Italy into Euro 2020 final after beating Spain in penalties

Italy pushed to the brink but come out victorious against Spain

Italy are through to the final of Euro 2020 after knocking out Spain in penalties. The side managed by Roberto Mancini were put the test but came out the victor in the end.

The match went almost as expected with Spain dominating possession early on and dictating the tempo. It was something Italy weren’t accustomed to all tournament long and looked rattled in the first half.

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But the Italians kept their composure and withstood some of the chances Spain created. Despite losing the possession battle, Italy only needed to string together two or three passes before finding themselves in Spain’s half and causing their defense problems.

Italy finally managed to break through 15 minutes into the second half.

Following a Jordi Alba cross, Gianluigi Donnarumma started Italy’s counter. In just two passes, Ciro Immobile was put through on goal. Aymeric Laporte made a last ditch tackle to knock the ball away.

However, it fell to Federico Chiesa who, with a couple of feints, created enough space for himself and Eric Garcia to beautifully curl his shot past Unai Simón who could do nothing but watch as the ball went into the back of the net.

Just like that Italy was up 1-0.

"“I cannot describe my emotions in words,” Chiesa said after the match. “You know, it was a tough match. Spain were great tonight, but now we are in the final and we’re coming back here on 11 July and we’ll see. We’ll see.”Source: UEFA"

Spain continued to play their way but Luis Enrique did finally play with a natural striker in Álvaro Morata. His faith in the Juventus player paid off in the 80th minute as Morata equalized on a move that he started.

After the goal, Spain were on the front foot and looked the better side to score in the remaining ten minutes as well as extra time. But they were unable to take advantage and the game went to penalties.

Things didn’t get off to a good start for either side as Manuel Locatelli and Dani Olmo missed for Italy and Spain respectively. Olmo’s miss came after Simon gave Spain the advantage.

Each team converted on their next two. Federico Bernardeschi put Italy up 3-2 and up stepped Morata, the one who put Spain level earlier in the game.

Morata giveth and Morata taketh away as his penalty attempt was saved, which, unfairly or not, added to the narrative of a player who was already short on confidence.

Jorginho was the fifth and final penalty taker as his patented skip froze Simon much to the delight of the Italians’ delight as it meant Italy were through.

Spain gave Italy as much as they could handle but similar to the game against Austria, Italy bent but did not break and showed their resolve against the toughest opponent they’ve faced so far.

"“We are pleased to have given joy like this to the Italian people,” Mancini said. “We knew it would be very hard, Spain caused us plenty of trouble. We tried to score when we had the chances but we had a hard time because we didn’t have much of the ball. We wanted the final even if not many people believed us before the tournament. I congratulate Spain, they are a great team and penalties are a lottery.“There are some games when you have to struggle but we deserved to be here. We knew it was going to be tough, it wasn’t easy and Spain surprised us at the beginning by deciding to play without a striker. This squad, however, is amazing. Everyone wants to win, but this group of players wanted to do something special and they just did that.”Source: UEFA"

Despite some tough moments in their last couple of games, Italy are deserved finalists. They got through the group stage with ease and showed up in moments when it mattered.

Even in this game, where the likes of Jorginho and Marco Verratti were held under check, they were still good enough to take the lead and ultimately win when it seemed like the tide was turning against them.

Italy now wait to see the winner between England and Denmark as they will face one of them in the final on Sunday at Wembley.