Italy’s heroine Cristiana Girelli hailed their “magical and special” achievement of reaching their first major women’s tournament semi-final since 1997 after her 90th-minute header beat Norway and sparked memorable celebrations.
The 35-year-old striker’s dramatic strike, her second goal of the game, set up a semi-final with either England or Sweden, who meet in Zurich on Thursday, as Italy moved a step closer to what could be their first major silverware.
Norway, managed by the former Wales coach Gemma Grainger, were disappointing for the first hour and their captain Ada Hegerberg missed a penalty, but appeared to be the stronger side in the latter stages after equalising through Hegerberg’s low finish in normal play.
“It’s a dream that becomes reality,” Girelli said. “Since we arrived in Switzerland, but also when we started the camp, I felt something special. I saw in the eyes of my teammates something I can’t explain in words. We knew it was difficult to reach the semi-final but we all knew we could do it.
“It’s something magical. Tonight being among the four best teams is a great satisfaction. We are doing this for our glory but the meaning is much deeper and we want to bring this meaning to Italy. In Italy we can play football and also women and girls can play football.”
For both teams this tie represented a priceless opportunity to reach a semi-final, after a relatively kind draw. They had both been eliminated at the group stage of the European Championship in 2017 and 2022. They had both given their supporters cause for optimism during their group matches and knew the heavyweight contenders were all in action later this week in the other last-eight fixtures. Perhaps, with that, came a few nerves.
Ada Hegerberg stares at the floor at full time after Norway’s defeat. Photograph: Denis Balibouse/Reuters
Norway supporters were certainly in the minority as Italy fans flocked to Geneva and Norway also created the minority of the first-half chances, as the Italians showed the greater attacking endeavour in a cautious first 45 minutes. A tournament-record average of 3.7 goals per game had been scored in the group stages, as attacking football became the norm. But perhaps it was to be expected that the start of the knockout rounds would deliver a goalless first 45 minutes, an element of caginess creeping into both sides.
Despite the slow tempo, Italy played some neat football, going close through Manuela Giugliano, Girelli’s attempted header and Lucia Di Guglielmo, while their energetic midfielder Emma Severini burst into the penalty area but saw her shot well saved by the Norway goalkeeper Cecilie Fiskerstrand.
The Italians broke the deadlock when Sofia Cantore’s goalbound shot from the right side of the box was angled into the net with the gentlest of touches from Girelli. Italy had the momentum suddenly and Cantore thought she had doubled the lead moments later but her scrambled effort was disallowed for offside. Soon the game was seesawing as Norway were awarded a penalty when Hegerberg was bundled down by Elena Linari.
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A deft touch from Cristiana Girelli gives Italy the lead. Photograph: Bernadett Szabó/Reuters
Former Ballon d’Or winner Hegerberg, who had also missed a spot-kick in Norway’s opening group game against Switzerland, placed her effort wide to the bafflement of fans and to the dismay of the Norway supporters directly behind the goal. Hegerberg redeemed herself by running on to Maren Mjelde’s long ball and tucking past Laura Giuliani, who had been too hesitant to come off her line. Norway almost turned the tie around when, from a half-chance, Ingrid Engen curled wide.
But Italy were not to be denied as Cantore fired over a penetrating cross from the left that found an unmarked Girelli who headed past Fiskerstrand and they will be back in Geneva on Tuesday.
Grainger, who is from Middlesbrough, insisted Norway will look back on their campaign with “real pride” after topping their group, adding: “When you concede so late, it’s so hard to take, especially with that second-half performance.”