Euro 2020 final preview: English fans feeling hope, joy … in spite of our better instincts

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This article was published 10/07/2021 (1912 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The moment was one of disbelief, when the final whistle blew to call the semifinal of the European Championship between England and Denmark.

England, victorious, was off to a final at a major international soccer tournament for the first time in this fan’s lifetime.

“I can’t believe it,” read the text I sent my dad the Englishman, toward the end of a back-and-forth that had lasted through an agonizing 90 minutes plus extra time, a game in which England fell behind to the Danes only to have their comeback victory decided in the 104th minute on a dubious penalty call. The messages ranged from optimistic to fearful to frustrated to furious to optimistic to euphoric to stressed to exhausted, just your average day in the life of a sports fan.

“You can’t? I was six the last time this happened,” was his reply.

That was in 1966, when England won its first, and only, World Cup. The life of an England fan has had more downs than ups since then. A country that has a sense of ownership over the Beautiful Game has hardly owned the field. Semifinal appearances at the European championships in 1968 and 1996, and at World Cups in 1990 and, most recently, 2018, only intensified the heartbreak of once again falling short at “our” game.

As Danish goalkeeper Kasper Schmeichel said when the familiar lyric “It’s coming home” — a both loved and hated English anthem that suggests football, or soccer, as it were, and its titles belong in England — was put to him in a press conference before the semifinal: “Has it even been home? I don’t know, have (England) ever won it?”

For Torontonians who may not normally follow international soccer but are tuning in this weekend as England faces Italy in the European championship final on Sunday at 3 p.m., the plight of England fan may not be so unfamiliar. A team steeped in history that rarely has any major accomplishment to celebrate. A fan base that lives and dies with every minute of play, but is more familiar with disappointment than success. A last championship raised in the late 1960s.

Sound familiar? We’re right there with you, Leafs Nation.

Except now, we’re not. England is heading to final, as favourites, according to the bookies, though any self-respecting English fans know better than to get caught up in any such optimism.

It’s an unusual feeling, more than anything, the hope that you can’t help but feel stirring inside you. It happens every competition, to some extent. It was there in 1996, when now England manager Gareth Southgate’s missed penalty saw Germany advance to the Euro final over that year’s host. A memory from such a young age that it might not be my own, but you can’t escape the retelling.

It was there in 2002, waking up in the middle of the night to catch England take on Brazil in the quarterfinals of the World Cup in South Korea and Japan, only for the Three Lions to give up a lead and lose to a 10-man squad.

In 2006, when you wondered if manager Sven-Goran Eriksson knew something you didn’t by choosing 17-year-old midfielder Theo Walcott in his World Cup squad. In 2008, when the team failed to qualify for the Euro altogether. In 2010, when striker Wayne Rooney was supposed to be the World Cup saviour and midfielder Frank Lampard had a goal ruled out against Germany, though the ball clearly crossed the line. England were down 2-0 at the point in the Round of 16, going on to lose 4-1, but any fan will still argue today that a goal could have changed the momentum of the match.

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The list goes on. But this time the hope feels legitimate. This young England squad seems to have broken out of the shackles of past disappointment. Southgate hasn’t bowed to the pressures of the fan base or the media, as previous managers have, and his squad decisions and tactics will be the reason England wins it, should it go that far. Stars like Raheem Sterling and Harry Kane have stepped up when needed, and the team as a whole have stuck to the tenets that got them here, like solid defending. At a time when the country has been rocked by division, its soccer team is showing how to be leaders, and is bringing people together.

In a sweet post-game moment, since gone viral, after England’s semifinal victory, midfielder Mason Mount went into crowd at London’s Wembley Stadium to give his match-worn shirt to 10-year-old Belle Mcnally, whose face crumbled in tears of joy as she turned around and crushed her father in an incredulous hug. Watching the moment, it’s hard to believe that among Mcnally’s first, and lasting, memories of being an England fan will be one of joy.

England fans haven’t always been so lucky. Will they win on Sunday? Who knows. But, for once in recent memory, there’s a chance. And that makes the hope feel legitimate this time around.

Just don’t forget to prepare for the crush of defeat, just in case.

Laura Armstrong is a Star sports reporter based in Toronto. Follow her on Twitter: @lauraarmy