Italy-Spain, reunion in sight at Wembley: revenge of the 2012 final, the first semi-final of the Euro will pit the “Azzurri” on Tuesday, executioners of a Belgium still weaned from a trophy (2-1), and the “Roja”, persevering against Switzerland (1-1 after, 3-1 tab) Friday July 2 in quarters.
Nine years after the Spanish recital in the final in Kiev (4-0) and five years after the Italian revenge in the eighth in Saint-Denis (2-0), the Seleccion and the Nazionale meet again Tuesday night in London ( 9 p.m.) for a place in the final.
And the poster promises between a Spain rebuilt by Luis Enrique, to the point of following in the footsteps of its illustrious predecessor of the turn of the 2010s, and an Italy refreshed by Roberto Mancini, who sent Belgium, designated favorite, to the carpet for chain a 32e unbeaten match – record for the Italian team. We are already salivating at the idea of this reunion, whether between the old Italian guard (Bonucci-Chiellini) humiliated by the “Roja” of Sergio Busquets and Jordi Alba in Kiev, or between Luis Enrique and this formidable Italy which had ousted him from the World Cup-1994, leaving him with a bloody nose and lasting pride.
It remains to be seen who will play the other semi-final: the Czech Republic and Denmark, two of the sensations of the tournament, compete for one of the tickets on Saturday (6 p.m.) in Baku, while the last quarter in Rome on Saturday evening ( 9 p.m.) will pit Ukraine against England, who dream of a final home four at Wembley.
Italy evacuated its trauma
This new disillusion is heartbreaking for the Belgian golden generation, who still missed a chance to win a title, frustrated like Romelu Lukaku whose equalizer was stopped in extremis by the Italian side Leonardo Spinazzola (61e). Because in Munich, Italy gave a lesson in liveliness and efficiency to Belgium, still stopped at the gates of a consecration, after its failures at Euro-2016 (quarters) and the World-2018 (half) .
It must be said that the “Nazionale”, totally recovered from the trauma of not qualifying for the 2018 World Cup, put the very experienced but very slow Belgian defense to death.
At the half-hour mark, Nicolo Barella escaped three defenders to open the scoring with a cross shot (31e). Then Lorenzo Insigne, in front of a wait-and-see rear guard, hit the nail on the head with a splendid floating shot (43e). At 2-0, the match could have been folded but a slight fault on Jérémy Doku, synonymous with a generous penalty, allowed Romelu Lukaku to reduce the mark (45e+2) and keep Belgian hopes alive. But the powerful center-forward of Inter Milan, best player in Serie A this season, has not managed to double the stake and will be able to mull over for a long time his failure in front of the empty cage, when his attempt hit the thigh de Spinazzola – hero of the qualification then released on a stretcher, injured in the same thigh.
At the final whistle, the Italians were able to rejoice: not favorites at the start of the tournament, here they are in the last four of Wembley, with the dream of reaching a fourth final after the coronation of 1968 and the failures of 2000 and 2012.
Spain returns to the gotha
On their path will stand Spain, three times victorious in the Euro (1964, 2008, 2012), which qualified a little earlier despite a very catchy Swiss rival and a heavy extrasport context against a backdrop of soaring cases. of Covid-19 in St. Petersburg.
With 28 shots at 8, Luis Enrique’s team dominated in vain and in numerical superiority after the exclusion of Remo Freuler (77e), while Xherdan Shaqiri (68e) responded to the opening of the Spanish scoring on a goal against his camp of Denis Zakaria (8e).
But after multiple saves by Swiss goalkeeper Yann Sommer to preserve the draw, it was his Spanish counterpart Unai Simon who shone in the penalty shootout, stopping two opposing strikes before Mikel Oyarzabal’s attempt qualified the “Roja”, back in the European elite after seven years of eclipse.
On the other hand, no new feat for the Swiss, who dreamed of doing it again after eliminating the world champion France in the previous round (3-3 ap, 5-3 tab) …