The victory pushes Italy into the tournament’s semifinals, where Spain will oppose them for a place in the finale.
Italy did very well against Belgium
Leonardo Bonucci says he and his teammates showed “the heart of this Italy side and of the Italians” in a 2-1 victory over Belgium in the Euro 2020 quarterfinals on Friday. The victory pushes Italy into the tournament’s semifinals, where Spain will oppose them for a place in the finale. So far, Italy have been perfect through the Euros, allowing only two goals while scoring 11 of their own. “We knew the quality of Belgium, especially in attack and the danger they presented to us on the counter,” Bonucci told reporters. “We went 2-0 up and were dominated the game, and then they got back into it with a dubious penalty and we did very well to hold on and showed once again how important the heart of this Italy side and the Italians is.”
The team deserved to win
Italy boss Roberto Mancini said he believes his side deserves their victory, even if they have to suffer through the last 10 minutes. Italy took the lead in the 31st minute on a goal by Nicolo Barella, having seen a goal previously dismissed due to an offside call. They doubled that lead 13 minutes later on a goal from Lorenzo Insigne but missed a penalty just before half-time, which was converted by Romelu Lukaku. The second half of the game was far from free-flowing, but Mancini had a bit of a problem with that as his side held onto the victory. “We deserved to win. The guys were extraordinary, and it is clear that we suffered in the last 10 minutes as we were really tired, but we could have scored more goals earlier,” the coach told reporters.
“I didn’t see 25 minutes of struggle at the beginning. There were chances at both ends, and it was an open game. We only struggled in the last 10 minutes when Belgium started playing a long ball game.”