Spain beat Netherlands on penalties to set up France Nations League semi-final

PARIS, June 17 (Xinhua) — Holders Spain will face France in the Nations League semi-finals after edging past the Netherlands in a penalty shootout following a breathless quarter-final second leg that ended 3-3 on Sunday in Valencia, while the other tie saw Croatia go out to France on penalties after a 2-2 aggregate draw.

Portugal scraped past Denmark in dramatic style after extra time, and will now face the Finals host Germany following their tense 5-4 aggregate defeat of Italy.

European champions Spain took the initiative in the tie after Thursday’s 2-2 first leg when Mikel Oyarzabal dusted himself down from a foul in the box to find the net from the penalty spot.

Btw there was also a penalty for the Netherlands that Memphis Depay won and scoredThe Netherlands had equalised nine minutes after the break when Memphis Depay also won and converted a penalty.

Oyarzabal scored his second in the 67th minute following a powerful run forward from Nico Williams, only for the Dutch to equalize again with 11 minutes left when Ian Maatsen fired a shot into the net.

Lamine Yamal scored with barely a minute remaining in the first half of extra time, curling the ball into the far corner after a couple of superb touches.

Another twist came when the Spain goalkeeper, Unai Simon, fouled Xavi Simons, who got up to score.

Spain squeaked through 5-4 on penalties even though Yamal hit the post, while Simon thwarted the Netherlands winger Donyell Malen and Pedri scored the decisive penalty.

Spain’s semi-final opponents in Stuttgart on June 5 will be France, who wiped away a two-goal deficit at the Stade de France.

A stunning free-kick from Michael Olise opened the scoring on the night shortly after the break in the 52nd minute, before Ousmane Dembele swept his cutback from Olise into the bottom corner to take the quarter-final to extra time.

An eventful shoot-out saw Theo Hernandez miss a penalty that would have won it for France, but Dayot Upamecano eventually propelled them to a 5-4 success on penalties in sudden death.

Trincao sends Portugal through

Portugal rallied behind substitute Francisco Trincao after losing the first leg 1-0 to take a thrilling last-eight meeting with Denmark 5-3 on aggregate.

Cristiano Ronaldo, then, after a stutter-run-up, delivered the most meekest of early penalties, which was easily gathered by Denmark goalkeeper Kasper Schmeichel.

Portugal were handed the lead on the night when Joachim Andersen hacked Bruno Fernandes’ corner into his own goal.

But Denmark recovered an aggregate advantage 11 minutes into the second half with Rasmus Kristensen’s fine header.

Ronaldo did score his 136th international goal, however, turning the ball in after the Danish keeper Karl-Johan Schmeichel had pushed a shot from Bruno Fernandes against the post.

However, Portugal were befallen in the 76th minute when Christian Eriksen slotted home.

The hosts had forced an extra half-hour when Schmeichel’s weak punch fell to Mendes, setting up Trincao to drill a shot into the bottom corner.

Trincao scored his second in the first minute of extra time, and Goncalo Ramos ensured a meeting with Germany in Munich on June 4.

Germany withstand Italy comeback

Germans of Julian Nagelsmann withstood an Italy rally to progress 5-4 on aggregate after a 3-3 tie in Dortmund.

Germany further stretched their aggregate lead on the half-hour mark when Joshua Kimmich slotted in a penalty before he was involved in the construction of a bizarre second goal.

Gianluigi Donnarumma, the Italy goalkeeper, had also left his goal after making a save in order to complain at the referee when Kimmich and Germany took advantage of a quickly taken corner to flick Jamal Musiala’s effort into an unguarded net.

Kimmich’s steered cross at the brink of half-time nodded in by Tim Kleindienst, but a double by Moise Kean offered Italy the glimmer of hope coming into the final 20 minutes.

Giacomo Raspadori stroked home a penalty deep into injury time to draw the score level on the night, but the Azzurri had no time left to take the game to extra time.

“It wasn’t like a perfect football match, but it was amazing football, especially this level I’ve seen from us,” Germany coach Nagelsmann said.

Elsewhere, Belgium scraped to avoid relegation to League B, with two late goals from Romelu Lukaku helping it turn a 3-1 first-leg deficit against Ukraine into a 3-0 victory in the return match.

Scotland, who let a first-leg lead slip, were relegated to League B after slumping to a 3-0 home loss to Greece at Hampden Park, beaten 3-1 on aggregate.

Serbia beat Austria 2-0 and 3-1 on aggregate in Belgrade to stave off relegation, while Turkey booked their spot at Hungary’s expense, with Hakan Calhanoglu and Arda Guler on the scoresheet.