Italy and Germany first to finals - Women's EURO

A 9-0 win ensured Italy became the first team to clinch a place in next summer's finals in Sweden, where they will be joined by Germany who advanced without kicking a ball, while Austria are in the play-offs.

Switzerland's win against Spain meant Germany qualified

Italy and Germany are the first two teams to qualify for UEFA Women’s EURO 2013 – the holders without being in action – while Austria clinched at least a play-off place on a busy day of action which is rounded up below.

The group winners and best runners-up (not counting results against the sixth-placed teams in the larger Groups 1, 2 and 3) when the sections finish in September progress to the UEFA Women's EURO 2013 final tournament from 10 to 28 Julyalongside hosts Sweden. The other six runners-up go to the play-offs for the remaining three places.

Group 1
New Italy coach Antonio Cabrini knew a win against theFormer Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia would clinch top spot with two games to spare and they duly prevailed 9-0 at Turin's Stadio Olimpico, Patrizia Panico claiming a hat-trick. The Azzurre now boast 34 unanswered goals in eight perfect victories. Russia remain two points ahead of Poland in the race for second having overcome Greece 4-0 while Poland triumphed 2-0 in Bosnia and Herzegovina. Both Russia and Poland are in midweek action with the play-off berth or even the best runners-up slot on their minds.

Group 2
Germany were not in action having beaten Romania 5-0 at the end of May but cannot now be caught after Spain lost 4-3 in Switzerland. The Swiss twice trailed before Ramona Bachmann's second on 80 minutes drew them level, leaving substitute Selina Zumbühl to delight the crowd with a winner soon after. Spain know victories against Turkey on Thursday and Romania on 19 September would secure second spot from Switzerland, but today's loss is a blow to their hopes of claiming a best runners-up spot.

Group 3
Iceland and Norway won their games in hand on morning leaders Belgium to become the new top two. Iceland are at the summit, an early Margrét Lára Vidarsdóttir goal setting them on the way to a 3-0 win against Hungary. Norway are a point behind, but one ahead of Belgium, after defeating Bulgaria11-0. Isabell Herlovsen starred with five goals. On Wednesday, Belgium go to Hungary and Norway welcome Northern Ireland – five points off the lead in fourth. The next day Bulgaria tackle Iceland, whose September trip to Norway looks decisive.

Group 4
With France well clear after six wins out of six, Scotland are in a strong position in the race for second place. They won 8-0 at home to Israel, inspired by a first-half Kim Little hat-trick, but the Republic of Ireland were surprised 1-0 at home byWales, for whom goalkeeper Nicola Davies was inspired before Helen Lander's 71st-minute breakaway strike. Scotland are three points ahead of Wales – who have played a game more – and four in front of Ireland, who welcome the second-placed team on Thursday. If Scotland do not win, France's qualification will be confirmed.

Group 5
Finland moved a step close to a third straight finals with a 2-1 victory in Ukraine. Sanna Talonen proved the key, opening the scoring on 35 minutes by heading in Pernilla Nordlund's cross. And although Olena Khodyreva pounced on a rebound for a deserved equaliser midway through the second half, Marianna Tolvanen set up Talonen for a winner with five minutes left. Unbeaten Finland are six points clear of Ukraine and Slovakia – who meet on Wednesday – and three ahead of their own midweek opponents, Belarus, who were made to work for a 4-2 victory in Estonia.

Group 6
The key game in this section, England against theNetherlands, is on Sunday in Salford but results in Groups 2 and 7 (if not Group 1) were good news for whoever ends up second best of these two. In today's fixture, Serbia made almost certain of third place by winning 4-1 in Croatia.

Group 7
Denmark have won all five matches but the new leaders areAustria, who secured at least a play-off place for the first time with a 3-2 victory in the Czech Republic. The key moment in Prague was on 39 minutes when Czech captain Iva Mocová was dismissed for deliberate handball and Sarah Puntigam converted the penalty. The teams traded goals in first half added time before Nina Burger's 63rd-minute strike ensured Petra Divišová's late goal was only a consolation. Austria, having played two games more, are a point ahead of Denmark. The Czech Republic need a win in Vejle on Wednesday to maintain mathematical hopes of qualifying.

Euro Cup 2012 Preview: Italy vs. Croatia, Spain vs. Ireland

Group C is back in town and Spain will be looking to improve on the lacking form they presented against Italy on Sunday.

