RESULTS
WALES 0 DENMARK 4
ITALY 2 AUSTRIA 1
Federico Chiesa proved an inspired substitution by Roberto Mancini as his 95th minute goal set Italy on their way to a Wembley victory. By scoring this morning, Federico emulated his father Enrico, who struck for the Azzuri in a 2-1 Euro 96 group defeat to the Czech Republic, 9,144 days ago. It’s all in the family.
History rewritten
- The win extends Italy’s unbeaten record to 31 games, their longest ever. The previous run stood for 82 years.
- Sasa Kalajdzic’s goal for Austria is the first Italy have conceded in 1,168 minutes, a new world record for clean sheets. It usurps Italian legend Dino Zoff’s 1,142 minutes (1972-1974).
FUN FACT: Denmark are the first country ever to reach the quarterfinals of a Euros after losing their opening two matches.
TONIGHT …
HOLLAND vs CZECH REPUBLIC
Puskas Arena, Budapest, 12am
Holland finished the group stage as the top-scoring nation and will come into this game brimming with confidence, especially with skipper Gini Wijnaldum accounting for three of those eight goals. One bad news for the Dutch – including qualifying matches, they have lost four of their seven duels with the Czechs in European Championship history.
BELGIUM vs PORTUGAL
La Cartuja, Seville, 3am
The first heavyweight clash of the round. The Belgians are the form team, winning all their games while conceding just once to top Group B. Kevin De Bruyne (one goal, two assists) and Romelu Lukaku (three goals) have looked particularly ruthless. Their rearguard, however, will now face serial record-breaker Cristiano Ronaldo, who is the tournament top scorer with five goals.
