Italy hold nerve to reach Euro 2020 final after thrilling semi against Spain

Italy’s goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma dives for the ball at Wembley Stadium. (Carl Recine/Pool Photo via AP)

Italy 1 Spain 1 (AET, Italy win 4-2 on pens)

Forget England’s claim that “football’s coming home”, the beautiful game is already back at its barnstorming best, as Wembley rocked with the fevered excitement of 60,000 frenzied fans lucky enough to witness a modern classic, while millions more watched on TV.

Spain and Italy, two of the great superpowers of world football, put on a show on Tuesday night that lit up London — and far beyond — with a semi-final that had everything we had longed for during those dark months of lockdown.

Italy finally succeeded after a penalty shoot-out following extra-time. Alvaro Morata, who had scored Spain’s equaliser, missed from the spot and Jorginho converted Italy’s final penalty to book a place in Sunday’s final against the victors of tonight’s game between England and Denmark, but to borrow a cliché, football was the winner at Wembley.

This was proper football played at breathtaking pace and with an almost reckless abandon, the cagey chess game of the early stages soon abandoned for an all-guns blazing desire to win.

Italy broke through first, with Federico Chiesa finishing a flowing move from one end to the other with a spectacular shot past Unai Simon on the hour mark.

But Spain struck back with ten minutes of normal time remaining, through a superb goal from Alvaro Morata, whose star had dimmed to such an extent over the course of this tournament that he was dropped to the substitute’s bench. But when he replaced his replacement Mikel Oyarazabal, who had missed a hatful of chances, Morata showed Luis Enrique what he could do with a cool finish after exchanging passes with Dani Olmo.

That set up an other half-hour of extra-time, and no-one was complaining, such was the enthralling quality of the previous 90 minutes.

The team selections of Enrique and Roberto Mancini may have hinted at a stodgy tactical battle, but it turned out to be the opposite — full-on, hammer and tongs, end-to-end entertainment.

Morata intially looked to play the scapegoat for Spain’s profligacy in front of goal for most of the preceding matches. Oyarzabal replaced him in a blunt-looking forward line, and the Real Sociedad forward had plenty of opportunities to show what he could do, only to prove as wasteful as Morata. Twice in the first-half, Spanish wonderkid Pedri put him in on goal, but on the first occasion his touch was poor and on the second he fired his shot high over the bar.

The worst miss of all, though, came five minutes after Chiesa had put Italy ahead. Koke chipped a perfect pass forward and Oyarazabal had the simple task of heading into the net from close range. Incredibly, the forward missed his header completely. Enrique had seen enough and replaced Oyarzabal with Morata, as Spain chased an equaliser. He also sent on the Gerard Moreno, so prolific for Villarreal.

Still chances came and went missing for Spain. Olmo had shot straight at Gianluigi Donnaruma from 15 yards in the first half, and in the 67th minute flashed a volley just wide from outside the penalty area.

The action swung to the opposite end of the pitch and Chiesa set up substitute Domenico Berardi for a low angled shot that Simon saved with his feet.

It was enthralling, exciting and end-to-end.

Spain were the better side for the opening 45 minutes, with Sergio Busquets running the show from the centre of midfield. He is the last real survivor of Spain’s golden age, and he stamped a mark of quality all over this game, creating chances and more crucially breaking up play when Italy tried to attack.

Roberto Mancini had made one enforced change, with Chelsea’s left-back Emerson Palmieri replacing the injured Leonardo Spinazzola, and the loss of Italy’s player of the tournament was damaging.

Emerson got forward well, and clipped the bar as well as setting up Nicolo Barella on the edge of the Spanish penalty area, only for the Inter midfielder to take a touch too many and waste the chance.

But there was no mistake from Chiesa when he broke the deadlock. Donnaruma rolled the ball to Marco Veratti, who swiftly passed to Lorenzo Insigne. The Napoli man hit a curling pass into the path of Ciro Immobile, and though Aymeric Laporte made a super sliding tackle, Chiesa collected the loose ball and curled it past Simon from the edge of the penalty area. Advantage Italy, but Morata went on to hit back in the 80th minute, surging in on Olmo’s return pass to slip the ball cooly past Donnaruma.

Extra-time could not separate the sides, but in the ensuing shoot-out Italy held their nerve best, with Morata missing Spain’s fourth spot-kick, leaving Jorginho to roll the ball past Simon.

ITALY: Donnarumma, Di Lorenzo, Bonucci, Chiellini, Emerson Palmieri (Toloi 74), Barella (Locatelli 85), Jorginho, Verratti (Pessina 74), Chiesa (Bernardeschi 107), Immobile (Berardi 62), Insigne (Belotti 85). 

SPAIN: Simon, Azpilicueta (Marcos Llorente 85), Garcia (Pau Torres 109), Laporte, Jordi Alba, Koke (Rodri 70), Busquets (Thiago 106), Gonzalez, Oyarzabal (Gerard 70), Olmo, Ferran Torres (Morata 62).