Spain v Italy

[matt j]

No Pirlo. No Gattuso. But still Toni.

Things look good for those playing Italy. But the team playing Italy is Spain.

And this is the quarters.

[rick derris]

Spain v Italy

from the guardian

ittery Spaniards prepare for their bete noire

After 88 years without a competitive win over Italy, Spain are already panicking about Sunday's quarter-final
Sid Lowe
June 18, 2008 1:09 PM

The newsreader put on his most earnest face, smoothed down his moustache, looked into the camera and read from the autocue. Never mind that this was TVE, supposedly the sober voice of serious, straight news. "Spain", he said, "will play Italy. The same old Italy; the Italy that never plays football but always wins." As the tape rolled, a voice testily told how the Italians, "champions of the world and champions of luck", had beaten France thanks to the fact that "destiny favoured them yet again". The Azzurri, agreed Marca, are the team with "seven lives".

No side provokes such distaste in Spain as Italy, whose football is derided as cynical, dirty and boring, somehow illegitimate. As José Ángel de la Casa, for decades the voice of the Spanish national team - a kind of tranquil John Motson without the obsession over his dinner, the sheepskin coats or those heh-heh moments - admitted with a hint of discomfort: "As a nation, we have always shown contempt towards Italian football." Not just because of the chance but also because of the "cheating". Now and over the next few days, that will become more evident than ever.

The Italians, declares this morning's Marca, "are experts in 'the other football', the maestros of time-wasting, of destroying games and subterranean play". The paper's cover runs with the photo of Luis Enrique, blood covering his shirt, after Tassotti smashed his nose all over his face in the penalty area at the end of the 1994 World Cup quarter-final, an elbow that "still hurts Spain". "If there is an image that sums up Italy v Spain meetings it's the bloody face of a crying Luis Enrique after getting an elbow that referee Sándor Puhl didn't see - or didn't want to see," Marca snipes.

"Italian cheating once again went unpunished, but at least they got what they deserved by losing in the final with two historic penalty misses from their great stars: [Roberto] Baggio and [Franco] Baresi", Marca continues, picking on two innocent men, while the front page headline warns: "Italy, we have not forgotten this."

They can say that again: as Roberto Palomar puts it, everywhere he looks he sees Luis Enrique and from now until Sunday's match there will be no escape as the telly goes into smashed-nose overload. "I go to fill the car with petrol and there's Luis Enrique vomiting blood behind the pump; I go to take a piss and there's Luis Enrique in the cubicle, doubled over, cleaning the blood off his disfigured face; I climb into bed and there's someone there next to my wife - it's Mauro Tassotti".

The same Mauro Tassotti who won that day - and that's kind of the point. Italy, as Palomar argued, is a ghost that haunts Spain. Despite the bravado, despite the implicit threat on Marca's cover, Italy don't just inspire loathing, they inspire fear too. Lots of it. There is a hint of getting your excuses in early about the Spanish media today. And there is little hiding the disappointment when they look at Romania - the speedboat Jim Bowen says they could have won - and then back at the Italians they've actually got. One headline this morning simply screamed "No!". "Italy, always Italy", sighed El País. And on the radio they were asking an uncomfortable question: "Are you shitting yourself?"

The answer was yes. Last night's result was the last thing the Spanish wanted: Luis Aragonés said it, the press said it and the online polls said it. José Vicente Hernáez signed off from yesterday evening's preview on Marca TV with a: "Do us a favour Holland, lose! Come on Romania!" Never mind the ethics, he spoke for everyone. Romania would have been perfect; a creaking France, just about acceptable; Italy, a disaster. "They're not the opponents we wanted, that's for sure," mumbled Aragonés. AS likens Italy to the beetle-tick that stalks the Austrian mountains, ready to deliver a fatal blow with a single bite. As Álvaro Arbeloa put it: "Italy are always the same: they scrape through and then win the tournament." Which would of course mean beating Spain.

On the face of it, Spain shouldn't be worried. In fact, they should be relishing the opportunity to bury those ghosts against a team that - as the commentators reminded us 37 times in the final 10 minutes last night - will be without Andrea Pirlo and Gennaro Gattuso. After all, after two games for every team, Spain had completed more passes than any other country, and a higher percentage too. They are No1 in attacks, No1 in shots and No16 (in other words the best) in shots faced.

