Heartbreak for England as Italy win dramatic shootout to emerge Euro 2020 champions

Italy have emerged champions of the Euro 2020 tournament after beating England on penalties in the final at Wembley on Sunday night.

The Azzurri trailed early in the game when Luke Shaw opened the scoring for England but fought back in the second half and got leveled 1-1 through a Leonardo Bonucci effort.

Both sides searched for a winner for the rest of the game to no avail, and after another nervous 30 minutes of extra time, penalties were needed to separate the two sides.

Italy converted three kicks and missed two while the Three Lions converted only two, with Marcus Rashford, Jadon Sancho and Bukayo Saka missing their own kicks.

Italy emerged champions after winning 3-2 on penalties.

Read Also: 10 memorable moments from Euro 2020 as tournament wraps up

England’s hopes of ending a 55-year wait for a major trophy were thus crushed in such a heartbreaking fashion right in front of a Wembley crowd of 60,000.

The Gareth Southgate team were playing in their second-ever major final and their first in the European Championship, and had massive support from the entire country.

But in what was only the second Euros final to be decided by spot-kicks it was Italy who came out on top as England’s incredible run at the tournament fell just short.

The triumph for Roberto Mancini’s side was the second European Championship triumph for Italy, having won the competition back in 1968 by beating Yugoslavia 2-0 in the final.

The team have now also extended their unbeaten run to 34 games.

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