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Friday, June 29, 2012

Spain and Italy will Roaring Against Each Other - UEFA Euro 2012 Final

Three weeks after they opened their campaigns in Poland and Ukraine with a 1-1 draw in Gdansk, Spain and Italy meet again in the UEFA EURO 2012 final at Kyiv's Olympic Stadium.

Exactly three weeks after they opened their UEFA EURO 2012 finals campaigns with a 1-1 draw in Gdansk, Spain and Italy meet again in Kyiv for the right to be crowned European champions.
• The matchday one draw means Spain have not won a competitive game against Italy since their very first meeting – though they did edge them out on penalties in the quarter-finals four years ago en route to lifting the trophy for the second time. Vicente del Bosque's side could now become the first team to successfully defend the UEFA European Championship. Italy are in the final for the first time in 12 years as they look to claim a second European crown and their first in 44 years.
Head-to-head record
• Spain's record in 30 games against Italy is W8 D12 L10, but seven of those victories have come in friendly games.
• In the teams' 11 competitive fixtures, Spain's record is W1 D5 L5, including a UEFA EURO 2008 quarter-final that Spain won on penalties after a goalless 120 minutes but which is classified as a draw. The sole outright Spanish victory, a 2-0 win, came in the sides' first meeting at the 1920 Olympic Games.
• In FIFA World Cup and UEFA European Championship finals matches, Spain's record against Italy reads W0 D4 L3 – three of those draws and a loss coming in the continental competition.
• Italy inflicted the joint heaviest defeat in Spain's history during the 1928 Olympics, beating them 7-1 in an Amsterdam replay following a 1-1 quarter-final draw. A 7-1 friendly loss against England on 9 December 1931 matched that margin.
• The sides first met at a UEFA European Championship in 1980, playing out a 0-0 draw. Current La Roja coach Vicente del Bosque, capped 18 times, ended his Spain career at the tournament but did not play against Italy.
• At the 1988 finals, Italy beat Spain 1-0 in the second Group 1 game in Frankfurt thanks to Gianluca Vialli's 73rd-minute goal.
• Italy's most recent competitive victory against Spain came in the 1994 World Cup quarter-finals in Boston, Roberto Baggio's 88th-minute effort securing a 2-1 victory.
Selected previous meetings
10 June 2012: Spain 1-1 Italy (Fàbregas 64; Di Natale 61) – Arena Gdansk, Gdansk, UEFA EURO 2012, group stage
Spain: Casillas, Arbeloa, Piqué, Ramos, Alba, Alonso, Busquets, Xavi, Silva (Navas 64), Fàbregas (Torres 74), Iniesta.
Italy: Buffon, Chiellini, Bonucci, De Rossi, Maggio, Marchisio, Pirlo, Motta (Nocerino 90), Giaccherini, Balotelli (Di Natale 56), Cassano (Giovinco 65).
• Cesc Fàbregas salvaged a draw after Antonio Di Natale's first international goal since June 2010 had put Italy in front.
10 August 2011: Italy 2-1 Spain (Montolivo 11, Aquilani 84; Alonso 37pen) – Stadio San Nicola, Bari, friendly
Italy: Buffon, Chiellini, Criscito, Maggio, Ranocchia (Bonucci 77), De Rossi (Aquilani 65), Motta (Marchiso 46), Montolivo (Nocerino 74), Pirlo, Cassano (Balotelli 59), Rossi (Pazzini 59).
Spain: Casillas (Valdés 46), Arbeloa, Albiol, Piqué (Busquets 45), Iraola (Villa 46), Cazorla (Mata 80), Javi Martínez, Alonso, Iniesta (Thiago 46), Silva, Torres (Llorente 15).
• In the sides' 19th and most recent friendly, Riccardo Montolivo scored his only goal in 36 senior appearances. He managed three U21 goals, including one in Palencia on 10 October 2006 during a 2-1 play-off victory against a Spain side containing Raúl Albiol and David Silva that took Italy into the finals at their hosts' expense.
