Iker Casillas was the penalty shoot-out hero as Spain held their collective nerve to throw out the record book and claim a UEFA EURO 2008 semi-final against Russia.

Record
Before tonight Spain had lost three quarter-final, penalty shoot-outs on 22 June but they stopped the rot at the Ernst-Happel-Stadion, prevailing 4-2 on spot-kicks after 120 minutes had failed to produce a goal. Although Gianluigi Buffon saved from Daniel Güiza, Casillas denied Daniele De Rossi and Antonio Di Natale, allowing Cesc Fàbregas to step up and send his side through. In truth, Luis Aragonés’s team had enjoyed the better of the play on a humid night in Vienna, Marcos Senna coming closest when he was denied by the post in the closing stages of normal time. They continued to press in the additional half-hour, David Silva and Santi Cazorla both firing narrowly wide before Casillas’s heroics saw them through to a rematch with a Russia side they defeated 4-1 in the group stage.

Omens
The Italy squad had arrived at the Ernst-Happel-Stadion some time after their Spanish counterparts, and for much of the first half Aragonés’s men were similarly first to everything. With Xavi Hernández providing the pivot in midfield, Spain bossed the play, caressing the ball one way and then the other – all one-touch passing and quick bursts of activity as they picked at Italy’s high defensive line, looking for a chink in the armour. The ploy of Andrés Iniesta switching flanks to create the overlap on the left was too obvious for the wizened Azzurri rearguard, although David Villa’s cute back-heel almost forced an opening soon after and it took a timely block to deny Silva.

Duo missed
Italy were struggling to gain a foothold, unable to fill the sizeable void left by suspensions to their usual suppliers of industry and finesse, Gennaro Gattuso and Andrea Pirlo. It was a hole that Fernando Torres, in particular, was keen to exploit as he popped up all over the pitch, drawing Aragonés from his bench to tell him to calm down. Perhaps Aragonés was aware the omens were hardly stacked in his team’s favour as they sought their first win against the Azzurri in a competitive fixture, Olympic Games excluded. Midway through the half Massimo Ambrosini gave Spain more to think about but Simone Perrotta was unable to make the most of his arcing cross before another centre just evaded Luca Toni.

Silva threat
With King Juan Carlos in the crowd, it was largely Spain who were rising to the occasion. Villa tested Buffon with a free-kick but it was the waspish Silva who was displaying the most menace. Seven minutes before half-time he fired a low effort past the post after a blocked Torres shot fell his way. He then profited from another fortuitous opening soon after the restart, when the ball cannoned into his path eight metres out. After a clever turn it took a timely intervention from the excellent Giorgio Chiellini to deny Silva. The Azzurri centre-back was immense, and slowly his team-mates began to respond. Just past the hour a long ball caused mayhem in the Spain defence, dropping favourably for substitute Mauro Camoranesi who forced a smothering save from Casillas.
Buffon escape
At the other end, with time ebbing away, Senna worked Buffon with a free-kick and then a low shot that bounced awkwardly in front of the goalkeeper, the ball evading his grasp and spinning on to the post before he fell on to it at the second attempt. It was a propitious bounce but there was no luck involved when the Italy No1 dived to keep out Güiza’s effort with three minutes remaining, even if play was subsequently called back for handball. Such reactions would prove invaluable in the concluding penalty shoot-out, but, unfortunately for Roberto Donadoni’s world champions, they came predominantly from Casillas.

World champions Italy qualified for the UEFA EURO 2008 quarter-finals in dramatic fashion on Tuesday as they defeated France 2-0 at the Letzigrund Stadion and Romania lost by the same score to the Netherlands.

Pirlo penalty
Romania had begun the evening second, in Group C, and would have progressed regardless of events in Zurich had they beaten the already-qualified Dutch. But their defeat opened the door to the Azzurri who seized the opportunity in clinical fashion, inflicting another painful defeat on France and condemning the FIFA World Cup finalists to last place in the section. The game’s turning point arrived in the 24th minute when, after fouling Luca Toni, Eric Abidal was sent off and Andrea Pirlo converted the resulting penalty. Daniele De Rossi’s second-half strike added the gloss to a wonderful evening for Italy, dampened only by the yellow cards for Pirlo and Gennaro Gattuso which mean they will miss the quarter-final against Spain on 22 June in Vienna.

Ribéry injury
France almost gifted Italy an ideal start when Toni pounced on Abidal’s slip, only to shoot narrowly wide. Having started slowly in each of their first two matches, Les Bleus were keen to seize an early grip and Franck Ribéry twice fired efforts wide before, to the dismay of the France fans, the winger injured his left leg in the tenth minute and carried off. Samir Nasri was sent on, yet France’s focus appeared to waver and Claude Makelele immediately needed to clear a Christian Panucci header off the line.

