Del Piero grateful for Italy lifeline

'Starting point'
A 2-0 victory in their final Group C game, coupled with Romania's 2-0 loss to section winners the Netherlands, gave the world champions second place and a quarter-final against Spain in Vienna on Sunday. Del Piero did not feature against France, but told euro2008.com: "I hope this match is only a starting point for us. It was a win that allowed us to go through and keep believing in our chances of going all the way. We have to use this momentum in the next game."

Spain impress
The 33-year-old knows Italy will need all the momentum they can muster if they are to master a Spain side who have impressed in their Group D matches in Austria – beating Russia 4-1 and Sweden 2-1. "It's an all-or-nothing game against a very strong side," said the Juventus forward. "Like us, they are a contender to go and win the tournament. Anything can happen in this kind of game."

Recovery point
Having started the 1-1 draw with Romania which followed Italy's opening 3-0 defeat by the Netherlands, Del Piero lost his place to Antonio Cassano for the France fixture. Despite his subsequent reduced status, he feels the point gained against the Romanians was an important one. "I think our recovery began against Romania," he said. "We took the right approach against both Romania and France. We played well and fortunately everything went our way in our decisive game."

First-half gold
Mauro Camoranesi, Del Piero's Juventus team-mate, was a second-half substitute against France but insists that Italy were even better before he took the field. "We took an important step forward in the championship," the Argentina-born winger told euro2008.com. "My team-mates played a wonderful first half, creating six or seven clear chances. We probably should have killed the game in the first half but we must be happy with our performance." He added: "Now we have another difficult match against another great side [Spain] and we have to play as we did against France if we want to reach the semi-finals."