Italy escapes surprising exit after Chiesa and Pessina score in extra time: next clash against Belgium? | European Football Championship (11 June to 11 July)

Unbeaten for 31 matches. Just under 12 matches without a goal against. Gianluigi Donnarumma who beat the record of the legendary Dino Zoff from 1974. Knocked again after 1,169 minutes. Victory against Austria. In the quarter-finals of the European Championship. However, Italy will not have a pure sea-sweet feeling from the Wembley trip. Barely two chances in the first half. Barella kicks goalkeeper Bachmann, Immobile was unlucky with a nice long shot against the stake. And a dragon of a second half. Austria actually the better team. More dangerous too. Especially when Arnautovic headed home. The Belgians cheered. Just to see the goal disallowed. Offside, courtesy of the video ref. The Squadra escaped.

Mancini had already taken Verratti, who had started against Locatelli, and Barella to the side. A little later, Immobile and Berardi would also follow. Eyebrows were furrowed in the boot. But the bills would be bad. In the first overtime, Chiesa struck first, a little later, Pessina also hit again. The Atalanta midfielder took over after work from Belotti, who had already come in. Mancini clenched his fists, assistant Vialli emotional.

A delicate and precise header from Kalajdžic made it even more exciting. It was to no avail for surprisingly strong Austrians. The Squadra survived after a long very poor performance. That robust defender Francesco Acerbi is the man of the match (see below) said it all. But Italy once again shows itself to be a real tournament team. Everything except the steamroller of the first two matches, but in the quarterfinals. Against Belgium?

Also read. The Italian machine moves on: how Mancini threw the DNA of the Squadra overboard with a successful recipe and young talent (+)

More statistics can be found on Sofascore Sofa

Roberto Mancini knew that the match against Austria would be one “with many pitfalls”. “I even said before the game that the match against Austria might be more difficult than the quarterfinals,” said Mancini. “They may have a less good team, but it’s extremely difficult to make them fold. If we could have scored in the first half, it might have been a different game.”

Mancini admits that the players have had to tap into their reserves. “The players wanted so badly to win and luckily the substitutes have brought new blood into the team. Yes, Verratti and Barella were tired, they were slower because they had walked so much. The substitutes were brilliant and helped us change the course of the game.” Italy will meet the Red Devils or Portugal in the quarterfinals. “It is not easy to choose who we prefer to play against. We would like to avoid both teams, but that is impossible.”

Franco Foda, the German national coach of Austria, realizes that Austria came close to a stunt against Italy. “All players are disappointed, but proud of their 120-minute performance,” it said at the press conference. “This team made history by reaching the round of 16 at a European Championship and facing off against a favorite that we took to the fire. We were close, but we were inattentive twice,” said Foda. “But even after those goals, the players continued to believe in it. We still scored and came close to 2-2.”

The national coach is already looking ahead to the World Cup in Qatar. “We played a great European Championship, we had good dynamics in the squad and showed a good attacking game. This was a very mature performance. We will start preparing for the World Cup from September.”

Striker Sasa Kalajdzic, who scored the Austrian goal, clearly showed his disappointment after the game. “It is not only the cruelest night of my career, but one of the cruelest in Austrian football history. The Italian victory was not really deserved, we were their equal.”