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Spain's Aragones "delighted" with Italian job

23/06/2008

Spain coach Luis Aragones has admitted he is "delighted" after his side secured their place in the Euro 2008 semi-finals with a victory over Italy.

The Spaniards finally ended their penalty shootout curse, which dated back to the European Championships of 1984 when they beat Denmark in the semi-finals before losing to France in the showpiece game in Paris.

The success against Italy, who were crowned world champions two years ago courtesy of a shootout, erased the painful memories of quarter-final defeats on June 22nd at the World Cup in 1986, Euro 1996 and World Cup 2002.

And Aragones, whose side now face group rivals Russia for the second time in the competition, was full of praise for his players after they held their nerve in Vienna.

"I'm delighted with this victory," he said.

"But we've done nothing more than win a small battle. I think Spain just about deserved to win, but we didn't play good football and neither did Italy.

"We did the job and in Spain we have always talked about not getting past the quarters, but now we have a chance of getting to the final.

"The team is convinced they can win this."

Aragones cited his players' "remarkable behaviour", saying he was impressed with the way they "maintained their morale" against a stifling Italian midfield and defence.

"It was very difficult as the Italians closed down all the spaces, which made it difficult to play our natural game," he added.