Italy won the Nations League third/fourth play-off game with a 2-1 victory against Belgium.
After a dull first half, Inter midfielder Nicolo Barella scored two minutes after the interval after a corner was only cleared to him on the outside of the box, and he shot low past Thibaut Courtois.
When Federico Chiesa was brought down in the area by Timothy Castagne, the resulting penalty from Domenico Berardi was only pushed into the side-netting by the Real Madrid goalie.
Despite Belgium hitting the post three times (Alexis Saelemaekers, Michy Batshuayi, and Yannick Carrasco), it looked like Italy would cruise to victory until Courtois’ long throw found De Bruyne in the Italy half, and he played the ball through to Charles De Ketelaere, who slid the ball past Gianluigi Donnarumma and into the net.
Following La Roja’s shootout triumph against Switzerland earlier in the day, Italy will face Spain in the semi-final at Wembley.
This match was touted as a showdown between the two tournament favorites, and neither side was disappointed in what was an exciting encounter from the start.
After 13 minutes, Italy had the ball in the net, thanks to Leonardo Bonucci’s chesting in of a free-kick, but Giorgio Chiellini, who had flicked the ball on, was offside.
Italy had a 2-0 lead with to goals from Nicol Barella and Lorenzo Insigne in the first half, before Romalu Lukaku halved the gap with a penalty kick shortly before halftime.
In a tight but exciting second half, Belgium had opportunities to equalise, but Italy’s defence held firm to send Roberto Mancini’s team into the semi-finals, extending their undefeated run to 32 games.
