Finally

England End 55-Year Wait As Kane’s Extra-Time Goal Puts The Lions Just 90 Minutes From A Place In History

- Rory Smith

London: England’s fans had been gathering on Wembley Way since the early Wednesday afternoon. Quite how many vintage jerseys have been speckled through the crowd at Wembley, these past three weeks, has been striking. All conjure unhappy memories: the semifinal elimination by West Germany at the 1990 World Cup and the semifinal elimination by a united Germany six years later in the European Championship. Both came through the exquisite torture of penalty shootouts. Those shirts serve as proof of credentials, a sort of polyester-blend certificate of authenticity that you were there, at least in spirit, for Turin in 1990 and Wembley, the old Wembley.

England’s progress to this point had been uncharacteristically serene. They had rumbled through their group, rarely exiting second gear. They dispatched Germany with cool efficiency. They swept past Ukraine.

Denmark, in the Euro semifinal on Wednesday, would be different. This would be uncut agony. In the end, England would make it to a final, to uncharted territory, but they would do it in a manner so familiar it was almost comforting.