EURO2020 FINAL
ITALY VS ENGLAND
By: Kamusime Banabasi
KISORO; Voice of Muhabura listeners and sports followers in and around Kisoro have come out to express their support for England over Italy in a Euro 2020 final encounter slated for 11th July 2021 at 10:00pm East African time at Wembley stadium in London.
This final is England’s first ever in the European Championship and a first final in a major tournament since winning the 1966 world cup while this is Italy’s 4th European final and 10th major final because it has played in 6 world cup finals.
Italy has only emerged victorious in one European championship final (1968) despite appearing in the 2000 and 2012 finals that it lost to France and Spain respectively.
However, speaking to voice of Muhabura, most of the sports followers say that England has more determination and composure to take the trophy home despite having young and less experienced players.
According to the Kisoro young Simba Coach Alex Ndayambe, the two teams have equal chances of winning the encounter. He adds that Italy has experienced coach, players and a record against England whose favor is in the fan base at wembley. He however wishes good luck to his favorite club England.
NAMBAJE ALEX COACH FOR KISORO YOUNG SIMBA
Ndangiza Mubaraka, an Arsenal fan, says that England has more chances to win the Euro 2020 trophy because of the confidence that England Midfielders ( Declain Rice and Kalvin Philps) have developed in themselves. He also believes that the partnership of Raheem Sterling, Harry Kane and Bukayo Saka upfront can easily cause damage in the Italy defense despite having experienced Bonucci and Chiellini in there.
Mr. Mwenyemari Thompson’s view is similar to Alex Ndayambajimana’s but he thinks that the game will end in a one whole draw and England scores a winning goal in the extra thirty minutes.
Meanwhile, Polycarp, a young samba player in Kisoro district says that Italy’s players are superior to England’s from the goal keeper to the strikers. He says that it will be bad luck for Italy once England wins the encounter.
The Kisoro girls’ tournament 2020 golden boot winner and a player of Young samba girls, Kaitesi gives her favor to Italy because its players have a team work spirit.
Road to the Final
Italy started on fire in UEFA Euro 2020, racking up a perfect trio of wins over Turkey, Switzerland and Wales to top Group A with nine points.
The Round of 16 saw them stretched for the first time in the tournament, as they needed an extra 30 minutes to overcome a stubborn Austria 2-1 at Wembley, thanks to goals from Federico Chiesa and Matteo Pessina.
In the Quarterfinals, the Azzurri truly underlined their class with a 2-1 victory over Belgium – the number one ranked team in the world – in Munich, thanks to superb strikes from Nicolo Barella and Lorenzo Insigne.
The Semifinals brought Italy’s toughest test yet, as they went all the way to penalties to defeat old rivals Spain after a 1-1 draw (goals from Chiesa and Alvaro Morata).
Spain enjoyed most of the ball and nullified Italy’s attack for the most part, but Coach Roberto Mancini’s side still found a way to get themselves into the Championship match.
England’s path to the Final had a more sedate start, with Gareth Southgate’s men narrowly defeating Croatia 1-0 before a dour goalless draw with Scotland which drew major criticism from their media.
The Three Lions then edged the Czech Republic 1-0 to set up a Last 16 showdown with old nemesis Germany.
And it was against Der Mannschaft that England’s tournament came alive: goals from Raheem Sterling and Harry Kane saw the Three Lions to a famous triumph, and they carried that momentum into the Quarterfinals by thrashing the Ukraine 4-0 in Rome.
A Semi-final against Denmark appeared to be a mere formality but the Danish Dynamite opened the scoring through a brilliant goal from Mikkel Damsgard.
With the dread of another Semi-final exit looming, England went up through the gears and equalized through an own goal from Simon Kjaer, before going on to dominate the rest of the match.
Finally breaking through in extra time with Harry Kane scoring from the rebound of his saved penalty for a narrow but deserved 2-1 triumph against Denmark.
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