Italy beats Belgium 2-1 / Euro 2020 Quarterfinals

Euro 2020 Quarterfinals 

Belgium 1-2 Italy

The #1 nation in the FIFA World Ranking is going home. Much like the #2 nation France at the last round, Belgium failed to live up to expectations as they exit early and deservedly. Italy missed the 2018 World Cup but have rebounded from this fiasco. The Italians have won all 5 games in the Euro 2020 tournament, equaling an all-time record of 13 straight wins for La Nazionale. 

Perfect start

Belgium and Italy played a very pleasant first half of football with many chances on both sides that. De Bruyne tested the goalkeeper but Insigne goal for Italy [2-0] was something else and the Napoli player curved beautifully the ball to the top left corner of Courtois’ goal. Lukaku converted a generous penalty awarded to the Belgian Red Devils. In the second half the Italians reverted to a more classic football from italy, trying to slow down the pace and often exaggerating on fouls committed by the opponent to gain time. 

Now Italy moves to play Spain in the semifinals at Wembley. Two nations we did not expect to go that far have now a chance to become the next European champions!

Post-game reaction

Coach Mancini – Italy:

“I don’t think we suffered too much in any moment of the game. To beat a team like Belgium you need a great performance by everybody and this is exactly what happened today. We scored two and we could have scored more. I think the victory is fully deserved. Spain are next but the more you go forward the most difficult it becomes. Tonight, however, we just want to think about our performance and our victory.”

Kevin De Bruyne – Belgium star:

“I think we tried everything to win that match. They scored a fantastic goal, but the first one may have been a mistake on our part. They had more possession and the ball didn’t go in for us, which is a shame. Getting eliminated is always a disappointment.

Belgium coach Martinez:
 
“We didn’t adapt to the first half as well as Italy did. But the players wanted to fight back during the second half. Unfortunately one team had to lose today and that was us. That second goal would have given us momentum and maybe we could have won. But we couldn’t get what we wanted. But I am proud of the attitude and commitment of the team.”
 
Previous articleManchester United agree Jadon Sancho deal
Next articleEuro 2020 Review: 5 Key Takeaways from This Summer’s Championships
90Soccer
https://90soccer.com

RELATED ARTICLESMORE FROM AUTHOR

3 COMMENTS

Comments are closed.