In the early morning of June 30, Beijing time, in the 1/8 finals of the 2024 European Cup, the Italian team encountered a strong challenge from the Swiss team. After a fierce battle, the Italian team lost 0-2 and unfortunately stopped in the round of 16. The result of this match ended the Italian team's journey before the quarter-finals of the European Championship, and for the first time since 2004, they were eliminated before the quarter-finals of the European Championship.
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Let's rewind the clock to 2004, when the Italian team did not perform well on the international football stage. On the stage of the European Championship, they finished third in the group with five points, unfortunately missing out on qualifying from the group. Since then, however, the Italians seem to have found a new impetus, with at least the quarter-finals of each of their next four European Championships.
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At Euro 2008, Italy lost in the quarter-finals and stopped there. Then, in 2012, they made it all the way to the final with a strong performance, and finally finished second in the final. Unfortunately, at Euro 2016, Italy were eliminated again in the quarter-finals. And at Euro 2020, the Italian team finally ushered in a glorious moment, they successfully won the championship and made new history.
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However, in the 1/8 finals of this European Cup, the defending champion Italy team encountered stubborn resistance from the Swiss team. Despite their hard work, they were ultimately defeated by a score of 0-2 and stopped in the round of 16, declaring a failure to defend their title. The defeat in this game also ended the Italian team's European Championship journey.
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In the first knockout match of this European Championship, the Swiss team shocked the entire football world by defeating the last European champions Italy with a score of 2-0. This match not only showed the world the strength of the Swiss team, but also gave them confidence for themselves. In the game, goals from Freuler and Rubén Vargas sealed the win for Switzerland, leaving Italy out of the tournament.
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It is worth mentioning that this game is also the first time that the Swiss team has not played a penalty shootout with its opponent in the last four European Championship knockout rounds. Looking back at the Swiss team's European Championship history, they have struggled with penalty shootouts since the Euro 2016 quarter-final match against Poland. In that game, Switzerland played Poland 1-1 in 120 minutes and eventually went out 4-5 on penalties.
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Then, in the 1/8 finals of Euro 2020, the Swiss team once again experienced a thrilling game. Against the mighty France, they not only played 3-3 in 120 minutes, but also advanced 5-4 on penalties. However, in the quarter-finals, the Swiss team met Spain and fell into a penalty shootout again. Although they stubbornly fought to a 3-3 draw, they ended up 1-3 out.
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The victory was a huge win for the Swiss team, not only breaking their penalty shoot-out curse, but also taking them one step further in this tournament. In the next quarter-finals, Switzerland will face the winner between England and Slovakia. It will undoubtedly be a tough match, but with this victory, the Swiss team will undoubtedly have accumulated enough confidence and courage to rise to the challenge.