EURO 2012: FINAL Spain - Italy 1 July (R)

Podemos!

 

You mean 1 July.

 

On Thursday the team flew from Donetsk to Kiev...

 

In Kiev the team has set up its headquarters at the Opera Hotel.

 

Friday's player press conference: Cesc Fábregas and Sergio Ramos (in Spanish):




Friday's training session will be held at Dynamo Kiev's Valeriy Lobanovskyi Stadium. The 7:00pm local time workout will be closed to the media.

 

I've wanted Italy rather than Germany to be honest.

Group C turned out to be the real group of death.

 

And just think. Spain already had a chance to knock Italy out but chose not to.

 

Why rob ourselves of the chance to beat them in a tournament?

 

Is Italy another case (like France) where Spain have never beaten them in tournament play?
One of the first internationals I remember watching on tv was a friendly before the 1978 World Cup where Spain beat Italy at the Bernabeu 2-1. I don't remember much about it (apart from the score which stuck in my mind for some reason) because I was fairly new to the sport then and didn't know any of the players.
I also remember the 0-0 in Milan at Euro 1980. Spain actually came closest to scoring when a direct free kick hit the underside of the bar, bounced on the line and Dino Zoff quickly grabbed the ball.
And then losses in '88 and '94... ugh.

 

I saw an article on Marca I believe. There's the penalty shootout from 2008, but 'officially' that stands as a tie.
Unoffcially we went through and they didn't, total win.

 

Yes, officially FIFA declares matches that are not decided after 120 minutes of open play as a draw.

On spot kicks Spain have won 4 and lost 3.

EURO 1984 semifinal: Spain 1-1 a.e.t. Denmark, Spain 5-4 penalties
1986 World Cup quarterfinal: Spain 1-1 a.e.t. Belgium, Belgium 5-4 penalties
EURO 1996 quarterfinal: England 0-0 a.e.t. Spain, England 4-2 penalties
2002 World Cup Round of 16: Spain 1-1 a.e.t. Republic of Ireland, Spain 3-2 penalties
2002 World Cup quarterfinal: Spain 0-0 a.e.t. South Korea, South Korea 5-3 penalties
EURO 2008 quarterfinal: Spain 0-0 a.e.t. Italy, Spain 4-2 penalties
EURO 2012 semifinal: Portugal 0-0 a.e.t. Spain, Spain 4-2 penalties

 

According to the Guardian, the only time Spain have beaten Italy is in the 1920 Olympics.

 

Saturday's training for both teams took place at the Olympic Stadium, the venue of the match.

A few images from Italy's session...

 

Images from Spain's session...

 

Italy are going into this full steam ahead. No pressure since they're not chasing history and nobody expected them to be in the final. This is all icing on the cake. They drew us and they're gonna look to shut us down. We need to take away possession as much as possible. Torres will come in as a sub for sure. Spain have looked just below par in the event but they're in the final. If they have to choose a time to play their best game tomorrow is the day. Let's do this boys. I doubt we can nab Brazil 2014 since most of our key guys will be past their peak or off the team due to age. So let's end this glorious era with a bang!

 

This whole thing is coming full circle for this golden generation of Spain. The win against Italy on penalties started it all so it's only right it ends against Italy. I'm hoping Italy played their best game against Germany while Spain played their worst game against Portugal and still got through. Fabregas should start with Torres coming off the bench and running at the Italy defense. I think Spain will learn more from the first match due to them not playing extremely well while Italy got their tactics and overall formula right. The CBs will have to stick to Balotelli like glue and Silva will need to step up this game.

 

I have a felling Spain will dominate the game. Italy is over-confident now after having beating the early tourney favourites, and the players will be feeling the pressure and high expectations from the fans. Spain plays beautiful soccer and am sure learned a lot after watching the game against Italy. Spain really needs one early goal and will than make sure the keep the ball away and defend. Lets go Spain!