Wembley: Italy reached their fourth European Championship final after defeating Spain 4-2 on penalties at Wembley on Tuesday. It was also a redemption of the 2012 edition final for the Azzurri’s, who were thrashed 0-4 by the same opponent.
The win also gave Italy a chance to win the Euros first time since 1968. Roberto Mancini’s side will be returning to the same place on July 12 and will face either England or Denmark to lay their hands on the trophy.
Mancini’s side took lead from Federico Chiesa’s goal on 60 minutes, a stunning curler resulting from a counter-attack started by Gianluigi Donnarumma rolling out the ball after stopping across from the Spaniards.
Italy were heading for a win, until Alvaro Morata who came off the bench scored an equaliser on the 80th-minute mark force the game into extra time. With no changes in the extra 30 minutes, the game rolled on to the penalty shootout.
Jorginho coolly slotted the decisive kick past Spain ‘keeper Unai Simon after Alvaro Morata had been thwarted by a fine save from Italy’s Gianluigi Donnarumma and Dani Olmo had blasted his effort over the bar.
“I cannot describe my emotion by words, it was a tough match, Spain were great tonight but we come back here on 11 July for the final,” Chiesa said.
“Spain were great, they have star players but we fought until the end and we did it. When (Manuel) Locatelli missed the first penalty, everyone was calm saying we can do it and in the end, our group helped us at the moment.”
