Palladino plots England's demise

Raffaele Palladino says Italy would "give everything" to beat England on Thursday after a shock 1-0 defeat by Serbia in their opening game in Nijmegen.

'Already decisive'
Italy were left bitterly disappointed after Dejan Milovanović scored Serbia's winner in the Group B opener at the De Goffert Stadion, despite a hatful of chances for Pierluigi Casiraghi's side. Palladino knows a win against England in Arnhem is now vital. "We will give everything and fight hard against England to win what is already a decisive match," said the Juventus striker, who added: "We had it in our hands against Serbia so it is even more disappointing. It was a strange game, we performed so well and created so many chances. Serbia barely had one opportunity but they were more clinical and scored the goal."

Slow start
The 23-year-old accepts that Italy made a slow start, struggling to get possession, but insists his team put in a decent performance. "Apart from the first 15 minutes, when we didn't do very well because we started at too slow a pace, the game was always under control," he said. "We played nice, attacking football but weren't rewarded." Having been knocked out at the group stage of last summer's UEFA European Under-21 Championship, Palladino and company are determined not to fail again and the forward, who has won the Serie B title with Juventus, is adamant the Azzurrini can reach the last four. "Italy have the quality and skill to qualify for the semi-finals," he said.