After winning football tickets for the Euro 2020 semi final, you felt you'd had all the luck you were ever going to get, until after the game, when you meet the players, your life begins to go in a whole new direction...
As the teams came out onto the pitch, I noticed Jack wasn't in the starting line up, I knew he would be disappointed, but there was no doubt in my mind that he was going to feature in this game at some point. I saw him head up the steps to the bench, he looked happy walking up with Ben and he looked over at me blowing me a kiss as he went, I smiled at him and mouthed "you ok?", he smiled back and gave me a thumbs up, I could relax now, all was good.
As the Italian National Anthem played out around the stadium, time felt like it had stood still, it went on for so long and like pretty much everyone else in the stadium I just wanted this game to get underway. "God Save our Queen" began playing, and the singing of the majority English 60,000 strong crowd could be heard echoing around us, I had goose bumps again and my stomach was in knots.
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The teams took their positions on the field and they all bent the knee as they had done in all of their previous matches.
KICK OFF! The game was underway and the entire crowd was on their feet watching England as they began to run rings around the Italians. I watched as England countered after an Italian corner and watched excitedly as Luke Shaw ran the length of the pitch to score within 2 minutes of the start up, the stadium erupted, Jess and I jumped up and down, cheering and spilling our beers all over the floor but not caring AT ALL! It started to really feel like we could actually do this.
As the game progressed into the second half, Italy started to look the better side, and I could feel that usual dread in the pit of my stomach, in the 67th minute, what we had been dreading for a while happened, and Italy got their equaliser. I felt like crying, but knew there was a long way to go still. I looked over at Jack, he was biting his nails and jigging his left leg nervously, I knew he would be feeling a lot worse than I was as he would just want to be out there on the pitch helping the team, I started to get angry wondering why Gareth hadn't put him on yet, we all knew what he was capable of and it was clear from the chanting in the stadium that they wanted to see him come on.
Normal time ended as a 1-1 draw, this was absolute torture and as extra time began I looked over at Jack again, he was deep in conversation with Ben, most likely discussing why the gaffer hadn't put him on yet, but then, he got up to start his warm up, which was exactly what the crowd wanted, and needed, to see. He stepped out onto the touchline to start his running and stretching, the place went wild and I felt so happy for him as I knew how much it meant to him to play for his country, in front of home supporters, not to mention be a part of the Euro 2020 final.
in the 99th minute, Jack came on to replace Mase and got the most amazing reception from the crowd, I felt more and more proud of him with every passing minute, but with only 21 minutes left of extra time, even Jack had his work cut out pulling this around.
England seemed to step up a gear now Jack was playing, we had a lot more of the ball and we began to look more dangerous, we started to dominate possession again, the Italians looked nervous, their fans seemed to be silent as they sat watching us threaten their goal again and again with no reply at the opposing end. With less than 3 minutes to go and time running out for us to win this game in extra time, and avoid going to penalties, we had a goal kick. Pickers put his foot through the ball and it travelled downfield, heading to the right hand side of the field towards Kal and Raz, who picked it up and ran with it into the corner, passing it back to Kal who hooked it in towards Harry Kane, he was surrounded, he wasn't getting out of this pack of Italian's with a goal, so he passed it back to Luke Shaw who had made his way infield and passed it out to Jack who was on the left flank making his way infield, miraculously unmarked, as most of the Italian defence had crowded around Kane to shut him down. Jack looked up to see what his options were, Raz was on the far post but had Chiellini bearing down on him, and with time running out he had no option but to go for goal and hope for the best, with nobody around him he had time to check where to place the ball, it all happened so quickly, I watched as he began to close the gap on goal, and trying to get his angle better and onto his preferred right foot he hit the ball with a sensational strike and it sailed past an unsuspecting Donnarumma and into the back of the net! I was stunned, surely he had scored the winner, this must be it, with just 50 seconds left on the clock it had to be coming home! The stadium felt like it was moving, the entire crowd going insane, Jack slid onto his knees into the corner and Raz was the first one there when he got up to give him a hug, I could see him on the big screen and saw that his eyes were welling up with tears of joy, all the team bundled on top of him to congratulate him, and finding it hard to not just stop the game there and celebrate the win, they had to get back on the pitch and play out the final seconds of the game!
