SPAIN
• Spain are 14 competitive games without defeat, since their 1-0 loss to Switzerland on 16/06/2010 at the FIFA World Cup. They have lost four of their 14 friendlies in that time, however.
• Juanfran has yet to make a competitive appearance for Spain, though he made his senior international debut in a pre-tournament friendly win against Serbia on 26/05.
Injury news
• Cesc Fàbregas has not featured since picking up a thigh strain in the Copa del Rey final on 25/05.
• Carles Puyol (knee) and Spain's record scorer, David Villa (broken leg), were ruled out of the finals.
Miscellaneous
• Spain, minus players from Chelsea FC and Copa del Rey finalists FC Barcelona and Athletic Club, travelled to a training camp in Schruns, Austria, on 22/05. Juan Mata and Fernando Torres joined them on 26/05, with the final 23-man squad unveiled the following day. Spain arrived at their EURO base of Gniewino on 05/06.
• Spain's squad includes 12 members of the party that triumphed at UEFA EURO 2008: Iker Casillas, Raúl Albiol, Andrés Iniesta, Xavi Hernández, Fernando Torres, Fàbregas, Santi Cazorla, Xabi Alonso, Sergio Ramos, Álvaro Arbeloa, David Silva and Pepe Reina.
• Casillas, Xavi, Alonso and Torres were also in the UEFA EURO 2004 squad, and for Casillas this represents a national record fourth UEFA European Championship appearance as he was also at UEFA EURO 2000.
• Casillas kept his 73rd clean sheet for Spain against Serbia on 26/05, beating Edwin van der Sar's international record. He also celebrated a record 95th international victory when Spain defeated South Korea 4-1 on 30/05.
Pre-tournament friendlies
03/06 Spain 1-0 China (Silva 84)
Casillas (Valdés 46); Arbeloa, Albiol, Ramos (Piqué 56), Alba; Xavi (Iniesta 46), Busquets (Juanfran 46), Xabi; Cazorla (Mata 67), Negredo (Navas 46), Silva.
30/05 Spain 4-1 South Korea (Torres 11, Alonso 52pen, Cazorla 55, Negredo 79; Kim Do Heon 43)
Reina (Casillas 81); Arbeloa, Albiol, Ramos (Domínguez 57), Monreal; Cazorla (Adrián 57), Alonso (Bruno 65), Beñat; Silva, Torres (Soldado 57), Mata (Negredo 57).
26/05 Spain 2-0 Serbia (Adrián 67, Cazorla 74pen)
Casillas; Juanfran, Ramos (Domínguez 46), Albiol, Alba (Monreal 46); Navas, Bruno Soriano (Javi García 72), Xabi Alonso (Beñat 46), Cazorla; Soldado (Adrián 46), Negredo (Silva 46).
UEFA EURO 2012 qualifying
• Spain won eight out of eight in Group I, becoming one of only five sides to go through a qualifying campaign with a 100% record in the history of the UEFA European Championship.
• Ramos and Villa were the only players to feature in all eight group games for Vicente del Bosque's side.
• Jordi Alba made his international debut in the 3-1 home victory against Scotland on 11/10/2011.
• Two of the final tournament squad did not feature in qualifying: Pepe Reina and Juanfran.
Domestic information
• Casillas, Ramos, Arbeloa, Albiol and Alonso helped Real Madrid CF win the Spanish Liga for the first time in four campaigns, though Albiol made just five league starts.
• Víctor Valdés, Gerard Piqué, Xavi, Fàbregas, Iniesta, Sergio Busquets and Pedro Rodríguez enjoyed Copa del Rey success. Pedro scored twice on 25/05 in a 3-0 final triumph against an Athletic Club side featuring Fernando Llorente and Javi Martínez. Barcelona also won the UEFA Super Cup, Spanish Super Cup and FIFA Club World Cup.
• David Silva was in the Manchester City FC side that won the English top flight for the first time in 44 years.
• Mata and Torres were UEFA Champions League and FA Cup winners with Chelsea FC, while Reina enjoyed English League Cup success with Liverpool FC.
• Juanfran was in the Club Atlético de Madrid XI that defeated an Athletic team featuring Llorente and Javi Martínez in the UEFA Europa League final in Bucharest on 09/05.
ITALY
• The Azzurri have lost their last three games.
• Coach Cesare Prandelli goes into his first major final tournament unbeaten in competitive internationals, recording eight wins and two draws to date.
• Emanuele Giaccherini is the only uncapped member of the Italy squad, though Fabio Borini and Alessandro Diamanti are yet to make their competitive debuts.
