England first into last four

Early goals
Kelly McDougall and Eniola Aluko put England two goals ahead inside the opening 26 minutes before Agnese Ricco struck to give Italy hope for the second half. Fresh from scoring the winning goal against Sweden, midfield player Fara Williams again had the final say, drilling in another wonderful effort in the 85th minute to leave England with maximum points. The Italians now meet Sweden on Tuesday with the winners advancing along with England, who face a Germany side who relinquished their crown with today's 2-1 loss to the Swedes.

Relaxed mood
Mo Marley's England side were knocked out by Germany in the last four in 2002, yet they can approach their forthcoming fixture against the hosts in relaxed mood having already stamped their authority on the section. They were vibrant early on at the Zentralsportpark Markkleeberg, though Italy were the first team to really threaten when Raffaella Manieri fired a free-kick straight at Karen Bardsley. Anota Asante then had a headed goal disallowed before Federica Margiotta was denied when clean through by the on-rushing Bardsley.

High tempo
The game was being played at a suprisingly high tempo, with no shortage of skill, despite the high temperatures. In the 20th minute England took the lead when McDougall showed fine vision to chip Chiara Marchitelli from 20 metres. Things got even better for the leaders six minutes later, when Aluko reacted sharply to a scramble in the Italy goalmouth to double England's advantage.

Flicks and tricks
It appeared that England would have that two-goal lead to defend in the second half as time ticked by, but Ricco latched on to a Serena Coppolino through-ball, composed herself and finally got the better of Bardsley to reduce arrears to 2-1. It was just reward for a player who had shown plenty of invention throughout, pleasing the crowd with flicks and tricks aplenty.

Class strike
A burst of heavy rain and forks of lightning failed to dampen either side's spirit and both continued to search for goals. In the 72nd minute Bardsley again showed sharp reactions when racing off her line to deny Ricco. Ten minutes later another goal was disallowed after Italy No1 Marchitelli was bundled into the net. Yet there was no disputing the final goal, Williams again showing her class with a quality strike.