Matt Maher: Then one night in Rome, we were strong, we had grown

So relatively serene has their progress to their second major tournament semi-final in three years been that for a nation long used to disappointment as a default emotion when following the Three Lions, it is almost a little unnerving.

Is this really happening? Is this really England?

It is and they are. After Saturday’s comfortable 4-0 win over Ukraine in Rome, Gareth Southgate’s team appear deserving of the favourites tag now bestowed on them by the bookmakers.

Of course, the biggest tests are still to come. There is no chance Southgate, who has plotted his team’s course through the tournament to near perfection thus far, will be looking any further ahead than Wednesday’s showdown with Denmark at Wembley.

Yet the resources at his disposal – and the way he has managed them – means England look the strongest of the remaining contenders. No-one else can match their depth.

Against a Ukraine team who had emerged through a bruising last-16 tie against Sweden, Southgate had the luxury of handing Jadon Sancho a first tournament appearance, while also recalling Mason Mount more than two weeks after the Chelsea attacker had made his last appearance in the 0-0 draw against Scotland.

Jack Grealish, the game-changer in last week’s win over Germany, didn’t even make it on to the pitch at the Stadio Olimpico. The Villa captain will now be in contention to start against the Danes along with Bukayo Saka, kept out on Saturday due to a slight injury. So too will Phil Foden, who has not featured since the opening two group matches.

Debate will again rage over how Southgate should set up his team but having got just about every big call right to this point, it would now be a surprise if he got it wrong.

Those group stage selections so criticised just a couple of weeks ago now look rather savvy. In a tournament taking place at the end of the most congested season in history, there is a freshness about England not evident elsewhere.

On Saturday, they were simply far too strong for Ukraine, who made an admirable fist of things after Harry Kane had fired the Three Lions into a fourth-minute lead but then collapsed when Harry Maguire headed home early in the second half. Further goals came from Kane and substitute Jordan Henderson before England essentially settled for what they had, Southgate taking the opportunity to remove those players at risk of suspension.

There is no question the format of this tournament has provided England with certain advantages, not least their lack of travel compared to others. Denmark, for example, have just returned from a 4,000-mile plus round trip to Baku.

Yet you still have to be able to take advantage and while Southgate has shuffled his pack rather expertly, his team’s success has been founded on consistent performances from a handful of regulars, among them goalkeeper Jordan Pickford, still yet to concede a goal now five matches into the tournament.

In midfield, Declan Rice and Kalvin Phillips have formed an impressive alliance while in attack, England’s chief agitator has been Raheem Sterling.

The forward entered the tournament with a question mark hanging over his place after a largely underwhelming second half of the season with Manchester City. Yet Southgate has always retained faith and it says plenty about the spirit he has moulded in this England team that Sterling regularly produces better performances for his country than club. For many years, the opposite tended to be true when players reported for Three Lions duty.

It was Sterling, just as he did against Germany four days previously, who got England rolling in Rome, jinking infield before firing a pass into the path of Kane, who poked home.

Just a few days ago Kane’s own position was under scrutiny, having barely registered a shot during the group stages. But after getting off the mark late on against Germany, he now looks to have his confidence fully restored.

On Saturday he was a constant menace for the Ukraine defence, linking up impressively with Sterling and powering home a header five minutes for his second after the break, after the latter had showed sublime skill to create room for the excellent Luke Shaw to cross.

By then, England were cruising. When Henderson headed home from a Mount corner just past the hour mark, it was only the second time England had scored four goals in a knockout game. There are no prizes for naming the first occasion.

Southgate is now only the second England manager after Sir Alf Ramsey to take his team to the semi-finals of both the World Cup and European Championships. Emulating his most famous predecessor by actually winning a major tournament is now a very realistic target over the next seven days.

First they must get past Denmark, a team who have experienced a tournament both remarkable and traumatic after Christian Eriksen’s collapse in their opening match after suffering a cardiac arrest.

England should not need reminding the Danes are a formidable opponent, who were victorious at Wembley only last October in the Nations League, on a night when Maguire was controversially sent off.

That kind of misfortune, which can strike any team at any time during a tournament, has so far not impacted England this summer.

If there is a worry, it is that they are perhaps yet to be seriously tested. In the two matches which hopefully remain, it would be a surprise if there were not moments when Southgate’s men find themselves under duress. How they cope with that may well be decisive.

So far, they have the look of a team who can handle pretty much anything.