Italy 2 Romania 0
Romanian skipper Gheorghe Hagi was sent off for diving as Italy stayed on course to reach their first European Championship final for 32 years.
Two first-half goals in the space of 10 minutes from Francesco Totti and Filippo Inzaghi earned the Italians a semi-final meeting with either Holland or Yugoslavia in Amsterdam on Thursday. With the dismissal of Hagi ended Romania's hopes - although over the 90 minutes there was precious little to choose between the two sides. But Italy seem to have acquired the winning knack again although the class of 2000 does not appear to be in the same bracket as some of their great sides of previous eras.
The Italians broke the deadlock in the 32nd minute. Fiore played the ball over the defence after a centre had only been half-cleared by the Romanians and Totti timed his run perfectly and slipped the ball wide of Stelea. Lady luck then denied Romania an instant equaliser when Hagi seized on to a crossfield ball from Dorinel Munteanu, lobbed the ball over Toldo but saw his shot cannon back off a post. Then another incisive move by the Italians led to Inzaghi increasing their lead three minutes before the interval. This time Albertini was the creator and Inzaghi raced clear of the Romanian defence before producing another piece of clinical finishing.
Romania opened the second half in positive mood but the dismissal of Hagi left them with a mountain to climb. First he was booked for a foul on Antonio Conte. Then he went down in the penalty area and referee Melo Pereira claimed that he had dived and gave him his marching orders but Romania refused to buckle despite their numerical disadvantage. Toldo tipped over a fierce effort from substitute Ioan Ganea and Liviu Ciobotariu had a goal-bound effort blocked. But Italy also looked dangerous when they counter-attacked with Inzaghi hitting the post with a 20-yard effort and then inexplicably shooting wide with the goal at his mercy.
(PA Sports)
