Euro 2020: Coming home hurts most for England fans in Rome after win over Ukraine

Four PCR tests, four goals and one sore head. It was well worth it as I was one of the many England fans waking up on Sunday and wondering if it was all true.

Did we really stick four past Ukraine? Did we really win 4-0? Did we really keep another clean sheet? Did I really make it to my flight on time?

It was all worth it to see bedraggled England fans singing ‘It’s coming home’ at 8am while the dust was still settling after the famous result in the Stadio Olimpico near the famed Colosseum.

For all the Covid-19-related protocol one has to go through just to get on an aeroplane, it is all forgiven when you come home with a bag-load of memories — from fountain dancing to stadium jubilation — that can never be erased or topped. I may not have grandkids just yet (I am only 25) but I know what we will be talking about when the time comes around.

England are so close to achieving the unimaginable now, we can dare to dream. Well, let’s sleep it off first. Next stop Wembley and the Danish underdogs. We haven’t even chewed our fingernails through a penalty shoot-out yet. I guess that must be next. Well, after passport control at Heathrow ...