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."
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Rank | Team | W/D/L | Pts |
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Cities & Stadiums
The Top 3 Teams of Previous Tournaments
Year | Winners | Runner-up | Third place |
---|---|---|---|
2008 | Spain | Germany | Russia / Turkey |
2004 | Greece | Portugal | Netherlands / Czech Republic |
2000 | France | Italy | Netherlands / Portugal |
1996 | Germany | Czech Republic | France / England |
1992 | Denmark | Germany | Netherlands / Sweden |
1988 | Netherlands | Soviet Union | Italy / West Germany |
1984 | France | Spain | Denmark / Portugal |
1980 | West Germany | Belgium | Czechoslovakia |
1976 | Czechoslovakia | West Germany | Netherlands |
1972 | West Germany | Soviet Union | Belgium |
1968 | Italy | Yugoslavia | England |
1964 | Spain | Soviet Union | Hungary |
1960 | Soviet Union | Yugoslavia | Czechoslovakia |