22 June 2008: Spain 0-0 Italy (aet, Spain won 4-2 on penalties) – Ernst-Happel-Stadion, Vienna, UEFA EURO 2008, quarter-finals
Spain: Casillas, Ramos, Puyol, Marchena, Capdevila, Iniesta (Cazorla 59), Senna, Xavi (Fàbregas 60), Silva, Torres (Guïza 85), Villa.
Italy: Buffon, Zambrotta, Panucci, Chiellini, Grosso, Aquilani (Del Piero 108), De Rossi, Ambrosini, Cassano (Di Natale 75), Perrotta (Camoranesi 58), Toni.
• Roberto Donadoni's Italy were the only side Luis Aragonés's outfit failed to beat at UEFA EURO 2008, though Spain came through on penalties. Iker Casillas saved from Daniele De Rossi and Di Natale, Buffon denying Daniel Guïza. Fàbregas converted the ninth penalty to send Spain into the semi-finals.
Form guide
• The 1-1 draw in Gdansk ended Spain's run of 14 straight competitive victories since they surprisingly lost 1-0 to Switzerland in their opening game of the 2010 FIFA World Cup finals. They are now unbeaten in 19 competitive fixtures.
• Spain embarked on a run of ten straight UEFA European Championship victories after their last meeting with Italy in the 2008 quarter-finals. They have gone 28 games without defeat in this competition since losing 2-0 in Sweden in a UEFA EURO 2008 qualifier on 7 October 2006.
• Spain's last defeat at a EURO was a 1-0 loss to hosts Portugal in the 2004 group stage that ended their interest in the competition.
• Italy last lost a competitive game when they went down 3-2 to Slovakia in their last 2010 World Cup finals match – they have since won ten and drawn five. They have gone 18 games without a UEFA European Championship defeat over 90 minutes since losing 3-0 to the Netherlands in their opening match at UEFA EURO 2008.
• This is the fourth time teams who have already played in a UEFA European Championship meet again in the final. In 1988 the Netherlands opened with a 1-0 loss to the USSR but later beat the same opponents 2-0 to take the trophy; eight years later Germany overcame the Czech Republic 2-0 in the group stage and 2-1 in the final and in 2004 Greece were 2-1 winners against Portugal on the opening day and 1-0 victors in the final.
• Spain's shoot-out record in UEFA European Championships and World Cups is:
5-4 v Denmark, 1984 UEFA European Championship semi-final
4-5 v Belgium, 1986 FIFA World Cup quarter-final
2-4 v England, EURO '96 quarter-final
3-2 v Republic of Ireland, 2002 FIFA World Cup round of 16
3-5 v South Korea, 2002 FIFA World Cup quarter-final
4-2 v Italy, UEFA EURO 2008 quarter-final
4-2 v Portugal, UEFA EURO 2012 semi-final
• Italy's shoot-out record is:
3-4 v Argentina, 1990 FIFA World Cup semi-final
2-3 v Brazil, 1994 FIFA World Cup final
3-4 v France, 1998 FIFA World Cup quarter-final
3-1 v Netherlands, UEFA EURO 2000 semi-final
5-3 v France, 2006 FIFA World Cup final
2-4 v Spain, UEFA EURO 2008 quarter-final
4-2 v England, UEFA EURO 2012 quarter-final
Final pedigree
• Spain are in their fourth UEFA European Championship final:
1964: Spain 2-1 USSR (Pereda 6, Marcelino 84; Khusainov 8) – Madrid
1984: France 2-0 Spain (Platini 57, Bellone 90) – Paris
2008: Germany 0-1 Spain (Torres 33) – Vienna
• Italy are in the showpiece for the third time:
1968: Italy 1-1 Yugoslavia, aet (Domenghini 80; Džajić 39) – Rome
Replay Italy 2-0 Yugoslavia (Riva 12, Anastasi 31) – Rome
2000: France 2-1 Italy, aet golden goal (Wiltord 90, Trezeguet 103; Delvecchio 55) – Rotterdam
• Spain were also victorious in the 2010 World Cup on their sole final appearance; Italy claimed the world crown in 1934, 1938, 1982 and 2006 and were beaten in the 1970 and 1994 finals.
