Antonio Conte’s Italy team will be a difficult opposition to overcome with the Azzurri making a huge statement, sending the defending champions — Spain — out of the competition with an impressive performance. Written off before the Euro, Italy have shocked many and the credit has to go for their coach Antonio Conte. Italy can boost their confidence knowing that Germany has not beaten them in previous eight encounters but this is football where anything can happen anytime.
Italy going into this game will be without midfielder Thiago Motta, who picked up a second yellow card against Spain. Daniele De Rossi too suffered an injury near hip. Rather than you usual defensive setup, this time around Italy have started attacking and pressing high from the first itself and have been thoroughly deserving their lead.
The 2006 World Champions haven’t got their hands on the European Championship trophy since 1968, almost five decades. Will it happen this timeIJ We have to wait and see. For the Azzurri’s to qualify and make statement for other teams, the whole unit has to fire together.