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Italy match too close to call, Spain's Aragones says

19/06/2008

Spain manager Luis Aragones has insisted his side are not favourites for their Euro 2008 quarter-final with Italy.

Aragones was speaking after watching his side top group D with a perfect record following last night's 2-1 defeat of Greece.

The way in which Spain breezed through the group stages is in stark contrast to the route taken by world champions Italy.

Roberto Donadoni's team won just once in their three group matches; suffering the embarrassment of a 3-0 defeat at the hands of the Netherlands in their first game.

But Aragones insists Italy remain "very difficult opponents" for his young side.
"It will be complicated and we will have to be at 110 per cent," he said after watching Ruben de la Red and Daniel Guiza score to cancel out Angelos Charisteas' headed opener for Greece.

"We know we face difficult opponents, but Italy will be thinking the same."

At the last World Cup Spain impressed during the group stages but crashed out to France in the last 16.

Despite warning his players over Italy's wounded pride, Aragones says his team is better suited to handling the pressure of massive expectation.

"This part is over and now we are on to the really impressive bit," he explained.

"We hope that the sort of mentality we have shown up until now will help us through.

"We have an advantage because we could rest most of our players. It is a very compressed, intense competition and the players feel it."