Charlie Christie: VAR's non-intervention in England's Euro 2020 semi final was 'incredible'
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After kicking off the tournament just under a month ago with a hugely impressive 3–0 win over Turkey I was delighted that Italy came through an enthralling semi final on Tuesday night against a technically superb Spanish side in a match that was a delight to watch.
The Spaniards will probably feel hard done by as their patient approach saw them dictate the tempo of much of the game although the Italians were a constant threat on the counter attack; displayed so precisely with the game’s opening goal.
After a period of Spanish probing, the Italian goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma collected an overhit through ball and rolled a 10-yard pass into midfield.
Less than 10 seconds later they had taken the lead as Frederico Chiesa curled the ball home to send the Italian fans into raptures – a quite superb example of how to transition in a game and one which would have delighted their charismatic head coach Roberto Mancini.
The Spaniards were not finished though, and much maligned Alvaro Morata came off the bench to equalise in the 80th minute to send the match into extra time and it was certainly deserved.
Whilst I was hoping for an Italian win, I was delighted that it was Morata that scored as the Juventus forward is yet another player who has suffered at the hands of those moronic and sad individuals who take to social media to post vile and offensive messages behind the cowardly anonymity of their phones and laptops!
Extra time saw Spain dictate possession with the Italians looking fatigued, but their defensive organisation shone through yet again and the dreaded penalty shoot out beckoned.
Chelsea’s defensive midfielder Jorginho was the man who settled matters with the final spot kick to see the ‘Azzurri’ extend their unbeaten run to 33 matches and take their place in Sunday’s final.
They will now (in case you hadn’t heard) line up against England in that final after Gareth Southgate’s men overcame stubborn Danish resistance on Wednesday thanks to a highly debatable extra time penalty.
There is little doubt that England shaded the match overall, especially in the latter stages, but the award of a spot kick for a non-existent trip on Raheem Sterling was laughable.
The fact that VAR was in operation for the match and did not overturn the decision was even more incredible and Harry Kane’s finish after Kasper Schmeichel’s save was enough to see them through.
England will now be strong favourites on home soil and I have serious concerns whether the ageing central defensive partnership of Leonardo Bonucci and Giorgio Chiellini, with a combined age of over 70, will be able to cope with the pace and movement of the English attacking players but the Italians will look to sit deep out of possession and, similar to the Spanish match, hit England on the counter attack.
In Chiesa, Insigne and Immobile they have a clever and flexible front three, and if Marco Verratti and Jorginho get the opportunity to gain possession and play forward passes then the Italians can certainly win the match.
Let’s just hope that the gentleman in charge of VAR remembers his spectacles this time around!
