England exults over Euros

Gary Neville called for a national celebration after England reached a major final for the first time in 55 years with a 2-1 win over Denmark at Euro 2020 on Wednesday.

Former players and TV pundits were full of praise for Gareth Southgate's side, who have the chance to add another trophy to England's 1966 World Cup after beating the Danes in extra time.

With coverage spread over both the front and back pages, several English papers headlined their main stories with the word "Finally", after England ended their long wait to reach the final of a major men's tournament.

Italy await on Monday, 1am (Bangladesh Standard Time) at London's Wembley stadium, in front of a crowd limited to some 66,000 -- two-thirds its capacity.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson tweeted that Gareth Southgate's squad had "played their hearts out". "Now to the final. Let's bring it home," he said.

There was talk of awarding a knighthood to Southgate and key players such as winger Raheem Sterling, and calls for the government to declare a national holiday on Monday should England triumph against Italy.

"We have never done this before in our lifetimes," former England defender Neville said on ITV. "We have had so much pain, so much dismay and so much let-down, and now we are going to a final.

"For the next few days those lads have got to focus, but we don't have to. This country is absolutely bouncing. National holiday, enjoy yourselves."

Former England striker Gary Lineker said it had "been a long time coming". "It's finally happened. I was doubting I'd ever see it again in my lifetime at one point," Lineker added.

Geoff Hurst, England's hat-trick hero from the 1966 final, applauded the team's "fantastic" result. "Wow! We're in the final. Brilliant game. Well done England. Fantastic," Hurst tweeted, adding the hashtag 'Football's Coming Home'.

Former England midfielder Karen Carney described Southgate's squad as "a family" after they celebrated the win in front of almost 60,000 fans at Wembley.

There was plenty of praise for manager Gareth Southgate, who has carried the pain of his penalty shoot-out miss at the semi-finals of Euro 96 and often been criticised for his tactics.

"We've given our fans and our nation a fantastic night and the journey carries on for another four days," Southgate said.

"We've said we want to create memories ... I've said to the young ones (players) 'it isn't always like this'."