Written by Angela Assante

At last, Spain has won victory over Italy!

They had never beaten the Azzuris since 1920 but on Sunday, they defeated them in style.

June 22nd is said to be cursed for the Spanish who have never won on that date, and breaking this fate required as much strength as wonders.

Unbreakable doors

90 minutes of football meant 90 minutes of beauty and emotion. Spain had the better of the game: their power lied in their possession and their tactical display. Ramos and Puyol were fabulous at the back along side keeper I. Casillas, Silva and Senna were dynamic in midfield while Villa’s pace and tricks helped Spain attack from every angle.

The Spanish could have broken the deadlock but Buffon was sharp and striker Fernando Torres was well contained by the Italian defence.

At the other end of the pitch, Italy’s number 9 Luca Toni suffered another miserable night.

For the third time in a row in the Euro 2008 quarterfinals, extra time was needed to separate the two sides; still, the doors of both goalkeepers’ post were closed.
Spain had a clear appeal on penalty early in the first half of extra time but the German referee denied them; Luis Aragones was furious while Italian fans felt redeemed.

The Spanish team showed signs of fatigue in the late stages of the 30 minutes and substituted D. Guiza who struggled to deal with the ball upfront. Italy tried to capitalize on these weaknesses as they then controlled the game but Casillas was too good to disappoint the Spanish supporters.

As time was running out, Spain’s hunger for snatching a very last minute victory growed bigger.

In the remaining seconds of the 120 minutes, they launched the last attack of the game but Santi’s effort was between a shot on goal and a pass and Villa could not reach the ball.

The heroic leader

The moment of penalty shootout saw the two captains – Buffon and Casillas – clash in a fierce duel.

The Italian keeper had previously saved a penalty in the group stage, which prevented his team from an early exit.

So could he save this other time?

Unfortunately for the World Cup Champions, the answer is no.

Real Madrid veteran I. Casillas spectacularly punched away Italy’s second spot kick, which put the Azzuris under pressure as Spain had converted two out of two at that stage.

Buffon tried his luck and rekindled his team’s chances of carrying the day when he saved Daniel Guiza’s low strike.

Stress reached its climax for both sides and Spain was suddenly in an uncomfortable position.

But Casillas again came to the rescue as he brilliantly put away another penalty kick – meaning that the Spanish were one kick away from reaching their first semifinals of a major tournament in 24 years.

Young player Fabregas had the opportunity to score his first ever penalty in professional football and he scored indeed

Italians are out and perhaps they will explain their loss by the fact that big players like Gattuso and Pirlo were suspended.

As for Spain, they will meet Russia in the semis and it promises to be a game of class as Russia will seek for revenge.

written by Angela Asante

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by Tom Cremins,
Euro 2008 TV.com writer

The Dutch once again confounded the pundits by convincingly winning a game many thought they might actually prefer to lose. The theory was that if the Dutch eased up in their third group match after already winning the group, then Romania could sneak through at the expense of either France or Italy. Even though neither of those superpowers were convincing in their group matches, they are massively experienced in tournaments. Few teams would relish meeting them again later in the semi-finals.

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Written by Angela Asante
Euro2008TV.com writer

Portugal continued their good start thanks to a 3 – 1 win against the Czechs that saw them qualifying from the group stage.

They took an early 8^th minute lead: Peter Cech saved Deco’s first strike but could not prevent him from scoring at the second attempt; Ronaldo was involved in the build up of this goal.

The Czech Republic gave a response after less than 10 minutes when L. Sionko , out of a corner, flashed the ball into the net with a header.

Portugal weren’t as much convincing as they were against Turkey and at half time it was all square between the two sides.

However, things changed in the second half and Portugal managed to take the game in their hands. Ronaldo scored on his own at the 63^rd minute and then set up substitute Quaresma who sealed the victory in injury time.

Portugal has two wins out of two games and is safely through to the quarterfinals.