BUCHAREST/ COPENHAGEN – France were eliminated by Switzerland on penalties in the Euro 2020 last 16, while Spain recovered from a bizarre own goal and a Croatia fightback to reach the quarter-finals with a dramatic 5-3 extra-time victory.
Switzerland will now play Spain in the quarter-finals on Friday in St. Petersburg.
France knocked out
Au revoir France, this summer belongs to Yann Sommer. The Switzerland goalkeeper, who left in the middle of the European Championship´s group stage to be with his wife for the birth of their second daughter, made the biggest save of his life against one of the best players in the world.
That gave the Swiss a 5-4 penalty shootout victory over World Cup champion France on Monday and a spot in the quarterfinals of a major soccer tournament for the first time in 67 years. The match had finished 3-3.
Sommer dived to his right to save the final penalty by Kylian Mbappé, the young France forward who became a superstar at the last World Cup by scoring in the final.
“I think that everything we had in us, we left out on the field,” Sommer said according to AP. “I´m unbelievably proud of this team, how we´ve done it this evening.”
Sommer, who flew back to Germany after the team’s 3-0 loss to Italy to be home when his daughter was born on June 16, made the decisive save on the 10th penalty after the previous nine had all been successful.
The Swiss haven’t reached the quarter-finals at a major tournament since they hosted the World Cup in 1954. This team also ended a run of three consecutive exits in the round of 16. They were knocked out by Poland after losing a penalty shootout 5-4 at Euro 2016.
“It´s amazing,” Switzerland captain Granit Xhaka said. “We made history tonight, we are all very proud.”
It was the third game in the round of 16 at Euro 2020 to go to extra time but the first to be decided by penalties.
Haris Seferovic put Switzerland in the lead with a header in the 15th minute as France struggled to work itself into the game. But that all changed early in the second half when the Swiss were awarded a penalty.
France goalkeeper Hugo Lloris, the team’s captain, saved Ricardo Rodríguez’s spot kick in the 55th minute and seemed to wake up his teammates. Karim Benzema scored moments later in the 57th, and then again in the 59th to give France the quick-turnaround lead.
Paul Pogba made it 3-1 in the 75th with a right-foot shot from 20 meters and it looked like the game was out of reach. But just as quickly as France had taken over the match, they let it go again.
Seferovic scored another header in the 81st minute and substitute Mario Gavranovi´c made it 3-3 with only seconds remaining.
France had been trying to win back-to-back major titles for the second time. The French won the World Cup in 1998 and followed that up with the title at Euro 2000. Five years ago, France lost in the Euro 2016 final, but then won the 2018 World Cup.
France coach Didier Deschamps played on both of those winning teams more than 20 years ago, and was trying to become the first man to achieve the feat as both a player and a coach.
Spain beats Croatia 5-3 in extra time
Spain first gifted Croatia a bizarre own-goal, then threw away a late 3-1 lead. Alvaro Morata made sure it didn’t matter in the end.
Morata and Mikel Oyarzabal scored in extra time Monday to give Spain a 5-3 win over Croatia and a place in the European Championship quarterfinals after a wildly entertaining see-saw match at Parken Stadium.
“I´ve lived through really intense matches as a player and manager but this one genuinely had a bit of everything,” Spain coach Luis Enrique said.
It was the second-highest scoring game in the history of the European Championship, trailing only Yugoslavia’s 5-4 win over France in the opening game of the inaugural tournament in 1960.
And it had nearly as many momentum shifts as goals.
After Croatia midfielder Mario Pasalic equalized in injury time to cap an improbable late comeback, the much-maligned Morata scored what proved the winner in the 100th minute.
The Spain striker controlled a cross with one deft touch and then sent a rising shot past goalkeeper Dominik Livakovic for his second goal of the tournament.
Oyarzabal doubled the lead three minutes later, receiving a pass in the middle of the area and holding off a defender before scoring.
Morata had received a torrent of online abuse – including death threats – after a string of misses during the group stage. But his fierce finish from a tight angle proved decisive on Monday.
“I don´t think there’s any coach in the world who wouldn´t admire a player like Morata,” Luis Enrique said. “He dominates in the air, he scores goals, he is physically powerful. He is a striker we should really value.”
Spain had been knocked out in the round of 16 in its previous two tournaments but netted five goals for a second straight game after a slow start with two draws.
Croatia netted three goals for a second straight game but fell well short of replicating its feat of reaching the World Cup final in 2018.
“At the start of extra time we had them on the ropes but we failed to score from two good chances,” Croatia captain Luka Modric said. “Then the game turned around and we didn´t have the strength to come back.”
Not for a second time, anyway.
Spain had led 3-1 in the 85th minute but Mislav Orsic pulled one back after a goalmouth scramble and Pasalic equalized with a header in injury time.
Spain had dominated the first 20 minutes but goalkeeper Unai Simon was at fault for his team’s early deficit after a massive blunder when he failed to control a long back pass. The ball bounced over Simon´s foot and trickled into the net behind him.
“We know that´s football and that those things happen,” Spain captain Sergio Busquets said. “The most important thing is to pick yourself up and show a strong mentality. And I think both Unai and the whole team did that today.”
Spain quickly recovered and Pablo Sarabia equalized in the 38th. Right back Cesar Azpilicueta then made it 2-1 with a header in the 57th and Ferran Torres doubled the lead when he finished off a quick counterattack with a low shot past Livakovic in the 77th.
It looked like Spain was heading for an easy win before Croatia fought back.
“Boy, we had to suffer there,” Azpilicueta said. “It wasn´t great to be scored against twice late in normal time, but we were the better team in extra time and we deserve to go through.”
Croatia’s late surge allowed both Morata and Simon to redeem themselves.
The goalkeeper made a crucial save to deny Andrej Kramaric at the start of extra time, then got up and punched the air in celebration.
“I think that when we missed that chance at 3-3 in extra time, that was the determining factor,” Croatia coach Zlatko Dalic said. “I think if we had scored a goal it would have been completely different.”
Simon also made a big stop at 3-2 when he got down quickly to make a one-handed save on Josko Gvardiol´s shot from just outside the box.
“We have complete confidence in (Simon),” Busquets said. “He was unlucky with that own-goal but Unai has a very laid-back mentality. He´s very ambitious at the same time and I think he showed that with his reaction, and with the saves he made.”
