England vs. Italy Preview

England face Italy in a competitive international for the first time since 1997 in the quarter-finals of Euro 2012 on Sunday June 24.

The Olympic Stadium in Kiev will be the setting for what should be an intriguing clash between two nations likely to improve upon their performances from the group phase.

Italy are notorious slow starters to major tournaments and they kicked off their championship with two draws against Spain and Croatia.

Whilst the Azzurri were relatively impressive against the current champions, they struggled late in the day against Croatia and were fortunate to escape with a point at the final whistle.

A fairly comfortable 2-0 success over the Republic of Ireland guaranteed Italy’s spot in the last eight and Cesare Prandelli’s men were visibly delighted to come through what proved to be a closely fought group.

England bettered Italy’s group showing by claiming seven points in Group D, however the Three Lions left much to be desired at times. They were a clear second best against France despite drawing 1-1 with Les Bleus before being given a significant scare against Sweden.

A tight 1-0 victory over co-hosts Ukraine saw England progress to the quarter-finals and they did so as group winners following France’s somewhat shock collapse against the Swedes.

Roy Hodgson has really set his defensive stall out and England will be looking to sit deep once again versus the Italian’s with the emphasis on counter attacking at every available opportunity.

But they will need a great deal more energy and vigour going forward to break down the Azzurri whose defensive reputation reads well. A certain lack of fluidity has definitely been apparent in England’s game and keeping hold of the ball for prolonged periods has been a problem.

Italy pride themselves on controlling possession and dictating the tempo of play and they will be confident of doing so against England.

Andrea Pirlo will once again aim to pull the strings deep in the midfield and Prandelli is likely to push Danielle De Rossi back alongside the star playmaker in order to fend off the tenacious England pairing of Steven Gerrard and Scott Parker.

The bookmakers quite rightly view this quarter-final as a potentially close encounter and punters will be hard pressed to get 2/1 about honours being even after ninety minutes – odds well below the norm for a stalemate.

A 0-0 score line makes slightly more appeal at 6/1 and it is quite conceivable that both teams will draw a blank with two sound defences set to come out on top.

Italy perhaps carry a slight edge in terms of overall quality and it will be up to England to try and suffocate Pirlo’s supply and the effectiveness of the ageing Antonio Di Natale who should start as a lone striker.

England’s main threat will be on the break and particularly down the flanks as they seek to exploit a lack of outright pace in the Italian back line.

This one could certainly go all the way and provide the tournament with its first penalty shoot-out – a situation which the Three Lions will want to avoid based on their previous record on spot kicks at previous international championships.

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23/06/2012     © Frixo 2024