It was a dramatic match. Spain took victory home after 0 - 0 on regular and overtime and after a 4 - 2 win in penalty shootouts. This is the first time Spain reaches this far since 1984 and they were the only top of the group to move on to the semis. They will now face Russia next Thursday in Vienna. The match was tense with few chances of goal for both sides.

Italy played with a different midfield. With Pirlo and Gattuso suspended, the Azzurri’s midfield was weak and lacked creativity. It seemed hard to make the ball reach Luca Toni, isolated up top.

As neither teams could get closer to the goal to try and shake the opponent’s net, Spain started taking shots from outside the box. Even though Spain did not score, Buffon had to work hard to save Villa and David Silva’s powerful shots.

Camoranesi substituted Perotta and made things a little better for Italy. But the Azzurri was still not able to shake Spain’s net.

Overtime created a lot more chances, for both teams, than the entire regular 90 minutes. But it seemed like the football gods still wanted the match to be decided in penalty shootouts.

And so it went.

On the shooouts, Casillas stopped De Rossi and Di Natali. Buffon still gave hopes to Italy when he stopped Güiza’s shot. However, Fabregas closed the Spain deal with a nice touch to the back of the net.

End of story. Italy goes home.