• Casillas, Sergio Ramos, Andrés Iniesta, Xavi Hernández, Fàbregas, David Silva and Fernando Torres all started Spain's 2008 final triumph, with Xabi Alonso and Santi Cazorla coming on as substitutes. No player has appeared in two victorious finals.
• Italy's Gianluigi Buffon, Andrea Pirlo and substitute De Rossi appeared in the 2006 World Cup final victory. Only 27 players – including Casillas, Ramos, Carles Puyol, Joan Capdevila, Iniesta, Xavi, Fàbregas, Alonso and Torres – have featured in UEFA European Championship and World Cup final wins. Gerard Piqué, Sergio Busquets, Pedro Rodríguez and Jesús Navas could also join the club having played in Spain's 2010 World Cup final victory.
• Del Bosque could become only the second coach to win the World Cup and UEFA European Championship, after West Germany's Helmut Schön in 1972 and 1974.
• Chelsea FC pair Torres and Juan Mata could win the European Cup and UEFA European Championship in the same season. Luis Suárez (1964, FC Internazionale Milano and Spain) and Hans van Breukelen, Ronald Koeman, Barry van Aerle and Gerald Vanenburg (1988, PSV Eindhoven and the Netherlands) are the only players to have achieved the feat.
Team ties
• Silva and Mario Balotelli are team-mates at Manchester City FC.
• Antonio Cassano played at Real Madrid CF from January 2006 to summer 2007, alongside Casillas and Ramos.
• Alonso scored Liverpool FC's equalising goal (converting the rebound after his spot kick had been parried by Dida) in the 2005 UEFA Champions League final against AC Milan which finished 3-3, the Premier League club going on to win the penalty shoot-out. Italy's Pirlo was on the losing side in Istanbul.
• Pirlo and Alonso met again in the final two years later when Milan ran out 2-1 winners in Athens. Pepe Reina started in goal for Liverpool while Álvaro Arbeloa came on as a late substitute.
• Despite scoring a second-leg goal in FC Barcelona's 2002/03 UEFA Champions League quarter-final against a Juventus team featuring Buffon, Xavi was ultimately on the losing side as the Italian side advanced 3-2 on aggregate.
• Xavi was also on target against Italian opposition in this season's UEFA Champions League group stage, scoring the winner in a 3-2 win against Milan at San Siro.
• Iniesta and Antonio Nocerino scored for Barcelona and Milan respectively in the Catalan club's 3-1 victory in the 2011/12 UEFA Champions League quarter-finals after the goalless first-leg draw at San Siro. Ignazio Abate played for Milan in the same game.
• Fabio Borini and Torres were team-mates at Chelsea between January and March 2011.
• Piqué scored just two goals in official competition while at Manchester United FC between 2004 and 2008, the second of which came in a 1-1 UEFA Champions League group stage draw away to AS Roma on 12 December 2007. De Rossi made a substitute appearance for the hosts.
• Roma's De Rossi and Cassano both found the target against Casillas's Real Madrid on 28 September 2004 but it was not enough to prevent the Italian side losing 4-2 at the Santiago Bernabéu.
• Pirlo's Milan enjoyed a 3-2 win against Casillas and Madrid in the 2009/10 UEFA Champions League group stage.
• Torres's first senior goal for Spain came in a 1-1 friendly against Italy in Genoa on 28 April 2004.
• Italian international Thiago Motta was born in Brazil and started his European career with Barcelona. He moved to Genoa CFC in 2008 and joined FC Internazionale Milano a year later. Having been in the Barça squad when the UEFA Champions League was won in 2006, he picked up the title again in 2010 with Inter after helping to eliminate Barça in the semi-finals, although he was sent off in the second leg at the Camp Nou.

