European Championships, Italy caught up in the final by Portugal: 1-1, but quarter-finals still within reach

A 'Del Piero-style' magic by Cristiana Girelli was not enough for Italy to fly to the quarter-finals of the Women's European Championship with a round to spare. The Azzurre in Geneva were caught up in the final (1-1) by Portugal and now, in the worst case scenario, in the event of a defeat on the last day against world champion Spain (Friday at 9 pm) and a simultaneous victory for Portugal over Belgium, they will have to be careful to maintain a better goal difference than the Portuguese (currently the situation is +1 to -5, ed. ) to continue their journey.

Salvai hits the crossbar, Girelli scores

Italy dominated in the first half but did not find the right spark to go ahead. Salvai hit the crossbar with a header, Girelli tested Morais three times. In one of these circumstances, Severini scored (38') on a rebound from the goalkeeper but referee Martincic disallowed it for offside. In the second half, the music did not change but the Azzurre, despite a lot of good will, decreased their danger rate. To break the deadlock, in the 70th minute, Girelli showed great skill with a magnificent right-footed shot from the edge of the area that slipped the ball into the opposite crossbar.

Portugal hits the woodwork twice then equalises

At this point Italy makes the mistake of sitting back, leaving the initiative to their opponents and ends up being punished. In the 80th minute Diana Silva equalizes by recovering her header that ends up on the post but the VAR comes to the aid of the Azzurre, canceling the goal for offside. The past danger does not shake the Azzurre who, after being saved by the crossbar in the 88th minute on a header by Carole Costa, suffer the 1-1 in the 89th minute by Diana Gomes who, freed in the area by Silva, goes over Giuliani with a mocking parable.

The Portuguese finished with 10 men: Borges sent off in the 96th minute

The excitement continues in injury time: Morais instinctively thwarts a close-range header from Bergamaschi at the near post, then (94') Giuliani saves the result by deflecting a two-step split shot from Fatima Pinto into a corner. Portugal finishes with 10 men after Ana Borges is sent off (96') for a second yellow card, but Italy fails to take advantage of the situation in their last move (98'): a shot from Bonansea from a tight angle is deflected by Gomes but ends up on the outside of the net with Morais wrong-footed. And so, to move forward, they will now need to try to get at least one point against Spain to avoid having to do calculations until the end.