Leonardo Bonucci and Giorgio Chiellini of Italy celebrated after defeating Belgium 2-1 in the quarters to set up a semi-final clash against Spain. While in the first quarterfinal of Euro 2020, Spain defeated Switzerland at Saint Petersburg in Russia on Friday. In the second quarterfinal, Italy beat Belgium to reach the semi-finals. Spain and Italy will now clash in the first semi-final of Euro 2020 on July 7, 2021, in London.
Mikel Oyarzabal held his nerves to score the crucial penalty as Spain entered the semi-finals of the ongoing Euro Cup after beating Switzerland 3-1 on penalties on Friday.
The match had gone to penalties after their last-eight tie had ended in a 1-1 draw. Even the extra time wasn’t able to separate the two sides before it all came down to the penalty shootouts for deciding the winner.
France, the world champion and the biggest favourite of the tournament, were defeated by underdogs Switzerland in a thrilling encounter. The Swiss team might have been the underdogs but they surely had the determination to defeat the 2018 World Cup champions. The French team overturned a 1-0 deficit to lead 3-1 with Karim Benzema’s brace and Paul Pogba’s perfectly curling shot. However, the Swiss team didn’t give up and scored the equalizer in the last minute of the regular time, forcing the match to go into extra time. With no goals in the extra time, the match went to a penalty shootout where Mbappe failed to score the final penalty.
Denmark continued their dream run in Euro Cup 2021 as they defeated Czech Republic 2-1 in the third quarterfinal at Baku Olympic Stadium on Saturday. Denmark won its first and only European title when they defeated Germany 2-0 in the 1992 final. At that time, more than half of the 26-man current squad had not yet been born. Now Denmark will square off with England, who thrashed Ukraine 4-0 in the 4th quarterfinal, in the Euro 2020 semifinals.
Thomas Delaney opened the scoring for the Danes in the 5th minute and Kasper Dolberg doubled it in the 42nd minute. Patrik Schick cut down the lead for the Czech side at the start of the second half, in the 49th minute, but the Danes held on to score a win.
Denmark had less possession — 45 per cent to Czech Republic’s 55 per cent and fewer shots at the goal — 11 to 16. However, the Danes had more shots on target — seven against Czech Republic’s five.
The semi-final spot is a surprise for the northern Europeans who had overcome tough times in early stage of the tournament.
