Four in a row no problem for Italy veteran Panucci

By Mark Meadows

BADEN, Austria (Reuters) - Italy's veteran defender Christian Panucci said on Friday he felt fit and ready to play his fourth successive game at Euro 2008.

The 35-year-old, regularly rested during a tough season with AS Roma, is poised to play centre back alongside Giorgio Chiellini in Sunday's quarter-final against Spain in Vienna.

Panucci shrugged off a slight knee problem during the group stage and said a healthy lifestyle was keeping him going.

"I recover really well. I must say physically I don't feel tired two days after a match. I am happy," he told a news conference.

"I thank my mother for making me this way. I've always had a professional and rigid lifestyle."

Coach Roberto Donadoni probably could not rest Panucci even if he wanted to.

Centre back Andrea Barzagli is out of the tournament after undergoing successful knee surgery on Friday in the same clinic where fellow defender Fabio Cannavaro had an ankle operation before the finals got underway.

Marco Materazzi, who partnered Barzagli in the 3-0 defeat by Netherlands in the opening game, appears out of form while Cannavaro's replacement Alessandro Gamberini has only two caps for the world champions.