More Euro 2012 News
All of the teams in group C still had it all to play for, with Croatia being the only team taking the full 3 points from last weeks matches. The Republic of Ireland would need a win to stay in the tournament but it looked unlikely with world champions Spain being their opponents. While Croatia played Italy, which if Italy lost it would make Croatia the first team to qualify for the knockout stages.
Spain 4 - 0 Ireland (Group C)
It was fair to say that Spain didn't seem too troubled to be facing the Irish despite needing a win to be in a good place to qualify. This confidence from the Spanish, would be their downfall said the Irish who's fantastic support carried on to brighten the tournament. However minutes in it seemed the luck of the Irish never really happened.
Only '3 Minutes into the match after some troubled Irish defending from a David Silva run meant Torres saw just enough of the ball to pounce, and that he did with a storming run from the edge of the box to steal the ball, dart past the defenders and power the ball about Given, showing a real determination to score that was only seen back in his Liverpool days.
The Spanish were not done yet, and to say they held a good amount of possession would be an understatement, thy completely controlled it for the whole match, whenever the Irish managed to grab the ball from them they hunted them down, doubling up on players to ensure they had the ball back. And this playing style worked as well as it always does for them. Despite missing some good oppurtunites in the first half they really peformed after half time.
David Silva grabbed the second goal from a poor punch away by Given falling to Silva's feet in the area, who calmly picked his place and casually rolled it through Dunne's legs and past the fingertips of Given. They carried on attacking until the ball fell to Torres of all people, but unlike the Torres of old he confidently charged at Given, and despite finding the ball trapped under his feet managed to calmly slot the ball past him. Fabregas then came on to replace Fernando who received standing applause, and Cesc then rocketed another one in for the Spanish. Making sure the Irish get sent home early, that honestly was always expected.
Italy 1 - 1 Croatia (Group C)
Italy would face yet enough hard match after gaining the much needed point against Spain, they faced a Croatian side who looked strong after battering an out of form Italy. The match kicked off with Italy creating chances from the start with playmaker Pirlo putting in yet another great performance to help the Italians.
Croatia stayed quiet and Italy made good use of that with a beautiful Pirlo free kick that soared into the top corner in the '39th minute. This didnt come as a suprise as Italy were playing good football and were set to beat the Croatians for the first time ever. However the Italians became complacent in the second half and Modric became a key player by attacking more, and this payed off when Mandzukic scored after a Chiellini misjudged the flight of the ball. It was a soft goal to concede but the point suited the Croatians better and they settled for it seeing the game out for 1-1.
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