'Campioni d'Italia', Italy triumphed against England on penalties to lift their second ever European Championship title after 1968 on opposition soil, keeping out the largest trophy-winning gap in the history of thee competition. Wembley went down into silence except for the lesser number of Italian fans when Gianluigi Donnarumma saved the decisive penalty from 19-year-old Bukayo Saka to hand the Azzurri a 3-2 win in the shootout. The goalkeeper was awarded the best player in the tournament too.
Luke Shaw scored inside two minutes to send the stadium wild putting Italy into extreme pressure early in the game. Roberto Manchini's side eventually grew into the game and dominating the second half came up with the equalizer. Leonardo Bonucci scored the rebound from a Marco Verratti header crashing off the post to his feet, becoming the oldest scorer in the competition final. Neither of the team allowed clear-cut chances, as obvious in these finals, in normal time or the extra period making penalties the deciding factor. The final scenes were dramatic for the England fans completely devastated by the outcome seeing their nation failing again. Reaching a final after 55 years for the Three Lions wasn't enough as their wait for a major silverware goes on.
For Italy though it was tears of joy. The team looked at the real deal to make something happen in this tournament. Turned champions from being dark horses at the beginning of Euro 2020. Manchini's attacking style of play combined with the regular defensive aspect of Italian football made Azzurri unbeatable. The group stages were emphatic for the deep blue shirts raining havoc with goals followed by clogging up Austria, Belgium and Spain in the knockout phases being defensive-minded. Even after going down early in the showpiece, Italy changed to their possession game and put England to backfoot. These role reversals for each game paved the way for glory.
Additionally, Italy built records in the competition to showcase their dominance and construct the bridge of belief for next year's World Cup in Qatar should they qualify. It is a mere obligation they will. We look back at those records the champions enjoyed in Euro 2020.
1) Unbeaten and unstoppable
Italy won the entire competition without losing a single game. Their incredible streak of 35 games without tasting defeat is resembled by few teams on the international stage. It is the longest they have had in Italian football history, suppressing the previous record of 30 against Austria in the Round of 16 stages.
2) Longest winning run in Euros (Qualifying and finals combined)
Roberto Manchini's side also set the longest winning run by a nation in the European Championship after defeating Belgium 2-1 in the quarterfinal stages. Combining the qualifying rounds and the main tournament, Italy had won every single game starting from March of 2019 to July 2021. The winning run was over 15 games in total until it came to an end after drawing against Spain in the semis. Previously, the record was held by Germany (14 games in total).
3) Most consecutive wins in the final tournament
With the quarterfinal victory over Belgium, Italy entered the list of nations achieving the most number of wins consecutively in the Euro finals. The Azzurri won every single game in the group stages and the knockouts until the semifinals, a total of five consecutive victories. It puts them level with Netherlands (1988 - 1992), France (1984) and the Czech Republic (2000 - 2004). That also meant Italy have won an equal number of games as France (1984, 2000, 2016), Spain (2008) and the finalist England (2020) in a single tournament.
4) Not conceding a goal in 19 hours
Another staggering record Italy maintained on the course to the competition and in the Euros itself is not conceding a goal since October 15 last year until Austria scored against them in the extra time of round of 16 in the Euros. Azzurri went 19 hours keeping clean sheets breaking their own record set between 1972 to 1974. Gianluigi Donnarumma guarded the post for 1168 minutes in the run also not letting in a goal in the three group stage games. He overtakes Dino Zoff in doing so who was the goalkeeper for the previous record. Zoff's record lasted 1143 minutes.
5) Second most major title for a nation
The historical title-winning also added the pedigree Italy carries on the European stage. Claiming the Euro 2020 trophy, Azzurri have won six major International silverware including four World Cups and now two European Championships. Only Germany have won one more major international title than Italy among the European nations.
