Italy join Spain in Women's Euro quarter-finals, Belgium edge past Portugal
Athenea, Patri Guijarro and Esther Gonzalez scored the goals in Bern for Spain who finished the group stage on a perfect nine points, five ahead of second-placed Italy who will face Norway in the last eight on Wednesday.
'We had one key objective and that was to get through,' said Andrea Soncin who has taken Italy to the last eight of the women's Euros for the first time since 2013.
'We can still develop and there is a gap between us and Spain, but you saw that with good organisation we can compete.
Spain players celebrate. AP
'Obviously they have really great players who regardless of how organised you are can mess everything up for you, but we're very happy to have qualified.'
Spain meanwhile will take on hosts Switzerland in a week's time as they aim to follow up their World Cup win with a first-ever Euros triumph.
Montse Tome's team scored 14 times in three group matches, just four fewer goals they scored in Australia and New Zealand two years ago.
'We will make the most of the time, adapt so that the players have time to rest physically and mentally, and also have some fun,' said Tome.
'I hope we manage to keep doing what we are doing because we won three games from three, and it's the first time Spain have done this.'
Italy, who took the lead through Elisabetta Oliviero in the 10th minute, ended the group stage one point ahead of third-placed Belgium who snatched a last-gasp win in Sion through Janice Cayman.
Italy's defender #02 Elisabetta Oliviero celebrates after scoring the opening goal during the match between Italy and Spain at the Wankdorf Stadium in Bern, on Friday. AFP
Belgium were already eliminated before kick-off and only Portugal had a chance of overtaking Italy heading into the final round of Group B fixtures.
But Soncin's Italy started the game knowing that a defeat would have likely been enough for a spot in the quarters even if Portugal beat Belgium due to the significant goal difference gap between the two teams.
Three points separated Italy and Portugal at kick-off and Italian fans were able to relax when Tessa Wullaert stuck out her left leg to guide home Jill Janssens' low cross and put Belgium ahead in the third minute.
Shortly afterwards Elena Linari thumped a header against the crossbar from Manuela Giugliano's corner, and then Oliviero gave Italy a shock lead by pouncing on a loose ball in the penalty area after some poor defending from Spain.
Portugal's forward #23 Telma Encarnacao celebrates after scoring a goal during the match between Portugal and Belgium at the Stade de Tourbillon in Sion on Friday. AFP
But Spain soon began to assert their dominance and four minutes later Athenea brought them level with a wonderful goal, dribbling towards the edge of the area before exchanging passes with Alexia Putellas and curling home a superb finish.
The Spanish continued to have the lion's share of possession but Italy were dangerous on the break, with Martina Piemonte, up front in place of Cristiana Girelli, shanked wide when clean through on goal.
And Barbara Bonansea headed over Sofia Cantore's cross two minutes before the break as Italy pushed ot retake the lead.
But Spain were deservedly in front three minutes after the break through Patri whose sliced first-time finish crept past Italy goalkeeper Laura Giulinani.
Spain poured forward and added a third in stoppage time through Esther Gonzalez.
But it mattered little by that point as even though Telma Encarnacao levelled late for Portugal, Cayman lashed home a loose ball in the 96th minute to give Belgium a thrilling win after they had two goals chalked off by VAR.
Italy's players jumped and hugged once Belgium's success was confirmed, before basking in the applause of their travelling support.
