ST. GALLEN, Switzerland :Italy go into their clash against Spain at the Euros on Friday with no fear of the Group B leaders, defender Elisabetta Oliviero said, despite her side needing at least a draw to ensure they progress alongside the Spaniards.
The Italians looked set to join Spain in the last eight, but they conceded a late equaliser in their last game which gave Portugal a 1-1 draw and leaves Italy with some work to do.
They will be sure of reaching the quarter-finals if they avoid defeat by Spain or if Portugal do not beat Belgium.
“It’s not a joke – I’m telling you, we don’t have any (fear) because it’s not a matter of fear,” Oliviero told reporters.
“Tomorrow we play our game with a lot of respect, but I repeat, we will play for (against) Spain like any other nation we will meet, or any other situation.
“Spain has weak points, yes, like everyone, and we will definitely study them. Football is a special sport, that’s the beauty of it. We will see many things on the pitch.”
Spain’s embarrassment of attacking riches has seen them net a staggering 11 goals in two games so far, thrashing Portugal 5-0 in their opener and following that with a 6-2 drubbing of Belgium to book their place in the quarter-finals.
Spain’s Alexia Putellas and Esther Gonzalez have both scored three times so far in the tournament and the goalkeeper tasked with stopping them in training is not surprised at their form.
“When they score those goals in matches I’m not surprised, because they do exactly the same in training,” Spain’s Adriana Nanclares told reporters on Wednesday.
“In the end it’s a luxury to have them, it speaks a lot about the individual ambition of each of them.”
The two sides meet at Bern’s Wankdorf Stadium on Friday.
