Milan (AFP) – Spain became the first team to advance to the semi-finals of the European under-21 championships on Saturday with a 5-0 win over Poland which also earns them a ticket to the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo.
But hosts Italy will have to wait two days to see if they advance to the final four despite a 3-1 win over Belgium.
Poland had started the day as Group A leaders but finish the pool stage third and are eliminated from the tournament.
In a tight group A Spain, Italy and Poland finished on six points, with the Spaniards top on goal difference.
Italy are second and their slim hopes of advancing as the best second-placed team now depends on the results of Group B and C ties on Monday.
A draw between France and Romania in Group C would qualify both those teams, and eliminate the Italians.
“It was not positive and makes everything much more complicated,” said Italy coach Luigi Biagio.
“Now we have to hope France do us a favour,” said striker Patrick Cutrone.
“The dream is to go as far as possible, especially at home, in front of our fans. We’ll never get this opportunity again.”
Cutrone had scored Italy’s second goal after the break to add to Nicolo Barella’s before the interval with Federico Chiesa adding third a minute from time after Yari Verschaeren pulled one back for Belgium on 79 minutes.
In Bologna, Pablo Fornals got the Spanish rout going on 17 minutes with Mikel Oyarzabal (35), Fabian Ruiz (39), Dani Ceballos (71) and Borja Mayoral (90) punishing the Poles.
