We. Won. On. Penalties.

What a semi-final. We were 3-0 up at half-time thanks to Martin Cranie, Nedum Onuoha and a Swedish OG. Game over? Apaprently not.

Sweden came back to make it 3-3 by the 81st minute and Fraizer Campbell was sent off in extra time. So penalties it was. And as any England fan knows, shootouts aren’t exactly our biggest strength.

Here’s video of just the pens:


James Milner got us off to the wost possible start, slipping as he struck the ball and sending his spot kick high and wide.

But then Joe Hart stepped in with some heroics. He saved the first Swedish penelty, then calmly stepped up and smashed in our second. He’s basically the English Ricardo.

Lee Cattermole, Adam Johnson and Theo Walcott all converted to take us to sudden death. Kieran Gibbs scored his and Molins hit the post. And that’s how England U-21s made it to the Euro 2009 final.

The obvious achievement here is that England winning a penalty shootout is a rare thing. We can only hope that this victory marks a turning point in both our luck and – more importantly – our attitude when it comes to shootouts. Maybe now England can expect to win from the spot, and not have that “Here we go again” feeling every time it happens.

The final is against Germany, 8:45pm local time tomorrow in Malmö.

Bad news is that both Fraizer Campell and Gabby Agbonlahor are suspended, which leaves Theo Walcott as the only other recognized striker in the squad. And even then we’re all more comfortable with him as a winger. Maybe more importantly, Joe Hart is suspended after getting booked during the shootout.

Good luck to the boys tomorrow.