We have reached the EURO 2020 (or 2021) semi-finals! (Part 1, Italy vs Spain)
Starting with the journey of the first clasiffied team. Italy!
Definetely they started this Eurocup with the right foot, beating Turkey 3–0 in the opening game of the tournament.
In the “azurri” second game, played in the Stadio Olimpico in Rome, Italy won 3–0 against Switzerland with two goals of Manuel Locatelli (26'), (52') and one goal from the Lazio player Ciro Immobile (89').
Then, the last match of the Italian national team in the grouop stage, was against Wales, in a very tough match, Matteo Pessina (39') scored the only goal in the match.
In the round of 16, Italy played against Austria in a match that ended on extra-time, Italy won 2–1 in a match full of adrenaline! With goals of Federico Chiesa (95') and Matteo Pessina (105') right before the extra time break! In this match, Italy also conceded their first goal on the Euro 2020 edition.
Belgium versus Italy on the quarter finals! Allianz Arena, Munich. In this match, Italy broke the 0–0 draw, with a goal of Nicolò Barella (31'). 13 minutes later, Lorenzo Insigne scored (44')! Then Romelu Lukaku made a goal from the 12-yard spot (45+2'). And Italy qualifies to the semi-finals of the Euro against Spain!
So, how Spain reached the semi-final against Italy?
Spain’s first match was against Sweden. This match reached the 90th minute with the scoreboard empty.
In the second match, Spain played against Poland, the match ended with a draw of 1–1. With goals of Álvaro Morata (25'), and Robert Lewandowski (54').
In Spain’s last group match, they played against Slovakia. Spain made “a hand” of goals, completing the match with the scoreboard indicating 0–5 for Spain! Starting with an own goal of Martin Dúbravka (30') in the 30th minute of the game! Then, right before half time, Aymeric Laporte scored the second goal for Spain (45+3). In the second half, the hispanic team, scored 3 goals, Pablo Sarabia (56'), Ferran Torres (67'), and an own goal from Juraj Kucka (71').
In the round of 16, Spain’s rival was Croatia, the world cup 2018 finalist! It was a very tough start to Spain! In the 20th minute, Pedri passed the ball to Unai Simón (GoalKeeper) from the midfield! The spanish didn’t expect the ball and it went in! Croatia 1–0 Spain (20').
But then, Pablo Sarabia scored a goal to draw the match (38'). César Azpilicueta scored a magnificient header for Spain to give the lead to the spanish side (57'). 20 minutes later, Ferran Torres made a world class goal to leave the Croatians 2 goals behind!! This is not all! In the 85th minute, Mislav Oršić scored a goal that gave the Croatian fans a little hope (85'). All indicated that the game will end 2–3, but Mario Pašalić scored the goal that would gave us 30 minutes more of some intense football (90+2')! Álvaro Morata scored an extraodinary goal for Spain (100')! 3 Minutes later, Mikel Oyarzabal closed the game with an other goal (103')! What a game! One of the best of the Euro! 3–5 for Spain!
Quarter finals!! Switzerland vs Spain in the Krestovsky Stadium, located in Saint Petersburg, Russia.
Kick-off! 8 minutes later, Denis Zakaria scores! But in his own goal!! Trying to intercept a shot from Jordi Alba, the ball ended in the back of Yann Sommer’s net (8')! In the second half, Xherdan Shaqiri scored a goal that saved the swiss (68'). 9 minutes later, Remo Freuler was given a red card! Switzerland with ten men on the pitch! After a breath-taking extra-time, penalties. Switzerland lost 1–3 after Ruben Vargas missed his penalty for Switzerland, Mikel Oyarzabal scored his to win the game! Even though Switzerland lost, Yann Sommer was the player of the match! He saved tons of shots defending the swiss net!
Thanks for reading! And stay tuned for part 2! England vs Ukraine!