Agence France-Presse
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Gulf Today
39 minutes ago
- Gulf Today
England seek revenge against Spain as rivals meet in Euro final
England are aiming to retain their title and avenge defeat at the hands of Aitana Bonmati's Spain in the Women's World Cup final of two years ago when the rivals meet again on Sunday to decide who will win Euro 2025. The showdown at St Jakob-Park in the Swiss city of Basel promises to be a fascinating contest between a Spain side looking to add the continental crown to their world title, and an England team who can secure back-to-back European Championship victories, and make up for the heartache of 2023 in the process. Spain beat England 1-0 in Sydney to win the World Cup for the first time, with Olga Carmona scoring the only goal -- another victory for La Roja on Sunday would cement their status as the dominant force in women's international football. 'We have so much respect for them and the quality they have, but we also believe in ourselves, that we can really step up,' said England's Ella Toone on Friday. Toone, 25, scored the first goal for the Lionesses when they beat Germany 2-1 after extra time at Wembley to win the last Women's Euros three years ago, and has played a key role in Switzerland on their run to a third straight major tournament final. 'It is amazing. To make three consecutive finals for England is something that we can all be so proud of,' she said at the team's base in Zurich. That remarkable run has come under the management of Sarina Wiegman, the Dutch coach who took charge in 2021 and immediately turned them into contenders. 'She is a great manager, someone we all have a lot of belief in and we know we are in good hands. It is an unbelievable achievement for her,' added Toone of Wiegman, who also won the Euros with her native Netherlands in 2017. It has not been an easy road to the final for England this time, with the Lionesses coming back from the brink of elimination more than once. Their title defence started with a 2-1 defeat by France in their opening group game three weeks ago. The Lionesses recovered to reach the knockout stages by hammering the Netherlands and Wales, but then required a remarkable comeback from two goals down to eventually beat Sweden on penalties in the quarter-finals. They then trailed to Italy in the semi-finals in Geneva until a 96th-minute goal by Michelle Agyemang forced extra time, and Chloe Kelly scored the winner just as another shoot-out loomed. 'The belief in the squad, the resilience and the togetherness in this group is just so special,' said Kelly, who has made a big impact from the bench in the last two rounds. But it remains to be seen if that resilience will be enough against a brilliant Spain side led by reigning Ballon d'Or Bonmati. The Barcelona midfielder -- who was in hospital with viral meningitis just before the tournament started -- scored the extra-time winner as Spain edged Germany in the last four to reach a first ever European Championship final. 'All the hard work we have put in has paid off,' said coach Montse Tome, who took over from Jorge Vilda following the 2023 World Cup triumph. Spain could have as many as seven starters on Sunday who featured in that game in Sydney, including Alexia Putellas -- she was only a bit-part player at the World Cup as she recovered from a knee injury, but Bonmati's predecessor as Ballon d'Or winner has been much more influential here. The theme of revenge could also apply to the Spaniards, who were knocked out of the last Euros by England, going down in extra time in the quarter-finals. Just two months ago an Arsenal side featuring several members of Wiegman's current England squad defeated Barcelona in the final of the Women's Champions League. Seven of the players who started for Barcelona that day in Lisbon are likely to start for Spain on Sunday, including Bonmati and Putellas. If they come out on top they will be the first nation to win the Women's World Cup and Euros back-to-back since Germany in 2007 and 2009, and they can also follow in the footsteps of their men's counterparts -- Spain beat England in the final of the men's Euro last year. Agencies
The National
4 hours ago
- The National
Belgian GP: Lando Norris secures pole after Max Verstappen takes sprint-race honours
