Who would have thought it Croatia, Portugal and Holland all crashing out of the quarter final stages. I take my hat off to the underdogs who have all made it through the the semi finals.
The Spain versus Italy quarter final has extra importance now as the winner of that game would go into the semi final as favourites to win the tournament. Spain go into this game as favourites but can their lethal strike force break down the dogged Italian defence?
Spain coach Luis Aragones is likely to revert to his first-choice XI having fielded his reserves in the 2-1 win over Greece while Italy midfielders Gennaro Gattuso and Andrea Pirlo are suspended this may prove to be key on the night.
Head-to-heads
Spain and Italy have played each other on 27 previous occasions. Spain have won eight, Italy nine and there have been 10 draws.
In competitive matches, Spain have been less successful winning just one out of nine. Italy have won five times and there have been three draws. Spain's sole competitive victory was in the very first match between the two, a 2-0 win at the 1920 Olympic Games.
The two teams have played each other twice at European Championships, drawing 0-0 in a group phase match in 1980 and Italy winning another group match 1-0 in 1988. Italy head coach Roberto Donadoni played in the latter of those games.
Spain have not lost to Italy in their last four encounters since a 2-1 defeat in the 1994 World Cup quarter-finals. Donadoni also played in that match.
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