Red card
Italy looked menacing every time they broke and after Simone Perrotta had narrowly failed to collect Pirlo’s pass, France finally cracked. Abidal fouled Toni as he bore down on goal, prompting the referee to point to the spot and brandish a red card. Pirlo made no mistake, expertly dispatching the ball into the top left-hand corner. The double blow left France reeling and despite defender Jean-Alain Boumsong replacing the unfortunate Nasri, the two-time champions were in disarray. Toni might have scored three in as many minutes before the half-hour, but after skilfully back-heeling Antonio Cassano’s cross fractionally past the post, the FC Bayern München forward twice missed the target with only Grégory Coupet to beat.

Gross free-kick
Thierry Henry had an opportunity to raise French spirits in the 34th minute but after racing on to Jérémy Toulalan’s slick pass, the FC Barcelona forward struck a cross-shot past the post. With the strikers struggling to find their range, Fabio Grosso looked to show them the way just before half-time, curling a brilliant free-kick towards the bottom corner only for his Olympique Lyonnais team-mate Coupet to push it on to the post.

Almighty roar
Despite playing with ten men, France began the second period in the ascendancy, with Karim Benzema volleying over before Henry had two shots comfortably saved by Gianluigi Buffon. News that the Netherlands had opened the scoring against Romania prompted an almighty roar from the Azzurri faithful and the celebrating continued when De Rossi scored on 62 minutes. The AS Roma midfielder’s 30-metre free-kick took a cruel deflection off Henry, wrong-footing Coupet and effectively ending the French challenge. Although Benzema subsequently saw his curling shot brilliantly tipped wide by Buffon in the 74th minute, there was no way back for France, who finished their campaign with just one point after losing back-to-back matches for the first time in 15 years.

There may be little love lost between France and Italy but their two coaches were in agreement over one matter ahead of the eagerly anticipated Group C showdown in Zurich: for both Les Bleus and their transalpine rivals the final has come early at UEFA EURO 2008.

Dramatic evening
"This is the kind of game every player dreams of being involved in," France coach Raymond Domenech enthused, while his Italian counterpart Roberto Donadoni said: "We know what’s at stake and we’re ready to put our hearts and souls into it. For us, this is already a final." Few could have predicted that the two 2006 FIFA World Cup finalists, would be locking horns on Tuesday knowing that even a victory may not prove enough to reach the quarter-finals. With one point each after two matches, Romania could render their efforts fruitless by beating the Netherlands in Berne to hold on to second spot. It promises to be a dramatic evening, although Domenech is urging his men to focus only on events at the Letzigrund Stadion. "We have to forget the other game completely," he stressed. "We still have a tiny chance but it will only happen if we win our game."

‘Find a balance’
Like the world champions, who lost 3-0 to the Dutch in their opening game, France suffered their heaviest defeat in UEFA European Championship history in losing 4-1 against the Netherlands – and Domenech admits improvements are needed. "We’ve been trying to get the Dutch game out our heads for the last three days," the 56-year-old said. "Despite the result, there were positives to take from the performance, notably concerning the number of chances we created. But we need to find a balance. Against Romania we made a lot of effort to defend, whereas against the Netherlands we made a lot of effort to attack. Against Italy we’ll need to do a lot of defending and attacking."

Vieira absent
Domenech will again be without Patrick Vieira due to a thigh injury and, though he remained coy on the subject of team selection, Eric Abidal, Lassana Diarra and Karim Benzema are being tipped to feature after missing out last time. Italy coach Roberto Donadoni was also keeping his cards close to his chest, saying: "I already have a good idea of my lineup, but this time I won’t reveal anything beforehand." The former AC Milan midfielder is not expected to repeat the five changes he made for the 1-1 draw with Romania, although Antonio Cassano may start in place of Alessandro Del Piero, while Massimo Ambrosini and Gennaro Gattuso are pressing for recalls.

Keen rivalry
Ever since David Trezeguet’s extra-time winner in the UEFA EURO 2000 final, France-Italy games have been keenly contested. The Azzurri gained revenge for the Rotterdam defeat by triumphing in Berlin two years ago, yet Domenech’s side reclaimed the upper hand with a victory in Paris in qualifying. Donadoni suggested the rivalry was not a significant factor, however, saying: "It’s just like any other game. It’s an important game, but playing France is no different to playing the Netherlands or Romania. Both sides will be extremely motivated and will try to win. It should be exciting. I can’t wait for the game to start."