مدير عام كرة القدم
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- Spain completed a perfect group stage campaign
- Progressed to the knockouts as group toppers
- Italy also proceeded with four points from three matches
It was a clash of two contrasting philosophies when Spain took on Italy. The reigning world champions were, as usual, dominant on the ball, enjoying 77 per cent of possession in the first half. Whereas Italy stuck to their direct and counter-attacking football, which surprisingly caused enough trouble to La Roja.
In fact, the Italians hit the crossbar and a few moments later took the lead in the tenth minute when Oliviero struck home from close range. However, their joys were short-lived, as Spain took fewer than five minutes to equalise. Del Castillo played a measured give-and-go with Alexia Putellas to unlock Italy’s defence and then rifled a shot into the top-left corner to get back into the match.
The goal lent them a spring in their step, and soon the Italians were chasing shadows. In the second half, they took just four minutes to get in front, and once again, it was Del Castillo who was in the thick of things. She skipped past four to five blue shirts before Martina Lenzini finally shook her off the ball. But her half-hearted clearance fell kindly for Guijarro, who swivelled her right foot on the ball to find the bottom-right corner.
Italy showed patience and tried to hit back with the few opportunities they carved out on the counter, but the gulf in quality between the two sides was too big to bridge. In the final few minutes, it looked inevitable that the third was coming, and Esther Gonzalez hit the final nail in the coffin with a typical poacher’s finish after connecting to an inch-perfect cross from Putellas. It was her fourth goal in three matches in a wonderful tournament so far.
Nonetheless, Italy were through to the quarter-finals with four points from three matches, as Belgium finished third with three points after beating Portugal 2-1.
Del Castillo was taken off at the hour mark, but the damage had already been done. She scored the first, set up the second and if she had stayed on for the 90 minutes the Real Madrid forward could have perhaps taken home the match ball.
Italy were still in the game at 1-1, but after Spain took the lead, Montse Tome’s troops did not give them another opportunity to sniff a comeback. And for the second, Lenzini must shoulder the blame. The defender should have cleared her lines, but a meek effort saw the ball fall for Guijarro, who was ready to take a mile given an inch.
Spain and Italy both progress from Group B. The 2024 World Cup winners will take on Switzerland in the quarter-finals on July 18, whereas the Italians will face Norway two days earlier in Geneva.
