EURO 2020 highlights: Spain defeats Switzerland after penalty shootout

Euro 2020 highlights: Here are all the commentary updates from the 2021 European Championships encounter between Spain and Switzerland in Saint Petersburg.

Updated : Jul 03, 2021 00:47 IST

The Spanish players celebrate after taking a 1-0 lead against Switzerland in the EURO 2020 quarterfinals at the Krestovsky Stadium.
The Spanish players celebrate after taking a 1-0 lead against Switzerland in the EURO 2020 quarterfinals at the Krestovsky Stadium.
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The Spanish players celebrate after taking a 1-0 lead against Switzerland in the EURO 2020 quarterfinals at the Krestovsky Stadium.

This is Sportstar's match blog of the EURO 2020 match between Spain and Switzerland which happened at the Gazprom Arena on Friday.

That's it for today. Thanks for tuning in!

The Spaniards might have had the numerical advantage but Switzerland goalkeeper Yann Sommer looked invincible at goal. He made save after save to take the game into a shootout. But his counterpart Unai Simon had the last laugh as Spain made the last-four, where it will take on either Belgium or Italy.

MATCH REPORT |

So Switzerland held on for around 45 minutes after being reduced to 10 men with the dismissal of Remo Freuler, who received a straight red card in the second half. Just moments earlier, captain Xherdan Shaqiri had equalised for the Swiss after a Denis Zakaria own goal gave Spain an early first-half lead.

MATCH HIGHLIGHTS:

SPAIN BEATS SWITZERLAND 3-1 (1-1 AFTER EXTRA TIME) IN THE PENALTY SHOOTOUT TO ADVANCE TO THE EURO 2020 SEMIFINALS!!!!!

SPAIN 3 - 1 SWITZERLAND: Mikel Oyarzabal wins it for Spain!!!

2 - 1: Ruben Vargas misses. He sends the ball way over the crossbar.

2 - 1: Gerard Moreno scores for Spain.

1 - 1: Unai Simon saves Manuel Akanji's penalty!

1 - 1: Yann Sommer saves Rodri's spot-kick!

1 - 1: Unai Simon saves Fabian Schar's penalty!

1 - 1: Dani Olmo with a delightful penalty for the Spaniards.

0 - 1: Mario Gavranovic scores with ease for the Swiss.

SPAIN 0 - 0 SWITZERLAND: Sergio Busquets hits the post and misses!

THE PENALTY SHOOTOUT IS UNDERWAY!

Spain wins the toss and it will take the first penalty against Switzerland.

Penalty shootout to follow. Stay tuned!

AND IT'S FULL-TIME! SCORE: SPAIN 1 - 1 SWITZERLAND!!!

120' ONE MINUTE HAS BEEN ADDED ON! Rodri has replaced Pedri on the field for Spain. YELLOW CARD! Mario Gavranovic has been penalised by the referee for a silly challenge. He will now miss the semifinal if his team reaches the next stage.

117' CORNER FOR SPAIN! A game of pinball inside the box leads to a Spanish set-piece. The Swiss defence has been unbreakable since the red card. Dani Olmo sends in a cross and Sergio Busquets manages to get a head to the ball. However, Sommer collects the ball with ease.

113' SPAIN SUBSTITUTION! Luis Enrique has a long chat with Thiago Alcantara before he comes on. Thiago will replace centre-back Pau Torres in the middle. This change indicates that the Spaniards are getting ready for a penalty shootout.

109' SWITZERLAND COUNTER-ATTACK! Kevin Mbabu looks to break free, but his touch lets him down and he loses the ball. Spain gives way the ball cheaply yet again as there's a tussle in midfield. A Marcos Llorente foul brings a pause in play.

THE SECOND PERIOD OF EXTRA TIME IS UNDERWAY!

