UEFA Euro 2020 Round of 16
Wembley Stadium, London
Admission: €125.00 (£107.30)
Programme: £10.00
Attendance: 18,910
Originally, I had been planning, and was indeed very much looking forward to, a visit to the more humble surroundings of The Cauldron today, to take in a title decider in the Thames Valley Premier League Division One between Reading YMCA and Wargrave. However, I was alerted on Tuesday that tickets were available on general sale for this game via the official ticketing portal, and although it seemed like being a fruitless search, encountering the inevitable frustrations with such portals of tickets showing as available, but then not being possible to select. I tried again on Wednesday morning, and lo and behold, I did manage to purchase my ticket. At over a hundred pounds, it is far, far more than I ever envisaged wanting to pay for a game of football, especially being a neutral fan. But then, I reflected how often would I be able to watch top international tournament knock-out football on my relative doorstep, and therefore without the usual associated travelling and hotel costs which would be incurred when attending tournament football in other countries. And the final element that swayed me was, after more than a year of disruption to my freedoms to travel and watch football in a stadium, I am feeling more inclined to push the boat out for any unusual opportunities which come my way.
After arriving several hours ahead of kick-off, to take in as much of the build up and atmosphere around the stadium as possible, the stroll from Wembley Park underground station to the stadium was as colourful as ever, with plenty of possibilities to buy overpriced merchandise, official and otherwise, along with along with various entertainers and singers to keep early arrivals entertained. To enter the stadium, the only option available was for tickets to be downloaded onto a dedicated app which, to be fair, was clear and easy to use but rather ridiculously suggested to enter the stadium between 5 and 5.30 - so, over two and a half hours ahead of kick-off. When purchasing the tickets, there was an option to obtain a paper ticket as a souvenir, but this would not arrive until after the tournament, and at a rather eye-watering cost of €15, all the more so given the hefty ticket price to start with. All spectators were required to verify that they posed a low Covid risk, and so either needed to prove their double vaccination status by showing this on the NHS app, or take a lateral flow test within 48 hours ahead of the doors opening for today's game, and showing proof of this with the text or e-mail from the NHS reporting service.. Masks were required inside the ground at all times, even whilst seated, which did seems rather excessive for the very sparse crowd in attendance this evening, and stewards regularly walked around the stands reminding spectators of this requirement.
My seat was located in the lower tier of the north west corner of the ground, 11 rows from the front, and offered a reasonable view, quite close to the action but personally I prefer to be seated slightly higher for a better overview of the action, and one positive aspect of a sparse crowd this evening was that queueing was minimal for refreshments. Unsurprisingly, there were far more supporting Italy this evening, and they provided loud and colourful support for their team, however I seemed to be in an area mostly populated by Austrian fans, who also provided good support for their nation.
Italy have arguably the standout team in Euro 2020 so far, impressing with an adventurous and attacking style of play under Roberto Mancini, for which Italian sides are most certainly not traditionally known for. And they have been handsomely rewarded, being the only team to have eased through the group stage with a 100% record and without conceding any goals, with all three games being played at home in Rome, beating Turkey in the tournament's opening game 3-0, then Switzerland by the same scoreline, before a much changed line-up more narrowly beating Wales 1-0. Indeed, it has been 11 games since they have even conceded a goal, won their qualifying group with ten wins out of ten, and are currently seventh in the FIFA World Rankings - all a vast improvement after failing to qualify for the 2018 World Cup. So, it would be a tough ask for Austria to progress this evening, ranked 23rd according to FIFA. After finishing as runners-up to Poland in their qualifying group, they started off their group stage with 3-1 win over North Macedonia in Bucharest, before losing 0-2 to the Netherlands in Amsterdam, but triumphed in their "must-win" game against Ukraine 1-0, back in Bucharest, to earn a runners-up spot in their group.
On a sunny evening, Italy had the better of the first half, creating the better chances but Austria also impressed as, as well as being well organised and, far from sitting back and defending, they played a high pressing game and certainly managed to create some half chances of their own. The first big chance fell to Italy on 17 minutes, following a good run down the left by Leonardo Spinazzola to the byline, pulling the ball back to Nicolo Barella at the edge of the area, and his low driven shot was saved by the feet of the Austrian (and Watford) keeper Daniel Bachmann. And on 32 minutes, a terrific shot from outside the area by Ciro Immobile hit the left hand post with the keeper rooted. But although Italy finished the half strongly, the scoreline remained level at the break.
Into the second half and Italy seemed to lose their way somewhat, posing less of a threat and it was the Austrians who looked much more likely to open the scoring. On 52 minutes, David Alaba fired a free kick just over the bar, whilst on 62 minutes, a shot on the run from outside the area by Marcel Sabitzer took a deflection to take the ball just beyond the left hand post. And on 65 minutes, Austria thought they had scored, when Stefan Lainer floated the ball towards the back post to Alaba, who rose high to head the ball across goal, and Marko Arnautovic headed the ball over the line from close range, but the goal was ruled out for offside following a VAR check, with Arnautovic's foot ahead of the last defender. That certainly spurred Austria on, although as the end of 90 minutes approached, the game became more tense, with attacking moves drying up, although Italy had the last decent chance in regular time, on 83 minutes, when Spinazzola yet again delivered an excellent cross from the left following a good run, and Berardi tried to connect with a spectacular scissor kick, but didn't connect properly and the ball bounced harmlessly wide. But after a half where Austria looked the most likely to score, but with Italy's extra quality always providing the potential for a moment of magic to unlock the door, the scoreline remained goalless at the end of 90 minutes - far from ideal for me, as I had to be back in central London by midnight for the last train home.
Five minutes into extra time and the deadlock was finally broken. Spinazzola dinked the ball towards the back post for substitute Federico Chiesa to chest down, take a touch with his right foot before drilling the ball home with his left foot across the keeper from a tight angle. And it looked like the game was up for Austria on the stroke of half time in extra time when Italy doubled their lead. Lorenzo Insigne played the ball into the box to Francesco Acerbi, and after being challenged by a defender, the ball rolled into the path of sub Matteo Pessina, who took a touch before drilling the ball low across the keeper and into the net. Although Austria were looking tired, they did try to keep pushing, and a minute after the restart, Louis Schaub, who had only just come on as a sub, struck a powerful shot from just outside the area, forcing a good save low at full stretch by Gianluigi Donnarumma. However, they did get back in the game on 114 minutes when a corner was played into the near post and Sasa Kalajdzic stooped low to head the ball between the near post and the keeper, for the third goal out of three to be scored by substitutes, and finally brought Italy's long run without conceding to an end. They couldn't find another and so it was Italy who progressed to the quarter finals, where they will play the winners of the Belgium v Portugal tie in Munich.
As underdogs, Austria really impressed this evening, and with a bit more luck, could easily have won this tie, with their effective high pressing game stifling the attacking intents of the Italians. But in the end, Italy's strength in depth won them the game, giving their side the necessary boost in extra time to claim the win.
Video highlights of this game can be viewed by clicking here
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