Switzerland stuns Italy, Germany sees off Denmark

Ruben Vargas' assist and goal paved the way for Switzerland's 2-0 victory over titleholder Italy in the Euro 2024 last 16 at Berlin Olympia stadium on Saturday, reported Xinhua.

Switzerland controlled possession and pressed Italy onto the back foot but still Murat Yakin's team had to wait until the 24th minute before Breel Embolo's effort forced goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma into action.

The Nati eventually broke the deadlock with 37 minutes played when Vargas' cutback pass found Remo Feulner, who made no mistake and tapped home past Donnarumma.

Donnarumma remained busy as he had to palm Fabian Rieder's dangerous free kick around the woodwork just before the half time.

Switzerland continued on the front foot and doubled its advantage within seconds of the restart as Vargas finished the job into the top right corner following a counterattack.

Harmless Italy almost halved the deficit against the run of the flow after Switzerland defender Fabian Schar cleared the ball to the right post.

In the closing stage, Italy threw every man up front and came close in the 74th minute when Gianluca Scamacca rattled the woodwork.

However, Switzerland's victory was never in danger as Italy couldn't overcome goalkeeper Yann Sommer.

"We were also lucky. The almost own goal was a shock moment, but the team were great, and we were able to defend the result to the end. I hope this is not the end of the road for us and we can keep making history," said Switzerland coach Yakin.

"It hurts to go out like this, we apologise to everyone. They deserved it. We struggled the whole match. In the first half, we lost too many balls. It was tough, a very tough match to digest. In the first half we did badly because they always had the ball. We wanted to start better in the second half, but we conceded a goal straight away instead," said Italy goalkeeper Donnarumma.

Yakin's boys will face either England or Slovakia in the quarterfinals on July 6.

Meanwhile, for the first time in eight years Germany booked the quarterfinals in the Euro 2024 after goals from Kai Havertz and Jamal Musiala secured the host a 2-0 win over Denmark in last 16 at Dortmund's Signal Iduna Park on Saturday.

Germany took the reins from the starting whistle and thought they had opened the scoring with just four minutes played but Nico Schlotterbeck's opener was ruled out due to a foregone foul play.

Denmark goalkeeper Kasper Schmeichel had his hands full of work, denying the dangerous efforts from Joshua Kimmich and Havertz as Germany pressed for the opener.

The flow of the game got disrupted as the match was suspended due to severe weather at the half hour mark.

After the restart, Germany should have opened the scoring, but Havertz couldn't beat Schmeichel by header while Schlotterbeck headed into the side netting.

Denmark showed signs of life in the closing period of the first half but Rasmus Hojlund couldn't overcome Germany custodian Manuel Neuer after a counterattack.

After the half time, Denmark's Joachim Andersen got a goal disallowed due to an offside position by Thomas Delaney.

Andersen remained in the thick of things as his handball inside the box handed Germany a penalty. Havertz stepped up and converted the penalty to break the deadlock in the 53rd minute.

Havertz had the chance to make it two moments later, but the Arsenal striker couldn't beat Schmeichel following a one-on-one.

Denmark opened up and pushed forward but for all that Neuer was equal to Hojlund's effort on target in the 66th minute.

Schmeichel was hapless two minutes later as Schlotterbeck set up Musiala, who scored with a well-placed curl into the top right corner to put the win beyond doubt.

Denmark never recovered from the second blow whereas Germany remained wasteful with their finish in the closing stages.

"We started well and scored early on. It was a hectic clash due to the suspension, but we showed resilience. We should have scored more goals though," said Germany coach Julian Nagelsmann.

The Germans will face either Spain or Georgia in the quarterfinals on July 5.