More Euro 2012 news
Euro 2012 carried on with Group C and D playing on Sunday and Monday, these groups are competitive and every match would have a great impact on who qualifies.
Spain 1 - 1 Italy (Group C)
Defending Euro and world cup champions Spain looked to beat previous winners Italy who, with the current team they now posses would be looking to reach at least the quarter finals. Despite this it was regarded one of the biggest group matches to be played and the crowd were buzzing as the match went underway. Spain set up in a 4-3-3 formation with most surprisingly no striker playing in the team.
The match started with Spain as expected dominating possession but I couldn't help but feel that Del Bosque's gamble of starting without a striker had backfired as it seemed Spain were able to get into great shooting opportunities but the 6 Midfielders starting felt anxious to pull the trigger at Buffon. It carried on that way throughout the first half but things changed later on in the match after substitutions were made.
Di Natale came on for Mario Balotelli who missed a glorious opportunity made for him by a Sergio Ramos mistake, although angry to be subbed the decision worked as Di Natale made a cool finish past Casillas in the 61st minute. Fernando Torres was picked in front of Llorente and straight away had a great chance but failed to finish looking more like his early days at Chelsea then the small pocket of form he found near the end. However Cesc Fabregas was able to equalise after some well worked passing by the Spanish and the match finished this way with both teams looking okay with the fact they would settle with a draw.
Republic of Ireland 1 - 3 Croatia ( Group C)
Ireland had finally made it to a major tournament after missing out for many years, but they had arrived in Poland and the Ukraine and boy did they know about it. With Ireland's support as strong as any other countries they would tackle Croatia who would be hoping to leap to the top of Group C after Spains draw with Italy.
Croatia definitely looked the stronger team with the likes of Modric and Jelavic. But would be up against Keane and Dunn who needed to perform to guide the Irish to a win. The game started disastrously for Ireland with Mandzukic heading home a goal in only the '3rd Minute and silencing the crowd which had been chanting for days. Despite this the Irish didn't drop their heads and actually managed to equalise with a strong header from St Ledger in the '19th Minute.
Things were looking up and although Croatia were dominating the Irish were holding strong and made it to half time with the score tied. When the second half went under way it went as badly as the first began for the Irish. Nikica Jelavic of Everton scored past Given on what looked to be an offside position. The Croatians then went on to add another to their tally with Mandzukic's header hitting the post only to rebound off of Givens forehead for an own goal. The Irish were distraught and although having such passionate fans the Euro's look bleak for the Irish with Spain and Italy yet to come.
