Italy are out of Euro 2008 after a penalty shoot-out, Iker Casillas saving from Antonio Di Natale and Daniele De Rossi. Spain go through to face Russia in the semi-final.

The statistics were on the Azzurri’s side, as they were undefeated in competitive matches against Spain since the 1920 Olympics and their last official meeting was a 2-1 win in the 1994 World Cup quarter-final. The Iberians qualified from the group phase with a 100 per cent record, but in all the quarter-finals so far the group winners had gone out.

Andrea Pirlo and Gennaro Gattuso sat out bans and were replaced by Alberto Aquilani - making his Euro 2008 debut - and Massimo Ambrosini, but the rest of the line-up that defeated France 2-0 remained unchanged. Luis Aragones rested his stars in the 2-1 win over Greece and returned to the same XI that won its opening two games. In a bid to end his goal drought, Luca Toni grew a moustache as a superstitious gesture.

A deflected David Villa effort was easy pickings for Gigi Buffon and Antonio Cassano’s wonderful turn and pass for Simone Perrotta was intercepted at the last second, but Spain were giving away a lot of free kicks and Andres Iniesta was booked after 11 minutes for a late challenge on Fabio Grosso.

Ambrosini did brilliantly to perform a crucial tackle on Fernando Torres in the box. However, moments later Ambrosini was fortunate to get away with a touch on Villa’s calf in the penalty area.

Ambrosini crossed for Perrotta’s fairly weak header straight at Iker Casillas, then the Milan midfielder dispossessed a Spaniard only to pass it too long for Toni.

Buffon smothered a low Villa free kick that whizzed through the defensive wall. Ambrosini was booked for a late tackle on Senna and Buffon got down well to block a hopeful Silva strike from distance.

Italy’s plan was to leave possession to Spain, but they began to take it a bit too far and were pinned back. Xavi Hernandez took advantage of Daniele De Rossi’s slip for a deflected effort off target.

Cassano’s chipped cross found a Toni header charged down by Marchena from six yards on 36 minutes. At the other end Torres had an angled drive slam into Chiellini and as the move continued Silva flashed wide of the far post from outside the box.

A couple of set-pieces caused problems for the Spanish defence and at the other end Villa wanted a free kick inches outside the area, but the referee waved play on. It was a fortunate decision for Italy, as Grosso stamped on Villa’s foot.

Iniesta drilled past the near post after combining with Villa. There was a testy incident on the stroke of half-time, as Perrotta reacted to a sneaky kick from Xavi.

There was a major scare straight after the restart, as a lucky ricochet gave Silva the ball from seven yards, but Chiellini threw himself at the shot to charge it down.

Cassano horribly wasted a golden opportunity on the counter by sliding an imprecise ball past Ambrosini. A splendid Chiellini tackle stopped Torres short at the end of a sprint.

There was another fright as Torres won a battle of strength with Panucci to pass in to Villa, but again Chiellini intercepted with great timing and positioning. The Juventus defender blocked another cross off the head of Torres, confirming his excellent individual performance.

It was a far more open game now with both sides leaving and taking advantage of extra space. With this in mind, Mauro Camoranesi replaced Perrotta to bring more pace to the Azzurri.

Buffon punched away a Xavi curling corner and Silva blasted the follow-up well wide. Spain also made a substitution, Arsenal’s Cesc Fabregas and Santi Cazorla coming on for Xavi and Iniesta.

Italy had a fantastic chance on the hour mark as some slack defending and Toni’s physicality saw the ball ping-pong around the six-yard box before Casillas performed a desperate reaction save on Camoranesi with an outstretched left foot.

Aquilani scuffed a volley off target and a Villa free kick clipped the wall to land on the roof of the net. Toni nodded a curling Gianluca Zambrotta cross wide between two defenders.

Villa was rather harshly booked for diving, as he seemed to slip when Chiellini stood his ground and he had to change direction quickly. Torres was angry and had a coming together with Grosso.

Sergio Ramos fired past the near post with a hopeful attempt. Donadoni’s second change saw Antonio Di Natale replace Cassano. A dangerous corner found Buffon crowded out, but got enough to it to send it clear.

Buffon’s first real save of the game was on 80 minutes, as he punched away a Senna free kick from 28 metres. Moments later the goalkeeper fumbled another Senna missile from distance that rolled on to the base of the upright and back into his grateful arms!

Sergio Ramos did enough to put Toni off his header, but a poor Torres first touch accidentally turned into an assist for Villa and Chiellini again stood his ground.

There was a great chance wasted by the Azzurri! Di Natale’s cross was heading for the unmarked Grosso at the back post, but Toni went for it and took the ball off his foot!

Getafe striker Daniel Guiza replaced Torres in a surprise substitution six minutes from time. Spain have had a tendency to score very late goals in all their games in Euro 2008, so they began to pour forward in the hope of sealing this before it went to extra time.

