Seven minutes in to extra time at Wembley, Raheem Sterling sped down the left wing only to be stopped by a flying lunge by the Italian defender Giorgio Chiellini. As he scrambled to his feet, fuelled no doubt by the adrenaline of such a titanic Wembley battle, Sterling wore a grin so wide it almost lit up the national stadium.
It was a smile that summed up the ebb and flow of this incredible night – a smile that knew nothing of the pain that was still to come - but that also said everything about the journey that Sterling and his team-mates have made through this tournament.
That England did not win this final should take nothing from that. The FA should take that image and stick it on posters, billboards and websites. For this is what it means to play for England again. This is how it feels to watch them.
Giorgio Chiellini stopped Raheem Sterling with a lunging challenge in extra time
England will be shattered by the defeat on penalties but the future is bright
England lost this final and that matters hugely, of course it does. As manager Gareth Southgate said beforehand, the difference between silver and gold is cavernous in sport.
So this really hurt on Sunday night and will hurt for a good while. To come so close and then fall at the last can feel more painful than never having come so far at all.
But few who have watched this team or felt remotely connected to them over the last four sunlit weeks will not have emerged from it feeling the better and the more whole for the experience.
In defeat here, England once again showed the very best of themselves. This was knock out football in its most raw form and Southgate’s team were ambitious, confident and brave for much of it. The problem with tournament football, though, is that there are other good teams too and here England simply ran in to one.
None of that should detract from what England have achieved. Not only have they buried the dismal misery of half a century without a major final, they paved a way for a brighter future, one that now feels as though it glitters with possibility for every young footballer in the land.
Southgate has emerged as a coach with quiet genius in his bones and his team has become a mirror image of that. His players now possess his gentle confidence, his ability to express himself and the confidence to grow and change and adapt. Some have enjoyed more significant and prominent roles than others over the last month but all will go home today a better player and better person.
