Italy’s fantastic EURO 2025 journey came to an end in the semis: England won 2-1 in Geneva, sealing their spot in the final. Bonansea got the Azzurre ahead, but the young star Agyemang found an equaliser in the 96th minute, sending the game to extra time. Just one minute from a shootout, a penalty was awarded to England: Kelly’s spot-kick was initially pushed away by Giuliani, but she then converted the rebound. The reigning EUROs holders will face the winner of Spain vs. Germany in the final. There is huge disappointment for Soncin’s side’s elimination as they went so close to making their dream come true. However, the admiration and pride of their progress in this competition was clear in the comments after the game. President Gabriele Gravina said: “I can only praise the Azzurre, they have been extraordinary for the whole tournament. This is only the beginning, also thanks to Soncin’s work, this group will be able to make Italians feel full of emotion”. Manager Soncin also left a message of faith and positivity regarding what the girls did out on the pitch: “The word that sticks with us is pride. The girls must be proud of what they did, resisting the reigning champions should give us so much belief for the future. There are no words to describe the emotions that we have felt during this journey. It deserved a different ending, after so many decisions that are difficult to comment on. We felt the support of the Italians, both tonight and during our other matches. There have been many wonderful messages from Italy, another victory for the girls. It’s a shame as we were so close to our dream of playing in the final”.

THE MATCH
It was a sold-out stadium in Geneva, and Weigman’s side started well, forcing Giuliani into an early save: James got on the end of a ball sent in from the left, but her effort was too close to the Azzurre keeper, who was able to gather comfortably. In the 20th minute, Russo had a great chance: Arsenal’s centre-forward controlled the ball in the area and tried to find the corner on the spin; however, she just missed the target. The Lionesses persisted while the Azzurre were struggling to find any fluidity, particularly in attack. However, just after the half-hour mark, Soncin’s side found the opener with their first real effort of the game: wonderful interplay by Cantore and Caruso on the right, Girelli couldn’t quite convert the cross, but the ball bounced to Bonansea, who controlled it beautifully and drilled it into the top of the net. With this goal, the Juventus forward (34 years and 39 days old) became the second oldest goalscorer in a EUROs semi-final, just behind compatriot Elisabetta Vignotto, who scored against Germany in 1989 (35 years and 166 days old). The English reaction came in the 38th minute from a rapid counter-attack, but James’ effort was pushed away for a corner by Giuliani. Italy ended the half a goal to the good, defending with good shape and making the most of our first real chance of the match.

The second half opened with another great piece of work by Bonansea on the left; however, her cross missed Caruso by just a few centimetres. England then tried to surprise Italy down the wings, but they were lacking a bit of precision. In fact, in the 53rd minute, Italy worried England with Cantore’s quick burst, before then lacking power in her shot which was easily pushed away by Hampton. The opposition didn’t give up, however, and in the 58th minute, Salvio had to work hard to keep Russo in check. Soncin was likely thinking of making changes, but the first one, in the 68th minute, was forced because of Girelli’s injury (Piemonte replaced her). Cantore and Bonansea were then both subbed off, with Cambiaghi and Severini taking their place. England kept hunting down an equaliser, but in the 87th minute, Italy looked for the knockout blow through Severini, who followed in Hampton’s parry of Cambiaghi’s strike, but couldn’t finish past the English keeper. But, in the 96th minute, there was no mistake from Weigman’s side: a cross into the box, Giuliani didn’t clear it well under pressure, and Agyemang found the back of the net. To find out the first finalist, we had to go to extra time.

England were on the high of their added-time equaliser and therefore had a handful of opportunities in the first half of extra time: Piga cleared it off the line after Giuliani’s mistimed outrush, before the AC Milan keeper then proved her worth in denying Kelly. Weigman’s girls kept pushing in the second half, and after another effort from Kelly was saved (the Azzurre keeper did brilliantly to stop her corner flying straight in), and Agyemang hit the bar, they found the winner in the 119th minute. The referee somewhat controversially pointed to the spot for Severini’s holding of Mead in the box. Giuliani initially saved Kelly’s penalty, but she was quickest to react to put England in front. Our Swiss adventure came to an end in the most bitter way possible, seeing the chance of a historic final fade away in a matter of minutes. However, the journey achieved to that point remains incredible, as echoed by Soncin after the game: “Playing a game like that for 120 minutes against the reigning champions when everyone said we would lose is a real credit to ourselves: we have made a lot of progress, we are proud”. Linari’s words, however, were more tough, particularly regarding the penalty: “I am sorry for the rebound that led to the equaliser, I take the blame. On the penalty, I was hoping that it would go to VAR as I know Severini and if she said it wasn’t a penalty, then I believe her”.

ENGLAND 2-1 ITALY

England (4-3-3): Hampton; Bronze, Williamson (85' Agyemang), Morgan, Greenwood (121' Carter); Toone, Walsh (105' Clinton), Stanway (77' Kelly); James (46’ Mead), Russo (85' Beever-Jones), Hemp.
Bench: Moorhouse, Keating, Charles, Mead, Le Tissier, Clinton, Carter, Agyemang, Kelly, Beever-Jones, Park, Wubben-Moy.
Manager: Wiegman.

Italy (3-4-3): Giuliani; Lenzini (89' Piga), Salvai, Linari; Di Guglielmo, Caruso, Giugliano (89' Greggi), Oliviero; Cantore (72’ Cambiaghi), Girelli (64’ Piemonte), Bonansea (72’ Severini).
Bench: Baldi, Durante, Schatzer, Severini, Piemonte, Piga, Bergamaschi, Serturini, Goldoni, Boattin, Greggi, Cambiaghi.
Manager: Soncin.

Goals: 33’ Bonansea (ITA), 90'+6' Agyemang (ENG), 119' Kelly (ENG)

Referee: Ivana Martinčić (CRO), Sanja Rodjak-Karšić (CRO), Staša Špur (SVN), Fourth official Désirée Grundbacher (SUI), VAR> Dennis Higler (NED), AVAR> Fedayi San (SUI)

Bookings: Giuliani (ITA), Linari (ITA), Morgan (ENG), Cambiaghi (ITA), Mead (ENG)