Italy vs. Croatia - 12:00 PM EST

The Italians did very well against Spain, maintaining their strong defensive presence while simultaneously doing something that most Italian sides aren't known for: Attacking. Between Cassano, Balotelli and de Natale, Italy have the strength necessary to perforate Croatia's defensive line. The Croatians, however, are not to be left behind. They were shockingly strong against Ireland, making people remember Suker's Croatia. Italy would do well to present the same offensive plan they presented against Spain, and Croatia would do well to not play Italy with respect and go out in search of that goal. A Croatia that turns to defense will be mopped up by Italy.

Prediction - Win for Italy

Spain vs. Republic of Ireland -  2:45 PM EST

Sorry, Ireland, but that debut wasn't strong. Luckily, neither was Spain's. Will Spain opt to play without a forward again? If so, then Spain are going to have some big problems. Even though Torres couldn't score a goal if it were staring him in the face, the presence of a striker will force Ireland to defend more aggressively, whereas a lack of a striker would give the Irish more incentive to go forward and explore the option of a goal.

Prediction - Win for Spain

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Match facts: Spain v Italy - EURO 2012

SPAIN

• Spain are 14 competitive games without defeat, since their 1-0 loss to Switzerland on 16/06/2010 at the FIFA World Cup. They have lost four of their 14 friendlies in that time, however.

• Juanfran has yet to make a competitive appearance for Spain, though he made his senior international debut in a pre-tournament friendly win against Serbia on 26/05.

Spain training at their camp in Austria

Injury news
• Cesc Fàbregas has not featured since picking up a thigh strain in the Copa del Rey final on 25/05.

• Carles Puyol (knee) and Spain's record scorer, David Villa (broken leg), were ruled out of the finals.

Miscellaneous
• Spain, minus players from Chelsea FC and Copa del Rey finalists FC Barcelona and Athletic Club, travelled to a training camp in Schruns, Austria, on 22/05. Juan Mata and Fernando Torres joined them on 26/05, with the final 23-man squad unveiled the following day. Spain arrived at their EURO base of Gniewino on 05/06.

• Spain's squad includes 12 members of the party that triumphed at UEFA EURO 2008: Iker Casillas, Raúl Albiol, Andrés Iniesta, Xavi Hernández, Fernando Torres, Fàbregas, Santi Cazorla, Xabi Alonso, Sergio Ramos, Álvaro Arbeloa, David Silva and Pepe Reina.

• Casillas, Xavi, Alonso and Torres were also in the UEFA EURO 2004 squad, and for Casillas this represents a national record fourth UEFA European Championship appearance as he was also at UEFA EURO 2000.

• Casillas kept his 73rd clean sheet for Spain against Serbia on 26/05, beating Edwin van der Sar's international record. He also celebrated a record 95th international victory when Spain defeated South Korea 4-1 on 30/05.

Pre-tournament friendlies
03/06 Spain 1-0 China (Silva 84)
Casillas (Valdés 46); Arbeloa, Albiol, Ramos (Piqué 56), Alba; Xavi (Iniesta 46), Busquets (Juanfran 46), Xabi; Cazorla (Mata 67), Negredo (Navas 46), Silva.

30/05 Spain 4-1 South Korea (Torres 11, Alonso 52pen, Cazorla 55, Negredo 79; Kim Do Heon 43)
Reina (Casillas 81); Arbeloa, Albiol, Ramos (Domínguez 57), Monreal; Cazorla (Adrián 57), Alonso (Bruno 65), Beñat; Silva, Torres (Soldado 57), Mata (Negredo 57).

26/05 Spain 2-0 Serbia (Adrián 67, Cazorla 74pen)
Casillas; Juanfran, Ramos (Domínguez 46), Albiol, Alba (Monreal 46); Navas, Bruno Soriano (Javi García 72), Xabi Alonso (Beñat 46), Cazorla; Soldado (Adrián 46), Negredo (Silva 46).

UEFA EURO 2012 qualifying
• Spain won eight out of eight in Group I, becoming one of only five sides to go through a qualifying campaign with a 100% record in the history of the UEFA European Championship.

• Ramos and Villa were the only players to feature in all eight group games for Vicente del Bosque's side.

• Jordi Alba made his international debut in the 3-1 home victory against Scotland on 11/10/2011.

• Two of the final tournament squad did not feature in qualifying: Pepe Reina and Juanfran.