Better still, for all the talk of short, precise, slow build-up and despite its visceral defence from the talibans of tiki-taka (pass and move), Spain have scored six goals this tournament - five from breaks or, let's face it, aimless hoofs; one from a set-play. This time, there's real pace, a cutting edge, a will and a way to do it differently. And a bit of luck too. Spain have some semblance of togetherness at last, a team Cesc Fabregas can't even get into, after Aragonés sensibly recognised that his five-man midfield didn't work, and consequently they have David Villa - the new kid on the block, the revelation of world football who's only been the best striker in Spain for four years.

And yet, apart from Cuatro TV - whose "come on!, yes!, yes!, yes!, you can do it!, go on!, yes!, that's it!, that's it!, good!, that's the way!, oh yes!" commentary sounds more like the soundtrack from a saucy film than five blokes narrating a football match - the Spanish have been strikingly calm about the tournament so far. Sure, they've been delighted with what they have seen. But so often bitten for once shy, there's been little of the tub-thumping from the last World Cup, when they promised to retire Zinedine Zidane three games before Marco Materazzi actually did and announced themselves the best side in the tournament after a single game.

Not least because there's a recognition of their failings. Attack may be the best form of defence but there are fears about the back four, about the weakness of Carles Puyol and Carlos Marchena and the huge dip in form of Sergio Ramos. There's concern too about the anaemic performances of Andrés Iniesta and an unusual recognition that, even as Spain prepare to play tonight's match with the rare luxury of fielding a team of subs, they've not actually won anything - the message conveyed by players and press alike. The real stuff starts here; the very point at which Spain normally end.

If Romania awaited, they might now have begun to believe. But it's Italy. And as the editor of AS put it: "Italy don't scare me, they terrify me." Italy. Spain's bete noire (even if their last competitive game was that one 14 years ago). Italy. The side seemingly best equipped to undo Spain's technical yet lightweight midfield. Italy. In the quarter-final. On June 22. The team they have not beaten in a competitive match for 88 years. At the traditionally insurmountable hurdle, the stage they have not passed in 24 years. On the same date that they have been knocked out for each of the last three tournaments.

Happily, there is one, big difference this time. Not the absence of Tassotti - after all, the man with the razor-sharp elbows will be on the bench on Sunday - but the absence of the other sadly decisive man from that day in the US. This time, Spain have David Villa and Fernando Torres, not Julio Salinas.

[ursus arctos]

Spain v Italy

I love Sid Lowe.

Why is it that only the Spaniards seem to be aware of this Austrian tick waiting to visit immediate death on the boys in red? The Spanish papers have been talking about it for months (Raul not getting the "life saving vaccine" was one of the first serious signs that he was staying home), but I haven't heard a peep from any other nation.

[Guest]

Spain v Italy

Italy also beat Spain 1-0 in Euro 88. Vialli got the goal from a narrow angle after a beautiful piece of play by the great Altobelli.

[Moonlight Shadow]

Spain v Italy

I just love that Spanish rant above, it's almost as if they live in some kind of strange world where Spanish football is the apex of honesty, fairplay and gentlemanly conduct...

[Spearmint Rhino]

Spain v Italy

I've got a very bad feeling about this.

[linus]

Spain v Italy

Is there a greater level of corruption elsewhere in W Europe football though? Things aren't black and white, but on a grayscale the Serie A is a piece of charcoal at dusk on a cloudy day, right up there with professional cycling.

[blameless]

Spain v Italy

he bloody face of a crying Luis Enrique after getting an elbow

Crying my arse. He went berserk at Tassotti and had to be physically restrained by Julio Salinas.

I've never understood this Spanish (and recently, French) idea of portraying Italy as the great unbeatable Forces Of Darkness - that's a sure-fire way to talk yourself into losing.

I'd have thought it would have been far better from Spain's point of view to concentrate on the fact that Italy are a flawed team who will be drastically weakened by Pirlo's absence.

[Ant van Oviedo]

Spain v Italy

I thought the issue was the supposed style of play, not institutional corruption.

Well, yes, but the idea of using "picardía", i.e. what most other countries call "cheating", to gain yourself a little advantage, runs fairly deeply through most strata of Spanish society. Recent examples: the police force of Coslada, Madrid, the councils of Marbella and just this week Estepona (both, NOT coincidentally, in Andalucia), everybody I know when playing scrabble, ludo or cards.

The commentary on Cuatro tonight was excruciating.

