Cannavaro senses another Italian surge
Friday, June 20, 2008
Article summary
Injured Italy captain Fabio Cannavaro has said the Azzurri have the maturity and the belief to go and add the UEFA European Championship to their world title.
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Italy have the maturity to add the Henri Delaunay trophy to their world crown according to injured captain Fabio Cannavaro, who believes the Azzurri can overcome Spain in their UEFA EURO 2008™ quarter-final.
Momentum
Cannavaro lifted the FIFA World Cup in Germany two years ago but was forced out of these finals on the eve of the tournament, and has now been joined on the sidelines by another injured defender, Andrea Barzagli. The 34-year-old centre-back has nonetheless stayed on in Austria and Switzerland to lend his support to a team who, having struggled initially in Group C, may now have the momentum to surge past Spain in Sunday's Vienna quarter-final.
'False start'
"Sometimes you get off to a false start in tournaments," the Real Madrid CF player told euro2008.com. "But now we've got it together again and have rediscovered our team spirit. The great high we experienced at the World Cup can be repeated again. It's hard for me – not playing can seem easier, but mentally it's a lot more difficult. However, the boys know what they've got to do and they are mature enough to rise to the occasion."
Spain threat
The next big stage for Roberto Donadoni's team is the Ernst-Happel-Stadion where they take on a Spain side who beat them 1-0 in a March friendly. Cannavaro, as a two-time Primera División champion with Real Madrid, knows what it takes to stop their leading forwards. "There's no doubt they have players of great technical ability and they will be fit too because they rested several players [against Greece]. They have an excellent side which we respect, but we are confident we can win.
'United'
"All teams have weaknesses and we'll have to exploit theirs by taking advantage of the space they sometimes leave when going forward," the former Juventus man continued. "Sometimes they are so enthusiastic about attacking that they leave one-on-one situations in defence, so that's something we'll look for. We won the World Cup because we were united as a team – not because we had a phenomenon like [Diego] Maradona – so we know that if we are concentrated and together, we can beat anyone. Perhaps this is the best time to face Spain because playing against the best is more challenging and you know you have to give 100 per cent."
