Spain 1-1 Italy Highlights – Euro 2012
Cesc Fabregas rescued a point for Spain as the champions began the defence of their European title with a less than convincing performance in Gdansk.
Watch Euro 2012 match, Spain Vs Italy highlights here.
Venue: PGE Arena, Gdansk
Date: Sunday, 10 June
Kick-off: 17:00 BST
0-1 Di Natale 61′
1-1 Fabregas 64′
Head-to-head
Spain beat Italy in the quarter-finals of Euro 2008 on penalties but have not defeated them in a competitive game without the aid of a shoot-out since a 2-0 win at the 1920 Olympics.
The only other previous European Championship meetings were group games in 1980 (a 0-0 draw in Milan) and 1988 (a 1-0 win for Italy, courtesy of Gianluca Vialli).
Six of the last nine matches between Spain and Italy have been goalless at half-time.
Spain
If Fernando Torres scores he will match Fernando Hierro’s tally of 29 goals – only Raul (44) and David Villa (51) have score more for Spain.
Xavi had the best pass completion rate (94.9%) in Euro 2012 qualifying.
No side has successfully retained the European Championship. The USSR and West Germany reached the final as defending champions, losing in 1964 and 1976 respectively.
The Spanish have won 14 competitive games in a row since losing to Switzerland in their 2010 World Cup opener.
Italy
The Azzurri had the best defensive record in qualifying, conceding just two goals in nine completed games (their match at home to Serbia was abandoned after just six minutes).
Gianluigi Buffon saved 92.9% of shots he faced – the best record in Euro 2012 qualifying.
They lost their Euro 2008 opener to the Dutch 3-0 – their heaviest defeat at a major international tournament since the 4-1 loss to Brazil in the 1970 World Cup final.
