Gareth Southgate ‘so proud’ as England reach Euro 2020 final

Gareth Southgate said he was ‘so proud’ of his players as the beaming England manager contemplates a dream Euro 2020 final against Italy on Sunday at Wembley.
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Harry Kane sealed a tense victory in extra time after turning in his saved penalty to wrap up a 2-1 success over a gallant Denmark side.

A spectacular Mikkel Damsgaard free-kick had given the Danes the lead before Simon Kjaer’s own goal brought England level.

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As the game entered extra time, it was Kane who was on hand to grab the glory in the 104th minute when Raheem Sterling won a penalty.

England’s Raheem Sterling, Harry Kane and Jordan Henderson celebrate after beating Denmark in their Euro 2020 semi-final at Wembley.England’s Raheem Sterling, Harry Kane and Jordan Henderson celebrate after beating Denmark in their Euro 2020 semi-final at Wembley.
England’s Raheem Sterling, Harry Kane and Jordan Henderson celebrate after beating Denmark in their Euro 2020 semi-final at Wembley.

A jubilant Southgate said: “I’m so proud of the players. It’s an incredible occasion to be a part of – we knew it wouldn’t be straight-forward, we said to the players we’ll have to show our resilience and come back from some setbacks, and we’ve done that tonight.”

Hailing Kane’s cool finish after Kasper Schmeichel saved his initial penalty, Southgate said: “There’s nobody you’ve rather have on it, but you’re up against a great goalkeeper who he’s obviously faced a lot of times – but thankfully that’s now immaterial.”

Southgate insisted he had kept faith despite the Danes’ early opener, adding: “I felt we would get there – I knew we would have different sorts of battles because Denmark are so under-rated as a team.

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“They did cause us a lot of problems, when you’ve waited as long as we have to get through a semi-final, the players, considering the limited international experience some of them have had, they’ve done an incredible job... we’ve given our fans and our nation a fantastic night.”

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