08 July,2021 07:08 AM IST | London | AFP
Italy players celebrate after winning their Euro semi-final against Spain at Wembley Stadium in London on Tuesday, Pic/AP, PTI
Italy beat Spain 4-2 on penalties after a 1-1 draw in a magnificent Euro 2020 semi-final at Wembley on Tuesday, as Jorginho converted the decisive kick to take the Azzurri through to the final where they will face either England or Denmark.
Italy were not always on top though, with Spain the better side for long spells of an epic contest before Federico Chiesa, the Juventus forward, gave Italy the lead with a fabulous finish an hour into a match watched by a crowd of almost 58,000.
The much-maligned Alvaro Morata, who was dropped from the starting line-up, came off the bench to equalise with 10 minutes of normal time left. No further scoring in extra time meant penalties again for Spain, who had beaten Switzerland in a shoot-out in the quarter-finals. They had also beaten Italy on penalties at Euro 2008, but this time misses from Dani Olmo and then Morata saw Spain give up the advantage they had been handed when Manuel Locatelli failed with the first kick in the shoot-out.
The Italians celebrated at the end with a large contingent of their UK-based supporters, and a team that has been rejuvenated under Roberto Mancini continues to dream of winning a first European Championship since 1968.
Now unbeaten in 33 games, they go through to Sunday's final to face either England or Denmark, who meet in Wednesday's second last-four tie.
Italy coach Roberto Mancini warned his side "it's not over yet". "Credit goes to the lads, but it's not over yet," said Mancini.
"We have we to recover our strength, it was very hard. I knew it would be the hardest game of the tournament. It is the sixth, it would be it was tiring, but we wanted the final."
It is nine years since Spain mauled Italy 4-0 in the Euro 2012 final in Kiev to win a third consecutive major tournament, and this was the fourth successive Euro in which these powerhouses had met.
This meeting took place in the chill of a damp July evening in London, but the atmosphere at Wembley was no damp squib.
There were no travelling supporters, given the obligatory quarantine for all visitors to the United Kingdom.
However, the large Spanish and Italian communities already in Britain meant a combined 20,000 fans of the two teams were in the 57,811-crowd allowed inside Wembley. They added a noise and colour so sadly lacking at major sporting events since the pandemic.
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