Belgium receives their first points of the competition with to a late Cayman winner, as Portugal fails to pull off their miracle. The Portugal players’ cheeks start to well up with tears. They didn’t imagine the night would finish like this. They never really gave themselves a chance tonight, but it was always going to be difficult to push Italy into the second qualifying slot.
The family of the Italian players are rejoicing as Le Azzurre advanced to the knockout stages, despite their team’s loss to Spain. When the players approached them after the game to thank them for their steadfast support, there were many whoops, cheers, and scarf waves. They will next play Norway in Geneva.
How are things going in the quarterfinals?
Norway will play Italy on Wednesday, July 16 in Geneva. One of the two dark horses in the tournament will advance to the semifinals. On Friday, July 18, Spain will play Switzerland in Bern. It should be an exciting match between the world champions and the hosts.
Italy is picking up tips from past contests. They have a lot more players who play for multiple clubs, which is an intriguing aspect. They are growing and achieving results thanks to the relationships they make on the field.
When Spain faced Italy, it was a collision of two opposing ideologies. As expected, the defending world champions dominated the ball and had 77% of the possession in the first half. Italy, on the other hand, continued to play straightforward, counterattacking football, which surprisingly caused La Roja enough problems. Italy was patient and made an effort to respond with the few counterattacks they managed to create, but the quality difference between the two teams was too much to overcome. It seems certain that the third would be scored in the closing minutes, and Esther Gonzalez connected to an inch-perfect cross from Putellas to score the game-winning goal with a classic poacher’s finish. It was her fourth goal in three games thus far in an amazing tournament.
Although Portugal’s campaign is coming to an end, there were several noteworthy moments in their performance. When the chances came, they drove forward with purpose, remained compact, and shown poise with the ball. Although Telma Encarnacao’s equalizer was a well-earned reward for their perseverance, Belgium struck as they attempted to score a late victory of their own. This team demonstrated genuine development and tenacity tonight, traits that will help them in the future.
UEFA’s Technical Observer Group has selected Belgium captain Tessa Wullaert the Player of the Match.
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