[anton pulisov]

Spain v Italy

So Marca thinks Baggio and Baresi deserved to miss their penalties?

Forza Italia.

[jason voorhees]

Spain v Italy

Forgive me for American sports analogies, but the past few years have been exorcism years - from the Boston Red Sox finally taking out the Yankees and winning for the first time since 1918, to the Chicago White Sox winning for the first time since 1917.

This also has the recent New Orleans Hornets-San Antonio Spurs playoff series written all over it. Fun, athletic, skilled, fast babyfaced youngsters vs wiley, scumbag, cheapshotting champion veterans.

Spain laid a big egg against France in 06, and who's to say they won't lay an egg again. However, just as the Hornets did to the Spurs at least 3 of the games, Spain may win this 5 or 6-0.

[Jon]

Spain v Italy

A couple of months ago, when there elections in both Spain and Italy, the Guardian ran a series of articles called From Rome to Madrid. There were articles comparing architecture, cinema, the economies. All really well worth reading.

Here is the Sid Lowe one on football:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2008/mar/06/spain.italy

[Ant van Oviedo]

Spain v Italy

How do you cheat at Scrabble?

By taking more than your quota of tiles, for starters.

[ursus arctos]

Spain v Italy

The Spain-Italy rivalry is an interesting one, and only getting more interesting.

Spain recently passed Italy in terms of the size of its economy (though the Italians have accused them of fudging the numbers, which is rich in and of itself), and is cleary the more dynamic economy. The two governments cannot be compared (a very popular anti-Berlusconi film here recently was called Viva Zapatero!), and basically all economic, political, social and cultural indicators are pointing in favour of Spanish ascendance (at least compared to Italy).

That has resulted in quite a bit of petulant sniping from the Italian side (Silvio does stuff like criticise the number of female members of the Spanish cabinet as being unworthy of a serious country). At least as yet, however, there hasn't been much of that in the context of the game.

[ad hoc]

Spain v Italy

The adhocometer says:

Beer: Rubbish on both sides 0-0
Wine: The opposite to beer. Too good on both sides to separate the teams 1-1
Food: Spanish food could beat most of the teams left in the competition -except of course Italy 1-2
Current political situation: Crushing victory for Spain. Not even close 3-2
Literature: Cervantes was brilliant, but the Spanish have been trading on his reputation for far too long. Italy shades it. 3-3
Music: Lots of history from both sides, but more recently the output has been less than stellar. That blind bloke from Italy who seems to be heard everywhere, counts against the Azzuri, and Spain nip in with one song (Sin Documentos by Los Rodriguez) and one band (Ojos de Brujo). 4-3

Very exciting match, closely contested, but Spain eventually emerge on top.

[Anton Gramscescu]

Spain v Italy

I'm thinking all of Toni's luck is going to come in one game. 3-2 Italy with all three coming from the big man, and it will be real end-to-end stuff because there's clearly no way Italy's defence can deal with Spanish pace.

[Ray de Galles]

Spain v Italy

I have been wondering all tournament at which game the number of players wearing those thin elastic hairbands would peak. This is it surely?

[ursus arctos]

Spain v Italy

Yeah, and that's even without playing the Las Ketchup card.

[pengedragon]

Spain v Italy

italy

all day long

3-2

[Guest]

Spain v Italy

Italy gave the world Italo disco.

When I spent a while in Malaga in 2002, the number one single in the Spanish charts all summer was a techno version of Michael McDonald's 'Sweet Freedom'.

[ad hoc]

Spain v Italy

You can't argue with the adhocometer. It's a machine.

[Anton Gramscescu]

Spain v Italy

Yes, but it's been programmed wrong. Only 1 point for food? The Italians deserve 8 or 9 points for food.

[blameless]

Spain v Italy

Beer: Rubbish on both sides 0-0

Moretti vs San Miguel. 1-0 Italy.

The adhocometer is clearly in need of recalibration.

[ad hoc]

Spain v Italy

Antonio Gramsci wrote:

Yes, but it's been programmed wrong. Only 1 point for food? The Italians deserve 8 or 9 points for food.

And negative 10 for politics. The adhocometer evens things out.

[ad hoc]

Spain v Italy

blameless wrote:

Beer: Rubbish on both sides 0-0

Moretti vs San Miguel. 1-0 Italy.

The adhocometer is clearly in need of recalibration.

With respect, I submit it is the blameless palate which is in need of recalibration