Italy Must Not fear Spain - Cesare Prandelli (Italian Coach)

Cesare Prandelli is a great admirer of Spain's style but insists his side cannot afford to be cowed by their UEFA EURO 2012 final rivals. "We mustn't fear them," he said. "We're here on merit.''

Cesare Prandelli recognizes that his side must pass a stern examination when they take on Spain in the UEFA EURO 2012 final, but steadfastly believes Italy can emerge triumphant. "We mustn't fear them," he said. "We are here on merit and we will give it everything."
After receiving another standing ovation as he entered the rechristened Sala Prandelli for his final press conference at Casa Azzurri, the Italy coach expressed his satisfaction at masterminding the downfall of Joachim Löw's highly rated Germany side with a 2-1 victory in Warsaw last night.
"We are very proud to have come so far" said the 54-year-old, who first expressed birthday wishes to Gioregio Napoletano, the Italian President who turned 86 today. "It makes you especially proud to represent you country, but when you're abroad I think you understand even more keenly than the people back home exactly what it means to fly the flag. Last night we had a game plan in place and the players executed it to perfection. The guys were extraordinary, we had very little time in training but we exploited what little time we had really well."
Though he admitted his players were exhausted after their efforts in reaching Sunday's final in Kyiv, Prandelli was optimistic about Italy's prospects of overcoming a free-flowing Spain side whose playing style he holds in the highest regard. "I'm hoping to prepare the team well even if we only have one day to do it. Just as we did with Germany we need to try to find their weak points and work on them.
"It won't be easy because Spain have been playing together for years, they won the last EURO and World Cup, and they are in the final again. This means they aren't just technically good, but they also have great moral and personal attributes that make them an example to us all. But we are here too. We have grown as the tournament has gone on."
The Azzurri played Spain in their opening match of the campaign, sharing a spirited 1-1 draw with Vicente del Bosque's side. Then, Antonio Di Natale gave them the lead which was quickly cancelled out by Cesc Fàbregas, and Prandelli believes his players have come on in leaps and bounds since that Group C fixture in Gdansk three weeks ago. "We have improved because since then we've been able to work in the field, work on our physical fitness and, psychologically speaking, now we're now a real side.
"We had a great first half against Spain and we must do that again," recalled Prandelli. "We must keep our balance, that's the secret. If we can distribute our resources in the right way then we have a chance. We need to show the right spirit but we must also have the right ideas. But it's not just about keeping our shape, it's also about attitude. We musn't fear them, we are here on merit, and now we have the desire to take it down to the wire and give it everything we have to win."

Cesc Fàbregas Sings Iniesta's Praises - UEFA Euro Cup Final

Cesc Fàbregas refused to be drawn on Spain's formation against Italy but said Andrés Iniesta is a "source of immense confidence" for a team bidding to make history in Sunday's final.

Cesc Fàbregas refused to be drawn on whether Spain would play a recognized center-forward in the UEFA EURO 2012 final, instead the FC Barcelona midfielder chose to sing the praises of club-mate Andrés Iniesta and stress that La Roja will do everything they can to make history on Sunday.
Fàbregas deputised for leading scorer David Villa in the UEFA EURO 2008 showpiece, playing just behind Fernando Torres in a role which helped create space for the now Chelsea FC striker to score the winning goal against Germany.
Villa's absence from Poland and Ukraine has meant that this time Fàbregas and Torres have been in outright competition for a position in Vicente del Bosque's starting XI. The race to make the teamsheet gathered pace when Álvaro Negredo was given the starting centre-forward spot against Portugal in the semi-final.
The fact that Fàbregas, as he did in Vienna four years previously against Italy, struck the winning penalty has left some suggesting that he now has an advantage over the three other potential central strikers, Torres, Negredo and the unused Fernando Llorente.
However, the former Arsenal FC man believes that the fuss over the forward position is obscuring a couple of important points – firstly that Spain are on the brink of making history and secondly that Iniesta is having the tournament of his life.
"Andrés is getting better and better from game to game," said Fàbregas. "He had a difficult season at club level because of repetitive injuries, but he's in an extraordinary moment of his career at this tournament. This is having a huge impact on how we play.
"He's creative, he runs with the ball, he's got a brilliant final pass and with each passing year he's become more of a goalscorer as well as a provider. He's a source of immense confidence for us. During matches you can see him taking on more and more responsibility and in attack he's the team's reference point."
Indeed, it was Fàbregas who set up Iniesta to score the winner in the 2010 FIFA World Cup final against the Netherlands. Having already conquered Europe in 2008, it means that should Spain defeat Cesare Prandelli's side on Sunday in Kyiv then La Roja will have achieved something which no nation has ever done.
"We've already made history with the two consecutive trophies we've won, but, of course, we want a little bit more and came here with that as our objective," said the 25-year-old. "We'll give everything we have to win the tournament, not simply to make history. It's in our nature to try and win. Should be we be able to do so then we can celebrate with our friends and family. I know Spain is a football-obsessed country which is right behind us at the moment."
Fabregas is well aware that the Azzurri are in prime form and he respects the array of talent they have at their disposal. "[Mario] Balotelli's goals against Germany tell you all you need to know – he's a star and the first one was scored like an old fashioned centre-forward. We have to try and restrict Balotelli, [Antonio] Cassano and, above all, [Andrea] Pirlo, who had a great game the other night. It's going to be a very tight, very competitive final and the winner will have proved themselves the best team in this tournament."

Iker Casillas Ready for Shot at Unique Treble - UEFA Champions League

Iker Casillas discusses why the world and European champions Spain are ready to make history in Kyiv, the Italy shoot-out that changed everything and the drinks that started it all.

