Aragones not too thrilled about Spain meeting Italy

Spain's coach Aragones hopes that Torres and Villa have a good day and score goals as defensively Italians are very strong.

Spain coach Luis Aragones isn’t too thrilled about drawing Italy in the quarterfinals at the European Championship.

“It’s not the rival I like most, but today anybody can beat anybody,” Aragones said after Italy defeated France 2-0 to advance to the last eight. “It’s the world champion and we all know it. It’s a difficult rival, but at this level all are difficult.”

Spain finishes Group D on Wednesday against 2004 champion Greece before meeting the World Cup champions on Sunday in Vienna.

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Spain won its group with victories over Russia and Sweden to stretch its winning streak to eight matches. It beat Italy 1-0 in a friendly at home in March to continue that run.

“The game in (Spain) that we won doesn’t serve as any reference to me,” the 69-year-old Aragones said. “In this Euro, they looked like they were dead, but in the end they have qualified.”

Italy dropped its opening match to Group C winner Netherlands 3-0 and then drew 1-1 with Romania.

Spain’s starters will return for the quarterfinal match at Ernst Happel Stadium in Vienna after getting a rest for the game against the Greeks, including David Villa, the tournament’s leading scorer with four goals, and striker Fernando Torres.

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“We have to continue playing our touch football and intend to play a little deeper,” Aragones said. “We’ll hope that Torres and Villa have a good day and find the goal because defensively the Italians are tremendously strong.”

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