Italy came through a penalty shootout to seal the last Semi-Final spot and set up a clash with Germany.
Nobody can deny Italy deserved their victory but once it gets to a penalty shootout anyone can win.
England started off quite well and had two or three good chances early on. Glen Johnson should have done better from 6 yards but the ball seemed to get caught in his feet and he could only scoop the ball straight at Buffon. Wayne Rooney was unlucky with a header and Danny Welbeck went close after a nice passing move between him & Rooney.
Italy were also unlucky in the opening minutes with Daniele De Rossi's speculative effort struck the inside of the post & came back out into play.
After England's good start, it wasn't long before the Italians began to dominate. England had lined up in a flat 4-4-2 and the Italians were playing a narrow 4-4-2 diamond. This left the Italians with an extra man in the middle & Pirlo then dropped into the space between the midfield and defence. Due to being light in the middle the English wingers were being dragged into the centre & this left the Italian full backs with a free run up the wings & they kept England in their own half for most of the game.
Such was the Italian dominance a comfortable victory of three or four nil would not have been a flattering scoreline. However, England deserve credit as their defence and midfield worked extremely hard to keep the Italians score at nil.
Balotelli was lively throughout & could have grabbed a few goals but was denied by a mixture of bad finishing, good goalkeeping & good defending.
The overwhelming Man of the Match was Italys, Andrea Pirlo. He ran the game from his deep lying midfield position & managed to complete 115 passes which was 32 more than his nearest rival, Riccardo Montolivo. Englands top passer was Ashley Cole with 33. Eight Italians completed more passes than Ashley Cole which emphasises how dominant Italy were.
Despite all the Italian possession and chances they couldn't break down the tough English defence in 120 minutes so the game went to a penalty shootout.
After both teams scored their first penalty it was suddenly advantage, England. Montolivo missed the target & Wayne Rooney scored for England to put them ahead 2-1 after two penalties each.
Andrea Pirlo stepped up next for Italy to score one of the gutsiest penalties you are ever likely to see. With Italy behind in the shootout the pressure was firmly on Pirlo to keep them in the tie. The Juventus man stepped up and dinked the ball straight down the middle. Had England keeper, Joe Hart, stood his ground it would have been one of the easiest saves of his career but he had dived to his right & Pirlo scored.
Ashley Young stepped up for England & summed up his entire tournament in one kick. He struck the cross bar & the scores were now level at 2-2 after 3 penalties each.
Nocerino scored for Italy & the pressure was now on Ashley Cole. Cole hit a weak penalty & Buffon was able to get down to his left to make the save. Italy were now ahead & Alessandro Diamanti would have the opportunity to send his side into the Semi-Finals. Diamanti sent Hart the wrong way and it was yet more penalty heartbreak for England.
Italy will now play Germany in Thursday's Semi-Final. Germany have been very impressive so far. They have a 100% record throughout the Finals and qualifying. Italy will have to improve again and play better than they have so far to have any chance of beating the Germans.
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