Italy is one win away from reaching the final of the Women’s European Championship, but just three years ago its players couldn’t even get professional contracts in their own country.

Little wonder veteran captain Cristiana Girelli was in tears after her two goals inspired Italy to a 2-1 victory over Norway last week, and a first semifinal appearance at the tournament in 28 years.

The Azzurre next plays defending champion England on Tuesday in Geneva.

“It's a great joy to be among the top four in Europe and it is a happiness that we want to share because we know how important it is to bring home the results in Italy and especially for the new generations,” Girelli said, after again wiping the tears from her eyes.

“Because obviously we do this for our glory but there is a much deeper meaning, which we certainly want to bring, which is that in Italy women can play soccer too.”

Of course they can, although they couldn’t hope to make a lot of money for it until 2022 after years of amateur-only status.

It was in April of that year that the executive board of the sport's national federation approved new regulations to open the way for a women’s professional era starting July 1 — in time for the following Serie A season.

A 1981 Italian law had limited female players to amateur status, meaning they couldn’t earn more than 30,000 euros ($32,000) per year before taxes.

Benefits such as social security contributions, an end-of-career fund, pension, medical protection for injuries and maternity leave were a distant dream.

‘Difficult years’

The 35-year-old Girelli and many of her national teammates have experienced the change firsthand, with several of them having had to do hospitality jobs to support their soccer careers.

“There were difficult years where we really suffered a lot," Girelli said.

The push to make the women’s game professional in Italy followed the national team's surprise run to the quarterfinals of the 2019 Women’s World Cup.

It was also helped by the big clubs — Juventus, AC Milan, Inter Milan, Roma and Lazio — starting to invest more in their women’s teams.

Progress has been slower than in the countries of its traditional soccer rivals — such as England, France and Spain — but Italy is showing signs that it is catching up on the international stage.

‘Something magical’

Under coach Andrea Soncin, Italy is proving it can go toe-to-toe with the top teams, culminating in its first semifinal match at the European tournament since a run to the 1997 final.

“It’s something magical,” Girelli said. “But to tell you the truth I have felt something special in the air since I arrived in Switzerland, since the coach took charge of this team I felt something special.

“And you know, women are never wrong with their feelings,” she continued with a wry smile.

While it hasn’t quite reached fever pitch back home, 2.4 million television viewers in Italy — a 16.2% audience share — watched the team’s match against Norway and that's likely to be even more for the semifinals.

“We hope this love, this affection, this atmosphere that’s coming to us from Italy doesn’t disappear,” Girelli said. “I really hope that with all my heart because we struggled to get here.

“We’ve reached something amazing, something extraordinary, and however it goes, I really hope it continues to feed this passion, this love for us.”

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AP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer