Thriller in the final phase: Portugal maintains chance of progressing against Italy

Overwhelming joy: Diana Gomes kept Portugal's quarterfinal dream alive with her late equalizer. IMAGO/Gribaudi/ImagePhoto

The situation was clear before the second round of group matches: Portugal could not lose against Italy, as this would have meant early qualification for the Italians and Spanish teams for the quarter-finals.

To prevent this, Portugal coach Francisco Neto made five substitutions after the decisive 5-0 defeat to Spain : Ana Capeta, Kika, Joana Marchao, and Ana Borges replaced Jessica Silva, Andreia Jacinto, Catarina Amado, and Beatriz Fonseca in the starting eleven. Patricia Morais also replaced Ines Pereira between the sticks.

After the 1-0 win against Belgium , Italy naturally had fewer changes, in fact none at all: Andrea Soncin trusted the same starting eleven as in the opening victory.

After conceding five goals, Portugal's focus was initially on their own defense – and things looked much better at the beginning than in the debacle against Spain. The Italian favorites repeatedly found their way into the final third via the wings, but struggled there because a Portuguese leg was constantly blocking the final pass.

Girelli's long-range effort (8') and Salvai's dangerous header that hit the crossbar (21') were the only clear chances for "Le Azzurre" in the opening stages. Portugal themselves attempted to create danger primarily through counterattacks down the right wing, but aside from the industrious Kika, the attackers remained rather unobtrusive.

Only minutes before the halftime whistle did Italy rise up again: Severini slotted the ball into an empty net after a poor clearance by Patricia Morais, but her celebration was brief, as the midfielder had been offside (37'). In the final move before the break, the eye-catching Girelli had another shot on goal, but she hadn't counted on Patricia Morais on her shot from six meters: This time, the goalkeeper did a really good job, keeping the score at 0-0 at halftime (45').

And after the restart, the roles were suddenly reversed. Portugal applied real pressure, while Italy offered little – thanks in part to solid Portuguese work off the ball. Giuliani intercepted many crosses, and Jessica Silva wasted the best chance with a poor first touch (67').

And Italy? They came back with a cool cool: In the 70th minute, Girelli positioned the ball at the corner of the penalty area, curled it beautifully into the top corner, and stabbed the ball into the middle of Portugal's pressing phase to take the lead.

Neto's team was only briefly shocked, pushed for an equalizer, and then had two unfortunate moments: First, Girelli's hand was hit by the ball in his own penalty area, but referee Martincic (rightly) allowed play to continue (79th minute). Then VAR thwarted Portugal's plans. Diana Silva's equalizer was only briefly celebrated, but then the goal was ruled offside.

But the Portuguese didn't give up, needing only one goal to keep their chances of reaching the quarter-finals alive. And that goal was to come: First, Carole nodded the ball onto the underside of the crossbar (88'), before Diana Gomes immediately converted a cross from Dolores Silva to level the score at 1-1, reviving Portugal's dream of advancing.

The final minutes were a tough one, but thanks to a brilliant save by Patricia Morais (90'+1) and a shot that hit the side netting by Bonansea (90'+8), the result remained unchanged. Thus, Italy's progress is still in their own hands, but Portugal can still hope to advance to the knockout phase.