The popular legend is that a light-hearted bet between Iker Casillas, Pepe Reina and Andrés Palop, with stakes no higher than a couple of beers and some tapas, was one of the biggest influences on Spain winning UEFA EURO 2008.
Football folk can let superstition gnaw away at reason even at the best of times. Luis Aragonés, a man famous for mistrusting the colour yellow, went as far as refusing to acknowledge that the shirts worn by his Spain side in their last-four win against Russia were anything other than 'mustard' – but many doubted his charges would even reach that far when their quarter-final with Italy went to penalties in Vienna on 22 June.
Why? Well, the Roja had failed to defeat Italy in a competitive match in 88 long years since 1920. Worse still, the cursed date of 22 June had marked Spanish exits at three previous tournaments, and all following a penalty shoot-out: against Belgium at the 1986 FIFA World Cup, at the hands of England at EURO '96 and then against South Korea at the 2002 World Cup. Enough to give anyone a complex; but not Casillas.
A couple of weeks before the championship in Austria and Switzerland, he, Reina and Palop were consistently the last to leave Spain's training pitch at Las Rozas near Madrid, the three goalkeepers finishing with a penalty competition among themselves. The loser was to buy the other two a couple of cañas (little glasses of beer) and tapas.
That sharpening-up exercise had evidently gone well enough for Casillas, hit by the heady mix of adrenaline and exhaustion which sets in after extra time at a major tournament, to reject the help of Spain's goalkeeping coach before the shoot-out with Italy. José Manuel Ochotorena had a folder full of information on Italy's penalty takers that he was bursting to share with the Spanish captain, but did he want it? No, he did not. Casillas felt alert, confident – at the absolute apogee of his form.
Superstition, be damned. And the fact that Spain had not reached a major semi-final since the UEFA European Championship in France nearly a quarter of a century before? Also a mere detail to the man now heading towards goal. History has the subsequent facts noted down – saves to either side denied Antonio Di Natale and Daniele De Rossi so that Cesc Fàbregas could score the winning penalty and send Spain through to meet Russia en route to their showpiece victory against Germany. But, in that moment, the watching world held its breath while the stadium reverberated with noise and tension.
Unsurprisingly, that shoot-out, a turning point in his country's football destiny, still evokes magical memories for Casillas. "That was the moment when everything Spain needed to end our run of not winning tournaments and going out at the same stage every time just clicked," says the Real Madrid CF stalwart. "I recall every single bit of it: Italy as the opposition, the game finishing 0-0, and the fact it was going to be penalties on 22 June – again!"
Above all, Casillas is a team man. When it comes to his work, he sets exacting personal standards and trains with such intensity that, occasionally, he can appear lost in his own private search for excellence. Make no mistake, though: if asked to lead, either for club or country, then this is a player who strives to unify, seek consensus and maximise the power to be gained when 23 top athletes and their coaching staff all hungrily pursue the same goal.
"Our training camp in Neustift had been a place of great happiness and exceptional times," the 31-year-old recalls. "There was this feeling that we were living through a wonderful period. We all got on excellently together and the squad was really happy with our coach. I think that the great success was Luis Aragonés himself. A month before the finals, the coach had everything sorted in his mind – how to manage the squad and precisely what he wanted from the tournament." And, after Fernando Torres's goal in the final against Germany, the old man got his wish.
As the celebrations raged, Casillas raised the trophy aloft with ghosts of previous failures swirling around his head. "It was historic for Spanish football, but it brought great personal happiness after many disappointments, injustices and sad times both as a player and fan. In that moment, my thoughts were with former team-mates who'd tried to win a title in front of our supporters but weren't able to."
Of course, Spain then went on to add the 2010 World Cup to their European crown, with Vicente del Bosque now installed at the helm. About an hour after the final whistle in Soccer City, I spoke to Casillas and asked him to sum up the years of work that had gone into such a marvellous achievement. He immediately pinpointed UEFA EURO 2008, and the seasons leading up to it, as a revolutionary time in Spanish football.
Asked to compare the two major prizes the Roja have lifted since 2008, Casillas feels an overwhelmingly greater surge of affection when he thinks back to conquering Europe in Vienna. "If I had to choose just one of those memories, it would be EURO 2008 because it broke a 44-year run of our country not winning anything." Can they defeat Italy again in Sunday's kyiv final to make it three trophies in five years under captain Casillas? Don't bet even a caña or a couple of tapas against it.