Celebrate! Spain have won, the spoilers are going home. Italy’s performance was an embarrassment for any team having the tag of world champions.

Boring Italians. They simply sat back deep in their own half and spoiled the game. Typical Italy. They were waiting for the Spaniards to commit forward, make a mistake and leave a gap at the back to hit on the counter attack. Spain saw through it. They didn’t go all out in attack; wary of Italy’s famed pace and precision on the counter. But there was nothing to suggest anything like it from the negative Italians. Italy didn’t seem as if they had anything to show going forward except for those silly long balls looking for the head of the tall Luca Toni.  Without their passing machine Andrea Pirlo in midfield, Italy were playing, perhaps, for a 1-0 win via a lucky scrambled goal. They may even have believed that the greater experience of Gianluigi Buffon might win them the match in the penalty shootout. Instead, it was Iker Cassilas’ night to get Spain into the semifinals saving two penalties.

It was a shame to see the Italian forwards just standing back in their own half and watching the Spanish back line pass the ball around themselves. Let’s say, even Spain didn’t try hard enough to break the Italian defence. They couldn’t get that telling final pass right. What had all the makings of a thrilling encounter ended up being a drab affair. Two technically gifted sides were left playing a boxing match sans the punches. Boxing itself is pretty ugly, and if it were to be without punches; unimaginable.

It’s sad the silken Pirlo won’t be seen in this championship again, but it would have been a defeat for football if the fluent Spanish team was to go out to such an unimaginative Italian side. Surely, now we can expect some brilliant football in the most important leg of the tournament. Viva flair.