memorable games in that final, but even the final itself, I mean,
30:51we're still talking about it after 30 minutes. It shows you that there's a lot going on there.
30:56And it's just been, honestly, it was a shame to finish on penalties in the way that it did,
31:04because it means that somebody's going to have to get consoled. But yeah, like I said,
31:09on any other day, England could have been celebrating and Italy could have been commiserated.
31:14But that's the beauty and the tough side of football at the same time, you know, someone
31:24has to lose and someone has to lose. There's no silly draws like in cricket. This is going to be
31:34a great example. I mean, I guarantee you that anybody that wasn't a football fan
31:37that watched that will now be a football fan. Yeah, I think overall, just to sum up,
31:44England had a really good tournament. They made it to the final to beat some big teams along the way.
31:49So I suppose that's progress, but our years of hurt go on. As for Italy, I think, yeah,
31:56they were worthy winners. We said right from the beginning against Turkey, they blew them away,
32:00they blew everybody away. They've been really, really good. They were the best team in the
32:03tournament. We all love how they play, you know, it's free-flowing, attacking football.
32:08And I think Roberto Mancini deserves a lot of praise for the transformation that he's
32:12overseen there, doesn't he? 34 games unbeaten now as well.
32:16Yeah, definitely, definitely. The credit has to go to the manager, you know, like when he has taken
32:21from Ventura, you know, like they had actually couldn't qualify for the World Cup, you know,
32:26it was such a mystery for such a big, big country, you know, like and they were in their
32:33lowest ranking in FIFA and then this guy took over and he completely transformed them, you know,
32:38like, you know, how we have seen how cynical the side has been, you know, like now they play some
32:45great flair football and it's not only flair football, you know, they can win different ways,
32:50like yesterday I was mentioning, you know, like they can still hoof the ball up, they can still
32:56win that way, they can still play beautiful passes, they can still absorb the pressure and
33:02defend well, they can do everything on that pitch and they don't have superstars in them,
33:06that is the thing, you know, like they played as a team, you know, like look at their front three,
33:11you know, like Immobile is like a very, very average striker, to be honest, yes, he had a
33:16great season, he has been having a great season in Serie A but, you know, you can't count him as a
33:21superstar, like you look at the England side, you can see Harry Kane, then you have Chiesa,
33:27he's a young boy who's just striving to be the best and he's shown the world that he is capable
33:33of doing it, then you can see Insigne, he's a seasoned footballer who has been playing brilliantly
33:38for Napoli, then you can see the midfield, absolutely, that midfield won the game for,
33:43won the tournament for Italy, I believe, you know, even not only the three on the pitch,
33:48you know, even on the bench, you know, Pessina came and he scored a couple of goals, Locatelli
33:53was brilliant, you know, Cristiante played his part, Jorginho, Barela, Verratti, everyone, man,
34:00and then the two guys, I can't keep praising these two guys, man, Chiellini and Bonucci,
34:06you know, we often talk about Cristiano Ronaldo's and Messi's and Neymar's and these players who
34:11score goals, these guys are equally important, these guys should be celebrated the same way,
34:17you know, like these guys are absolutely monumental, man, since they are not scoring
34:21goals, yesterday even Bonucci scored also, that's another thing, but since these guys are not
34:26scoring goals, without them, you can't win a tournament, you know, like when Spain had won,
34:31they had someone like Puyol at the back, you know, like these are the thing, you know, these guys
34:38win you the tournaments, defence win you the tournament, you know, these characters win you
34:42the tournament and credit to Mancini too, grouping them like a proper family, you know,
34:48they were playing for each other, you know, like we all know Bonucci and Chiellini are mates,
34:54like what you mentioned, they all play with one brain, you know, they know what they're doing
34:58and the whole Italian side, man, they knew what they were doing, you know, that's the thing,
35:03the tournament right from the way they sing their national anthem, you know, they really wanted to
35:08prove, they really wanted to win this tournament and they did it and the credit has to go to the
35:13manager Mancini, man, and I think now they are on 34 unbeaten run and 35 is the record held on by
35:21Brazil and Spain, I think they will definitely surpass that and I think it will be many more
35:27because now there will be some friendlies and all these things and what a great achievement
35:31and for England, obviously, yes, I still believe they faltered at their first real test, that's
35:38what I believe, you know, like yes, Germany, they faced Germany in the round of 16 but Germany
35:45aren't the same anymore, you know, they are an average side and it was actually England were
35:51favourites on paper but you could see all the historic moment between these two countries and
35:57you think that, of course, Germany could win but obviously, if you are watching football, you know,
36:03the Germanys aren't the same anymore, then you played Ukraine, then you played Denmark, finally,
36:08you met a team who had quality and were playing as a team and they faltered, so...