105' JUST A MINUTE OF STOPPAGE TIME ADDED ON! Dani Olmo swings in a corner from the right for Spain. Sommer is able to punch the ball away. Mikel Oyarzabal receives the ball, moves inside the box and has a shot on target. But Sommer saves it again.

102' DOUBLE CHANGE FOR SWITZERLAND! Manager Vladimir Petkovic has brought on Kevin Mbabu and Fabian Schar to replace Silvan Widmer and Denis Zakaria, respectively, on the field. Swiss keeper Yann Sommer has pulled off a couple of good saves in the last few minutes.

98' SHOT! Mikel Oyarzabal, who replaced Ferran Torres for Spain before extra time, took a corner. His delivery into the middle was cleared away by the Swiss defence. The rebound fell to Marcos Llorente, who fired a shot from long. But the ball missed the target by quite a bit.

94' WHAT A MISS! Spain could have sealed the deal here. Jordi Alba came up with a brilliant move on the left wing. He eventually crossed the ball to Gerard Moreno inside the box. But Moreno fired his shot wide from close range. Could this prove costly for the Spaniards?

THE FIRST PERIOD OF EXTRA TIME BEGINS!

Extra time to follow. Stay tuned!

NINETY MINUTES DONE! SCORE: SPAIN 1 - 1 SWITZERLAND!!!

90' FOUR MINUTES OF STOPPAGE TIME HAS BEEN ADDED ON! Both teams make a substitution each. Christian Fassnacht replaces Steven Zuber for Switzerland. Meanwhile, Spain midfielder Koke makes way for Marcos Llorente in the middle.

87' INJURY! Spain full-back Jordi Alba goes to the ground. He had collided with Swiss attacker Gavranovic inside his own box during a clearance. He is receiving treatment from his team's medical staff.

84' Spain is taking numbers forward here. The team is pressing high in search of the winner. Switzerland has to be extremely cautious to push this quarterfinal into extra time.

81' SWISS SUBSTITUTIONS! These are tactical changes from manager Vladimir Petkovic with his team having the numerical disadvantage. The goal-scorer Shaqiri is replaced by Djibril Sow on the field, while Mario Gavranovic comes in for Haris Seferovic.

77' RED CARD! Remo Freuler is sent off! Switzerland is down to 10 men. The man who created Shaqiri's opener comes up with a miserable challenge now. He took out Gerard Moreno, who is writhing in pain. VAR doesn't overturn the on-field call.

72' OFFSIDE! Spain forward Ferran Torres was a little too eager to get to pass from Dani Olmo up front. The linesman raised his flag and the referee awarded Switzerland a free-kick.

68' GOOOOOAAAAALLLLL!!!!!!! XHERDAN SHAQIRI SCORESSSS!!!! SWITZERLAND 1 - 1 SPAIN!! This was another brilliant Swiss move forward. Remo Freuler had the ball on the right flank. As he tried to enter the box, Aymeric Laporte's poor clearance came back to Freuler, who assisted Shaqiri. The Switzerland captain's delicate finish brought his team on level terms.

67' YELLOW CARD! This is the first booking of the match. Switzerland's Silvan Widmer goes into the referee's book after a heavily mistimed tackle on an opposition player.

64' GOOD SAVE! This was a wonderful counter-attack from Switzerland. Ruben Vargas took the ball into the box with a sprint. He set up Steven Zuber up front. Zuber was able to release a decent shot on target. But Unai Simon palmed the ball away.

60' CORNER FOR SPAIN! A short corner is worked out but the Swiss defence is alert as the danger is averted. Switzerland has clearly been the better side in the second half so far.

57' VERY CLOSE! Ricardo Rodriguez sends a lovely ball from the corner into the path of his Swiss teammate Denis Zakaria, whose close-range header flashes just wide of the left post. Unai Simon didn't move there.

54' ANOTHER SPAIN CHANGE! Alvaro Morata makes way for Gerard Moreno. Manager Enrique looks extremely animated on the sidelines. He's made two substitutions within a space of nine minutes.

