Lorenzo Insigne doubles Italy’s lead over Belgium.
- Barella and Insigne strike with rasping right-foot shots
- Belgium fight back with Lukau penalty
- Spinazzola suffers tournament ending injury
- Italy to play Spain in Tuesday’s semi-final at Wembley
Italy, the most vibrant nation at Euro 2020, whether it is singing their national anthem, celebrating goals or chest-bumping over blocks and tackles, have made it to the semi-finals and it will take some effort to stop them going all the way. In so many ways their intensity is unrivalled.
In a memorable evening in Munich the number one team in the world, Belgium, could not halt them despite the determined efforts of Kevin de Bruyne and while it may not be the end of the road for him, just after his 30th birthday, this could well turn out to be a final hurrah for many of his country’s so-called Golden Generation.
It may be the end also for coach Roberto Martinez who appears set to leave after this tournament with Italy now going forward to face Spain in the last four at Wembley next Tuesday.
For their coach Roberto Mancini, it is an astonishing 32 games unbeaten and 13 consecutive wins – five in these finals – and almost as remarkable is the energy and relentless commitment he is summoning from his squad. And this from a country that did not even qualify for the World Cup three years ago and who were at their lowest ebb when he took over.
At the final whistle, Mancini gathered them all in a huddle and the message was clear: one more game to the final, he was imploring, as he held his finger up, before the players scattered. Covid restrictions went out the window as that old warhorse Giorgio Chellieni was engulfed in the crowd and Giovanni Di Lorenzo – who had been given a torrid time by Belgium’s 19-year-old winger Jeremy Doku (proof that the future is bright for them) – lost his shorts.
As unforgettable as Italy’s goals was the sight of Chiellini frantically grabbing Leonardo Spinazzola in celebration after the left-back had somehow blocked a goal-bound effort from Romelu Lukaku which would have drawn Belgium level. The one set-back was the loss of Spinazzola, one of the players of these finals, who left the pitch on a stretcher. There were even fears he had ruptured his Achilles tendon.
Belgium will rue their luck, they will rue Eden Hazard’s lack of fitness and that De Bruyne was struggling with injuries but ultimately they were victims of their own downfall. In the match-up of the thirty-something defenders, it was advantage Italy and that was summed up by their opening goal.
It also highlighted something that grates a little with the Italians and that is, undoubtedly, their gamesmanship. Maybe that is what it takes to win but it sticks in the craw as did the reaction of Ciro Immobile after his side scored. The striker had challenged for the ball with Thomas Vermaelen and stayed down, desperately trying to claim a penalty, much to the Belgian’s anger but immediately sprung up as Nicola Barella’s shot hit the net.
But it was Jan Vertonghen who was at fault as he over-ran the ball trying to bring it out of his own area with Marco Verratti intercepting and finding the tireless Barella who held off three challenges before firing across Thibaut Courtois.
The quarter-final fizzed and crackled as only a heavyweight encounter can, as only a meeting between two nations who believe they will win this tournament should and Italy doubled their lead when Lorenzo Insigne left Youri Tielemans trailing – maybe the midfielder was concerned having already been cautioned for bringing down Verratti – before running at Vertonghen and Vermaelen. They backed off and Insigne accepted the opportunity to arc a wonderful right-footed shot around them and beyond Courtois’s grasp.
Martinez looked stunned. Was it already all over? De Bruyne, risked despite his ankle problem after being had chopped down by Portugal, had fashioned two chances – with his fierce shot superbly palmed away by Gianluigi Donnarumma who then denied Lukaku after De Bruyne had dribbled from his own half.
But it was Doku who dragged Belgium back into it, winning a penalty as Di Lorenzo panicked and bundled the winger over as he ran past him. Italy were furious but Lukaku calmly stepped up and hammered the ball down the centre of the goal as Donnarumma dived to his left with the striker making a shushing motion to the young goalkeeper.
