Spain inflict more penalty misery on Italy

By Mitch Phillips - Analysis

VIENNA (Reuters) - For two teams with such painful memories of penalties Spain and Italy showed precious little desire to avoid them on Sunday but few could argue with Cesc Fabregas when he described his side's win as "football justice".

A deadly dull 120 minutes provided no goals and precious little entertainment but that hardly mattered to the delirious Spanish fans when substitute Fabregas scored the decisive kick in Spain's 4-2 shootout triumph.

The victory ended their quarter-final penalty hoodoo, having lost three previous shootouts on June 22, and also meant they were the only one of the four group winners to advance to the Euro 2008 semi-finals.

Like the three who failed before them, Spain struggled to reproduce the form of the group phase, although they were more positive than an Italian team who looked to be playing for penalties from the kickoff.

Chances were few and far between and even when Fabregas came on after 59 minutes and added a touch of zest to the midfield, the final ball was still almost always inaccurate.

Italy seemed incapable of upping their own pace and their tactic of hoisting long balls to Luca Toni rarely looked like bringing any joy as the big striker appeared heavy-legged and was well shackled.

The drift towards penalties had an inevitability about it but neither set of fans could have been looking forward to it.

The Italians are world champions on the back of their shootout win over France two years ago but even that success could not completely erase the pain they had suffered previously from the seemingly simple act of trying to score from 12 metres.