Grounded Aragonés takes win in stride

Luis Aragonés, Spain coach
We won through but we have only won a small battle. I think we deserved to win. We didn't play great, but nor did Italy. We should have used more pace. The tempo was rather slow and if we'd played the ball quicker we'd have created more chances. But we had chances anyway, as did Italy. We were a little fresher, but lacked speed with the ball, to carry it quicker and at times we lost possession. We got into the Italian lines but couldn't complete our link play. We lost quite a bit of possession though the team were in a good physical shape and Italy could only use the high ball against us. We created three or four clear chances. We tried yesterday to see who was the best [at penalties] and those that were the best took them today.

I'm doing my job – as a coach I'm here to win. For Spain, it's important. We have struggled to get past the quarters before but now we've done that so lets see if we can get to the final. I'm not depressed when I lose, I'm not euphoric when I win. I'm happy for my country, happy for my players and also for me – this is my profession. This team wants to go to the final and win. It's now more difficult [against Russia] than at the beginning. This is a great time for Russian football, because at this stage of their season they are at their peak. Many say we've beaten them before so it will be easy but it's much more complicated.

Roberto Donadoni, Italy coach
The players gave it their all, they gave it their best. I'm proud of their effort, of the football they produced. They didn't have a drop of energy left - those that played and those that didn't. I am very sorry, very sad for them because they didn't go through. I'm proud, though – the result doesn't matter. I couldn't care less when we leave. They could go out after the first round, the quarter-finals or semis. It's up to others to decide what we've done. I'm just proud.