Jorginho’s ridiculously cool shootout winning penalty sent Italy through to their fourth ever Euro final at Wembley tonight, after Alvaro Morata cancelled out Federico Chiesa’s sublime strike in regular time.
An intriguing first half of football saw Spain coach Luis Enrique out-coach his opposite number Roberto Mancini, containing and dominating an Italian side that had so far won every game this tournament.
Excellent chances fell to both Dani Olmo and Sergio Busquets but Italy held on, and after the break, began to find their way into the match with Chiesa troubling.
Eventually, it was a moment of sheer class from the forward that broke the deadlock, with the ball falling to him after a counter-attack was stopped, which he brilliantly shifted onto his right foot, curling a trademark shot past a helpless Unai Simon.
It looked like an absolute hammer blow for Spain on the hour mark, but they impressively reset, with Mikel Oyarzabal missing an absolute sitter when he should have headed in Koke’s dinked pass.
It was left to Spain’s most talked-about star to level the match though, with Morata exchanging passes with Olmo to brilliantly slot in the equaliser, earning extra time.
Spain had the better chances in the additional 30 minutes, and they were left to rue not taking them, with Morata and Olmo missing in the shootout, allowing Jorginho to hop, step, and jump Italy into a final meeting with either England or Denmark.
1-1 (4-2 p.g.) | ||
Federico Chiesa 60' | Álvaro Morata 80' |
