Sachin Tendulkar congratulates Italy for ‘hard fought victory’ over England in Euro final

By ANI

NEW DELHI: Master Blaster Sachin Tendulkar on Monday congratulated Italy on winning the Euro Cup final after a “hard-fought victory” over England.

Italy ended England’s dream to win the Euro 2020 here at the Wembley Stadium on Sunday (local time). Azzurri defeated England 3-2 on penalties after the normal 90-minute action had finished at 1-1 and the deadlock continued even in extra time.

Former India cricketer and legendary batsman Tendulkar also praised England for reaching the finals and keeping the summit clash alive till the last minute.

“Congratulations to @azzurri on the hard fought victory to become the #EURO2020 Champions! And well done @England for reaching the finals & keeping the game alive until the very end. What a sport packed and refreshing weekend this has been!” Tendulkar tweeted.

After the loss, England captain Harry Kane said the Euro Cup final defeat will “hurt for the rest of our careers” but the side is on right track and hopefully they can go a step further next year.

“We should be extremely proud as a group of what we have achieved. We’re all winners and want to win so it will probably hurt for a while and it will hurt for the rest of our careers, but that’s football,” Kane told BBC One as reported by goal.com.

After England got off to a flying start, Leonardo Bonucci got the equaliser for Italy as he netted the ball into the goalpost in the 67th minute, bringing the scoreline level at 1-1.

No more goals were scored in the match, and hence the game had to progress to extra time. The extra time was also not able to separate the two teams, and hence the game progressed to the much-dreaded penalty shootout. In the penalty shootout, Italy edged out England 3-2 and as a result, Italy won their second Euro title.