England have finally conquered their semifinal jinx, beating Denmark 2-1 in extra time yesterday, in the semifinals of Euro 2020. Sunday’s final vs. Italy will be home pitch advantage again, right back at Wembley Stadium (Sunday, 3 pm ET). This will be the Three Lions’ first final appearance in a major tournament since they lifted the World Cup, way back in 1966, 55 years ago.
Manchester United players were involved in the win last night and more will be involved in the final on Sunday night, so let’s do the run down of it all. For today’s United transfer news segment, go here.
??????? Harry Maguire: Euro final
??????? Luke Shaw: Euro final
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??????? Marcus Rashford: Euro final
??????? Henderson: Euro final
??????? Jadon Sancho: Euro final6 Manchester United players in the final. The most in the premier league!
— Zoba (@Czooba) July 7, 2021
Harry Maguire put in another dominant performance out of the back and almost scored a second goal! Despite his being booked and having to walk on egg shells a bit, Slab Head truly brought his A-game. Denmark goalkeeper Kasper Schmeichel was forced to make a phenomenal save at full-stretch in order to stop another Harry Maguire header from going in in the 55th minute.
Imagine that, Maguire bagging not one, but two goals at the Euros?!
Luke Shaw: He had some solid runs and passes, contributing (just as Maguire has) to back line that has only conceded once at the entire Euros, and that’s six full matches plus. The defenders helped Jordan Pickford set a new record for clean sheet minutes by an England goalkeepr.
Shaw is the only United player to make the NBC top 20 individual players at the Euro list, but we really believe Maguire might deserve a nod too.
https://twitter.com/Nigerianscamsss/status/1412873588500271107
Finally, Jadon Sancho and Marcus Rashford did not see the pitch, and that led to both names trending on Twitter. It also inspired a lot of funny posts and memes, gifs, photos, etc. (Like we see above).
Rashford is clearly playing through the pain, and definitely needs to get rest and his operation, and then start rehab. Sancho is just a victim of a numbers game, because there is so much talent out there on the wings.
Paul M. Banks runs The Sports Bank, partnered with News Now. Banks, the author of “Transatlantic Passage: How the English Premier League Redefined Soccer in America” and “No, I Can’t Get You Free Tickets: Lessons Learned From a Life in the Sports Media Industry,” has regularly appeared in WGN, Sports Illustrated and the Chicago Tribune.
Follow him on Twitter and Instagram.