England are just a semi-final win over Denmark away from a spot in the Euro 2020 final.
Gareth Southgate’s side are gathering momentum after getting the best of Germany with a clinical display in the last-16 before sweeping past Ukraine.
They saved their best performance of the tournament so far for the quarter-finals, with captain Harry Kane, who continues to grow in confidence, leading the line with two well-taken goals in a 4-0 victory.
In front of a Wembley crowd of more than 60,000, England will face stern competition from a Denmark side who have fought back from the shock of Christian Eriksen’s cardiac arrest in their opening game against Finland superbly.
They booked their place in the semi-finals with a 2-1 win over the Czech Republic – goals coming from Thomas Delaney and Kasper Dolberg – after beating Wales 4-0 in the first knockout round.
How to watch England vs Denmark
England’s clash with Denmark kicks off at 8.00pm (UK time) at Wembley on Wednesday 7 July.
All fixtures in Euro 2020 are being broadcast live and free on the BBC and ITV, with England’s semi-final on ITV – the TV coverage starts from 6.30pm, presented by Mark Pougatch.
You’ll be able to watch live online through the ITV Hub, while BBC One is showing highlights at 11.20pm and a full match replay at 12.55am.
The more superstitious fans might have cause for concern over the match’s broadcaster – put simply, and for whatever reason, England perform significantly worse on ITV than on the BBC.
Although Southgate’s beat the Czech Republic on the channel earlier in the tournament, this result broke a winless run on ITV stretching back 10 games (albeit discounting victory on penalties over Colombia in the 2018 World Cup).
Indeed, since the start of the 1998 World Cup, England have won just five games on ITV and 17 on the BBC. And many of England’s most gut-wrenching moments in recent history occurred on ITV, from David Beckham’s red card vs Argentina to the Iceland debacle.
What can England expect from Denmark?
By Katherine Lucas
Delaney may be a defensive midfielder on paper but he contributed to Denmark’s persistent threat down the right against the Czech Republic.
Kasper Hjulmand’s men also served another reminder of their potency from set pieces, though it has to be said the Czechs did not help themselves with their marking of Delaney and Jannik Vestergaard from the corner that led to the opening goal.
Vestergaard tricked Tomas Kalas and Jan Boril to tee up a free header from his teammate. Harry Maguire and John Stones, you would imagine, would not be so naive.
Whoever lines up at the back for England will also have to contend with a roaming Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg, who has progressed higher up the pitch this tournament.
At the other end, however, Kasper Schmeichel was beaten by Schick evading the offside trap and tricking Denmark’s centre-backs as he drifted away from the six-yard box to slot in a low finish and set up a nervy second half.
Joakim Maehle almost put Denmark out of sight, wriggling clear and forcing a double-footed save from Tomas Vaclik.
England will know they cannot take them lightly. “We know what’s happened with Christian Eriksen, but they’ve got a very good team,” Ian Wright told ITV. “And if Eriksen had been there, they’d probably have been even better.”
Who will England play if they beat Denmark?
If they do make the final, England will face the winner of Italy vs Spain, which is also taking place at Wembley, at 8.00pm on Tuesday 6 July.
With a combined five World Cups and four European Championships between them, the two nations know all about what it takes to go deep in a major tournament.
And whichever side makes it through will be confident – Spain have only one defeat in their last 29 games while Italy are unbeaten in 32.
Roberto Mancini’s side reached this stage of the competition with a perfect record in the group stage before a pair of 2-1 victories over Austria and Belgium in the knockout rounds.
Their opponents, managed by Luis Enrique, have gained momentum, overcoming a bumpy start with Covid-19 hitting their training camp and a couple of iffy early results before thrashing Slovakia and enjoying victory over Croatia in one of the games of the tournament.
A confidence-building penalty shootout victory over Switzerland in the last eight could also be vital ahead of the semis.
from Football – inews.co.uk https://ift.tt/2VcVPY2
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