Guiza escaped a booking for a double handling offence that looked more like volleyball than football, though Buffon had saved it anyway. Zambrotta smartly got his body between Villa and the ball, then cleared a dangerous Fabregas cross off Villa’s foot with only Buffon to beat. It was crucial, as this quarter-final went to extra time.

Sergio Ramos tussled with Chiellini as a free kick was floated in, but it looked like a mutual movement. Spain had two chances in the same move, as Chiellini charged down Villa’s effort and the Silva follow-up flashed inches past the upright.

Di Natale flicked a fine ball on for Grosso, whose cross was reaching Toni’s foot before a crucial defensive intervention. From the following throw-in Di Natale got a firm header to Zambrotta’s centre, bringing a fantastic fingertip save out of Casillas.

Italy strung together a series of corners and Toni’s stooping header landed on the roof of the net. Villa slipped, but still managed to get a backheel to Silva from the floor, then Guiza’s angled drive was well wide.

Casillas plucked a Grosso free kick off Chiellini’s head and it was still 0-0 15 minutes into extra time. Sergio Ramos’ high foot kicked Camoranesi in the shoulder for a free kick just outside the box, but Grosso’s effort was off target.

The final substitution saw Alessandro Del Piero replace Aquilani, pushing Camoranesi back into central midfield in a very attacking change with 12 minutes to go before penalties.

Villa sprung the offside trap from Silva in a very close decision, but Buffon followed him and forced a corner with his legs, from which Sergio Ramos nodded wide. Chiellini’s sliding tackle stopped Santi Cazorla from turning in Villa’s through ball and avoided a corner, for which Cazorla was booked for dissent.

There was fair play from Spain, who put the ball out when Di Natale was down injured with a bruised thigh. Marchena charged down a Del Piero strike and on the counter Chiellini and De Rossi needed a double intervention to keep the Spaniards at bay.

A magnificent bit of play from Del Piero left his marker for dead, but the pass to Grosso was intercepted just inside the box. Guiza and Di Natale ballooned hopeful attempts off target, but a good counter from Spain in the final minute saw Santi Cazorla flash an angled drive acros the face of goal. It was the last kick of the game and it went to penalties.

The first up was David Villa, who buried it past Buffon. Grosso smashed a powerful finish to level it, just as he had against France in Berlin. Santi Cazorla rolled it low to send Buffon the wrong way. De Rossi hit it hard, but Casillas guessed the direction and it was saved. Senna lifted a fine right-foot penalty over the goalkeeper. Camoranesi kept Italy in it by firing into the top corner. Guiza stepped up and Buffon levelled the scores with a save on the substitute. Di Natale was next up and his was saved, too, as Casillas got the right angle on a fairly central kick. Fabregas converted the final kick to send Spain through to the semi-finals.

Shoot-out: :

Spain: Villa (goal), Santi Cazorla (goal), Senna (goal), Guiza (saved), Fabregas (goal)

Italy: Grosso (goal), De Rossi (saved), Camoranesi (goal), Di Natale (saved)
Spain: Casillas; Sergio Ramos, Puyol, Marchena, Capdevila; Senna; Iniesta (Cazorla 59), Xavi (Fabregas 59), Silva; Villa, Torres (Guiza 84)

Italy: Buffon; Zambrotta, Panucci, Chiellini, Grosso; Ambrosini, De Rossi, Aquilani (Del Piero 108); Perrotta (Camoranesi 57); Cassano (Di Natale 74), Toni

Ref: Fandel (Ger)

Ref From channel4.com

FIFA have announced their Euro 2008 team of the tournament and, as expected, the Spanish contingent dominated the starting XI.

The European Champions were outstanding from start to finish during the Championships and they had no trouble en route to lifting the Henri Delaunay trophy.

World football’s governing body has now recognised the Spanish effort and they have included no less than six Furia Roja players in their team selection.Russia, Holland, Portugal and Germany share the five remaining places.

FIFA’s EURO 2008 starting XI:

Casillas; Sergio Ramos, Puyol, Pepe, Lahm; Senna, Xavi, Ballack, Sneijder; Villa, Arshavin.

David Villa finished the championship as top-scorer with four goals. Three of those were a hat-trick against Russia in their first group D game.

Fernando Torres’ strike in the final clinched victory over the Germans and Xavi Hernandez was officially the player of the tournament.

Ref from Salvatore Landolina - goal.com

At last! For so long they’ve been the team you curse because you had a crafty flutter before they faltered, now Spain are finally champions. What’s more, they did it their way. Their frustration at their successive failures never led them to lose faith in themselves, to abandon the way they want to play. They have always prized technical excellence and imaginative expression above all else, advocated fantasy above pragmatism. They always knew they were right. And now they may bask in beautiful vindication.