Domestic information
• Casillas, Ramos, Arbeloa, Albiol and Alonso helped Real Madrid CF win the Spanish Liga for the first time in four campaigns, though Albiol made just five league starts.

• Víctor Valdés, Gerard Piqué, Xavi, Fàbregas, Iniesta, Sergio Busquets and Pedro Rodríguez enjoyed Copa del Rey success. Pedro scored twice on 25/05 in a 3-0 final triumph against an Athletic Club side featuring Fernando Llorente and Javi Martínez. Barcelona also won the UEFA Super Cup, Spanish Super Cup and FIFA Club World Cup.

• David Silva was in the Manchester City FC side that won the English top flight for the first time in 44 years.

• Mata and Torres were UEFA Champions League and FA Cup winners with Chelsea FC, while Reina enjoyed English League Cup success with Liverpool FC.

• Juanfran was in the Club Atlético de Madrid XI that defeated an Athletic team featuring Llorente and Javi Martínez in the UEFA Europa League final in Bucharest on 09/05.

ITALY

• The Azzurri have lost their last three games.

• Coach Cesare Prandelli goes into his first major final tournament unbeaten in competitive internationals, recording eight wins and two draws to date.

• Emanuele Giaccherini is the only uncapped member of the Italy squad, though Fabio Borini and Alessandro Diamanti are yet to make their competitive debuts.

Injury news
• Giorgio Chiellini and Riccardo Montolivo arrived at Italy's training camp with thigh injuries suffered on the last day of the Serie A season on 13/05, though Montolivo started against Russia on 01/06.

• Antonio Cassano was expected to miss the rest of the season after undergoing heart surgery on 04/11 but returned to action at the start of April.

Miscellaneous
• Italy gathered at Coverciano, Florence, on 21/05, with players of Juventus, SSC Napoli and Paris Saint-Germain FC joining four days later due to domestic duties. The Azzurri arrived in Krakow on 05/06.

• At 1.64m, Sebastian Giovinco is the smallest player at UEFA EURO 2012.

• Gianluigi Buffon surpassed Dino Zoff as Italy's third highest appearance maker in February, and is now on 114 caps behind only Fabio Cannavaro (136) and Paolo Maldini (126).

• Eight of the squad have previous UEFA European Championship experience: Buffon (2004, 2008), Cassano (2004, 2008), Andrea Pirlo (2004, 2008), Chiellini (2008), Andrea Barzagli (2008), Daniele De Rossi (2008), Antonio Di Natale (2008) and Morgan De Sanctis (2008).

Pre-tournament friendly
01/06 Italy 0-3 Russia (Kerzhakov 59, Shirokov 75 89)
Buffon (De Sanctis 46); Maggio, Bonucci, Barzagli, Balzaretti (Ogbonna 53); De Rossi (Motta 60), Pirlo (Giovinco 68); Marchisio; Montolivo (Nocerino 60); Cassano (Di Natale 68), Balotelli.

• Italy's friendly with Luxembourg in Parma, scheduled for 29/05, was cancelled after the region was struck on the morning of the game by an earthquake with a magnitude of 5.8 on the Richter scale.

UEFA EURO 2012 qualifying
• Italy progressed with two games to spare and finished the campaign undefeated, their tally of 26 points from ten games a national record in a qualifying section for a major tournament.

• The Azzurri also finished with the best defensive record across the nine groups, conceding only two goals.

• Discounting the six minutes of the home game against Serbia before it was abandoned, Italy did not concede for 625 minutes between Estonia finding the net in their opening fixture and Serbia's goal 13 months later.

• Chiellini played every minute of Italy's campaign; Cassano was the only other ever-present member of the squad and also the Azzurri's six-goal leading scorer.

• Of the final squad, six players did not feature in qualifying: Angelo Ogbonna, Ignazio Abate, Giaccherini, Di Natale, Borini and Diamanti.

Domestic information
• The Italy squad features seven members of the Juventus side that went through the Serie A season unbeaten en route to the title: Buffon, Barzagli, Bonucci, Chiellini, Giaccherini, Claudio Marchisio and Pirlo.

• The Bianconeri suffered their first defeat of the season in their last outing in the Coppa Italia final on 20/05, losing 2-0 to a Napoli side featuring De Sanctis and Christian Maggio.

• Mario Balotelli scored 13 goals in 23 appearances and was sent off twice as Manchester City FC won their first English top-flight title in 44 years.

• Di Natale struck 23 goals as Udinese Calcio finished third in Serie A, the third successive season he has hit 20 or more. He did not manage more than 17 before he reached the age of 30.

