ITALY and Denmark have qualified for the Euro 2020 quarterfinals after beating Austria and Wales respectively. Italy defeated Austria 2-1 in a closely contested match, which went into extra time at Wembley on Saturday.

Denmark breezed through by hammering Wales 4-0.

Roberto Mancini’s men, who earned rave reviews after their cruise through the group phase, were made to work hard for their win and had super subs Federico Chiesa and Matteo Pessina to thank.

The victory means Italy has  now set a new record of 31 matches unbeaten, surpassing the mark set under two-time World Cup-winning coach Vittorio Pozzo in the 1930s.

Italy’s fans gave a rousing rendition of their national anthem and were the more enterprising team in the first half but Austria came back strongly after the break and cursed a VAR decision to rule out a goal for Marko Arnautovic 20 minutes into the second half.

Despite multiple attempts on goal from both sides, they were locked at 0-0 after 90 minutes in London.

But Chiesa made the crucial breakthrough five minutes into extra time and another goal from Pessina gave Italy a two-goal cushion.

There was still time for late drama when Austria’s Sasa Kalajdzic pulled a goal back but Italy progressed and will play the winner of another tie between Belgium and Portugal.

Mancini, who has rebuilt the Azzurri after their humiliating failure to qualify for the 2018 World Cup, said his side “deserved” the result.

“In the first half we could have scored a couple of goals and then after the break we dropped off physically,” he told Italy’s public broadcaster RAI. “We owe thanks to the players who came on with the right mindset and resolved the situation. I knew it would be hard, maybe even more so than in the quarterfinals.”

Earlier, Denmark eased into the quarterfinals with a 4-0 win over Wales in Amsterdam’s Johan Cruyff Arena thanks to two goals from Kasper Dolberg’s and late goals from Joakim Maehle and Martin Braithwaite.

The Danes, carried by a wave of emotion, are the neutrals’ favorites after overcoming the trauma of Christian Eriksen’s cardiac arrest in their opening game.

They will face the Netherlands or the Czech Republic in the quarterfinals after winning a knockout tie at the European Championship for the first time since they stunned the continent by winning the tournament in 1992.

It is exactly 29 years since Denmark defeated Germany in the final in Gothenburg having famously only qualified because war-torn Yugoslavia disintegrated.

“It is hard to believe that this is reality,” said coach Kasper Hjulmand. “I am really grateful for all the support we got, and the guys are true warriors. Being in the quarterfinals now is amazing.”(SD-Agencies)