Well, this was it. After all of the talk of "football c*ming h*me" and debates over whether us Irish should be supporting our neighbours, the EURO 2020 semi-final between England and Denmark was upon us on Wednesday night. Ultimately, the night was decided by a very contentious penalty decision for England, and Ian Wright saw no issue with it on ITV.
The night started in suitably classy fashion, with the English fans once again booing their opponents' national anthem. It was perhaps understandable (if not commendable) against old rivals Germany, but the mind boggled trying to think of reasons why the fans could possibly have taken issue with the Danes.
The first Danish goal was a stunner from the top drawer, and the Wembley crowd were sufficiently silenced by Mikkel Damsgaard's free kick.
England soon drew level through a Simon Kjaer own goal, but they were kept out by a brave Danish defence throughout the second-half - not least by the efforts of 'keeper Peter Schmeichel.
As the game moved into extra time, though, the Danes were clearly tiring, and England had two penalty shouts (rightly) turned down as the game crept towards 100 minutes. The challenges were getting lazy from Denmark, who looked exhausted - but the penalty decision was still a joke.
Raheem Sterling jinked his way through the area, and was brought down in what initially looked like a collision with both of the Danish defenders Maehle and Jensen. The penalty was given, but doubt was immediately thrown on the decision by replays, which seemed to suggest that the contact was light, at worst.
Raheem Sterling goes down under what looks like minimal contact... but the penalty is given. Harry Kane scores at the second attempt. #ENGDEN #EURO2020 #RTEsoccer
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📺 Watch live - https://t.co/2W5kFtUgZE pic.twitter.com/OsvYBk1lxe— RTÉ Soccer (@RTEsoccer) July 7, 2021
Despite a VAR review, the penalty was somehow not overturned. Kasper Schmeichel - who had an immense game in goal - saved Harry Kane's spot-kick, but could only parry it back to the England man, who finished to put England into a 2-1 lead they never relinquished.
It was a mark of how contentious the decision was that even ITV's Lee Dixon and Ian Wright admitted the decision was "soft", as they desperately searched for evidence that England deserved the penalty.
Former England striker Wright suggested at half-time of extra-time that England deserved the "luck" of the decision, given past decisions in big games had gone against England, though it's hard to think of any as contentious as that given against the Danes.
He pointed out that similarly soft penalties had been given all season in the Premier League - but the fact remains that it was a very harsh decision.
Roy Keane had a different take on things, as he declared the penalty "very, very soft" and declared that it shouldn't have been a penalty.
The ITV host immediately tried to turn attentions to a potential penalty that should have been given against Harry Kane, but even former England man Gary Neville couldn't pretend Denmark hadn't been hard done by.
If we're being fair, you'd be absolutely devastated to lose to a penalty like that.
It's so soft. They have been consistent in this tournament, they've been in some ways reluctant to overturn these sorts of decisions.
In the end, penalty or no penalty, England are through to their first final since 1966 at EURO 2020. We hope you can still bear the sound of 'Three Lions' - you might be hearing it a lot over the coming days.
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