Wembley Stadium in the capital, London, will be the scene of a high-caliber match between Spain and Italy in the semi-finals of the European Football Championship "Euro 2020". The match will be held today, Tuesday, at 7:00 pm GMT.
"Wounded" Italy opens a new era in its history
Italy managed, in five matches in the European Football Championship 2021, to turn a painful page of its modern history, which is its dismal failure to qualify for the 2018 World Cup, as the country entered into a deep shock that contrasted with its ancient past in the round ball record with its four world titles (1934, 1938, 1982 and 2006).
As a result, the former Italian international, Roberto Mancini, took over the supervision of the coaching of the "Squadra Azzurra" national team, to open a new era in the history of the team, as the team's performance gradually improved over the matches and the morale of its players increased throughout the victories, ending with an easy qualification for the European Nations Cup 2021.
Italy, when the current European Championship began on June 11, was not among the list of candidates to win the cup, but the group stage re-thrown the cards to show striker Lorenzo Insigne and his colleagues with a strong face, and they won all their matches in the first group (3-0 over Turkey, 3-0). 0 against Switzerland, 1-0 against Wales), then they confirmed their position in the final with a victory over Austria 2-1, and then in the quarter-final against the big candidate Belgium 2-1.
Thus, Italy succeeded in regaining its place among the top European teams, and will seek to continue its brilliance in the semi-final against Spain to avenge its defeat in the Euro 2012 final, when it lost 0-4 in Kiev.
Spain to regain its lost global luster
Spain dominated world football from 2008 (winning the European Nations Cup) to 2012 (its second successive continental title through the 2010 World Cup), but it collapsed in the 2014 World Cup when it humiliated from the first round, and in the 2016 European Nations Cup after losing in the final price.
The task of the new coach, Luis Enrique, was to rebuild the team that dazzled the world for 6 years, and the task seemed successful before the semi-final match against Italy, as Alvaro Morata's colleagues came out of the "trap" of the first round despite the difficulties.
After scoring a draw against Sweden (0-0), and Poland (1-1), Spain woke up to sweep Slovenia 4-0 in the third match of the groups, to qualify for the playoffs, and also overcome the difficulties in the final price when they tied with Croatia 3- 3 at the end of normal time before you score two goals in extra time to end the match 5-3.
As well as in the quarter-finals, as she used her self-confidence to beat Switzerland on penalties, after the confrontation ended with a score of 1-1.
Compared to the 2012 European Cup final, the scales turned in this anticipated confrontation between the Spanish and Italian teams, as Spain became the rival who wants to stop the advance of Italy, the candidate to win.
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