Matchpack: Italy v Republic of Ireland

Reposted from Yahoo! Sport UK & Ireland

Team news

Italy are hopeful of welcoming Andrea Barzagli back into the fold having missed the first two games of the tournament through injury. If the Juventus defender passes a fitness test then Cesare Prandelli is likely to revert to a back four, allowing Daniele De Rossi to return to midfield. Antonio Di Natale is pushing to start up front alongsideAntonio Cassano in place of Mario Balotelli.

Ireland manager Giovanni Trapattoni said he will field the same starting XI which lost 3-1 to Croatia in their opening match, reverting back to their regular 4-4-2 rather than the 4-5-1 they deployed against Spain. That means Kevin Doyle comes back in at the expense of Simon Cox.

Qualifying chances

Spain and Croatia will both go through if Italy fail to beat Ireland, themselves already eliminated, in the final match.

If Italy do take all three points, they would go through with the winner of the Croatia v Spain clash.

If that game is drawn it would leave all three on five points with head-to-heads coming into play. That situation would favour Spain, who go through whatever the scores, but whether Croatia or Italy would join them is complicated.

A goalless draw would favour Italy but a 1-1 draw would make the score of the Italy v Ireland match vital. Italy would then have to do better than Croatia’s 3-1 win over Ireland to reach the last eight.

A 2-2 or higher draw between Croatia and Spain is Italy’s nightmare as that would take both Croatia and Spain through and eliminate the Italians.

Manager quotes

Cesare Prandelli: “Quite honestly, I am (surprised at Ireland’s performance). They are a strong team and we need to be wary of them. They have got a lot of national pride and they have got a great ability to fight in games. As [Trapattoni’s assistant] Marco Tardelli has said, they always go out for the win, and they want to give this gift to their many fans. There are a lot of different components here and that will make it a difficult game, of course.”

Giovanni Trapattoni: “I think that we deserve to stay on. The reason is we have achieved qualification [for the European Championship] for the first time in 24 years. I think it is our right to stay on. I have enthusiasm to remain. But I ask you, how much value do you give this team for reaching the Euros? I know how much. I am proud to come here with this team and these players.”

Match facts

Italy will be eliminated if they fail to win this match.

These sides have met twice before in major tournaments, picking up one victory apiece; Italy had the better at home soil in the World Cup 1990, Ireland got their revenge by the same scoreline in 1994 in the USA.

That win  in USA ‘94 remains Ireland’s only competitive victory over Italy, with the ‘Boys in Green’ losing three and drawing two of their other five meetings against the Azzurri.

However, the Italians have won just one of their last five meetings against Ireland (L2 D2).

Ireland manager, Giovanni Trapattoni, was in charge of Italy in the 2002 World Cup and Euro 2004.

Italy are winless in six consecutive games in major tournaments for the first time in their history (five draws, one defeat).

This is the second time the Azzurri have drawn their first two games in the group stage at a Euro Finals tournament: on the other occasion (2004) they were eliminated despite winning the third game.

Republic of Ireland have lost each of their last three Euro games, conceding eight goals in the process.

Italy have won just one of their last five Euro games in which they scored the first goal of the match.

Four of Italy’s last five goals at the Euros have come from set-pieces.

Antonio Cassano is the only outfield player to have featured in all nine of Italy’s EURO matches since the 2004 edition.

The Azzurri remain unbeaten in competitive games under Cesare Prandelli when Antonio Cassano has played: 12 games, eight wins and four draws.

Match odds

Italy 1/3, Republic of Ireland 9/1, Draw 17/4

Article link: http://uk.eurosport.yahoo.com/news/match-facts-italy-v-republic-231005284.html

Matchpack: Croatia v Spain

Reposted from Yahoo! Sport UK & Ireland

Team news

Striker Nikica Jelavic missed training for Croatia on Saturday with a fever, but is expected to recover in time for the crucial clash against the defending champions. It remains to be seen if coach Slaven Bilic sticks with his favoured midfield diamond or goes with the 4-2-3-1 that he switched to during the match against Italy four days ago, from which they scored to earn 1-1 draw.

Although Spain’s progress into the quarter-finals is by no means confirmed, coach Vicente del Bosque‘s thoughts may turn to his three players – Alvaro Arbeloa, Xabi Alonso and Fernando Torres – who are already on yellow cards and will be suspended for their next game if they pick up another booking against Croatia. Despite scoring in both of Spain’s matches thus far, Cesc Fabregas may find himself on the bench once more.

Qualifying chances

Spain and Croatia will both go through if Italy fail to beat Ireland, themselves already eliminated, in the final match.

If Italy do take all three points, they would go through with the winner of the Croatia v Spain clash.

If that game is drawn it would leave all three on five points with head-to-heads coming into play. That situation would favour Spain, who go through whatever the scores, but whether Croatia or Italy would join them is complicated.

A goalless draw would favour Italy but a 1-1 draw would make the score of the Italy v Ireland match vital. Italy would then have to do better than Croatia’s 3-1 win over Ireland to reach the last eight.

A 2-2 or higher draw between Croatia and Spain is Italy’s nightmare as that would take both Croatia and Spain through and eliminate the Italians.

Manager quotes

Slaven Bilic: “A [high-scoring] draw doesn’t enter into our minds, that would be stupid. My players know what they must do and their levels of determination are sufficiently high. This is the most important game of their generation.  It won’t be easy as they have been the best team in the world over the past four or five years but we will look to hold possession for as long as possible while running as much as we can. We play our best when we play against the top teams.”

Vicente del Bosque: “We are a very strong team but football can always spring surprises. You saw that in the semi-finals of the Champions League this season while at these finals I thought Poland and Russia would go through but that didn’t come to pass. Anything can happen, we must be aware of that and of the fact that being overconfident in this sport can make things very tricky. If we are not alert we will be punished, I have no doubt about that.”

Match facts

Spain are unbeaten in three games against Croatia, last tasting defeat to them in 1994.

This will be the first competitive meeting between these two sides.

If Croatia and Spain share a draw in this match, scoring two or more goals each, they will both reach the quarter-finals.

Croatia are unbeaten in their last six fixtures at the European Championship Finals (four wins), and have scored in each of the last eight.

Spain are unbeaten in each of their last eight games at Euro Finals.

Last Thursday’s 4-0 win over the Republic of Ireland ended a run of five consecutive games between Euros and World Cup in which La Roja had always scored exactly one goal.

Antonio Di Natale’s goal in the opening game of this tournament was the only one Spain have conceded over their last six games in major international tournaments.

Over their last 24 fixtures at Euros and World Cup, the only side able to score more than a single goal against Spain were France (3-1 in the 2006 World Cup).

Mario Mandzukic has had only four shots at Euro 2012 but has scored with three of them.

The brace netted against Ireland has allowed Fernando Torres to join David Villa as the Spanish best-scorer at European Championships on four goals.

In their last game against Ireland, Spain set a new record for most passes in a match at the Euros: 860 (previous most was 778).

Match odds

Croatia 9/1, Spain 1/2, Draw 13/5

Article link: http://uk.eurosport.yahoo.com/news/match-facts-croatia-v-spain-230443457.html