ITV News Sports Editor Steve Scott looks at England’s win over Italy ahead of Spain and Germany’s semi-final clash
England’s Lionesses, fresh from their dramatic comeback against Italy, will be holed up at their luxury base camp on Wednesday night, watching to see whether it’ll be Germany or Spain in Sunday’s Euros final.
They would never say it publicly, but privately, they’ll be hoping for a German win.
Either team will be a tough test for the Lionesses; their potential final opponents are ranked second and third in the world behind the United States, and England has dropped to fifth.
Despite being favourites for the semi-final game, remarkably, Spain have never beaten the Germans. They’ve played eight times – the last meeting was the bronze medal match at the Paris Olympics – and Germany have won five times, with the other three matches ending level.
Here, Spain are looking formidable – they’re the only unbeaten team left in the tournament, have scored 16 goals along the way and conceded just three.
Wednesday’s match will showcase a clash of styles, Spain love to keep hold of the ball and are averaging more than 70% possession in Switzerland. They also have the world’s best player pulling their strings. Aitan Bonmati has won the last two Ballon d’Ors.
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Germany are ravaged by injury and suspensions; four guaranteed starters will be missing from their line-up. They come into the game on the back of an energy-sapping quarter-final against France, which they eventually won on penalties.
They were down to ten players after just 13 minutes, so their performance epitomised resilience, a trait they share with the Lionesses.
Spain have had an extra day’s rest too, so the German coach has warned his squad they will “have to do a lot of chasing” and “will suffer.”
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