Euro2020 – England, ‘twas ever thus
England 1 Italy 1 (Italy win 3-2 on penalties) Euro 2020 final, Wembley Stadium Sunday 11th July 2021 8pm Penalty shoot-outs in either the Euros or the World Cup have been used since 1976 as a way of determining matches drawn after extra time. Here’s a list of teams that have lost finals in either competition this way (Euros are in italics) 1976 – West Germany 1994 – Italy 2006 – France 2021 – England On one level, England are in very good company there. The other three countries were very good teams at the time of their defeats, studded with star names. On another level, these countries have won 10 major trophies between them since 1976 (Germany 4, Italy 3, France 3). Certainly it’s better than tossing a coin to determine winners, but the stakes of a shoot-out are so huge in terms of football history that I have come to favour an idea whereby matches are settled by the gradual removal of players from each side during extra time. Say two every five minutes, or one every time the