WE’VE REACHED THE last of the four quarter-finals as England take on Italy in the Ukrainian capital so stick around for all of the action.
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England 0-0 Italy (Italy win 4-2 on penalties)
19.28 – These two teams have not met in ten years when an Italian side led by one Giovanni Trapattoni beat England 2-1 in a friendly at Elland Road thanks to two goals from Vincenzo Montella. We’ve kindly compiled five memorable past meetings between the pair with goals from Roberto Baggio and a fresh-faced Paul Scholes.
19.34 – Our man at Euro 2012 Miguel Delaney believes that this will be the most evenly-matched of all the quarter-finals but has tipped a narrow Italian win. Read his excellent preview here.
19.43 – Anthems and handshakes out of the way so we’re about to begin. Going to stick my neck out and go with an England win here… 2-1.
19.47 – Play is underway as Italian strikers Antonio Cassano and Mario Balotelli kick off. The first pass back to Joe Hart is sliced out of play then when a ball bounces in the England box, John Terry hesitates before booting it away.
19.53 – Gianluigi Buffon has just single-handedly prevented England from taking the lead with an unbelievable stop. Glen Johnson begins an attack and advances into the box to get on the end of a James Milner cross. When the full-back eventually gets the ball out of his feet, however, his shot from 7 yards should be better and Buffon gets a hand to it. Great start here.
20.24 – Scott Parker tries to get close to Cassano but he wriggles free to blast goalward, where Hart saves well. The Spurs midfielder then crashes into De Rossi and is lucky not to pick up a booking.
20.55 – This is getting ridiculous now. Hart is poor when a long range shot comes in and parries straight to Balotelli. He shoots but it’s blocked by the England stopper before Montolivo follows up by sticking it over.
Italy’s finishing has been so wasteful tonight.
20.59 – Stop in play for a clash of heads between Ashley Young, who has been under-par, and Abate. Could be the Manchester United man’s last action as Theo Walcott and Andy Carroll are ready to join the action.
21.08 – Walcott’s first involvement sees him cross for Carroll and when the ball falls to the feet of Young his scuffed attempt is deflected wide.
There’s an awful lot of shirt pulling going on when the corner is swung in but, strangely, referee Pedro Proenca gives a free out.
21.18 – John Terry with one of his trademark blocks there from Marchisio. Was wondering when we would see one of those.
When England get a free down the other end, Rooney is a whisker (or a hair) away from connecting with Gerrard’s ball with his head.
21.31 – With a terrific first touch, Nocerino kills a pass and puts his foot through the ball but Johnson makes a vital block.
Just three minutes of added time on to be played, meaning it looks like we will be witnessing extra-time at Euro 2012 for the very first time.
21.35 –
Full-time: England 0-0 Italy (extra time to follow)
Walcott begins a move and Young, Cole and Carroll create for Rooney but he can’t keep his overhead kick down.
21.40 – Here’s the miss of the game. England were second best for the last 45 minutes and are only still here because of criminal finishing from the Italians. It’s still all to play for, though.
YouTube credit: FootballEuro12Match (h/t:Â 101greatgoals)
21.45 – Christian Maggio is booked a little harshly for a challenge on Young and will now miss the semi-final if Italy progress.
The number of Liverpool players on the pitch has just increased to four as Jordan Henderson is on in place of Parker.
21.57 – Johnson plays in Walcott and he clips one to the back post but it’s a little too high even for Carroll, who can’t connect properly. 15 minutes are up so it’s time to get some liquids on board and change ends.
22.14 – That is that *rubs hands together*…
ENGLAND V ITALY IS GOING TO PENALTIES
22.31 –
I thought we might have had that bit of luck in the penalty shootout but it wasn’t to be. Credit to Italy, though,” England skipper Steve Gerrard talking to the BBC.
22.43 – So the semi-finals look like this:
- Portugal v Spain, Donetsk, Wednesday
- Germany v Italy, Warsaw, Thursday
I’ll leave you with Pirlo’s cheeky pen but we’ll have post-match reaction on the site shortly. As always, cheers for the company!
YouTube credit: chrisiyo (h/t:Â James Dart)
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