Italy Breaks Historic Defensive Record and Barely Outlasts Austria in the Round of 16

Italy Did Not Allow a Goal for 1,168 Minutes

Italy’s defense, known by some as Mancini’s Wall, continued their defensive excellence against Austria in the round of 16. They broke the record for most minutes played without conceding a goal at 1,168 minutes, but Austria did finally end the streak by scoring in extra time before losing 2-1 against the Italians. Sasa Kalajdzic’s header for Austria in the 114^thminute was the first goal Italy has allowed in over 8 months.

The Italians went a jaw-dropping 1,143 minutes in a stretch from 1972 to 1974 without allowing a goal, but had surpassed that record in the final minute against Austria before they entered extra time tied at 0-0. The streak was almost ended before reaching the new milestone when Austria thought they had scored in the 65^th minute, but VAR reviewed the goal and Austria forward Marko Arnautović was ruled offsides.

Italy Controls Extra-Time

Entering extra-time, Italy had not created as many dangerous goal scoring opportunities as they would have liked, but that changed very quickly, as they went on the offensive in extra-time and scored twice in the fifteen-minute half. It started in the 95^th minute as Federico Chiesa handled a beautiful cross in open space and volleyed his effort in the far side netting. Italy then took advantage of Austria pushing more players up the field and added a second goal ten minutes later as Matteo Pessina scored in a hectic scramble in front of the net.

Austria fought valiantly and even tightened the score-line to 2-1, but the two-goal advantage and legendary Italian defense was too much to overcome. This would have been the first time Austria had beaten Italy since 1960. Austria is instead sent home in the Round of 16 after pushing Italy to their absolute limit.

What’s Next For Italy?

Italy will play the winner of Belgium vs Portugal in the quarter-finals. A tough task either way, as Belgium is ranked #1 in the World right now and Portugal is the defending Euro Champions. The game will take place Friday, July 2^nd in Munich, Germany.