England wants to close a wound that has been open for 60 years and is already in the semi-finals

BarcelonaA wound that has been open for sixty years. A wound that England wants to close in New York by winning the World Cup. For the moment, the team that proudly wears three lions on its crest is already in the semifinals; it's the fourth time it has achieved this. Two goals from Jude Bellingham have allowed the English to defeat a magnificent Norway in extra time in the quarterfinals in Miami, in a match where at times the English have played with fire (2-1). But the team trained by Thomas Tuchel knows how to compete and suffer. Things in life, a German coach excites the English, who will now face Argentina, in a spectacular duel. It will be a new episode of a rivalry that has given us epic matches such as the one in 1966 at Wembley, the one in 1986 in Mexico, or the round of 16 in 1998, among others.

David Beckham, accompanied by his wife, seemed to preside over the match at Hard Rock Stadium. Beckham lives in Miami and the match was being played in the city. Therefore, the former England captain watched nervously, wondering if this generation would be capable of achieving what he did not live to see: reaching a World Cup final. In 2018, England already reached the semi-finals, the first since 1990, but they suffered a blow, surprisingly losing to small Croatia in extra time. Today extra time has smiled on them, when Bellingham took advantage of a serious error by goalkeeper Nyland. The Real Madrid player is becoming the great leader on the pitch for a team in which Kane, for one day, has not scored. But he has worked hard.

England, as always, seemed to be playing at home. English fans go to the ends of the earth, if necessary, pursuing a utopia: to see their team win the World Cup. Fewer and fewer people personally remember that 1966 cup, when they won the trophy for the first and only time at Wembley, at home, with a bit of controversy. Since then, decades of disappointment. Every four years they sing ""It's coming home", confident that the inventors of football will be crowned. Every four years their hearts are broken, but for now in this World Cup they are celebrating big. The people who have asked for money to pay for the trip are celebrating, and Mick Jagger, present in the stands, is also celebrating.

If for England conquering the World Cup is a kind of obligation, since they codified this game and have always had certain imperialist tendencies, for Norway, reaching the quarter-finals was already an achievement. Haaland, in fact, was smiling before entering the pitch. In recent days he has been explaining that for his country, having eliminated Brazil and reaching the quarter-finals was already an achievement. But celebrating what you have done is one thing, and giving up on winning more is another. In the first few minutes, England were better, with Anthony Gordon very active on the left wing. Kane was quite isolated by a Scandinavian defence that, at the start, seemed to be content with a draw.

But after the hydration break, Norway took a step forward. They pressed high and in a play down the wing by Andreas Schjelderup, they created a beautiful goal with a shot from a tight angle that surprised Pickford. And they could have scored a second in an attack where Sorloth didn't want to pass the ball to a Haaland who was all alone. It could have been 0-2. And in just a few minutes, the match was already 1-1. Moments that decide matches, as this England of Thomas Tuchel has character. They showed it in Mexico in the round of 16 and they've shown it in the quarter-finals by equalizing before the break thanks to a play where Gordon connected with Bellingham. And the Real Madrid player combined strength and talent to equalize. The team's number 10 acted as a leader with a goal protested by Norway, as the ball seemed to have touched one of the cables holding the spydercam from the ceiling. FIFA, however, said that the chip in the ball did not detect any contact. And the goal leveled the score.

England wanted more. In fact, at halftime, Tuchel made a double substitution, sending Rice and Madueke to the bench and bringing on Eze and Saka to revolutionize the wings. But the changes did not translate into clear superiority for an England that saw the referee disallow a goal by Heggem from a corner kick due to a foul by Haaland just before. Norway was dominating and wanted more, so Solbakken brought on Bobb and Nusa, two electric players. England, slow, unrecognizable, was suffering. And Tuchel decided to take the Barcelona player Gordon off the field, who had gone from better to worse. But Norway missed their chance with a shot that hit the post. And England recovered once extra time arrived.

They did so thanks to a shot in which Nyland left the ball dead at the feet of Bellingham, who did not miss with his fourth goal in two matches. The English also celebrated a penalty from Djed Spence, who brought much-needed energy to the team. But it was not a penalty, as was seen later in the VAR review. Norway saw that time was running out. And to top it off, Haaland couldn't go on, tired. And Solbakken took him off the field in the second half of extra time. The match was emotional, as both teams were tired, with muscle problems and injuries. England suffered and ended up winning, bringing an end to Norway's beautiful World Cup adventure. The English adventure continues.