Italy face must-win situation vs. Ireland

The Italians have taken two points from their opening two matches after
successive 1-1 draws with Spain and Croatia, both of which have four points
from two games ahead of their simultaneous meeting at the Arena Gdansk.

Italy must defeat the already-eliminated Irish to have any hope of going
through, but a draw between Spain and Croatia would force goal differential to
break the deadlock as all three teams would be level on five points apiece.

Cesare Prandelli’s men took the lead in their most recent outing, but they
missed a golden opportunity to take control of the group as the Italians
surrendered a late goal to help the Croatians split the points.

“I don’t think we lack character – but there has been a drop in our game from
60 minutes for the last two matches and we need to weigh up our next match and
see how we manage our energy levels,” said Prandelli. “After that 10-minute
dip we created plenty of chances, but in that phase of the game we did need
fresh legs.

“For the first 60 minutes we were very well organized – we did not leave much
space between our forwards and defenders – but when the game gets stretched
and there is more distance between the strikers and the defenders, then we
start to struggle.”

Italy could be poised for a big victory against Ireland, a side that has lost
both matches by a combined score of 7-1.

Ireland was humbled by Spain last time out, falling to the reigning champions
4-0.

“The mistakes we made came as a blow,” said Ireland head coach Giovanni
Trapattoni. “We don’t see these types of errors in training, we don’t see the
tension.

“But it happened against Croatia and it has happened again here. Spain
demonstrated a quality tonight that we already knew they had. They hardly use
up any energy as they involve every player, they are like an orchestra.”

That defeat puts Trapattoni’s men out of contention for the quarterfinals, but
Ireland still could play the role of the spoiler by playing more positive
football Monday.

“We came to this tournament feeling confident but I am left with the
disappointment of the Irish players,” Trapattoni said. “Our fans deserve a lot
of respect. They applauded and cheered us even when we were behind. I am
terribly sad for them. In the next game against Italy we have to make sure we
try to leave with our heads held high.”