ENGLAND’S 55-year wait to reach a major final is over after a nail-biting win over a battling Denmark side in a Euro 2020 semifinal Wednesday.

The 90 minutes of regulation time had been incredibly tense, with Gareth Southgate’s troops creating few clear-cut chances. Mikkel Damsgaard’s stunning free kick after 30 minutes drove them into a corner and revived memories of past knockout disappointments in major tournaments.

This time, however, England players rode their luck to find a way back. When they needed a quick response, Bukayo Saka’s shrewd cross was duly bundled over Denmark’s goalline by their luckless captain Simon Kjaer. Amazingly, it was the tournament’s 11th own goal, eclipsing the combined number of the previous 15.

Then, the moment the nation has waited for so long arrived in extra time. Raheem Sterling wriggled into the area, cut inside and fell under the challenge of Mattias Jensen. The contact appeared minimal, but the referee felt it was sufficient to award the penalty and the VAR agreed.

Harry Kane, who hardly ever misses penalties, fluffed his lines and his tame shot was easily saved by Kasper Schmeichel. But Lady Luck smiled on England again as the rebound fell at the England captain’s feet and he lashed the ball into the empty net and made sure they will travel one step further than any England side has done since the 1966 World Cup final win against West Germany.

England will return to its national soccer stadium  Sunday to play Italy and will be competing in its first final since the 1966 World Cup. That remains England’s only international title.

In the intervening decades, England has lost in the semifinals four times in either the World Cup or the European Championship. For that reason, this will go down as one of the most significant feats in the national team’s history, something England greats David Beckham, Wayne Rooney, Paul Gascoigne and Gary Lineker never achieved.

“We dug deep and we got there when it mattered,” Kane said.

After the final whistle, Kane led the jubilant England fans in a crowd of more than 60,000 — the biggest gathering for a sporting event in Britain since the coronavirus outbreak nearly 16 months ago — in a rendition of “Sweet Caroline.”(SD-Agencies)