In England, we have the ‘Hand of God’, the lingering pain of Diego Maradona and Mexico ’86. In Denmark, they have ‘Sterling’s dive’.

While our thoughts moved on to the final of Euro 2020 after a 2-1 extra-time win over the Danes three years ago, the beaten team have never moved on, and nor are they ever likely to.

In their country, it is a cultural reference point every bit as sore as our loss to Argentina and Maradona’s infamous goal.

The Danes, from Peter Schmeichel and his son Kasper to Thomas Frank and national-team boss Kasper Hjulmand, believe that Raheem Sterling dived to win a 105th-minute penalty at Wembley.

Not just that, there were two balls on the pitch in the seconds before the controversial award by Dutch referee Danny Makkelie. Harry Kane’s spot-kick was saved by Kasper Schmeichel, but the England captain followed up to score.

Sterling said at the time it was a clear penalty, that defender Joakim Maehle had ‘stuck his leg out and touched my leg’. The Danes disagree.

‘That was a hard moment,’ Peter Schmeichel told Mail Sport. ‘Especially when we saw the VAR pictures back and it was clear there was no contact.’

During last night’s press conference at Frankfurt’s Deutsche Bank Park, English journalists were denied requests to ask questions as the briefing progressed. Perhaps there was a sense of the subject being revisited too much.

But as Kasper Schmeichel left the room, he told us: ‘There were two balls on the pitch. Go back and check the pictures.’

We have, and he is right. Play should have been stopped. The penalty then survived a VAR check, but it was a soft award. England progressed only to lose on penalties to Italy in the final.

This week, the English camp have spoken about the Danes being out for revenge. Kasper Schmeichel and coach Hjulmand denied that, as you might expect, but Danish journalists here say the goalkeeper is still livid about events of that night.

He was certainly keen to make his point about the extra ball once our tapes had stopped rolling.

Hjulmand, meanwhile, did confess to a hurt that took longer to shake than he would have liked.

‘Losing a semi-final when we were so close, and it was minor details that decided it, it took me a while to digest,’ he said. ‘I carried it for a while. But that kind of game also gives you motivation and inspires you. It makes you realize you can do it. Yes, it hurt, but it motivated us.’

And what about ‘revenge’?

‘I am looking at a football match out of the front window,’ said Hjulmand. ‘But maybe some of the players are (out for revenge). Maybe some of them can find something in that.’

When the draw for this tournament was made in Hamburg in December, it was put to Hjulmand that the penalty was a bad decision.

‘You said it!’ he replied. ‘I still wake up at night thinking about that match.’

Brentford boss Frank has warned England that his compatriots will be fuelled by injustice.

‘In Denmark, they will definitely remember that semi-final and the penalty,’ he said. ‘Or the foul on Sterling for the penalty. “Borderline”, let’s say it that way.’

There is a feeling in Denmark they were cruelly denied a fairytale ending to a tournament that began with the horror of Christian Eriksen’s collapse in their opening game.

The midfielder went some way to putting that to bed by scoring on his first European Championship appearance since during Sunday’s 1-1 draw with Slovenia.

But until they beat England, the Danes will continue to have sleepless nights.