51' SPAIN CHANCE! Dani Olmo sends a cross into the middle towards Koke, from the left. The Spanish midfielder is unable to keep his header on target as the ball sails over the crossbar.

48' SUBSTITUTION FOR SPAIN! Spain head coach Luis Enrique makes a big change at half-time. He brings on Dani Olmo to replace Pablo Sarabia on the field. It's a like-for-like replacement.

THE SECOND HALF IS UNDERWAY!

Forty-five minutes to go. Stay tuned.

AND IT'S HALF-TIME! SPAIN 1 - 0 SWITZERLAND!!!

45' ONE MINUTE OF STOPPAGE TIME HAS BEEN ADDED ON! Swiss midfielder Steven Zuber goes down to the ground after being tackled by Spain's Cesar Azpilicueta. The referee awards Switzerland a free-kick.

42' CORNER FOR SPAIN NOW! Pablo Sarabia swings a cross into the box, but it's far too close to Swiss shot-stopper Yann Sommer, who smothers the ball. The last 15 minutes have been pretty evenly poised for both teams.

39' ANOTHER SWISS CORNER! Shaqiri sends a good ball into the box. His Switzerland teammate Silvan Widmer loses his Spanish marker and manages to get a head to the ball. But it goes over the crossbar.

36' CORNER FOR SWITZERLAND! Xherdan Shaqiri is on set-piece duty as usual. He sends a swinging cross into the middle. But the ball misses his teammates. Steven Zuber tries to keep the ball in play but he isn't able to do that as Spain wins a throw-in.

33' GOOD INTERCEPTION! Spain's Ferran Torres and Pedri try to open up the opposition with a series of short passes, but Switzerland defender Ricardo Rodriguez steps in and puts an end to the move.

30' Spain has clearly dominated Switzerland in the first quarterfinal of the 2021 European Championships so far. The winning team of this game will face either Belgium or Italy next in the semis.

27' SPAIN COUNTER-ATTACK! Ferran Torres tries to find Alvaro Morata up front, but he puts too much power on the through ball as it rolls out of play. Goal-kick for Switzerland.

23' EARLY SUBSTITUTION FOR SWITZERLAND! Head coach Vladimir Petkovic is forced to make a change right now. He decides to bring on Ruben Vargas to replace the injured Breel Embolo on the field.

19' FREE-KICK FOR SPAIN! Koke will takes this one. He unleashes a strong shot from the edge of the box. Unfortunately for him, the ball curls just inches over the crossbar. Sommer was in a bit of trouble there.

16' CORNER FOR SPAIN! Pablo Sarabia won the set-piece and he himself will take it as well, from the left. His cross into the box is easily cleared away by the Switzerland defence.

12' OFFSIDE! Switzerland's hero from the quarterfinal against France -- Haris Seferovic -- is a little too eager to get to a pass from his teammate Breel Embolo. The linesman immediately raises his flag.

8' GOOOOAAAAAAAALLLLLLL!!!!! DENIS ZAKARIA SCORES AN OWN GOAL!!! SPAIN 1 - 0 SWITZERLAND!!!! This was a Koke corner from the right. The ball sailed outside the box towards Alba, who took a first-time shot on target. A heavy deflection off Zakaria wrong-footed goalkeeper Yann Sommer who had no chance of making a save.

6' SPAIN CHANCE! Aymeric Laporte sends a pass out to Ferran Torres, but he cannot beat Switzerland centre-back Manuel Akanji to get to the ball. The Swiss regain possession.

3' EARLY CHANCE FOR SWITZERLAND! Skipper Xherdan Shaqiri receives a loose ball in midfield and moves forward. He eventually takes a shot from long. But Spain keeper Unai Simon collects the ball easily. 

AND THE MATCH BEGINS!

Switzerland is confident of reaching the Euro 2020 semifinals despite being the underdog against Spain in its last-eight clash, manager Vladimir Petkovic said.