It will be an all-McLaren front row in Sunday's Belgian Grand Prix after Lando Norris secured pole position ahead of teammate and championship leader Oscar Piastri. British driver Norris is looking for a hat-trick of wins – having been victorious in the previous two races at Silverstone, in front of his home fans, and Austria – and goes into Sunday's GP nine points behind Piastri in the drivers' standings. And Norris would pip Piastri by just 0.085 seconds at Spa-Francorchamps. Charles Leclerc's Ferrari is on the second row next to Max Verstappen's Red Bull after qualifying on Saturday, one position clear of Williams' Alex Albon, with George Russell sixth for Mercedes. Norris qualified six tenths behind Piastri in Friday's qualifying but insisted: 'I was confident after yesterday – 0.3 secs is just slipstream and not being first out of the pit lane. It was a decent lap, so I'm happy.' Rain is forecast for Sunday's 44-lap race, and Norris continued: 'I prefer it to stay dry. But I don't mind if it is wet, or dry, or somewhere in the middle. I just hope it is an exciting race.' Piastri admitted the day had been 'a bit disappointing' after the Australian had been bested by Norris again. 'The second lap was coming together really well but just made a little mistake into 14 and lost a lot of time,' he said. 'The car was really good but it's fine margins out there. 'We're a good teammate pairing, we learn a lot from each other. Felt like I did OK but didn't quite execute when it matters.' Lewis Hamilton's weekend took another nightmare twist after he qualified only 16th. The seven-time world champion, who started 18th and finished 15th in the sprint race, was eliminated in Q1 for Sunday's main event after his best lap was chalked off by the stewards. The Briton thought he had done enough to haul his Ferrari into the next phase of qualifying when he posted the seventh best time. But moments later, his lap was deleted after he was adjudged to have run all four wheels of his Ferrari off the circuit. That dropped him way down the order. Is everything OK?' Hamilton asked on the radio. 'Track limits,' replied Hamilton's race engineer, Ricardo Adami. 'Am I out?' Hamilton replied. 'Lap time is deleted, P16,' came the response. There was no response from the 40-year-old who is left to reflect on another sobering result of his difficult start to life at Ferrari, calling his own performance 'very poor'. Hamilton, who spun in qualifying for the sprint, enters Sunday's race without a podium for Ferrari – the deepest he has gone into a season in his career without a top-three finish. 'I was the same as I was for the rest of the weekend, we made some changes and the car didn't feel terrible,: said Hamilton. 'It was tough for us we had to even put our second set [of tyres] on just to get through Q1 so not great. 'From my side I made a mistake so I've got to look internal and I've got to apologise to my team because that is just unacceptable to be out in both Q1's. It's a very poor performance for myself.' Earlier, Verstappen had welcomed new Red Bull boss Laurent Mekies to the race team by winning the sprint race in style after starting from second on the grid. He held off the challenge of Piastri and Norris to earn Meckies an early success after replacing the sacked Christian Horner as team principal. 'Max was brilliant and all the guys did a great job,' said the former boss of Red Bull's 'B' team Racing Bulls. 'He was under massive pressure and he made almost no mistakes and the team extracted everything from the car and the tyres.'
Al Etihad
5 hours ago
- Al Etihad
Liverpool beaten 4-2 in AC Milan friendly
26 July 2025 19:02 HONG KONG (Reuters)AC Milan beat Liverpool 4-2 in a pre-season friendly in Hong Kong on Saturday as the Premier League club's record signing, Florian Wirtz, made his first start for them. Former Liverpool manager Kenny Dalglish laid a wreath before the game, and the players had "Diogo J 20" on their shirts in honour of their former teammate Diogo Jota, who died along with his brother Andre Silva in a car accident in Spain this month. Liverpool fans pay tribute to the late Liverpool player Diogo Jota before their friendly exhibition football match against AC Milan at the Kai Tak Stadium in Hong Kong (PHOTO: Peter PARKS / AFP) The English champions fell behind in the 10th minute when Rafael Leao scored from a Christian Pulisic pass. Dominik Szoboszlai levelled 20 minutes later with a curling shot from the edge of the box following an assist by Rio Ngumoha, who latched onto a long ball from Ryan orchestrated a devastating counter-attack as Milan reclaimed the lead early in the second half. The Portuguese winger powered past Conor Bradley on the left flank and squared for Ruben Loftus-Cheek, who fired home from inside the Okafor added Milan's third in the 60th Gakpo nodded in a stoppage-time consolation for Liverpool before Okafor walked in his second following a bad mix-up between Kostas Tsimikas and new Liverpool goalkeeper Giorgi Mamardashvili, who had rushed out of his replaced Alisson Becker in the second half, while Milan's new defender Pervis Estupinan, who joined from Brighton & Hove Albion, also made his debut. Wirtz and Ngumoha were the standouts for Liverpool in the first half, and Jeremie Frimpong impressed in the second, but Arne Slot's team were outplayed by their Italian opponents.