36:16Just to jump in there, I wouldn't say that they faltered against Italy because, you know, they
36:20held them to a draw and for the first half, they were the better team, second half, Italy was the
36:25better team and it went to extra time and it was decided on penalties in the end, so I think
36:31falter has made the wrong word, mentality for penalties, yes, absolutely, still can't do it, that still
36:37seems to be a big stumbling block, obviously, but I think overall, they can take, you know, plenty of
36:44pride from how they fought them and, you know, it is progress, it's little steps, you know, to get to
36:48the final of that many years, so the World Cup is coming in 18 months, 2022, you know, will this team,
36:55will Southgate still be there, there's already talk about him, you know, being replaced as manager,
37:00you know, there's all this kind of, there could be a shuffle, we'll have to wait and see what
37:03happens there but I think that mentality, you're right about that, is, you know, you've just got
37:09to toughen it up somehow, all the big teams get through, win it when it matters most, particularly
37:15when it comes to the penalty shootout. All right, guys, let's round up this last Euro 2020 episode,
37:20I think we're running on to about 45 minutes here, let's quickly look back at some of our
37:25favourite moments from this tournament, it's been a fantastic tournament, it's come and gone really
37:29quick, started a month ago and it's already over, for me, the best thing was, I think, just Patrick
37:35Schick's goal from 50 yards out, sorry Matt, against Scotland, you know, when you see a goal
37:41like that, it just, it really is, it's a real special moment, it doesn't happen too many times, so that was
37:48my high and I think my lows would be the three teams that let us down, we thought we'd see more from
37:53Belgium, France and Germany but they were a disappointment, they could have played a lot
37:58better than they did, what were your highs and lows?
38:01So, Julio, you go ahead first.
38:07Yes, my highs, I mean, I had mentioned before, like, you know, Sterling's goal against, you know,
38:15Germany but also, I like Harry Kane, the winner, it's a special moment, you know, England reach the finals
38:21for the Euros and my low would be the penalty miss of Saka, yeah, pretty much simple as that.
38:31Well, simply, just to quickly say what, to add to what Shamsher said there, you know, when
38:37England found the first real test, I think you find that they were held in another game as well
38:43and when they had the first real test in the group stage against Scotland,
38:49that's why I was rooting for England last night on a secret level as
38:55well because that would have meant that Scotland were joint champions because we were the only
39:00team that didn't beat them. But, you know, the real high is, to me, is the tournament.
39:10It's just, there's too many to just pick one out, I mean, you know, it's like, guys, go buy this DVD,
39:17you know, it's better than 82, you know, it's better than 86, this is just brilliant
39:21and, you know, this will be one of those classic tournaments that we'll talk about
39:26and the low has to be Ericsson, that harrowing moment that really, really
39:36put football to one side and, again, if there was to be such a
39:45positivity that came out of it, it showed the unity that there is amongst the followers, amongst
39:50the fans and the coming together and support that came out of that, not just for Ericsson but for
40:00Denmark and for each other and reminding everybody that these are human beings out there,
40:06this is not just, they're not just clowns there for entertainment, they're not machines
40:11and, you know, this is real life as well, so that's a high and a low
40:19in one. Yeah, for me, I have to say the highs being a true blue, being a Chelsea fan, you know,
40:28I've been absolutely delighted to see Jorginho and Emerson being the double European champions,
40:34you know, they have won the Champions League like a month ago, so that has been one of the highs
40:39and the other one is really an emotional one for being a Chelsea fan, seeing Viali being so happy,
40:45you know, like, was absolutely great, you know, he has been with Mancini throughout the tournament
40:51as a backroom staff and he really enjoyed with all the problems he had over the years with the
40:55cancer and everything, so he has, seeing him happy made me happy, so that is two highs I could say,
41:03then the low has to be the France moment, man, the fight between the squad, the fight between
41:10their mothers, the squad members, everything, you know, like, and the way that they bought
41:15of the tournament being counted as favourites by many, that has to be the low.
41:21All right, it's been a really good tournament, it's gone in a flash, hasn't it? I mean,
41:26we've had so many games, we've had so many interesting moments and everything there,
41:31but yeah, we look forward to the next one. That's it from us, remember to head to
41:36gulfnews.com for all the latest news, congratulations once again to Italy and well
41:40done to the four of us, I think we've also had a very good tournament too,
41:45so we will see you next time on Gulf News Kicking Back, see you then.