Euro 2020: Southgate celebrates ‘special’ night as England end wait to reach a final


Steve Luckings
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England manager Gareth Southgate hailed his players for putting on a "special night" at Wembley after overcoming a resolute Denmark to reach the final of Euro 2020.

Southgate's side showed their resolve to conceding their first goal of the tournament to roar back to win 2-1 in extra-time in front of 64,950 fans at a rocking Wembley.

Mikkel Damsgaard’s free-kick saw Jordan Pickford beaten for the first time at Euro 2020 midway through the first half but Southgate’s side rallied impressively and Simon Kjaer’s own goal saw them level before Harry Kane fired the hosts to victory after Kasper Schmeichel saved his initial penalty, sparking pandemonium across the land.

Italy now stand between England and a second major international trophy, 55 years after the Three Lions won the World Cup. The championship match takes place at Wembley on Sunday.

“They’ve responded to what was always going to be a really challenging night,” Southgate said of his players.

“We were so smooth through the quarter-final and relatively unscathed through the second round. We knew that at some point we were going to concede and we would have to respond.

“Denmark have had an incredible tournament. I have got to give them huge credit. I thought they made it really difficult for us tonight. They pressed us so well, scored a fabulous goal – the boy is a super player.

“But I think on the balance of play when you look at the number of saves we forced the goalkeeper to make and long periods of the game where I felt we were the biggest threat, I think we deserved it.

“For our country, I’ve not heard this new Wembley like that ever and to be able to share that with everybody and share it with everybody at home is very special.”

England’s victory came three years after a World Cup semi-final defeat to Croatia and 25 years on from a last-four defeat to Germany at Euro '96, when Southgate missed the crucial spot-kick in the shootout.

But the Three Lions boss has spoken throughout the tournament about making history rather than fixating on the past.

“I felt calm in the lead up to the game because I felt the players, with what they’ve been through, were ready,” Southgate said.

“You’re never 100 per cent sure how they react in difficult moments but we have talked about it and they stayed clam.

“I didn’t think we kept the ball well enough through Denmark’s pressure from the front three and we’re going to have to do that better on Sunday because Italy are very good at it so we need to find better solutions with that.

“But we found a way to win and we found the way to find the spaces further forward. Once we got into their half we were a threat all night."

Denmark boss Kasper Hjulmand admitted he felt bitter after England ended his battling side’s Euro 2020 dream.

Kane scored after England were awarded a penalty by referee Danny Makkelie when Raheem Sterling went down under Joakim Maehle’s challenge.

Hjulmand was unhappy there was a second ball on the pitch at the time of the foul but also insisted it was not a penalty.

Denmark's head coach Kasper Hjulmand. EPA
Denmark's head coach Kasper Hjulmand. EPA


He said: “It was a penalty which should not have been a penalty. It is something which annoys me right now. We are very disappointed.

“You cannot pass by the ball on the pitch which has so much influence on the game.

“I know it sounds weird right now but I cannot help having these feelings. One thing is to lose a game, it happens, but losing this way is disappointing because these guys have fought a lot.

“It feels bitter but we have to digest this before we can discuss these feelings. It’s a bitter way to leave the tournament.

“The way we lost makes it harder to understand why we lost. I have to be careful with what I say. We have an amazing group and we definitely can do something great again.

“Maybe it is easier for me to say how I feel in a few days.”


The biog

Age: 23

Occupation: Founder of the Studio, formerly an analyst at Cleveland Clinic Abu Dhabi

Education: Bachelor of science in industrial engineering

Favourite hobby: playing the piano

Favourite quote: "There is a key to every door and a dawn to every dark night"

Family: Married and with a daughter

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Monster

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Starring: Kelvin Harrison Jr., John David Washington 

3/5

 

Pharaoh's curse

British aristocrat Lord Carnarvon, who funded the expedition to find the Tutankhamun tomb, died in a Cairo hotel four months after the crypt was opened.
He had been in poor health for many years after a car crash, and a mosquito bite made worse by a shaving cut led to blood poisoning and pneumonia.
Reports at the time said Lord Carnarvon suffered from “pain as the inflammation affected the nasal passages and eyes”.
Decades later, scientists contended he had died of aspergillosis after inhaling spores of the fungus aspergillus in the tomb, which can lie dormant for months. The fact several others who entered were also found dead withiin a short time led to the myth of the curse.

