Italy on Saturday overcame stubborn Austria 2-1 in extra-time at Wembley to reach the Euro 2020 quarter-finals, as Denmark breezed through by hammering Wales 4-0.
Roberto Mancini’s side, who earned rave reviews after their cruise through the group phase, were made to work hard for their win, and had super subs Federico Chiesa and Matteo Pessina to thank.
The win means Italy have set a record of 31 matches unbeaten, surpassing the mark set under two-time World Cup-winning coach Vittorio Pozzo in the 1930s.
Photo: AFP
Italy’s fans gave a rousing rendition of their national anthem, and were the more enterprising team in the first half, but Austria came back strongly after the break and cursed a video assistant referee decision to rule out a goal for Marko Arnautovic 20 minutes into the second half.
Despite multiple attempts on goal from both sides, they were locked at 0-0 after 90 minutes in London.
Chiesa made the crucial breakthrough five minutes into extra-time, and another goal from Pessina gave Italy a two-goal cushion.
There was still time for late drama when Austria’s Sasa Kalajdzic pulled a goal back, but Italy progress and would play the winners of yesterday’s tie between Belgium and holders Portugal.
Mancini, who has rebuilt the Azzurri after their humiliating failure to qualify for the 2018 World Cup, said his side “deserved” the result.
“In the first half we could have scored a couple of goals and then after the break we dropped off physically,” he told Italy’s public broadcaster RAI.
“We won thanks to the players who came on with the right mindset and resolved the situation. I knew it would be hard, maybe even more so than in the quarter-finals,” he added.
Earlier, Denmark eased into the quarter-finals with a 4-0 win over Wales in Amsterdam’s Johan Cruyff Arena, thanks to two goals from Kasper Dolberg’s and late goals from Joakim Maehle and Martin Braithwaite.
The Danes, carried by a wave of emotion, are the neutrals’ favorites after overcoming the trauma of Christian Eriksen’s cardiac arrest in their opening game.
They would face the Netherlands or Czech Republic in the quarter-finals after winning a knockout tie at the European Championship for the first time since they stunned the continent by winning the tournament in 1992.
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