• Giovinco (15), Marchisio (9) and Alessandro Diamanti (8) all established personal bests in front of goal in Serie A while Nocerino's return of ten in 35 games was four more than he had mustered in his previous four seasons.

• Andrea Pirlo has not been on the losing side in Serie A since 18 December 2010, when he was at AC Milan.

This news brought to by "Sports zone" from www.uefa.com

Euro 2012: Spain 1-1 Italy

Cesc Fabregas rescued a point for Spain as the champions began the defence of their European title with a pulsating encounter in Gdansk.

The Barcelona midfielder fired in after a clever pass by David Silva as Spain came from a goal down against Italy to draw the opening match of Group C.

Substitute Antonio Di Natale had given Italy a deserved lead on the hour mark.

Spain might have snatched all three points, however, but Fernando Torres spurned a succession of late chances.

The weight of history was stacked against La Roja coming into the tournament.

No European team had ever won three major tournaments in succession, none had ever successfully defended the European Championship title.

Fatigue was another source of concern for Spain manager Vicente del Bosque, whose 23 players had played a total of 89,884 minutes in the past season, some 17,000 more minutes than their Italian opponents.

There was more than a hint of lethargy about Spain in the opening exchanges. They lacked purpose and penetration having opted to play without an obvious centre forward as Fabregas was preferred to Fernando Torres in the starting XI.

Having seen his smile and his form return in the final weeks of the season at Chelsea, this was another setback for Torres on an afternoon he will ultimately want to forget. Silva threatened twice in the early moments, but it was Italy who looked the more composed in the early stages.

Spain goalkeeper Iker Casillas was forced to dive low to his right to turn away an Andrea Pirlo free-kick after 13 minutes as Cesare Prandelli's side, led by the tremendous Daniele De Rossi, tackled, battled and denied their more celebrated opponents space.

The Azzuri were equally effective with the ball ensuring Casillas was much the busier goalkeeper as half-time approached.

Antonio Cassano dragged a shot beyond the far post when well-placed but it was two nervy moments from Spain goalkeeper that gave his side most cause for concern.

First, he lost control of a back-pass only to be fouled by Cassano, before he spilled a fierce low shot from Claudio Marchisio as the ball ran to safety.

Euro 2012 goal: Fabregas scores Spain equaliser

Marchisio tested Casillas again moments later, thumping a thunderous left-foot volley straight at the goalkeeper.

Spain were only threatening sporadically. Xavi and Andrés Iniesta were constantly probing and just before the interval linked up only for the latter to shoot over having collected his team-mate's looping pass.

It was Italy who finished the half the stronger, however. A piece of trickery wide on the left touchline by Mario Balotelli set in motion another fluid attack. It ended with Casillas sprawling low to his right to turn away Thiago Motta's close-range header after a pin-point cross by Cassano.

The interval did little to disrupt the breakneck pace of play. Fabregas set Iniesta free down the left, only for Buffon to deny him with a fingertip save.

But it was Balotelli who could and perhaps should have broken the deadlock moments later. The Italian striker robbed Sergio Ramos of possession wide on the right before bursting towards goal but he then hesitated long enough to allow the Real Madrid defender back in with the goal apparently as his mercy.

The Manchester City striker was replaced by Di Natale moments later and he was to have an instant impact.

Pirlo skipped beyond Xavi in midfield, before playing a cleverly weighted pass that freed Di Natale down the left of the penalty area, which the Udinese striker calmly stroked beyond the advancing Casillas with his first touch.

Spain's reponse was instant as it was devastating. Three minutes later Iniesta and Silva put Fabregas clear in the penalty area and the Barcelona midfielder struck a low left-foot shot beyond Buffon from 10 yards.

Substitute Jesus Navas picked out Jordi Alba as Spain began to dictate. Torres was brought on to a huge ovation and might have made an instant impact but he fluffed his chance after cleverly beating the offside trap.

Italy were being forced to rely on longer raids now, but they almost stole in again when Di Natale poked narrowly wide.

Spain were pouring forward time and again now. Torres should have won the game for Spain but squandered two easy chances, first running down a blind alley before looping a shot high over Buffon's goal with the net at his mercy. To make matters worse, he was later booked for a rash challenge.

Italy might have snatched victory at the death when Marchisio burst forward, exchanged passes with Di Natale, only to shoot straight at Casillas.

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