FT: Euro 2012 Final: Italy 0-4 Spain

Welcome ot the final day of Euro 2012 but it is the final between
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╚══╝╚╝╚╝╚╩═╝╚╝─╢╟── and Spain.
If you haven't made your final prediction go here http://www.ja606.co.uk/articles/viewArticle/131186.
Sorry its early

Live Article: http://www.ja606.co.uk/articles/viewLiveArticle/131271

Route to this Stage

Italy

1-1 Spain
1-1 Croatia
2-0 Ireland
Finished second in Group C
0-0 England (win on pens)
2-1 Germany

Spain

1-1 Italy
4-0 Ireland
1-0 Croatia
Finished First in Group C
2-0 France
0-0 Portugal (win on pens)

What They've Said

Cesare Prandelli

"He's found a set-up where he can talk to great champions, who have won a lot of trophies,""We've asked him to do certain things and he's doing them.""There comes a time when you have to be brave enough to accept other people's advice because the result becomes paramount,""We have always felt he had great ability." "I hope we can be positive and take the game to Spain,""Our first aim will be to shut down space and win the ball. Where we try to win the ball will depend on us and also how good Spain are.

"For us, it is important to remain focused on our target - close the space in the central midfield.

"Our central midfield has a lot of quality, we can cover a lot of ground and press in that area and we have a great player who can raise the level of the game and can get in the right position - and of course that is Andrea Pirlo."

“They’ve (Spain) shown that in the last few years, playing their own way and staying true to their footballing philosophy.

“It’s the type of football I enjoy watching and we’ve always said they are the side to beat.

“So it’s not a case of Spain being boring. It’s just a fear of seeing the same side always winning because Spain always seem to come out on top."


Antonio Cassano

'Balotelli is young and still needs to mature. He is also emotive and sometimes his temperament can be his own worst enemy,'

But he has fire in his stomach and it makes him strong, so you have to be careful how you handle him.

'To tame him would be wrong, though he has to learn to control his emotions and direct them in a positive way. Only he can decide whether he wants it all or whether it all goes to waste.

'I have great empathy with him and know how hard it is, especially when occasionally you think the whole world is against you.

'But at the moment Balotelli is on top of the world, very focused and dreaming of making Italy champions.


Del Bosque

“We will play with three attackers, that is for sure,"
“There will be three men up front who will be responsible for attacking and who will not need to defend so much. Everyone on the team has their tasks, whether it is defending or going forward."
“We cannot think that history influences anything," he said. “We have to look to the present. We have played a parallel tournament to Italy: we were in the same group, we both had to get through a knockout game on penalties and our style of play is similar. I don’t think there is a great difference between the two teams."


Cesc Fabregas

'I find it a little bit strange. We're very proud of our style, of our idea of playing the game. It's the route that we have taken to be where we are now. We've no reason to doubt it.'

“I think he (Mario) is a great player. He showed that [on Thursday against Germany],"
“He had two fantastic moments and scored two great goals. One a true centre-forward’s header and the other one from a cracking shot from outside the area in a European Championship semi-final against a top team like Germany.

“This tells you everything. I really liked they way he played and he will be, of course, a threat as well as [Antonio] Cassano or any other forward who plays with Italy. They are always very dangerous, but we have the players to stop them. We have defended well. We have to neutralise their attack and midfield where [Andrea] Pirlo is the player, otherwise he will take control of the match."

Team News

Spain: Casillas, Arbeloa, Pique, Sergio Ramos, Jordi Alba, Xavi, Busquets, Alonso, Silva, Fabregas (Torres), Iniesta. Subs: Valdes, Albiol, Javi Martinez, Juanfran, Pedro, Torres, Negredo, Mata, Llorente, Santi Cazorla, Jesus Navas, Reina.

Italy: Buffon, Abate, Barzagli, Bonucci, Chiellini (Balzaretti), Pirlo, Marchisio, Montolivo, De Rossi, Balotelli, Cassano. Subs: Sirigu, Maggio, Ogbonna, Thiago Motta, Balzaretti, Di Natale, Giaccherini, Borini, Giovinco, Diamanti, Nocerino, De Sanctis.

Referee: Pedro Proenca (Portugal)

GOOOOOOOOAAAAAAAAAAAALLLLLLLLLLLLSSSSSSSS

David Silva 13
Alba 40
Torres 84
Mata 88

Bookings
Pique 26
Barzagli 44

Other Incidents

Stats

Head-to-head

The only other European Championship meetings were group games in 1980 (a 0-0 draw in Milan), 1988 (a 1-0 win for Italy, courtesy of Gianluca Vialli) and the 1-1 draw earlier at Euro 2012.
Seven of the last 10 matches between Spain and Italy have been 0-0 at half-time.
This will be the fourth time that the European Championship final has provided a rematch of a group match. Greece won both encounters against Portugal in 2004, as did Germany versus the Czech Republic in 1996. The Dutch lost to the USSR in the opening game in 1988 but took revenge with victory in the final.

Spain

Spain are unbeaten in 11 European Championship finals matches, a new record. Their last loss in the competition was the 1-0 reverse to Portugal at Euro 2004.
They have kept nine consecutive clean sheets in knockout games at major tournaments.
Iker Casillas has had to deal with just one shot on target in Spain's two knockout games at Euro 2012 - that was a free-kick from France's Yohan Cabaye. In total, the Spanish captain has made 12 saves so far - six of them against Italy in the opening game.
Cesc Fabregas and Santi Cazorla could both make their eighth European Championship appearance as a substitute, which would be a new record.
The last time Spain failed to win a match after opening the scoring was on 6 September 2006, when they lost 3-2 away to Northern Ireland in a Euro 2008 qualifier despite Xavi netting first.
Vicente Del Bosque could become only the second coach to win the World Cup and European Championship, after West Germany's Helmut Schön in 1972 and 1974

Italy

The Azzurri have reached the final of eight World Cups or European Championships.
Italy won their only European Championship in 1968, winning a final replay 2-0 against Yugoslavia at Rome's Stadio Olimpico. The first match, held two days earlier, ended 1-1.
The Azzurri also reached the final of Euro 2000, losing 2-1 to France, for whom David Trezeguet scored a golden goal.
Cesare Prandelli's men have won only two of their last eight games (excluding shoot-outs).
The Italians have been involved in eight goalless draws at European Championship finals - more than any other side.
Uefa statistics show Italy have attempted 97 shots (including blocked efforts), more than any other side at Euro 2012.

Penalties:

Spain have won four of seven penalty shoot-outs, including three of their last four.
Italy's overall record is three wins from eight shoot-outs. They lost their first four but have won three of the subsequent four (beating Netherlands in 2000, France in 2006 and England in 2010, but losing to Spain in 2008).
There have been 37 shoot-outs at European Championships or World Cups, with 361 spot-kicks taken, 270 of them successful (a 74.8% conversion rate).
Historically, shoot-outs involve an average of 10 kicks (9.8) - however, recent contests have been briefer. Only one of the last 10 at World Cups and European Championships has seen at least 10 penalties taken.


Location, KO and TV

Olympic Stadium, Kiev

7:45

BBC and ITV

Rules

1. Guess Spain's possesion
2. Guess Xavi's pass rate
3. Guess Xavi's total passes
4. Praise Iniesta
5. Call Spain boring
6. at Mario
7. Discuss the TV
8. Last day of the euros

Bookings for Users

Go in here: http://www.ja606.co.uk/articles/viewArticle/125886


Predos

Italy: Bales left footb
Spain: Cameras, Rober, Fabtastic
Pens: GG