DONNARUMMA 8.5: he can do nothing when after only two minutes Shaw comes out to his right and kicks on the fly. Since then he has remained wary of the English attacks, which shortly end the great amount of offensive play, but flies to deflect Stones’ header on the corner with a fundamental save just before the same blue. Then he saves two penalties, and becomes the hero of the evening.
DI LORENZO 6.5: immediately the macroscopic error that inflames the all-English Wembley. In fact, he thinks to squeeze in the center on Kane, and Shaw is lost and comes out behind him for the 1-0. Little by little he takes the measures, but does not find the strength to sink, leaving the Church alone. Better when Berardi enters his side
BONUCCI 8: follows Kane when he is far away, and at first falls into the trap of the center forward buoy that sucks the defense and opens on the flanks, especially the right. Then he tries to give the character shock by being the backward director, and he really gives it with the 1-1 goal. Glacial on the final penalty.
CHIELLINI 7.5: in turns on Sterling and Kane in the head advance that prevents rapid counter-attacks, fights like a lion when the line is jumped and the ball is hot in the area
EMERSON 6.5: on his side we should push, because Walker is the weak link on the defensive line, but he does it shyly for the middle of the game. He grows up with the whole team in the second half and saves his breath for extra time. From 13 ‘sts FLORENZI sv.
BARELLA 6: lost in the frenzied rhythm of the English outsiders, he is often reprized by Mancini but does not find the right ‘garrà nor the insertion time. He also takes the yellow, then comes out. From 9 ‘st CRISTANTE 6.5: more physicality than his partner, and that’s what it takes, and even some insertions
JORGINHO 6.5: gives order when the ship is in a storm, but finds little movement on its backbone and wings. He suffers from a blow that threatens to see him come out, but grits his teeth and holds the team by the hand until the skein is unraveled. The penalty is wrong, luck is not decisive
VERRATTI 6.5: small and tenacious, engages physical duels with the two Southgate midfielders. He conquers meters on his return to the field, and puts his hand – or rather his head – into Bonucci’s goal. From 6 ‘pts LOCATELLI 6.5: right dynamism at the right time, but loses the time of the serve at the end of the first extra time
CHURCH 7.5: it is the most dangerous blue, and not only for the great shot at 35 ‘, the result of a personal percussion. He damns his soul as a full-back, winger, center-forward, and if he doesn’t score it’s only because Pickford denies him the joy in the second half. It only comes out for a hit. From 40 ‘st BERNARDESCHI 6.5: dangerous on a free kick, he lacks the play that freshness and technical would allow
PROPERTY 5: disappears among the giants Maguire-Stones, and not only because the balloons that arrive are few. From 9 ‘st BERARDI 6.5: he places himself on the right to open the game and gives amplitude, then touches the goal by inserting himself on Bonucci’s throw
INSIGNE 6.5: talent feeds like a flame, and his tonight is really off. He tries at the beginning of the second half with a free kick that is his, but the lap is wide beyond the intersection. For a while he goes for a false nine and has the right ball but lifts it over Pickford instead of hitting with precision. From 1 ‘pts BELOTTI 6: not very incisive, once again
CT MANCINI 9: Closes in tears, embracing his lifelong friend Vialli, a circle opened many years ago as a footballer on this pitch, beaten with his Sampdoria of miracles in the final of the Champions Cup. He was a coach on the pitch, he became a great coach: he built a national team based on the sense of sacrifice and on the game, on the group and on the ability to make the right changes during the match. His national team has not lost in a lifetime, since 10 September 2018, it was another world, 34 games in a row without defeat: this would be enough to justify the vote, but there is much more than a European title that Italy lacked for 53 years. (HANDLE).