Harbinger Of Glory

With the second half underway, England needed to find a way to swing the momentum they had before the break back to their side.

They chose possession, and for a while, it made sense.

They were ahead, Italy needed to chase, and every minute spent moving possession around was another minute taken off the clock, and that meant that they couldn’t be suddenly caught off too if they did everything well.

But for the first few minutes, though, England struggled to make that plan work.

Italy pushed higher and higher than they had done all game.

Barella stepped forward, almost encroaching the space Rice had settled in while Leo moved across whenever the ball went wide, cutting off the next pass before it was played.

The English midfield kept finding themselves forced backwards, then sideways, then backwards again, and the crowd responded every time Italy won it.

It was looking like the start of a shutdown, but then Kane started dropping.

At first, Leo thought it was only to offer an option, but then Kane did it again and then again.

By the tenth minute after the restart, he was barely playing as a striker at all.

He dropped into the space between Italy’s midfield and defence, received the ball under pressure, turned when he could and played forward before the press had time to recover.

Seeing this, Foden moved inside to take advantage while Rashford stayed wider, waiting for the moment Italy’s shape opened.

Leo saw it and kept tabs on that.

Every time Italy committed another player to Kane, England found someone else.

Spalletti saw it too, and before it could turn detrimental, he stepped toward the edge of his technical area and called for the midfield to drop.

”Don’t chase them!” he shouted. ”Stay together!”

The press eased, and England finally had room to breathe since the start of the half.

And almost immediately, they created their best chance of the half.

Kane received just inside the Italian half with his back to goal and held off the pressure, waiting for whatever he had in mind and when he seemed to get it, he rolled the ball into the path of Bellingham.

Bellingham returned it almost instantly before dashing beyond Barella as Kane touched it on again and before anyone could realise, three passes had taken England through the middle.

By the time the ball reached Foden on the edge of the penalty area, it looked late, but Leo still went.

He knew what was coming and if only he could get there.

Foden, with space and time, opened his body but then an Italian shirt appeared in his sights.

Still, it wasn’t going to matter because by the time Leo got there, Foden had already bent one from the outside of the box.

Leo, gritting his teeth, still stepped across.

The ball rose immediately, but before it could reach its intended height, Leo stretched his leg into its path and felt the ball catch him.

It changed direction, but it didn’t seem like enough as the ball still carried toward the goal.

Donnarumma lunged towards it, knowing he wouldn’t get there, but then just as it seemed like the ball would enter the net, it clipped the outside of the post before spinning behind.

At that, Foden stopped with both hands over his mouth while Leo turned toward the post, then back toward the pitch.

”Off the post!” the commentator shouted.

”And Calderon got just enough on that to make the difference. England nearly had their second!”

Foden, still unbelieving at how that shot hadn’t ended up in the back of the net, shook his head and began to jog away.

The match restarted again, but after that scare, Italy played it safe, not eagerly attacking but not parking the bus either, and for the next few minutes, the game settled again.

When Italy found themselves back in the game again, Barella with the ball in midfield immediately looked right where Carlo was already moving.

Without thinking too much, the Internazionale players smashed the ball across.

The pass found Carlo near the touchline, but the latter didn’t have the time to think as Walker was immediately on him, and Carlo’s first reaction to that was to push the ball ahead.

Walker matched him, and for a moment, they ran shoulder to shoulder, neither giving the other an inch.

The crowd in the stands leaned in for the footrace, but eventually, Carlo reached it first and got his cross away under pressure, despite Walker doing his best to clear it.

Still, the effort didn’t amount to much after Pickford came through the crowd of bodies and claimed it cleanly.

He landed, held the ball against his chest and took a second before getting back up, making sure that the box was cleared of any Italian shirts before he punted it wide once more.

Neither side could afford to give the other a clean opening, and so for a while, it remained like that.

Then, with fifteen minutes remaining, England nearly found one.

Trent Alexander-Arnold had come on for Phillips and immediately looked forward.

He received the ball in midfield and, instead of playing wide, saw Rashford making the run between the Italian centre-backs.

Most midfielders wouldn’t even see that pass, not to talk of them attempting it, but the Scouser did and did and did so expertly.

With the laces of his boot, the latter leaned forward and then swept his feet under the ball, and the crowd could only watch as the ball took off his foot and then, a second later, settled right into the path of Rashford.

”OH, HE’S IN HERE! ENGLAND ARE INNNNN!”

Leo saw him turn the corner of his eye and started back, but Rashford had already reached the box.

The Italian defence, which had already been caught out multiple times that game, turned again to chase, but this time, it seemed like the outcome rested on the shoulders of Donnarumma, who came off his line to pose a threat to England’s goal.

The former AC Milan keeper made himself as big as he could, but Rashford took a touch, not to shoot but to send the ball around as Donnarumma lunged at nothing but grass.

For a moment, the goal was open and without any qualms, Rashford shaped to finish.

Leo, legs pumping faster than he could touch the grass, looked like he’d fly off as he suddenly changed direction,

He didn’t think about whether he could get there and just went as Rashford struck the ball.

And the moment he did, Leo seemingly stepped up the pace again, rushing towards the ball before throwing himself across the goalmouth.

The shot hit him, and the force of his lunge knocked him sideways, but the ball stayed in front of the line.

”OH, OFF THE LINE!!!” the commentary judged on the broadcast as Leo landed on his stomach, saw the ball rolling loose and immediately reached for it.

A white shirt was coming, and so was another, but with the tip of his boot, he got there first and stabbed the ball away toward the edge of the box as the Meazza erupted in relief.

”HOW HAVE ENGLAND NOT SCORED?” the commentator’s voice cracked with the question.

”Rashford went around Donnarumma! The goal was open, but somehow, England still only have the one goal to thank for. Calderon is really looking like one of the Italian greats tonight!”