Penalty drama as France, Spain, Portugal, Germany reach UNL semi-finals
France, Spain, Portugal and Germany advanced to the UEFA Nations League semi-finals on Sunday night, the first two requiring penalty shootouts and the third needing extra-time in tense second legs.
France overturned a two-goal deficit to qualify for the semi-finals by eliminating Croatia 5-4 on penalties after a 2-0 victory in their quarter-final second leg at the Stade de France.
Dayot Upamecano scored the winning spot kick in a nail-biting shootout in which France keeper Mike Maignan made two saves, sending Les Bleus into the semi-finals against Spain.
Michael Olise opened the scoring and Ousmane Dembele doubled their lead 10 minutes from time to send the tie into extra-time after their 2-0 loss in Split on Thursday.
In the shootout, Maignan, a penalty specialist, saved efforts from Martin Baturina and Josip Stanisic with Franjo Ivanovic skying his attempt over the bar.
Theo Hernandez and Jules Kounde missed the target for France but Kylian Mbappe, Aurelien Tchouameni, Randal Kolo Muani, Desire Doue and Upamecano converted.
On their part, Spain beat the Netherlands 5-4 on penalties at home to reach the Nations League semi-finals after the second leg of their thrilling contest ended 3-3.
After a see-saw tie ended 5-5 on aggregate, the teams could not be separated through the first three rounds of a tense shootout, before both sides missed their fourth penalties.
Yet the decisive blow was landed in the sixth round when the Netherlands’ Donyell Malen saw his attempt saved by Spain keeper Unai Simon, allowing Pedri to convert and secure the win.
In the first leg, Spain grabbed a stoppage-time equaliser against 10-man Netherlands to secure a 2-2 draw in Rotterdam ahead of the return match at Mestalla Stadium.
The hosts grabbed an early lead on Sunday after Jan Paul van Hecke brought down Mikel Oyarzabal, who calmly converted the resulting penalty in the eighth minute.
Spain nearly doubled their advantage moments later when Nico Williams broke through one-on-one with Bart Verbruggen, but the Dutch keeper spread himself to make a crucial save and deflect the shot away.
At the start of the second half, Spain’s Robin Le Normand fouled Memphis Depay, who converted with ease from the penalty spot to level the score for the Dutch.
Spain regained the lead in the 67th minute from a counter-attack, with Williams setting up an unmarked Oyarzabal, whose initial shot was blocked by Verbruggen before he headed in the rebound.
The Netherlands fought back in the 79th minute, with Ian Maatsen marking his international debut by firing in a powerful strike from a tight angle to level the score and send the match to extra-time.
Spain went ahead again 13 minutes into extra-time when Lamine Yamal, receiving a long pass from Dutch-born Dean Huijsen, shrugged off his marker and curled a sumptuous left-footed shot into the far corner.
But the Netherlands refused to give up, and three minutes into the second half of extra-time, Xavi Simons equalised from the penalty spot after Spain’s Simon fouled him, sending the match to penalties where the hosts eventually prevailed.
Spain will now face France in the semi-final on June 5 in Stuttgart.
Portugal’s Francisco Trincao came off the bench to score twice and Cristiano Ronaldo also netted as they beat Denmark 5-2 after extra-time for a 5-3 aggregate win that set up a semi-final against Germany.
Ronaldo bounced back from missing an early penalty to play a crucial role in his team’s recovery, and though he had to watch extra-time from the bench, he continued to drive the crowd on as Portugal finally found a way to end Denmark’s resistance.
With the Danes leading the tie 1-0 thanks to Rasmus Hojlund’s goal in Thursday’s first leg in Copenhagen and fullback Joakim Maehle having left the camp to attend the birth of his child, his replacement Patrick Dorgu handed Portugal an early gift, bundling over Ronaldo to concede a penalty in the third minute.
Ronaldo stepped up to take the spot kick himself, but Denmark goalkeeper Kasper Schmeichel won the battle of nerves and got down smartly to his left to deny the Portuguese captain.
Portugal eventually took the lead on the night in the 38th minute thanks to an own goal from Danish defender Joachim Andersen, who headed a corner won by Ronaldo into his own net.
That goal was cancelled out by a Rasmus Kristensen header from a corner of their own in the 56th minute, and though Ronaldo gave the home side the lead again with a finish from a tight angle, Christian Eriksen put Denmark back in front on aggregate in the 76th minute.
Trincao then took over, scoring in the 86th minute to make it 3-3 on aggregate and force extra-time before netting again with a superb clipped finish in the 91st minute to put his side in the driving seat.
Denmark defended heroically but they ran out of steam after Trincao’s second goal, and substitute Goncalo Ramos added the coup de grace with Portugal’s fifth to send them through to a final-four meeting with Germany, who beat Italy 5-4 on aggregate.
Germany completed the semi-final line-up despite blowing a 3-0 lead at home to draw 3-3 with Italy.
They progressed 5-4 on aggregate having won the first leg 2-1 in Italy on Thursday.
RESULTS
France 2-0 Croatia (2-2 aggregate, 5-4 penalties)
Spain 3-3 Netherlands (5-5 aggregate, 5-4 penalties)
Portugal 5-2 Denmark (5-3 aggregate)
Germany 3-3 Italy (5-4 aggregate)
Reuters
