Spain beat Swiss 3-1 on penalties to reach Euro 2020 semi-finals | Euro2020 News

After a 1-1 draw, Unai Simon scored twice in a shootout to keep Spain’s bid for the fourth European crown in Spain alive.

Goalkeeper Unai Simon saved two penalties as Spain beat Switzerland 10-1 3-1 in a shootout to secure a place in the 2020 Euro Cup semi-finals.

After a 1-1 draw in St. Petersburg on Friday when the Swiss saw a man play for 43 minutes, Simon scored twice in the shootout to help keep Spain’s bid alive for the fourth European crown.

It was a heartbreak for Switzerland as they were bidding for the first time in history to reach the finals of a major tournament.

Spain took the lead early on when Denis Zakaria entered his goal, but Switzerland were the best side for a long time and Xherdan Shaqiri, who was interrupted on the Granit Xhaka captain’s field, equalized in the 68th minute.

The Swiss were reduced to 10 men with 13 minutes left, but when midfielder Remo Freuler was controversially released he faced Gerard Moreno.

Swiss goalkeeper Yann Sommer, the hero of the penalties won by France against the world champion in the last eight, made some beautiful stops in overtime.

But Simon saved Fabian Schaer and Manuel Akanji, and when Ruben Vargas entered Spain in the high-tension final, Mikel Oyarzabal took the win.

Spain advance to Tuesday’s semi-finals at Wembley against Belgium or Italy.

After scoring 10 goals in the previous two games, Spain returned to the dirty performances that tied the first two games of the team against Sweden and Poland.

The 2008 and 2012 winners began their dream in this quarter-final, taking the lead in fortunate situations in the eighth minute.

A corner was cleared until Jordi Alba, as his left-footed volley was deflected before Sommer by Swiss midfielder Zakaria, playing in place of Xhaka.

It was the 10th goal of the 2020 Euro Cup, more than the other 15 editions.

Alvaro Morata missed the perfect opportunity by approaching Sommer when he was unmarked, but Switzerland started to grow in the game.

Silvan Widmer headed in a corner before Steven Zuber scored from the penalty spot before scoring offside.

Spanish coach Luis Enrique sent Dani Olmo to the break and the RB Leipzig man threatened within 60 seconds when Sommer saw his low volley well.

Zakaria was close to being upset when he tightened his header on his first goal to score.

Switzerland had a better chance to equalize in the 64th minute as Shaqiri launched a quick counterattack. Spanish goalkeeper Simon reacted well to Zuber’s effort to keep him away from his post.

Swiss midfielder Xherdan Shaqiri (right) has struggled to get the ball with Spanish defender Cesar Azpilicueta. [Dmitri Lovetsky/AFP]

Xaki strikes

The minimum found a deserved equalizer four minutes later as Freuler was tied up in the Spanish defense after tying to a loose ball and turning Shaqiri to the right to get into the far corner and score the third goal of the tournament.

The pattern of the game changed in the 77th minute, however, when referee Michael Oliver ordered Freule to order the Spanish substitute Moreno to slip the challenge.

Switzerland managed to keep Spain on a regular basis until the end of normal time quite easily, but in the third minute of the extra half hour Moreno had to put Spain ahead again to get Alba’s cross wrong.

Switzerland may have been lucky to not have another man sent off soon after, as Widmer escaped a second yellow card for a cynical foul on Olmo.

Moreno somehow overcame another golden opportunity, which Sommer denied in a vacuum, before the Borussia Moenchengladbach plugs made Oyarzabal’s excellent dive.

Sommer made eight stops in extra time alone, but what he did in Rodriguez’s shot was not enough, although Sergio Busquets also hit the post, as Switzerland missed three of four penalties.