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Roy Keane: Italy will be too much for England
Posted Sunday, June 24, 2012 by Goal.com

Roy Keane: Italy will be too much for England

Manchester United legend Roy Keane has stated that he thinks England have underestimated Italy ahead of their Euro 2012 quarter-final on Sunday.

Keane feels that England will find the match a struggle and that they may already have celebrated the fact that they avoided a match against Spain after finishing top of their group.

"I just have a sneaky feeling for Italy," he told ITV.com. "The England boys seem to be on a high from avoiding Spain, and subconsciously they might underestimate the Italians."

The former Sunderland boss said that Danny Welbeck up front will provide England with a good attacking option, but whether that will be enough to see them progress through to the next round is another question entirely.

He continued: "You would have to stick with Danny Welbeck up front; he's had good chemistry with Wayne Rooney at [Manchester] United this season and has scored an important goal against Sweden."

Keane also stated that Italy striker Mario Balotelli could be a match winner, despite receiving perhaps more attention for his off-field antics than for his on-field displays in the past year.

He added: "You have to hope he does it on the pitch, and if he's not you have to take him off, but on his days he's a match winner."

Standings
    Rank Team W/D/L Pts

    Cities & Stadiums

    The Top 3 Teams of Previous Tournaments

    Year Winners Runner-up Third place
    2008SpainGermanyRussia / Turkey
    2004GreecePortugalNetherlands / Czech Republic
    2000FranceItalyNetherlands / Portugal
    1996GermanyCzech RepublicFrance / England
    1992DenmarkGermanyNetherlands / Sweden
    1988NetherlandsSoviet UnionItaly / West Germany
    1984FranceSpainDenmark / Portugal
    1980West GermanyBelgiumCzechoslovakia
    1976CzechoslovakiaWest GermanyNetherlands
    1972West GermanySoviet UnionBelgium
    1968ItalyYugoslaviaEngland
    1964SpainSoviet UnionHungary
    1960Soviet UnionYugoslaviaCzechoslovakia