Spain's bid to become the first team to win back-to-back European titles got off to a bad start on Monday morning after it was forced to come back from 1-0 down to draw with crisis-hit Italy in Gdansk, Poland.
Udinese's Antonio Di Natale put the Azzurri ahead in the second-half, latching on to an inch-perfect Andrea Pirlo through-ball and slotting it with his right foot past the advancing Iker Casillas.
But Barcelona's Cesc Fabregas, controversially starting as a lone-striker for Spain, equalised within minutes at the other end after Manchester City's David Silva split the Italian defence with a neat pass, leaving Gianluigi Buffon helpless.
In the morning's other match, Croatia dispatched an outclassed Ireland 3-1 to send it top of Group C.
A draw was a fair result for Italy as it was the better side in the first half against Spain and was fearless in taking the game to the world champions.
Italy coach Cesare Prandelli admitted he regretted the fact his team did not hold onto its lead for longer.
"It was with difficulty that we got in front against the world champions, but we were there, we wanted to play," he said.
"We've given Spain the opportunity to equalise so we have to improve and that's the mentality we need."
Subsitute Fernando Torres could have added a second for La Roja minutes from the end but the Chelsea player - whose form has dipped alarmingly in the past year - lifted his chip over the crossbar from the edge of the penalty area.
Italy coach Cesare Prandelli will take heart from the result, after his team's torrid build-up, when police raided its pre-tournament training camp near Florence as part of a nationwide probe into illegal betting.
The team later had to cancel a warm-up match against Luxembourg in Parma after an earthquake rocked northern Italy before being thumped 4-0 by Russia in a friendly.
Spanish coach Vincent Del Bosque denied he had made a mistake playing Fabregas up front.
"He's a very special player who can get forward and allows us to dominate the middle of the pitch," he said.
"We made the most of what he created, which was the best.
"We wanted the security of having the ball against a rival who put us under pressure and stretched us. In the second half we took control."
The Croatia-Ireland game was billed as a clash of the generations between Ireland's Giovanni Trapattoni, who at 73 is one of the most respected coaches in the game, and Croatia's 43-year-old Slaven Bilic, who is seen as one for the future.
It was the younger coach's side who had no trouble beating the Irish 3-1, as Croatia's Mario Mandzukic opened the scoring after just two minutes with a looping header past Ireland stopper Shay Given.
Sean St Ledger levelled with a close range header for the Irish after 18 minutes only for Nikica Jelavic to put the Croatians back in front just before the break.
And Mandzukic made the points safe when Given deflected in his header four minutes after the restart, ending a 14-match unbeaten run for the Irish under Giovanni Trapattoni.
Croatian coach Bilic was delighted with his side's performance.
"My players have shown they can cope with the pressure and tension," he said.
"Spain and Italy are favorites in our group, but I still think we are able to beat one of them."
Irish counterpart Trapattoni refused to be cowed by the loss.
"We have to believe. Every game in this Euro could be a surprise. We have to believe this," he said.
Trapattoni's faith was echoed by Irish goal-scorer St Ledger.
"It was a poor performance by our standards and the goals we conceded were sloppy," said St Ledger, who had not scored all season for his club Leicester City.
"I'm happy I scored but disappointed to have lost this game as we had targeted this one in getting something from it given the two other games that lie ahead.
"Still, we showed plenty of spirit towards the end and we can still hope to go through to the last eight."
Results:
ABC/AFP
Tags: euro, soccer, sport, poland, spain, italy, ireland, croatia First posted June 11, 2012 07:05:47