THE LIGHT

Director: Tom Tykwer

Starring: Tala Al Deen, Nicolette Krebitz, Lars Eidinger

Rating: 3/5

Jeff Buckley: From Hallelujah To The Last Goodbye
By Dave Lory with Jim Irvin

Ain Dubai in numbers

126: The length in metres of the legs supporting the structure

1 football pitch: The length of each permanent spoke is longer than a professional soccer pitch

16 A380 Airbuses: The equivalent weight of the wheel rim.

9,000 tonnes: The amount of steel used to construct the project.

5 tonnes: The weight of each permanent spoke that is holding the wheel rim in place

192: The amount of cable wires used to create the wheel. They measure a distance of 2,4000km in total, the equivalent of the distance between Dubai and Cairo.

'How To Build A Boat'
Jonathan Gornall, Simon & Schuster

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UPI facts

More than 2.2 million Indian tourists arrived in UAE in 2023
More than 3.5 million Indians reside in UAE
Indian tourists can make purchases in UAE using rupee accounts in India through QR-code-based UPI real-time payment systems
Indian residents in UAE can use their non-resident NRO and NRE accounts held in Indian banks linked to a UAE mobile number for UPI transactions

6 UNDERGROUND

Director: Michael Bay

Stars: Ryan Reynolds, Adria Arjona, Dave Franco

2.5 / 5 stars

Itcan profile

Founders: Mansour Althani and Abdullah Althani

Based: Business Bay, with offices in Saudi Arabia, Egypt and India

Sector: Technology, digital marketing and e-commerce

Size: 70 employees 

Revenue: On track to make Dh100 million in revenue this year since its 2015 launch

Funding: Self-funded to date

 

The specs
Engine: 4.0-litre flat-six
Power: 510hp at 9,000rpm
Torque: 450Nm at 6,100rpm
Transmission: 7-speed PDK auto or 6-speed manual
Fuel economy, combined: 13.8L/100km
On sale: Available to order now
Price: From Dh801,800
WHAT%20IS%20THE%20LICENSING%20PROCESS%20FOR%20VARA%3F
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The drill

Recharge as needed, says Mat Dryden: “We try to make it a rule that every two to three months, even if it’s for four days, we get away, get some time together, recharge, refresh.” The couple take an hour a day to check into their businesses and that’s it.

Stick to the schedule, says Mike Addo: “We have an entire wall known as ‘The Lab,’ covered with colour-coded Post-it notes dedicated to our joint weekly planner, content board, marketing strategy, trends, ideas and upcoming meetings.”

Be a team, suggests Addo: “When training together, you have to trust in each other’s abilities. Otherwise working out together very quickly becomes one person training the other.”

Pull your weight, says Thuymi Do: “To do what we do, there definitely can be no lazy member of the team.” 

The specs: Fenyr SuperSport

Price, base: Dh5.1 million

Engine: 3.8-litre twin-turbo flat-six

Transmission: Seven-speed automatic

Power: 800hp @ 7,100pm

Torque: 980Nm @ 4,000rpm

Fuel economy, combined: 13.5L / 100km

Closing the loophole on sugary drinks

As The National reported last year, non-fizzy sugared drinks were not covered when the original tax was introduced in 2017. Sports drinks sold in supermarkets were found to contain, on average, 20 grams of sugar per 500ml bottle.

The non-fizzy drink AriZona Iced Tea contains 65 grams of sugar – about 16 teaspoons – per 680ml can. The average can costs about Dh6, which would rise to Dh9.

Drinks such as Starbucks Bottled Mocha Frappuccino contain 31g of sugar in 270ml, while Nescafe Mocha in a can contains 15.6g of sugar in a 240ml can.

Flavoured water, long-life fruit juice concentrates, pre-packaged sweetened coffee drinks fall under the ‘sweetened drink’ category
 

Not taxed:

Freshly squeezed fruit juices, ground coffee beans, tea leaves and pre-prepared flavoured milkshakes do not come under the ‘sweetened drink’ band.

Specs

Engine: 51.5kW electric motor

Range: 400km

Power: 134bhp

Torque: 175Nm

Price: From Dh98,800

Available: Now

The Settlers

Director: Louis Theroux

Starring: Daniella Weiss, Ari Abramowitz

Rating: 5/5

Updated: July 08, 2021, 8:20 AM`