History can also be written by losing, women's Italy he proved that yes, it is possible, by flying to european quarter-finals after one defeat against Spain (3-1). Un a goal that had been missing for 12 years and which Soncin's team reaches after getting up on their toes and having looked at the giants straight in the eyes. It scared them, passing in advantage after 10 minutes with Elisabetta Oliviero, winger from Lazio, who started playing to emulate her three older brothers, tattooing Vesuvius in memory of her seasons at Napoli and dreaming of becoming a superhero «one of those who doesn't yet exist, who manages to make people happy people».
For four minutes it made it, then Spain went back to making Spain, that is, the world champion team in charge, the one capable of scoring 14 goals in the three group matches, the one that —even if only with three starters on the pitch because it is now already certain of the quarterfinals — is enjoyed in the midfield Putellas and Bonmatì, those who pass from 2020 Golden Ballwith ease. Asphyxiating pressing (no one recovers the ball so many times in the last 40 metres), ability to score goals in every way (first in both open play and set pieces), but in the end Italy only surrenders to a feat from Castillo and a rather casual winger from Guijarro, who at the beginning of the second half rejoices with a surprised face at the curious trajectory of his shot (Esther Gonzalez's 3-1 comes with time up)
An image that says it all about’Italy, careful not to allow spaces in her 5-4-1 when her opponents had the ball and she was good at restarting on the counterattack. The character, however, is beyond any tactical aspect: in the first half Oliviero, in a competitive trance, violently sweeps a harmless ball into the stands, hitting a small fan with the blue shirt (an immediate apology). In the last minutes, then, Soncin's girls attacked in large numbers, despite the fact that qualification was now safe due to Portugal's simultaneous defeat against Belgium (2-1).
Will be challenge to Norway, which isn't as scary as it used to be. In 2013, the last European to see us in the quarterfinals, the Scandinavians came second but since then everything has changed. Today I am in 16° place in the ranking, they have not gone to the Olympics since 2008, in the last two editions of the European Championships they have never gone beyond the group stage. You can dream, Soncin also reiterates it in the usual circle in which his girls gather. He gets emotional on TV: «Our dream continues, we wanted to make history and we're making it. It's something magical».