itsbeautifuloutside

IBO Reporter: channonite

|Well, the first 90 minutes of this game was the best of the tournament by a long way and I am not sure that anything that I write can do justice to it. Extra time though was more of a battle of attrition, with the older Italians struggling to hang on. In the end though, it was all about who would hold their nerves when it came to the penalty shoot-out and the Spanish cracked. The drama and sheer theatre of this game will take some beating though.

Italy's style of play has changed as the tournament has progressed and they have gone back to their old defensive ways, which has now taken them through to the final against England. In the group stages they were free-scoring and exciting to watch, while also solid at the back. Their record has now extended to eleven wins in a row without conceding. However, they needed extra time to beat Austria in the last 16 and then dug in to beat Belgium 2-1 in the quarter-final, while demonstrating their mastery of footballs dark arts.

There is no arguing with Mancini's record as manager, having taken over a team that failed to even qualify for the 2018 World Cup and has now not only qualified for the next available major tournament, but has led them to the final. One statistic that did surprise me, was that Italy have only ever won one European Championship, which was 53 years ago.

On the other hand, Spain have grown into the tournament and are the top scorers with 13 goals. However, ten of those goals came in two games and otherwise they have struggled to convert their chances. Slovakia are the only team they beat in 90 minutes in the current Euros. Yet with the chances they were creating it should have been so much more straightforward.

They started with no recognised striker in this match, as Morata was on the bench. Unfortunately it showed, with Oyarzabal and Olmo causing problems for the Italian defence, but seemingly unable to take any of the chances that came their way. Spain ended the match with sixteen shots to Italy's seven, but managed only one more effort on target than their opposition.

Spain had won all five previous semi-final appearances in major tournaments, winning in 2008, 2010 and 2012, but this marked the end of that remarkable run of success.

From the start, both teams went at it as though their lives depended on it. To say that it was breathless was an understatement and I think I spent the whole of the first 45 minutes on the edge of my seat. It was just end to end attacking football and the first goal seemed as though it must just be moments away.

We got to half-time and with the score still stubbornly stuck on 0-0. How, I really don't know. If I thought that the first half was frenetic, it had nothing on what then unfolded in the next 45 minutes, with both goalkeepers busy and some pretty uncompromising defending.

When the first goal eventually arrived, it was very much against the run of play. Spain were going through a period of domination, but Italian goalkeeper Donnarumma started the counter-attack that ended with Chiesa's superb finish from near the edge of the box, leaving goalkeeper Simon rooted to the spot. A superb goal worthy of a superb game. 1-0 Italy.

This seemed to galvanise both sides and the respective managers made three quick substitutions each.

Italy had a couple of chances to wrap up the game, but the Spanish continued to play some good eye-catching football and deserved to level when Morata, who had replaced Torres from the bench, ran onto Olmo's return pass to slot home. All square at 1-1.

It seemed that all too quickly we were at full time, with the referee adding three minutes, which passed without either side managing to conjure up a goal. As we started to think of the permutations, there were clearly some tired legs out there, such had been the pace of the game. Having a quick look at the team sheets and my notes, I could see that Italy had used five of their available substitutions to Spain's four. How would they use their remaining subs, would either side go for it, or would they become defensive, looking for the penalty shoot-out?

Extra time began and it very quickly became apparent that Italy were risking nothing and were seemingly content to play for penalties. They made just the one defensive substitution early on, with Spain making two and the game slowed right down from the frenetic activity of the previous 93 minutes. Everyone now seemed prepared for the seemingly inevitable penalty shoot-out.

Italy got off to the worst possible start when Locatelli's penalty was saved, but Belotti, Bonucci, and Bernardeschi converted the next three of their spot-kicks. Meanwhile, Olmo failed with Spain's first kick, then Moreno and Alcántara scored, before Morata failed to leave the score at 3-2 to Italy with Jorginho nonchalantly waiting for Spain keeper Simon to move before slotting the other way for the final penalty kick, to send them through to the final.

IBO Reporter: jickster

|Is it coming home? It's only one stop away now. What a night, full of emotion and drama and for once a happy ending for England in a semi-final. Denmark did their bit, and certainly made a massive contribution to the tournament overall, but over the course of the 120 minutes they were beaten by the better side despite their best efforts.

We could break this up into two distinct hours of play. In the first hour the tie could have gone either way, Denmark were certainly giving as good as they got and had good spells of dominance where they threatened to spoil the Wembley party. But they noticeably tired as the game went on and the second hour was really a question of whether they could hold on for penalties to reach the final - ultimately they couldn't, despite a superb performance by Schmeichel in goal.

