Germany beats Italy 6-5 in shootout, reaches Euro 2016 semis

Jonas Hector scored the winning penalty as Germany beat Italy 6-5 in a wild shootout to reach the European Championship semifinals on Saturday.

After the quarterfinal finished 1-1 after extra time, Matteo Darmian had his penalty saved with the 17th attempt of the shootout to give Hector the chance to earn Germany a first competitive win over Italy in nine tries.

The left back slotted his kick beyond Gianluigi Buffon and the world champions were in their sixth straight semifinal at a major tournament.

Germany has won six of its last seven spot kicks since losing the final of Euro 1976 to Czechoslovakia.