ENGLAND beware, because the Bruise Brothers are coming and they’re not taking any prisoners.
Giorgio Chiellini and Leonardo Bonucci have got Harry Kane in their uncompromising sights after Italy dramatically secured their place in Sunday’s European Championshjp final.
The most enduring defensive partnership in world football celebrated their 325th game together for club and country with yet another hard-fought victory.
And they won’t come any more nerve shredding than this incredible shoot-out triumph which required every last drop of endeavour from Roberto Mancini’s men.
The good news for England should they win their semi-final against Denmark tonight is that they will be up against a team who will be physically and emotionally drained when they return to Wembley on Sunday.
The bad news is that Chiellini and Bonucci might have a combined age of 70 but they remain as impenetrable a barrier as when they first teamed up way back in 2010.
And finding a way past these towering twins is going to take some doing for Gareth Southgate and his coaching team.
Spanish sub Alvaro Morata did manage to conjure up a late equaliser to take this epic battle into extra-time.
But the striker bombed out by Chelsea two years ago was left inconsolable when his penalty was saved by Italian keeper Gianluigi Donnarumma.
Bonucci had already proved that he has nerves of steel when he stepped up to convert from the spot despite missing in previous shoot-outs defeats by Spain and Germany.
That came after Manuel Locatelli’s effort had been saved by Unai Simon before Dani Olmo blasted over the bar to keep this tie on a knife-edge.
But once Morata had been denied it was left to his former Chelsea team-mate Jorginho to settle this nerve-shredding semi with a calm-as-you-like conversion into the bottom corner.
It was an absolute sickener for Morata, who thought he was going to be his country’s hero when he struck an 80th minute equaliser to cancel out Federico Chiesa’s opening goal.
That was his sixth European Championship goal, more than any other Spaniard has ever managed at this tournament.
Yet it will be little consolation for the man who was surprisingly left out of the starting line-up by coach Luis Enrique.
Maybe Enrique figured that Chiellini and Bonucci were too familiar with their Juventus team-mate and wanted the unknown Mikel Oyarzabal to shake them out of their comfort zone.
And it almost paid off for Spain when Oyarzabal was given a clear sight of goal but was able to control the ball before Chiellini cleared.
Ferran Torres fired wide with the first shot of the match and Dani Olmo drew the first save from Donnarumma following a poor kick by the Italian keeper.
Yet for all of Spain’s early possession, their high defensive line left them wide open to the counter attack.
And that was the last thing they could afford when Simon was such a bundle of nerves so far from his back four.
The Spanish keeper was still haunted by the memory of his second round howler when he allowed a simple Pedri back pass to roll into his goal against Croatia.
And though he saved his country’s bacon in their subsequent shoot-out victory over the Swiss, he still looked anything but convincing.
He should have been punished for a mad dash from his area when he was beaten to the ball in a 21st minute foot race by Lorenzo Insigne.
But neither Ciro Immobile nor Nicolo Barella were able to get a shot off before they were crowded out by white-shirted defenders with Simon scrambling back to his goal.
No wonder David De Gea cut such a forlorn figure on the subs’ bench as he pondered just how far his Spanish star has fallen.
Another poor Simon clearance invited further pressure on the Spanish goal before Immobile was shepherded away from the danger zone by Aymeric Laporte.
But at least the shackles were beginning to come off as Sergi Busquets fired just over the bar before Chiesa’s angled shot drew a sprawling save from Simon.
As expected, there was precious little between two teams who knew just how much was at stake.
But just when it was beginning to look like they were digging in for the long haul, Chiesa finally forced a 60th minute breakthrough to lift the lid off Wembley.
Marco Verratti and Insigne led the counter and though Laporte slid in to halt Immobile’s charge, the Manchester City defender was powerless to prevent Chiesa from curling a magnificent follow-up shot into the far corner.
It was like a dagger to the heart of Spanish hopes yet Enrique refused to panic and reacted decisively by sending on Morata for Torres.
He had only been on the field for five minutes when he teed up Olmo for a first time shot which flashed just wide of Donnarumma’s goal.
And with Italy desperately clinging on to their slender lead, it was Morata who took the tie into extra-time when he exchanged passes with Olmo before calmly stroking home in the 80th minute.
Chances came and went in extra-time but these old adversaries simply could not be separated until Morata’s miss opened the door for Italy to extend their unbeaten run to an incredible 33 games.
Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
