Yet the sides who travelled far — England, Italy, Denmark and Spain — often proved better than the sum of their parts. Whoever guessed that Luke Shaw and Kieran Trippier would be the ones combining to put England ahead last night? There was also more football played than in the inferior 2016 tournament, with eight out of the 15 knockout games going to extra time. It was the worst time imaginable to stage a tournament in 11 cities, with fans unable to follow many countries. Christian Eriksen mercifully recovered after collapsing in Denmark's first gameEngland were lucky to have six of their seven games at Wembley.

Source: The Nation July 11, 2021 23:37 UTC