01 July,2012 07:58 AM IST | | A Correspondent
>> Defending Euro 2008 champions and reigning 2010 world champions Spain will go down in the history books by winning an unprecedented third successive major tournament if they can beat Italy tonight.
>> The Italians will be repeating history if they can win yet another major title amidst the shroud of betting and match-fixing.
>> Italy, who came into this tournament following match-fixing and betting allegations in the Serie A, were hit by a similar scandal when they headed into the 1982 and 2006 World Cups. They won both tournaments.
>>u00a0Spain coach Vicente del Bosque can become only the second coach to win the FIFA World Cup and UEFA European Championship if Spain can pull off a win tonight. lSeven Spain players will be bidding to become the first to appear in three major final wins: Iker Casillas, Sergio Ramos, Andres Iniesta, Xavi Hernandez, Cesc Fabregas, Xabi Alonso, Fernando Torres.
>> However, Spain have never beaten Italy in 90 minutes of a major tournament since 1920.
>> In the last 30 meetings, Spain have won 8 times, while Italy have won 10, with 12 draws. u00a0
Road to final
Italy
----Group Stages -----
June 10: Italy 1 (Di Natale 61st min) -
Spain 1 (Fabregas 64th)
June 14: Italy 1 (Pirlo 39th) - Croatia 1 (Mandzukic 72nd)
June 18: Italy 2 (Cassano 35th , Balotelli 90th) - Rep of Ireland 0
-----Quarter-final------
June 24: Italy 4 - England 2 (via penalty shoot-out)
-------Semi-final-------
June 28: Italy 2 (Balotelli 20th, 36th) - Germany 1 (Ozil 92nd)
Spain
-----Group Stages -----
June 10: Italy 1 (Di Natale 61st min) -
Spain 1 (Fabregas 64th)
June 14: Spain 4 (Torres 4th, 70th, Silva 49th, Fabregas 83rd) -
Rep of Ireland 0
June 18: Spain 1 (Navas 88th) - Croatia 0
-----Quarter-final------
June 23: Spain 2 (Alonso 19th & 91st) - France 0
-------Semi-final-------
June 27: Spain 4 - Portugal 2 (via penalty shoot-out)u00a0
Year: 1960 1964 1968 1972 1976 1980 1984 1988 1992 1996 2000 2004 2008
Winner: USSR Spain Italy West Germany Czechoslovakia West Germany France Netherlands Denmark Germany France Greece Spain u00a0
Runner-up: Yugoslavia USSR Yugoslavia USSR West Germany Belgium Spain USSR Germany Czech Republic Italy Portugal Germany
u00a0France Spain Italy West Germany Yugoslavia Italy France West Germany Sweden England Belgium-Netherlands Portugal Austria-Switzerland
Year:u00a0 | 1960u00a0 | 1964u00a0 | 1968u00a0 | 1972u00a0 | 1976u00a0 | 1980u00a0 | 1984u00a0 | 1988 | 1992u00a0 | 1996u00a0 | 2000u00a0 | 2004u00a0 | 2008u00a0 |
Winner:u00a0u00a0 | USSRu00a0 | u00a0Spainu00a0 | u00a0 Italyu00a0 | West Germanyu00a0 | u00a0Czechoslovakiau00a0 | West Germanyu00a0 | Franceu00a0 | Netherlandsu00a0 | Denmarku00a0 u00a0 | u00a0u00a0Germany | Franceu00a0 | Greeceu00a0 | Spain u00a0 |
Runner-up: | Yugoslavia | USSR | Yugoslaviau00a0 | USSR | West Germany u00a0 | Belgium | Spain | USSR | Germany | Czech Republic | Italyu00a0 | Portugal | Germany |
Host: | France | Spain | Italy | West Germany | Yugoslaviau00a0 | Italy | France | West Germany | Sweden | England | Belgium-Netherlands | Portugalu00a0 | Austria-Switzerland |
Tournament statistics
Spain vs Italy
8 Goals scored 6
78 Total attempts 97
49 Attempts on target 55
29 Attempts off target 42
4 Attempts blocked 10
40 Corners 27
18 Offsides 13
10 Yellow cards 15
0 Red cards 0
64 Fouls committed 79
93 Fouls against 80u00a0