Another fascinating day at Euro 2020 is now in the books, as we saw a heavyweight and an underdog go out in the first round of quarterfinal matches. There was a penalty shootout, a red card, and some spectacular goals. All in all, it was a great day of knockout round soccer, so let’s dive right into the action.
The day, and the round, kicked off with Switzerland taking on Spain, as the Swiss attempted to continue their magical run and knock off another favorite. Things got off to a rough start for them, however, as a Denis Zakaria own-goal gave Spain the lead just eight minutes in. Jordi Alba’s shot ricocheted off his outstretched leg and past a frozen Yann Sommer to put Spain on top. It took Switzerland roughly an hour to find an equalizer, but when they did, it was well deserved. They had managed to push forward enough to get the goal they needed while also remaining tight at the back. They did benefit from some poor Spanish defending, as a miscommunication led to Remo Freuler picking up the ball and finding Shaqiri to slot home, but they had gotten back into the game well and deserved their equalizer. 10 minutes after leveling the score, things went sideways for the Swiss. Freuler went into a challenge with his studs exposed, and though he only made contact with his trailing leg and not his outstretched foot, Michael Oliver saw fit to send him off. I think it was the correct decision, as it was a reckless challenge and if he had made contact with his leading foot, he could have broken the leg of Gerard Moreno.
The red card swung the game, and Spain took back control after Switzerland had looked more likely to score after equalizing. However, the Spaniards were unable to break through the Swiss defense, mostly thanks to the play of Sommer, who was brilliant in the second half to send the game to extra time, and then brilliant again in both extra time periods. He made a bevy of incredible saves, and despite the Spanish dominance after the red card, it seemed like Sommer would at least get the Swiss to penalties, and he did. Going into the shootout, everything seemed in Switzerland’s favor. They had a goalkeeper playing out of his mind, and they had already won a penalty shootout in this tournament. That continued when Sergio Busquets hit his penalty off the post to give the Swiss an early advantage. However, things went haywire after that, and only four of the final eight penalties were converted. Three of those four were scored by Spain, and they came away with a 3-1 penalty shootout victory. After making all five of their penalties against France, Switzerland’s penalties in this game were extremely poor, culminating with Ruben Vargas hitting his penalty over the bar to give Spain the chance to win.
While it came to a heartbreaking end, this was a phenomenal tournament for Switzerland. They started off poorly but recovered to knock out the defending world champions and push Spain to penalties. They will wonder if they could have won this game without the red card or an injury to Breel Embolo, but they have a lot to be proud of from this tournament. Spain got off to a similarly rough start, but they have really kicked into gear over the last three games and looked more like the dominant Spain team of the early 2010’s. This is a team brimming with confidence and quality, and they have as good a chance as anyone to lift the trophy.
Today’s second match saw a pair of heavyweights pitted against each other in the most anticipated match of the quarterfinals, Belgium vs. Italy. This match was as exciting as we could have hoped, with Italy controlling the ball and Belgium looking to get out in transition. They succeeded, and there were periods of this match when the ball was just going back and forth down the field at breakneck speed. The first 30 minutes were entertaining, but this match really sprang into life in the last 15 minutes of the first half. First, Nicolo Barella gave Italy the lead after some wonderful control in the box and an excellent far-post finish. 13 minutes later, Lorenzo Insigne doubled their lead with an absolute golazo, a beautiful curling effort from 25 yards out. It looked as though Italy might run away with it after that, but Jeremy Doku drew a penalty for Belgium as the half was coming to a close. Romelu Lukaku fired home confidently from 12 yards, and all of a sudden Belgium was back in this game.
The second half was much less dramatic than the first, but the quality of players all over the pitch for both sides meant that it was far from boring. Belgium needed an equalizer, but strangely didn’t push forward as much as you would expect in a quarterfinal that they were trailing. This was the part of the game when the absence of Eden Hazard was huge for Belgium, as they really could have used a player of his quality. Despite the fact that they could have used E. Hazard, especially later on in the match, Doku was fantastic in his place. He was probably Belgium’s most dangerous attacker, and his pace caused the Italian defense fits. However, they did just enough to keep Belgium at bay, and a lot of credit for that goes to their two center backs, Giorgio Chiellini and Leonardo Bonucci, who have been fantastic in this tournament. They handled the threat of Lukaku extremely well, and their play is a huge reason why Italy look like the best team in this competition.
Even thought they bowed out against an excellent Italian side, this will still be seen as a disappointment for Belgium. This was likely the last chance for their ‘golden generation’ to take home some silverware, and it is somewhat anticlimactic for it to end in just the quarterfinals. For Italy, they have come all the way back from their failure to qualify for the 2018 World Cup to reclaim their usual place as one of the world’s top teams. They have looked every bit of that so far in this competition, and I think they should be considered the favorites to win it going forward, if they weren’t already.