ENGLAND 0-0 (2-4) ITALY

What happens when two defensive teams meet in knock-out stages? A long, long night of football which drags on forever. The Italians dominated possessions with 68%, created more passes (833 against 364), hit the post twice, had a goal scored but declared offside and created more chances on goal (36 against 9, 8 on target against 1). Italy wasted so many chances in front of goal that they have only themselves to blame for dragging the match into extra-time. The Portugese referee was a controversial figure on the field, giving a few confusing decisions in the match.

Once it is the penalty shoot-out, we know experience reigns. Buffon is ultimately more experienced and his appearance in front of goal was enough to scare anyone. England have always been not strong in penalties and that gave the Italians more chances of winning.

Balotelli stepped up to take the first shot and he nailed it. Gerrard responded with a shot too for England. Montolivo shot wide to the left and gave England the advantage. Rooney then nailed his. Pirlo came later and scored an incredible chip into the penalty, defined famously as the Panenka penalty created by Antonín Panenka. Young came next and hit the upright with his shot. It was back to square one. Nocerino scored for the third goal. Cole came next and got his shot saved by Buffon. Finally, Diamanti stepped up to score the winning goal for the Italians. Therefore, both Ashleys missed to give the Italians the win.

The Italians will meet the Germans but they will be definitely be very tired going into the match.