Spain vs Italy Prediction

The final Quarter Final EURO 2008 match gets underway, Sunday June 22, with Italy vs Spain in Vienna`s, Ernst HappelStadion. For Spain it is an opportunity to make the last four for the first time since 1984 while Italy are bidding for their second semi-final berth in three EURO tournaments. Oddsmakers at SBGglobal.com have Spain as +140 favs over Italy who are listed as +200 underdogs. Get your Italy vs Spain: EURO 2008 Quarter Finals Prediction in now at SBGglobal.com

Spain finished on top of Group D standings with a 3W-0D-0L record after beating Russia 4-1, Sweden 2-1 and Greece 2-1. They had eight goals for and three goals against. David Villa (4), Daniel Güiza, Fernando Torres, Cesc Fábregas and Rubén de la Red are the goal scorers for the Spanish. In recent international tournaments they’ve been less than spectacular, but now Spain are right on track to head all the way. Spain must not let Italy’s slow start fool them. A lot of times they have have struggled to get through the group stages but once they get into the quarter-finals or semi-finals they put out their best and it was quite similar in the (2006) World Cup, so we will have to be quite cautious about that,' midfielder Xabi Alonso said. Spain overcame four-times world champions Italy 1-0 in a friendly in March, they have never beaten the Azzurri at a major tournament outside the Olympic Games. “The psychological aspect is an important part of our work,” added Aragones. “I don't think what has happened in the past will weigh on the players.” Spain have confidence in their game after they went down 0-1 to Greece and came back with two goals to solidify the Quarter Final birth. “The fact we went a goal down, then fought back and won the game says a lot about this team,” said midfielder Ruben de la Red. “We all know we've now got the definitive test coming up and Italy are very difficult to play against but we've got a lot of confidence. “The statistics say they are the favourites as they have always beaten us but we are the form side and if we carry on playing the way we have done and stay firm at the back then we can win.”

Italy finished second in Group C standings with a 1W-1D-1L record after losing 0-3 to Netherlands, drawing 1-1 against Romania and beating France 2-0. They scored three goals for and four goals against. Christian Panucci, Andrea Pirlo and Daniele De Rossi are the lone goal scorers for the Italians. The 2006 World Cup Champs came into EURO 2008 as heavy favorites to make the final, but judging by their performance through their Group matches they might be heading home after their match against Spain. Some injuries may play a big part in this match. Italy's veteran defender Christian Panucci feels fit and ready to play his fourth successive game after he suffered a slight knee problem in Group play and centre back Andrea Barzagli is out of the tournament after undergoing successful knee surgery. Cannavaro's replacement Alessandro Gamberini has only two caps for the world champions and is inexperienced on the big stage. The Italians have great success scoring at big tournaments and their defense has always been inpregnantable. This EURO has been one of their worst outings having only won one game and drawing to Romania. They’ve shown that they can play with their backs against the wall, and guess what, their backs are against the wall.

Head to Head: 27 matches played
Italy lead 9-8
10 matches ended in a draw
Italy scored 36 goals
Spain scored 28 goals

from: http://www.point-spreads.com/