Dream comes true. Italy beats Spain and flies to the Wembley final, where he will face the winner of England-Denmark (21 hours), and he does so at the end of a tight semi-final, in which Spain probably deserved something more. In the end, however, the results count and the Azzurri managed to conquer him on penalties, Where Donnarumma e Jorginho they were decisive.
It certainly wasn't the best Italy, but it doesn't matter: games like this are won also thanks to episodes and luck, which however do not detract from a path that has been practically perfect up to now, certainly superior to that of the Iberians. Sure, yesterday we were afraid, because our desire for ball possession and dominant play collided against each other the superiority of Spain, able to make us go around in circles for most of the match. Luckily for us, the Red Furies, so good at moving the sphere, they weren't as effective at landing shots, allowing us to stay in the game tooth and nail, even in the most difficult moments.
“It was a very tough match, Spain are a great team, they are the masters of ball possession – the analysis by Mancini – We had a good race, but not as usual. They put us in trouble at first, then we found the right coordinates and we didn't suffer too much, but we knew very well that we would have to suffer. The merits belong to the boys, because three years ago they believed in us right away, but it's not over yet: now we have to recover the strength we have left, because there is a final to be won”.
“It was the hardest match I've ever played – he echoed Bonucci – Once again we have shown our values, the ability to suffer and the resilience that distinguishes us Italians. Now we need to regain strength, because that centimeter is still missing…”.
A lot of joy, in short, at least equal (if not, obviously, superior) to the suffering experienced in the 120' at Wembley. No need to hide it, tactically, Spain was superior to us, if only because this time, unlike in the past, we thought we could beat it on its own ground, namely that of ball possession and offensive play. That it would not have been like this, on the other hand, was understood from the first minutes, when it became clear that Luis Enrique's move by give up Morata (or to the point of role) in favor of the “false nueve” Dani Olmo had paid.
One of our greatest strengths, in fact, viz Chiellini in marking, failed, but in return the Spaniards gained one more man on the trocar, forcing us, minute after minute, to pull back the center of gravity and grit our teeth. In such a context, Italy has rediscovered the original imprinting of its football, therefore the dear old counterattack, as despised as it is useful - this is how the 60th arrived the 1-0 of Chiesa, son of a vertical restart from other times finalized with a right foot with a round of applause.
At that point Mancini tried to cover himself by inserting fresh forces (outside Emerson, Verratti and an impalpable Immobile for Toloi, Pessina and Berardi), but the script hasn't changed and Spain, by and by, he broke through the bunker in the 80th minute with Morata, who took over for Ferran Torres a few minutes earlier: 1-1 and ball in the centre, therefore ai additional. Where the script, despite the further changes (Bernardeschi for Chiesa, as well as Locatelli and Belotti in place of Barella and Insigne), has not changed, with the blues in great difficulty both in terms of ball possession (69% at 31) and shots towards goal (1 at 4).
However, the stopwatch ran its course, bringing the challenge on penalties and we did better there, despite the initial thrill caused by theLocatelli's mistake. Luckily, however, soon after, Dani Olmo was also wrong, immediately bringing the match back to a tie result. From then on, a green streak on both sides (Belotti and Bonucci for us, Moreno and Thiago Alcantara for them), up to the fourth penalty: goal by Bernardeschi, Morata's mistake, hypnotized by a glacial Donnarumma. The match point ended up on the feet of Jorginho, who sent Unai Simon to the bar and to the square to celebrate all of Italy.
Now begins a long count-down until Sunday, the day of the final, when we will face each other the British favourites or with the Danish outsiders. We will only know this evening, but in the meantime we have one certainty: we will be at Wembley, playing for a European throne that has been missing since 1968. A lot of stuff, but not enough to be satisfied, given that, at this point, the medal silver would not do justice to our journey, which went beyond all wildest expectations, and for this very reason deserving of a triumph that would rightfully end up in the history books.