FULL STORY |

Spain coach Luis Enrique described Switzerland as one of the hardest-working and most cohesive teams despite having few household names and predicted a gruelling match for his side in Friday's quarterfinal.

READ MORE |

The team lineups are out!

SPAIN XI: U Simon (G), C Azpilicueta, P Torres, A Laporte, J Alba, S Busquets (C), Koke, P Sarabia, F Torres, Pedri, A Morata.

COACH - Luis Enrique.

SWITZERLAND XI: Y Sommer (G), M Akanji, S Zuber, R Rodriguez, N Elvedi, S Widmer, R Freuler, D Zakaria, X Shaqiri (C), B Embolo, H Seferovic.

COACH - Vladimir Petkovic.

MATCH PREVIEW:

Spain is on the charge at a major football tournament with a creative and technically gifted Barcelona player calling the shots from central midfield. Sound familiar?

Only 18 and already seemingly indispensable for the national team, Pedri González has been given the keys to a midfield that was once the domain of two modern-day greats in Xavi Hernandez and Andres Iniesta.

The comparisons are inevitable — and may be justified — and will only become more widespread if Pedri leads Spain to the European Championship title in the coming days, just as Xavi and Iniesta did in 2008 and 2012 amid a golden era for the country.

Certainly, Switzerland needs to be on top of Spanish football's new midfield conductor in the first quarterfinal match at Euro 2020 in St. Petersburg on Friday. That’s easier said than done.

READ |

Pedri, who plays on the left side of Spain’s ball-hogging central-midfield three, is playing in his first major tournament — he only made his senior international debut in March — and is tied for first place for most chances created (10) and has more passes in the opposition half (233) than any other player.

The youngest Spaniard to play at a European Championship, Pedri also became the youngest ever player in a knockout-stage game at the tournament — at 18 years, 215 days — against Croatia in the Round of 16.

Perhaps most impressively, he is one of only two outfield players in Spain’s squad to have played every minute of their team’s games at Euro 2020. “Pedri is a unique player,” Spain coach Luis Enrique said understatedly.

Another European Championship record he holds comes with less distinction. After 20 minutes of the 5-3 extra-time win over Croatia, Pedri sent a back-pass from near the halfway line to Spain goalkeeper Unai Simon, who failed to control the ball and only succeeded in deflecting it into the goal.

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It is the longest own-goal in the tournament’s history, yet Pedri shrugged off that misfortune to produce a dominant performance against a highly regarded Croatia midfield led by veteran Luka Modric.

Pedri’s technique, vision and ability to manoeuvre himself into space and find teammates with his astute passing is astonishing given his age. He is coming off his first year at Barcelona, which he joined from Las Palmas in the offseason, and has already played 60 games for his club and his country this season.

He has also been picked to play for Spain at the football tournament at the Tokyo Olympics. Don’t expect Luis Enrique to save Pedri's legs for that.

Midfield will be an area Spain will look to take charge of against Switzerland, which will be missing captain Granit Xhaka because of suspension.

ALSO READ|

Xhaka was selected as UEFA’s man of the match after Switzerland beat France in a penalty shootout — following a 3-3 draw through extra time — to advance to its first quarterfinal match at a major tournament since the 1954 World Cup.

Switzerland faces the tough task of avoiding a natural comedown after one of the biggest wins in its history. “Nobody will ever forget this game,” Switzerland midfielder Remo Freuler said on Wednesday. “Nobody can take this magical night away from us.”

Spain’s win over Croatia came on the same evening, but Luis Enrique has the advantage of calling on a deeper squad for a match taking place four days later.

Fatigue, and the shrewd use of substitutes, is proving a key factor at a tournament that is coming off a gruelling, pandemic-affected club season. Both teams are likely to make changes to freshen up for a shot at the semifinals. Expect Pedri to start once again, though. He is already a player Spain cannot do without.

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