Defeat Switzerland Through Penalty Shootout, Spain Advance To Euro 2020 Semifinals

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JAKARTA - Spain reached the semifinals of Euro 2020 thanks to winning on penalties 3-1 after 120 minutes of the Euro 2020 quarter-final match between Spain and Switzerland remained 1-1.

Goalkeeper Unai Simon deservedly became the hero of Spain's victory after saving two Swiss penalties as the opposing team managed only one penalty kick while the other shot past the Spanish goal. One Swiss kicker did not do his job because it was not decisive.

Two Spanish kickers failed to execute this penalty shootout. Sergio Busquets hit the post, while Rodri's shot was blocked by goalkeeper Yann Sommer. Meanwhile, Dani Olmo, Gerard Moreno, and Mikel Oyarzabal successfully carried out their duties.

On the Swiss side, only Mario Gavranovic managed to become the executor of the penalty shootout, while Fabian Schar and Manuel Akanji were blocked by Unai Simon, while Ruben Vargas strayed into the net.

The match was forced to proceed to a penalty shootout after 120 minutes of play both teams maintained the position 1-1.

Spain took the lead in the 8th minute thanks to an own goal from midfielder Denis Zakaria. In the 68th minute of the second half Xherdan Shaqiri equalized 1-1.

Although since the 77th minute they lost Remo Freuler who got a red card for a hard foul on Gerard Moreno, Switzerland forced Spain to continue the match into 2x15 minutes of extra time.

In 2x15 minutes, Switzerland defended desperately to withstand the onslaught of Spain and succeeded, especially thanks to the brilliant performance of their goalkeeper, Yann Sommer.

In the first 15 minutes of extra time, Sommer made six great saves each to deny Mikel Oyarzabal two golden chances, and before that Jordi Alba, Marcos Llorente and Gerard Moreno. In the second 15 minutes, Sommer was also the most instrumental in bringing Switzerland to a penalty shootout.

Unfortunately three of their four penalty takers did not succeed, while three of the five Spanish kickers managed to carry out their duties.

Spain dominated the match not only possession of the ball, but also created chances. Spain created a total of 27 chances of which 10 were on target, while Switzerland released 9 chances, 5 of which were on target.

In the semifinals at Wembley Stadium, Spain will face the winners of the other quarter-final match between Belgium and Italy.