In what could be one of the most unpredictable matches of the year, Italy is about to clash against Spain this Monday. Many sports pundits around the world and also former players are weighing in the prediction band waggon, their analysis depends very much on what nationality they are and which team they support. Some have been objective and other have lacked objectivity. Former Italy international Mauro Camoranesi gave his two cents on the match.
He told Goal that: "Italy are completely different. This time it is more traditional. The other one [Prandelli] was more experimental. For the first time in a long time, Prandelli's team tried to have possession of the ball, something that had never been done. Spain found many spaces to come from behind and put that team in trouble. Now, Conte does not want the possession, they were even dominated by Ireland! Spain will have the possession of the ball. They will try to reach our goal with more passing accuracy.
"Italy will expect Spain to make a mistake and take advantage of the spaces they can leave. These are two teams that know each other very well and these games have a strong mentality component. It's going to be decided more for having a strong mental force rather than game. It depends much more on Spain than Italy. I see very little chances for Italy, but that does not mean they cannot win. It will depend on what kind of football Spain will play."
He added: "Italy has no more to offer than what was seen already in this tournament: personality and fight. An Italian player is a competitive player, they like this kind of challenge. Italy are not one of the favorites, perhaps because of the lack of big names. Because of this and their style of play, Italy are almost never considered as favorites, but their competitiveness when dressing in the national team shirt gives them an extra energy."
Photo credit: Seleccion Española