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Euro 2020: Italy beats Spain in PKs to advance to final

Nick Bromberg
·College football and motorsports writer
·2-min read

Italy is heading to the final of Euro 2020.

The Italians beat Spain 4-2 in penalty kicks after the teams were tied 1-1 after regulation and extra time on Tuesday at Wembley Stadium. Italy will play the winner of England vs. Denmark on Sunday for the title.

Jorginho went fifth for Italy and scored a sublime penalty that had Spain goalie Unai Simon going the wrong way before the ball was kicked. Just look at this clincher.

Both teams missed their first penalties while Alvaro Morata missed Spain's fourth kick. That opened the door for Jorginho to put Italy in the final with his kick.

The missed penalty for Morata came after he tied the game in the 80th minute. The striker didn't start the match but came on as a substitute and his entrance sparked Spain in the second half. Spain looked the better side for much of the second half and extra time but never got the winning goal.

Italy's players celebrated the win by chanting "Spina, Spina" in honor of teammate Leonardo Spinazzola. The 28-year-old fullback had been one of the best players of Euro 2020 before he tore his left Achilles tendon in the second half of the quarterfinal against Belgium. Spinazzola had surgery on Monday for the injury.

The victory also extends some remarkable unbeaten runs for Italy. The Italians have now won all six of their games in Euro 2020 and 16 games across Euro 2020 and the qualifiers. Both of those are records. Italy is now also unbeaten in 33 consecutive matches across all competitions. Italy last lost in September of 2018 — the same year it missed the World Cup.

Crazily enough, a win in Sunday's final would only be the second European Championship triumph for Italy. The Italians also won in 1968 and finished second in 2000 and in 2012, when they lost to Spain.

Italy struck first on Tuesday in the 60th minute with Federico Chiesa's wonderful finish. It took 13 seconds, three passes, and a deflection between the ball leaving goalie Gianluigi Donnarumma's hands and hitting the back of the net.

Morata came on minutes after that goal and Spain was suddenly energized. His tying goal came 20 minutes after Chiesa's goal and ultimately sent the game into extra time.

Tuesday's match was the third time a Spain game had gone past regulation, and the second time Italy had seen extra time since the group stage. Spain beat Croatia and Switzerland (in penalty kicks) to advance to the semifinals while Italy needed 30 more minutes to beat Austria in the Round of 16.

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