Italy, Sweden advance to semi's at Under-21 Championships

Jonathan Roorda - 23 juni 2009 23:02

Italy, Sweden advance to semi's at Under-21 Championships

Italy finish first at the UEFA Under-21 Championships, following a 2-1 win over Belarus. Hosts Sweden beat Serbia 3-1 to defend their second place.

Belarus momentarily headed for a surprise as Sergey Kislyak put them ahead after 44 minutes against Italy.

But in-form striker Robert Acquafresca levelled from the penalty spot a minute later and went on to score the winning goal with 15 minutes left to play.

The eventful match between Serbia and Sweden had the hosts take a quick 2-0 lead with two goals from Marcus Berg. Gojko Kacar pulled one back for the Serbians in minute 28 but Ola Toivonen restored the gap a minute later.

Things got even worse for Serbia when Nenad Tomovic was sent off in the 45th minute, followed by teammate Nikola Petkovic in the 68th.

In the semi finals, Italy face Germany while Sweden get to meet with Group B winners England.