Spain cruised to a 3-1 win over Italy on Friday, which sees both sides through to the knockout stages at the Women’s UEFA European Championship, with the Spaniards topping Group B to set up a showdown with hosts Switzerland, while the second-placed Italians are to meet Group A winners Norway.
Spain finished top of the group with a perfect nine points from their three games, with the Italians second on four points, one ahead of already-eliminated Belgium, who beat Portugal 2-1 to snuff out their chances of advancing.
The swashbuckling soccer of the Spaniards has singled them out as the team to beat in Switzerland, but once more they got off to a sluggish start before saving the day with some outstanding attacking play.
Photo: AP
The Italians almost took the lead in the 10th minute when captain Elena Linari smacked a powerful header off the crossbar, and seconds later they did score through Elisabetta Oliviero.
Italy worked the ball in from the left flank, and Martina Piemonte found enough space to squeeze off a shot that Spain’s Mariona Caldente tried to control, but she only succeeded in teeing up Oliviero to slam home the ball.
That jolted Spain into life, and they levelled four minutes later as the reigning FIFA World Cup and UEFA Nations League champions began to dominate possession, Athenea del Castillo working the ball in from the right before playing a brilliant one-two in a tight space with Alexia Putellas and firing into the net.
Patri Guijarro put Spain 2-1 up in the fourth minute of the second half, and the Italians struggled to get out of their half for much of the rest of the game, with Esther Gonzalez sealing the deal for Spain with a stoppage-time goal to make it 3-1.
Spain are to face Switzerland in Bern on Friday, while Italy are to meet Norway in Geneva on Wednesday.
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