Italy and Portugal are the two teams that received the most attention when the semi-finals of the 2022 World Cup play-off in Europe took place in the early morning of March 25 (Vietnam time).
While Italy faced a much weaker opponent, Northern Macedonia, Portugal faced Turkey quite "difficultly". Everyone is waiting for the final match between Italy and Portugal.
Italy shocked
When coach Roberto Mancini launched the best attacking faces possible to face the away team using a 4-1-4-1 strategy, fans of the European champion just waited for the time when the goals would come one after another. In fact, in the 90 minutes at Palermo, the Rainbow Team controlled the ball up to 65%, Ciro Immobile and his teammates launched a total of 33 shots...
However, somehow, the chance conversion rate is just 0%. Except for goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnaruma and midfielder Jorginho, the remaining 9 players in the starting lineup all have the opportunity to finish, with Domenico Berardi having the most (8), while defender Alessandro Florenzi also has 5 times.
Those numbers also show how resilient the visiting North Macedonia team was, as they have blocked the EURO 2020 champions' shots 16 times. Throughout the match, Mancini's students only had 5 shots on target.
But even so, no one believed that the shock would come, because if they had drawn in the 90th minute, Italy still had 30 minutes of extra time to solve the match. However, one of the biggest shocks came in the second minute of injury time in the second half, when Aleksandar Trajkovski fired an open shot - 1 of the 9 shots and also 1 of the 2 on target of the away team, defeating Donnarumma.
The remaining few minutes were not enough for Italy, leading to the team of one of the world's strongest football regions being absent for the second consecutive World Cup.
Portugal wins the championship
Meanwhile, in Portugal, although the final result was 3-1, Cristiano Ronaldo and his teammates also had an uncomfortable 90 minutes. Coach Fernando Santos has adjusted many positions in the context of 6 players being absent for various reasons. The home team played well in the first half to have 2 goals ahead by Diogo Jota (minute 15) and Otavio (minute 42).
But the drama came in the second half of the match, when Turkey unexpectedly scored 1 goal in a combination that was little created. The opportunity to equalize came for the away team in the 83rd minute, when VAR intervened and gave them a penalty kick when Jose Fonte fouled in the penalty area. However, Burak Yilmaz - the previous scorer, shot over the crossbar from 11m.
Ronaldo did not leave much of an impression in this match, but he still had support from his teammates, and in the second minute of extra time, Matheus Nunes scored the winning goal to make a 3-1 draw, bringing Portugal to the final, against North Macedonia.
Wales and Sweden enter the final
In the remaining 2 matches taking place early this morning, Gareth Bale shined with a double against the Austrian team, bringing a 2-1 victory to Wales.
The remarkable move of the Spanish national team is no different from rubbing salt in the wound of Real Madrid - a team that did not take him seriously and just suffered a 0-4 defeat in El Clasico.
Wales will have to wait to know who their opponents are in the final, due to the postponement of the Scotland - Ukraine match.
Sweden and the Czech Republic were the only matches that had to be decided in extra time. After a 90 minute 0-0 draw, the only goal was scored in the 110th minute, bringing the host Sweden to the final against Poland - a team that had been awaited after their opponent Russia was banned by UEFA.
The two finals of Portugal - North Macedonia, Poland - Sweden will take place on March 29, while Wales will have to wait until June.
