Women's Euro: 1-1 with Portugal, Italy postpones quarter-final dream

The finish line of the quarter-finals of the European Championship seemed to be one step away for the Italian women, but one minute from the 90th minute the goal of the Portuguese Gomez cancelled out that of Cristiana Girelli, setting the result at 1-1 and postponing all the verdicts to the last round. The Azzurre will face Spain, already qualified, and a positive result will be needed to avoid the risk of losing the second place in the group.

"We were two minutes away from qualifying and so it's a shame, but we still have the ball in our hands and honestly we would have signed before the start of the tournament to find ourselves like this after two games - commented the coach, Andrea Soncin, to the microphones of Rai -. There is a bitter taste in the mouth but also the confidence of being able to obtain qualification. The girls played the expected game, I am very happy with what they showed. With Spain we will play the game at our best, we have the weapons to do damage but we will have to start strong and not lower ourselves too much". "There is a lot of regret, we deserved the victory - the words of Girelli - but everything is in our hands".

For the second match of the group, Soncin confirmed the formation that beat Belgium in the debut, with the trident formed by Caruso, Cantore and Girelli. Many changes, however, among the Portuguese, who started with caution while Italy was dangerous twice with Girelli and Salvai hit the crossbar with a header. In the second half, the Azzurre found the advantage in the 25th minute but then suffered the reaction of their rivals, risking several times to concede the equalizer, which came in the 44th minute even if another goal had been previously disallowed for offside.

The last obstacle of the group will be Spain, who after beating Portugal 5-0 inflicted a tennis-like 6-2 on Belgium. A brace from Alexia Putellas and goals from Paredes, Gonzalez, Caldentey and Pina gave the Iberians another goleada that confirms the strength and above all the aspirations of the world champion national team, favorite to win the first European title in its history. The last match will thus decide the standings of group B, which sees Italy second with 4 points and Portugal third with one. A draw with the Iberians would guarantee the quarterfinals, a goal that has been missing since 2013.