When Spanish fans ask how a side that has produced attacking talents such as Raul and Emilio Butragueno and goalkeepers of the caliber of Iker Casillas and Andoni Zubizarreta never win anything, they often end up blaming their Latin cousins Italy.
And with good reason.
The Spanish are past masters of shooting out of the blocks at World Cups and European Championships.
Then around the quarter-finals it usually ends in tears.
The Italians, in contrast start slowly, apparently indifferent as to whether they even make it out of the opening group phase.
They invariably do — and having done so have a habit of then speeding up all the way to the final day of an event — witness four World Cups and one European title, in 1968.
“Slow and steady wins the race,” as Aesop’s fable of the tortoise besting the hare would have it.
Spanish coach Luis Aragones insists that Spain must win the match in their minds as well as on the pitch, where La Furia Roja have only ever captured one trophy — the 1964 European Championship.
They did reach the 1984 final, but lost to France and since then appear to have a quarter-final complex.
“A team that wants to win has to be convinced of its ability to do so and work on achieving that. We will try to ensure they do not hit us on the counterattack,” said the “Wise Man of Hortaleza.”
The Italians came off best in the 1994 World Cup quarters, an ugly affair in which Spanish midfielder Enrique had his nose broken by Mauro Tassotti as Spain lost 2-1.
Italy also won the 1934 World Cup meet at the same stage.
Today’s date, June 22, is additionally particularly inauspicious for Spanish soccer following three exits by the national team in quarter-finals of international competitions on that date.
Spain were eliminated on June 22 in penalty shoot-outs against Belgium in the World Cup in 1986, against England in Euro 1996 and against South Korea at the 2002 World Cup.
As Spain look to win a match that could go a long way to shredding their underachievers tag, Italy defender Christian Panucci believes his side have the mental edge.
“I can understand why the Spanish people don’t want to play against Italy, because in the past it has not been easy for Spain to play against Italy in these big competitions,” he said.
BOUNCE BACK: Curry scored 46 points in the Warriors’ victory over the Spurs, after ‘everybody stepped up’ following Tuesday’s blowout loss to Oklahoma City Nikola Jokic scoring 50 or more points had never been enough for the Denver Nuggets to win — until now. Jokic on Wednesday night tied the highest-scoring performance in the NBA this season with 55 points, as the Nuggets beat the Los Angeles Clippers 130-116 for their sixth straight victory. The Nuggets were 0-4 in his previous 50-point outbursts. “It’s a good feeling,” the three-time NBA Most Valuable Player said. He equaled Oklahoma City Thunder star Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, who had 55 in a double-overtime game at the Indiana Pacers on Oct. 23. Jokic has been on a roll during Denver’s winning streak. He is the
TIGHT GAME: The Detroit Pistons, the NBA’s second-best team, barely outlasted the Washington Wizards, who fell to an NBA-worst 1-10 with their ninth consecutive loss Cade Cunningham’s triple double, Daniss Jenkins’ three-pointer at the buzzer and Javonte Green’s overtime dunk lifted Detroit past Washington 137-135 on Monday, stretching the Pistons’ win streak to seven games. In an unexpected thriller, the NBA’s second-best team barely outlasted a Wizards club that fell to an NBA-worst 1-10 with their ninth consecutive loss. “We knew how big this game was for us,” Jenkins said. “We wasn’t going to let nothing stop us from getting this W.” Cunningham made 14-of-45 shots and 16-of-18 free throws for a career-high 46 points, and added 12 rebounds, 11 assists, five steals and two
The tri-nation Twenty20 international series featuring hosts Pakistan, as well as Sri Lanka and Zimbabwe, is to be played entirely in Rawalpindi from Tuesday next week, the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) said yesterday, after this week’s suicide bombing in the capital, Islamabad. The change came after at least eight Sri Lankan players asked to leave over security fears following Tuesday’s bombing that killed 12 people and wounded 27. Their country’s cricket board issued a stern directive to the team to stay put or face consequences. Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) said the decision to stay was taken after “close consultations” with hosts Pakistan who
LIKE FINE WINE: Thirty-eight-year-old Djokovic won his 101st title of his career in Athens, becoming the oldest tournament winner since Ken Roswell, 44, in 1977 Elena Rybakina on Saturday clinched her biggest title since Wimbledon in 2022, defeating world No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka 6-3, 7-6 (7/0) at the WTA Finals in Riyadh. The world No. 6 put on yet another serving masterclass and was at her returning best as she became the first Kazakh and the first player representing an Asian country to lift the WTA Finals singles trophy. Having gone 3-0 in round-robin play, Rybakina earned a record US$5.235 million and would finish the year ranked No. 5 in the world. “It’s been an incredible week, I honestly didn’t expect any result, and to go so far,
RSS