Aragones admits Italian fear

Spain boss wary of world champions

Last updated: 18th June 2008

Aragones admits Italian fear

Aragones: Concerned by Azzurri

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Spain coach Luis Aragones admits he had hoped to avoid Italy in the quarter-finals of Euro 2008.

Aragones is preparing his side for their final Group D match with Greece on Wednesday night, but the Spaniards are already assured a place in the final eight in Austria and Switzerland.

Spain have been confirmed as group winners following victories over Russia and Greece and they now face a quarter-final meeting with Italy after the Azzurri scraped a second-placed finish in Group C with a 2-0 win over France on Tuesday.

Aragones is expected to rotate his side for the meeting with Greece as plans for the meeting with Italy in Vienna on Sunday begin, and the Spain boss confesses he was eager to dodge the world champions at this stage of the tournament.

"At this stage of the tournament any opponent was going to be difficult," Aragones told the Spanish Football Federation's official website.

Talent

"But they aren't the team I would have most liked to have met. Defensively they are almost perfect.

"We all know what Italy are like and it is not for nothing that they are world champions.

"That tells us everything. They seemed dead and buried and now they are in the quarter-finals.

"Italy know how to cope with the good and bad times and their history shows that they have some enormously talented and hard-working players."

Spain beat Italy 1-0 in a Euro 2008 warm-up match in March, but they have never beaten them at the finals of a major international football tournament.