Residents have been urged to not spread rumours during this crucial time
uae9 hours ago
So it’s not coming home. Instead, Wembley, the home of football, witnessed the final stroke of the paintbrush on an Italian masterpiece that catapulted Roberto Mancini’s team into the sphere of footballing immortals. A team that were forced to pick up the pieces after the humiliation of their failure to qualify for the 2018 World Cup, have just ushered in their own renaissance. The famous European trophy will now be paraded in Rome. England would be distraught. Having endured 55 years of misery on the global stage, the inventors of the game thought their time for redemption had finally arrived. Such was the euphoria that hundreds of ticketless fans even broke through security barriers before kick-off, managing to catch the intrepid Luke Shaw, the Manchester United defender who showed predatory instincts of a centre-forward in volleying home the quickest goal in the history of European Championship finals.
But the finals are not won by talent and spirit alone. On paper, England had the better players on the pitch and on the bench. Giorgio Chiellini, the Italian captain, had admitted before the final that England’s “substitutes could all be in the starting 11 of a team that win this competition”. Ironically, it was the missed penalties in the shootout from three of England’s most talented substitute, Marcus Rashford, Jadon Sancho and Bukayo Saka, that led to the English heartbreak. On the other hand, the cornerstone of Italy’s triumph was their resilience. Mancini has built a wonderful Italian team that is not afraid to play with freedom. But after conceding the early goal, it was the classic Italian defending and counterattacks that allowed Mancini’s men to lay the foundations for one of their most beautiful moments in football.
The daggers will be now out for England manager Gareth Southgate, a man who was seeking his own redemption, having endured the pain of missing the decisive spot-kick against Germany in the penalty shootout of the 1996 Euro semifinal on the same ground. For Southgate, Euro 2020 did not quite become the fairytale he had craved. But he should be incredibly proud of what he has achieved, getting the Three Lions to the Wembley final, just three years after guiding them to the World Cup semifinal. Maybe, Southgate’s team can look up to Novak Djokovic and Lionel Messi for inspiration. The former had his share of battles after winning his first Grand Slam in 2008. The next two years saw Djokovic almost become an object of ridicule as he battled the demons in his mind before turning his fortunes around, winning 19 Grand Slams since 2011. And Messi, for all his Barcelona heroics, endured pain and humiliation on the international stage. But the Argentina captain just refused to give up. And the iconic striker finally cried tears of joy in the Copa America final after Argentina handed Brazil their first defeat at the Maracana since 1950. Djokovic and Messi’s stories are a reminder that trophies come home when athletes learn to withstand a zillion blows.
Residents have been urged to not spread rumours during this crucial time
uae9 hours ago
National Tourism Strategy 2031 aims to increase the contribution of the UAE tourism sector to the national GDP to Dh450 billion
business9 hours ago
The Tunisian icon believes tennis still has a way to go to achieve gender equality
tennis9 hours ago
Emirati golfers sweep the top three positions in both team and individual categories with Oman and Saudi finishing with silver and bronze medals
sports10 hours ago
Kane Williamson will captain the T20 World Cup squad for a fourth time as New Zealand hunt for a maiden title
cricket10 hours ago
Vehicle owners must bring their old plates along to the inspection station
uae10 hours ago
Clean sweep for UAE in golf as the hosts win team gold and Rayan claims individual title
sports10 hours ago