GDANSK, POLAND — Gambles marked Spain and Italy’s 1-1 draw at the European Championship on Sunday. But it seems as if Italy emerged stronger from the Group C opener.
Spain gambled by basing its starting attack solely on its savvy and skillful midfield players. The world champions employed Cesc Fabregas in a “false” striker role alongside Xavi Hernandez and Andres Iniesta, instead of starting either traditional striker Fernando Torres or Fernando Llorente. Fabregas, who also had David Silva to exchange short passes with, is used to the role he sometimes assumes at Barcelona, but this was the first time since 2007 that Spain’s starting lineup was without a traditional No. 9.
Italy coach Cesare Prandelli, meanwhile, crowded the centre with five midfielders, as usual midfielder Daniele de Rossi dropped back to anchor a three-man defence. Andrea Pirlo and Claudio Marchisio pulled the strings of the attack, just as they did at Juventus this season, and Prandelli seemed to borrow some from the tactics employed by the bianconeri in winning Serie A this season.
In effect, the match became Barcelona vs. Juventus.
The Italians can come away from the PGE Arena full of self-belief after not only holding off Spain’s always dangerous attack, but by matching it for long spells of the first half with its own crisp vision and passing. Only Iker Casillas’ clutch saves and Mario Balotelli’s daydreaming in front of the Spain net kept the Azzurri from going into the second half with an advantage.
Antonio Di Natale proved to be an inspired substitution — the Udinese forward gave Italy a 1-0 lead minutes after stepping onto the pitch.
Spain’s attack will come away with no clear answers to how to fill the void left by the absence of all-time leading scorer David Villa. Torres’ confidence has to be low after having seemingly rebounded behind Chelsea’s Champions League and FA Cup victories.
That’s not good for either Torres, nor for Spain.
Spain, like Barcelona, again showed too much desire to walk the ball into goal as Xavi and Silva both looked for the extra pass rather than the shot inside the area on a number of occasions.
Lacking that No. 9 to provide finishing certainly hurt, although Torres isn’t exactly the model for “tiki-taka” soccer, as Spaniards coin the quick-passing, possession game that has it looking to become the first nation to win three straight major titles.
Jesus Navas’ introduction in the second half left space for Torres in his eventual entry as the Sevilla winger troubled the Italians with his pace down the right. But the Chelsea striker only seemed to lose all confidence and wilt under the pressure of stepping into the area.
One can only imagine the thoughts going through Llorente’s head as the Athletic Bilbao striker watched Torres fumble on two clear opportunities.
Perhaps he will get them against Ireland. If not, Alvaro Negredo should. Del Bosque was not left frustrated by the draw despite sulking around his technical area at the close of the game, kind of muttering to himself.
So Spain’s bid to become the first nation to repeat as European champion faces a must-win match against the Irish, while Italy is also facing its own must-win against group leader Croatia.
“It’s bittersweet feeling because we ended up drawing,” Iniesta said after receiving his man-of-the-match award, a miniature beer tap handle. “I think the key to this was down to us.”
Several Spain players complained about the state of the turf, with a dry field slowing the play despite heavy rain having fallen over the last two days. This is not the first time that Xavi has leaned towards such an excuse, though both teams contended with the conditions.
The Italians must like their chances after displaying a fresh sense of calcio and ditching the defensive model that Switzerland used to upset Spain in the World Cup two years ago, or that Chelsea and Inter Milan used to eliminate Barcelona from the Champions League.
That defensive twitch is in the Azzurri’s DNA anyway.
Prandelli left the PGE Arena with a big smile on his face after his side kept Spain without a competitive victory — excluding penalties — over Italy for 92 years, stretching to the 1920 Olympics. Mostly because of his team’s hopes going forward.
“We still have a lot to work on, so we’ll analyze this game. There are a lot of things to work on but every game is different end every game you have to work on because all games are not the same,” he said. “I just want to get everyone back together to recharge because this was a very taxing game.”
Paul Logothetis is a Madrid-based reporter who is in Poland and Ukraine covering Euro 2012 for sportsnet.ca. Follow Paul on Twitter.