High-tempo virility has long been the badge English football likes to flash, but under Sven-Goran Eriksson they forsook that for set-piece opportunism, while under Steve McClaren they were plain confused. But Spain have shown that high-tempo virility is still a powerful force - but it’s just the starting point, the real trick is to build on it with precise technique and inspired creativity. Xavi’s wonderful pass to Fernando Torres, and Torres’s clever, tenacious run and exquisite finish encapsulated everything that makes Spain worthy kings of the continent.

Like Greece in 2004, this was a victory for a collective. But Spain are no machine, Xavi, Iniesta, Cesc Fábregas and Sergio Ramos no mere cogs. They are a vibrant organism, each element exuding adventure and intelligence. Their movement, speed and offensive intent make them devastating.

Their conviction did waver temporarily tonight as glory twinkled tantalisingly; Germany, ever defiant, cranked up the pressure in the last 30 minutes and Luis Aragonés withdrew Fábregas and David Silva for marginally more conservative players. Yet still Ramos, Andrés Iniesta and Marcos Senna came closer to scoring in that period than Germany. And unlike Germany - and the other great performers at these championships, Turkey, Russia, Holland and Portugal - Spain defended immaculately.

The margin of Spain’s victory tonight was the same as Greece in 2004 and, in fact, brought the tournament’s goal tally to 77 - exactly the same as in 2004. But this was an infinitely better tournament. It wasn’t about the number of goals, rather how they were scored and all the intangible stuff that went before and after them. It’s been about teams’ verve, their intent, their flow - their managers’ trust in talent and attack more than set-pieces and opportunism.

Spain exemplified all that made this tournament delightful. In addition to the inventors already mentioned, they have a holding midfielder who does so much more than hold: the Makelele role is old hat, rendered obsolete by Senna (and the likes of Holland’s Orlando Engelaar and Portgual’s João Moutinho). And this was the tournament in which managers truly embraced the belief that full-backs are the first line of attack. They must raid like Ramos (and Philip Lahm or José Bosingwa), and so we had attacking midfielders deployed in what was once a primarily defensive role (Hamit Altintop, Yuri Zhirkov, Gio van Bronckhorst). There is a real zing to this zeitgeist.

International football was supposed to be dying, fatally wounded by clubs’ superior power. The notion that teams restricted to picking players from just one fragment of a map could possibly be better to watch than the Champions League glitterati, who hoover up talent from all over the planet, seemed deeply illogical and embarrassingly unfashionable. It still is illogical, of course, but now it doesn’t seem so wrong: after a thrilling Euro 2008, hot on the heels of an exhilarating African Cup of Nations, international football suddenly seems vital again.

It’s amusing to wonder what spawned the revitalising spirit. Perhaps Michel Platini deserves some acclaim. When he acceded to the Uefa throne many questioned whether he could or would put his populist rhetoric into practice. But to an extent he has done, albeit after making the requisite pragmatic compromises. The disbandment of G14 was announced last January - to be replaced by the more egalitarian European Club Association (ECA) - and Uefa and Fifa also persuaded clubs to drop legal action seeking compensation for players injured on international duty.

Had the clubs won their case, most national associations would have been financially buggered. Instead a deal was reached and the Euro 2008, like the African Cup of nations earlier in the year, have been like joyous celebrations of the reprieve for international football. Life-affirming festivals of invigorating play, never-say-die passion and, perhaps most surprisingly of all, an almost universal shunning of gamesmanship. The managers who didn’t get into this groove - Raymond Domenech and Otto Rehhagel, most notably - flopped ignominiously.

Maybe this sounds like the sort of wishy-washy waffle spouted by flakes with flowers in their hair, and, indeed, maybe that G14 spiel is silly sophistry. Maybe the excitement of this competition was just a cyclical inevitability, a natural reaction to the constipated negativity that soiled Euro 2004 or an offshoot of the perceived romanticism of Manchester United’s Champions League triumph. Maybe it was an illusory consequence of rubbish defending; perhaps it’s just coincidental that so many managers have simultaneously decided that attack is the best form of defence. Or maybe the cool and rain of Austria and Switzerland favoured high-tempo play. Whatever, the fact remains that Euro 2008 was great fun, mainly thanks to the the spirit in which it was played, a spirit that coxed memorable displays from ingenious Spaniards as well as the likes of Andrei Arshavin, Wesley Sneijder, Deco, Luka Modric, Colin Kazim-Richards, Libor Sionko and so many more, and returned to us the unpredictable.

Infuse a three-week tournament with that spirit and you have a beautiful complement to nine-month club seasons, rather than an inconvenient chore tacked on at the end of them (or in the middle). Tournaments like this stoke our love of the game. And prove that clubs still need countries.

By Paul Doyle

Ref from guardian.co.uk