The first ten minutes started brightly for England, Kane's cross was just beyond Sterling, then Sterling cut inside but couldn't get any power behind his shot. It looked like we could be in for a cruise for England like the quarter-final, but the Danes are made of sterner stuff than Ukraine and started to disrupt England's play, Hojbjerg and Delaney taking control of the midfield, while England looked nervy at the back. Pickford in particular causing concern with his poor kicking. England look rattled and start making errors, Phillips losing the ball in midfield and Hojbjerg has a shot that Pickford saves, but the keeper then throws it straight to Dolberg, who finds Braithwaite for another shot that is deflected wide.

The Danes are well on top by now and deservedly take the lead. Their set-pieces are inventive and cause problems for England, first they crowd the 6 yard box from a corner which unsettles England. Then from a free kick just inside England's half their players all crowd into a small space before running forward. England don't seem to know how to respond to this and in the confusion Shaw concedes another free kick within shooting range. This time Damsgaard hits a beauty into the top corner to put the Danes in front.

England look panicky, and Southgate tells them to calm down as the game threatens to run away from them. But then England start to get back into their rhythm, Kane and Saka linking well, first Saka releases Kane whose low cross finds Sterling - Schmeichel makes himself big and the shot hits his stomach when a goal looked certain. Then Kane lets Saka in and he again tries to find Sterling, but Kjaer gets the first although he is unable to do anything but turn it into his own net for the equaliser. England get a confidence boost and push for a second. Sam Matterface, bizarrely promoted to ITV's lead commentator says "A second goal now would do England... good". A poet of the airwaves.

The second half starts in a frenzy of end-to-end attacks, both sides going close, notably a Maguire header forcing another excellent save from Schmeichel - Lee Dixon claims it is like Seaman's semi-final save against Sheff Utd, but really it was nothing like that, although another example of how Schmeichel seemed unbeatable at times.

The to and fro isn't really sustainable and isn't desirable from England's perspective. Denmark had made a long trip to Baku for the quarter final while England had played the last half hour in Rome at walking pace and for the first time in the game it starts to tell. Rice and Phillips get a grip of the game, their partnership in midfield has grown through the tournament and they start to show it as the Danes are forced to drop deeper. Denmark also need to make a few subs, withdrawing some of their more potent players in Dolberg and Daamsgaard, later key defender Christensen also goes off and their bench just isn't deep enough to cope with like for like changes in terms of quality.

The game becomes attack against defence as England look for a winner. Kane goes down under a challenge that looks more like a penalty than the one awarded later, but we'll get to that. Grealish comes on as England look to unpick the lock and there are some scrambles and desperate blocks, but the Danes hold out until the end of 90 minutes.

Southgate tries to turn the screw, bringing on Foden too, as England set up camp in Denmark's final third as extra time begins. Kane's low shot and Grealish's blast are again repelled by Schmeichel, but there appears to be no way past him. Then Sterling does what he has all evening, taking the ball and wriggling past a defender to put the defence under pressure. Jensen and Maehle come across to try to squeeze him out and there's a touch on his leg which is all the invitation he needs to go down. The ref gives a penalty, it's soft for sure but given that there is contact, VAR is never going to overrule the decision. Kane's penalty is dreadful, weak and low and easily blocked by Schmeichel, but he's unable to push it wide, instead it falls straight to Kane to turn in on the rebound and England finally lead on the night. The constant pressure took a long time to pay off, but the crowd go bananas as England have a foot in the final.

Southgate takes another risk by withdrawing Grealish to bring on Trippier, which does cede the initiative to the Danes at the start of the second period of extra time, but their efforts are hopeful at best by now and they don't have much more to give. Eventually England start to regain composure, at one point putting together an apparently 53-pass move to close the game out, a third England goal looking more likely than a Danish equaliser. Finally the game ends to the delight of the majority of the Wembley crowd.

A really exciting game that started off evenly, but across 120 minutes England deserved the win although the impact of the respective quarter finals may have played a part in Denmark's tiredness. The Danes gave absolutely everything in this match and across the tournament which has been so emotional for them. They've captured the imagination, responding with great dignity to the trauma of Eriksen's collapse and playing some exciting football to get this far.

England can look to Sunday now. Italy will have had an extra day's rest but they also went the distance in the semi-final, so I don't think that will impact on the final, which is a 50-50 call now. But England's players are in good form at the moment, there aren't any players that look under pressure for their places based on performances. And with Kane among the goals and contributing in general play too, and Sterling playing as well as he has ever done in an England shirt, England will never have a better chance of lifting a trophy. But even if England lose the final, this has been an extraordinary run, where things that have historically caused mental blocks for the players have been overcome to produce dramatic and well-deserved results, all of which is to the credit of Southgate and his players.