Spain and Italy are moving on to the quarterfinals after disposing of rivals Croatia and Ireland, respectively.
The Spanish team had to sweat out a valiant effort from the Croats, securing their place in the final eight after substitute Jesus Navas booted the winner in the 88th minute, giving La Furia Roja the 1-0 win.
It wasn’t the kind of dominating performance that we’ve come to expect from Spain, but hey, a win’s a win. The defending champs had to withstand a number of furious scoring opportunities from Croatia and none on the Spanish squad was bigger than goalie Iker Casillas. The all-world net-minder had to make a couple of clutch saves in the second half, including a reflex save on an Ivan Rakitic header in the 59th minute that would’ve put Croatia ahead.
In the end, Spain took control of Group C and head into the quarters ready to meet the second-place finisher of Group D. They haven’t been on top form throughout the tournament, but if you’re a fan, you’ll take a win any way you can get it.
As for the other Group C match, Italy relied on two goals from Antonio Cassano (35th minute) and Mario Balotelli (90th minute) to join Spain as the Group C representatives in the quarterfinals.
Despite securing the first win in their last six matches, the Azzurri still had to sweat out the final minutes of the Spain-Croatia match as a 2-2 draw would’ve sent them home packing on goal difference. But when the final score from the match read 1-0, the Italians finally had reason to celebrate.
They were through.
Up next for the Azzurri is a match-up against the winner of Group D, which is still very much in play for France, England, and Ukraine.