A thrilling encounter at Wembley finished 1-1 was what could be used to describe Italy vs Spain encounter yesterday as all went down to spot-kicks for a place in the final.
With former Chelsea striker Álvaro Morata putting Spain back on level terms ten minutes from time in regulation after Italy had opened the scoring around the hour-mark through Federico Chiesa, the visibly tiring teams (Spain were in their third consecutive extra-time) slogged it out for 30 extra minutes before settling for the drama of penalties.
The shootout started with substitute Manuel Locatelli’s penalty being saved by Simon before Olmo wasted his chance to give Spain an early lead by firing well off-target.
Andrea Belotti, Gerard Moreno, Leonardo Bonucci, Thiago Alcantara and Federico Bernardeschi scored their spot-kicks before Donnarumma got down to his left to deny Morata.
Jorginho stepped up and coolly rolled home the winning spot-kick, with the 4-2 shootout win sending Italy through to Sunday’s final against England or Denmark.
Spain had controlled much of the game through their customary possession (70-30), while Italy was happy to stay compact and look for counters. It wasn’t the prettiest game, but it was certainly intriguing and nail-biting, and that was before the decisive spot-kick.
Today’s fixture will see England face Denmark at the Wembley stadium for a chance to face Italy in the finals of the EURO 2020.
