The Spanish media were relieved after a tense night for the reigning champions
It wasn't until the dying moments of Monday night's game against Croatia that Spain sealed their place in the quarter-finals of Euro 2012. For Ramon Besa, writing in El Pais, the tension couldn't have been much more if the match had been scripted by the master of suspense himself. "[Final group games] tend to be of tremendous dramatic tension, psychologically demanding and extremely dangerous … So, the match played out like a Alfred Hitchcock film." Besa says one man stood firm for Spain though. "[The match was won with the coolness of Vicente] Del Bosque ... the coach always makes changes, even when the critics say he's wrong, as happened with the substitution of Fernando Torres for [the goalscorer] Jesús Navas."
AS was not impressed with Spain's performance: "A goal three minutes from the end eased the anxiety of Spain, who did not play well. [Iker] Casillas had to work a miracle." Sport agrees: "Triumph with suffering" reads the headline on its website. And for a newspaper that can be a little, shall we say, critical of Real Madrid, it is full of praise for Casillas too. "[Casillas] came out of nowhere to give light to darkness for a team who lived dangerously in a key game that could have ended in tragedy."
Croatia were agonisingly close to going through to the last eight but there was pride in defeat. "Croatia can hold their heads high as they go home because they have shown that both world and European champions must tremble before them," says Luka Vuletic in 24sata. In Novi List, Marko Cvijanovic reflects on the two solid chances Croatia missed against Spain. "The Spaniards were too much for our team. We had two match points in the 'steel group,' while Italy could only draw [against Spain]. We go home. It's unfair!"
Some in Italy had feared that Spain and Croatia would engineer a 2-2 draw and send the Azzurri home. Gazzetta dello Sport's Riccardo Pratesi was relieved those fears didn't come to pass: "A goal in each half against Trapattoni's Ireland and no repeat of the farce in 2004 … Cesare Prandelli was right. There was no need to worry about the sportsmanship of the Spanish … For now the adventure in Poland and Ukraine continues for an Italy side that was not as impressive as against Spain and Croatia. And as Prandelli's team was considered to be more pretty than solid, that is good progress."
The paper also reveals why Leonardo Bonucci covered Mario Balotelli's mouth during his goal celebration: "I didn't understand what he said, because he was speaking in English. But I put my hand in front of his mouth because Mario is a very impulsive person. But that's also one of his strengths. We had spoken before the game and he knew how he was supposed to behave."
With the Republic of Ireland already eliminated, thoughts turned to the future. "Even as the Irish team lined up for the national anthem, the question as to whether this combination of players would ever line out again was on many minds. But at least last night, they remembered what it was to be a team again," writes Keith Duggan in the Irish Times. "After 10 minutes, when the Irish understood this tournament was not fated to be catastrophic for them, a strange thing happened. They began to enjoy themselves. It was like watching colour returning to the face of a child with a tummy bug."
Tony Leen of the Irish Examiner wasn't quite as positive: "Irish fans may be the talk of Poznan and Gdansk, but that will subside. Talk on the terraces will turn to tactics, technique, and Trapattoni as quickly as it takes to concede a goal. Probably an early one too."
The Irish Independent's Fiach Kelly was in the stands and found the fans had choice words for Roy Keane after his recent criticism of the team and its supporters. "Mr Keane, the former captain, was told where to go with a new tune sung in the streets of Poznan and stands last night. 'We will sing what we want, fuck you Roy Keane, we will sing what we want,' it went. 'Well we may not have the best bunch of players ever, at least none of them walked out with the sulks,' said long-time fan Joe Jordan from Portobello in Dublin." Read More
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