Euro 2020 Semis, Italy vs Spain 1-1 (4-2 in Penalties)

 This match between former Champions, Italy & Spain, as expected turned out to be a humdinger, that went the complete distance of a knockout match. Eventually Italy prevailed by a whisker, in the penalty shoot out, to enter the finals & await the winner of England vs Denmark. 

Spain dominated the 1st half with near perfect control on the possessions, & should've taken the lead around the 25th minute, but Dani Olmo's shot inside the box was denied by an incredible save by Italian keeper Donnarumma. Oyarzabal was next to miss a scoring opportunity, as Spain gain ascendency in the midfield & the deep third of the pitch, with Italians struggling for ball time. At the end of a lively 1st half, it was a goal less stalemate, with Spain having far better control of the exchanges, as they missed converting the chances into a goal. Italy too had their look at the Spanish goal, as Emerson clipped the cross bar in the closing minutes & then Insigne fumbled into a strong organised Spanish defense. 

In the 2nd half, the story remained the same, as Spain, kept better control & frustratingly kept missing chances, including Busquets, whose rising shot grazed the top bar before going out. Around the 60th minute, against the run of play, Italian keeper Donnarumma, after making one of his customary saves,  triggered a superb counter attack with a long throw onto his forwards, & Immobile deftly picked up Chiesa, who turned in between the defenders & curled a volley into the top corner of the net from just outside the box, as Spanish keeper Unai Simon, looked a the ball going past him in bemused agony. Roberto Mancini's Italy had finally broken the deadlock, going ahead 1-0. Spain should've equalised almost immediately, when Koke's chip over the Italian defense fell kindly onto Oyarzabal, but he muffled one of the easiest header from just six yards out - in fact Oyarzabal was guilty of muffling up at least 3 goals for Spain, which would come to haunt them finally, before being subbed off by Moreno. This continued till Morata coming in for Torres, played a wonderful one-two-one with Olmo inside the box, before wrong footing Donnarumma & slotting the ball coolly into the bottom right corner of the net, as Spain leveled 1-1, with just 10 minutes left in the game. The game had reached frenetic pace, with both sides putting in their last sinews for the winner, & the ball travelled both ends. Spain, were once again guilty of not making goof of their chances, as Italy held on grimly. 

Another 30 mins of Extra time for some pacy football & Chiellini combined with Berardi inside the Spanish box & the latter fired past Unai Simon into the net. But celebrations for Italy was shortlived, as the offside flag was up, ruling out the goal. The game from there on continued to slow down as the weary players headed for the penalty shoot out. Italy started the proceedings horribly, as Locatelli's shot was confidently saved by a diving Simon, but Spain could not capitalise to lead, as Dani Olmo, who had played a brilliant game thus far, blasted the ball over the post. The next two shots were converted at both ends, & then Bernardeschi converted for Italy, while Morata, who had earlier found the equaliser for Spain, spurned his shot with a low right footer, which was easily saved by the big Donnarumma. Jorginho, up next, foxed Unai Simon to send in the decisive penalty with amazing audacity, as the Italians burst onto the ground in unbound glee. They had managed to absorb the Spanish possession pressing game & were lucky to escape conceding a couple goals in the 1st half itself, which probably would've turned the final outcome otherwise. 

Italy has been the team of the tournament in some sense, having won all their matches thus far - this will be a huge boost for them going into the finals.