The five key personal duels from Italy’s Euro 2020 final win over England
Assessing the individual battles where the showpiece was won and lost at Wembley.
Planet Sport is on hand to talk through five of the strongest head to heads from Sunday night, in which Italy took the trophy.
Declan Rice vs Federico Chiesa
In such a close contest, goal-getters Harry Kane and Federico Chiesa had to drop deep to get a feel for the ball.
In the case of Italy, it was the wasp-like Chiesa buzzing in the face of England's hardworking holding midfielder Rice.
In the 35th minute, with England 1-0 up, Chiesa snuck between a Rice/Luke Shaw sandwich and used his low centre of gravity to turn away. England centre-mid Doberman Rice had three nips at the rapid Chiesa but couldn't get the ball from his man.
Chiesa, the son of Italy legend Enrico, dribbled with his right before switching to his left and sending a long-range daisycutter fizzing just wide of Jordan Pickford's post.
Jorginho vs Jack Grealish
The Brazilian-born midfielder Jorginho showed his game is about grit as much as it is about flair as he left his mark on England's Grealish in the 23rd minute of extra time.
Aston Villa's Grealish and Chelsea's Jorginho brought some Premier League beef to proceedings as both chased a loose ball in Italy's final third. Both players committed to the challenge with Jorginho going in hard and his studs slipping off the ball and connecting with Grealish's knee.
Is Jorginho lucky to still be on the pitch after this foul on Grealish? 🤔#ITAENG | #ITVFootball | #Euro2020 pic.twitter.com/Qhe63Z0Njj
— ITV Football (@itvfootball) July 11, 2021
Giorgio Chiellini vs Bukayo Saka
Chiellini had been a behemoth in the Italian defence but that was until England's introduction of Bukayo Saka in the 70th minute.
The speedy Arsenal attacker is a nightmare for any defender and especially so for a 36-year-old veteran like Chiellini.
The Italian centre-half had to use all his street-smarts to stop a surging Saka with the game on a knife-edge in the 96th minute.
With Saka on the run down the right wing, Chiellini opted to haul down his man, almost tearing the attacker's shirt off by the collar.
Again England fans called for the red, while Saka called for a tailor but the referee brandished just a yellow.
Saka won that particular battle as the key Azzurri defender Chiellini was on a booking for the difficult extra-time period.
Someone tell Giorgio Chiellini you're supposed to wait until full-time before swapping shirts... #england #italy #itaeng #euro2020 #football #bbceuro2020 #bbcfootball pic.twitter.com/DNM0HbFPoQ
— Match of the Day (@BBCMOTD) July 11, 2021
Kyle Walker vs Emerson Palmieri
Gianluigi Donnarumma vs Marcus Rashford
Not all personal duels on the pitch are physical ones and the Rashford vs Donnarumma face-off was a mental battle of who'd blink first.