Injury news
• Giorgio Chiellini and Riccardo Montolivo arrived at Italy's training camp with thigh injuries suffered on the last day of the Serie A season on 13/05, though Montolivo started against Russia on 01/06.
• Antonio Cassano was expected to miss the rest of the season after undergoing heart surgery on 04/11 but returned to action at the start of April.
Miscellaneous
• Italy gathered at Coverciano, Florence, on 21/05, with players of Juventus, SSC Napoli and Paris Saint-Germain FC joining four days later due to domestic duties. The Azzurri arrived in Krakow on 05/06.
• At 1.64m, Sebastian Giovinco is the smallest player at UEFA EURO 2012.
• Gianluigi Buffon surpassed Dino Zoff as Italy's third highest appearance maker in February, and is now on 114 caps behind only Fabio Cannavaro (136) and Paolo Maldini (126).
• Eight of the squad have previous UEFA European Championship experience: Buffon (2004, 2008), Cassano (2004, 2008), Andrea Pirlo (2004, 2008), Chiellini (2008), Andrea Barzagli (2008), Daniele De Rossi (2008), Antonio Di Natale (2008) and Morgan De Sanctis (2008).
Pre-tournament friendly
01/06 Italy 0-3 Russia (Kerzhakov 59, Shirokov 75 89)
Buffon (De Sanctis 46); Maggio, Bonucci, Barzagli, Balzaretti (Ogbonna 53); De Rossi (Motta 60), Pirlo (Giovinco 68); Marchisio; Montolivo (Nocerino 60); Cassano (Di Natale 68), Balotelli.
• Italy's friendly with Luxembourg in Parma, scheduled for 29/05, was cancelled after the region was struck on the morning of the game by an earthquake with a magnitude of 5.8 on the Richter scale.
UEFA EURO 2012 qualifying
• Italy progressed with two games to spare and finished the campaign undefeated, their tally of 26 points from ten games a national record in a qualifying section for a major tournament.
• The Azzurri also finished with the best defensive record across the nine groups, conceding only two goals.
• Discounting the six minutes of the home game against Serbia before it was abandoned, Italy did not concede for 625 minutes between Estonia finding the net in their opening fixture and Serbia's goal 13 months later.
• Chiellini played every minute of Italy's campaign; Cassano was the only other ever-present member of the squad and also the Azzurri's six-goal leading scorer.
• Of the final squad, six players did not feature in qualifying: Angelo Ogbonna, Ignazio Abate, Giaccherini, Di Natale, Borini and Diamanti.
Domestic information
• The Italy squad features seven members of the Juventus side that went through the Serie A season unbeaten en route to the title: Buffon, Barzagli, Bonucci, Chiellini, Giaccherini, Claudio Marchisio and Pirlo.
• The Bianconeri suffered their first defeat of the season in their last outing in the Coppa Italia final on 20/05, losing 2-0 to a Napoli side featuring De Sanctis and Christian Maggio.
• Mario Balotelli scored 13 goals in 23 appearances and was sent off twice as Manchester City FC won their first English top-flight title in 44 years.
• Di Natale struck 23 goals as Udinese Calcio finished third in Serie A, the third successive season he has hit 20 or more. He did not manage more than 17 before he reached the age of 30.
• Giovinco (15), Marchisio (9) and Alessandro Diamanti (8) all established personal bests in front of goal in Serie A while Nocerino's return of ten in 35 games was four more than he had mustered in his previous four seasons.
• Andrea Pirlo has not been on the losing side in Serie A since 18 December 2010, when he was at AC Milan.
• Spain are 14 competitive games without defeat, since their 1-0 loss to Switzerland on 16/06/2010 at the FIFA World Cup. They have lost four of their 14 friendlies in that time, however.
• Juanfran has yet to make a competitive appearance for Spain, though he made his senior international debut in a pre-tournament friendly win against Serbia on 26/05.
Injury news
• Cesc Fàbregas has not featured since picking up a thigh strain in the Copa del Rey final on 25/05.
• Carles Puyol (knee) and Spain's record scorer, David Villa (broken leg), were ruled out of the finals.
Miscellaneous
• Spain, minus players from Chelsea FC and Copa del Rey finalists FC Barcelona and Athletic Club, travelled to a training camp in Schruns, Austria, on 22/05. Juan Mata and Fernando Torres joined them on 26/05, with the final 23-man squad unveiled the following day. Spain arrived at their EURO base of Gniewino on 05/06.
• Spain's squad includes 12 members of the party that triumphed at UEFA EURO 2008: Iker Casillas, Raúl Albiol, Andrés Iniesta, Xavi Hernández, Fernando Torres, Fàbregas, Santi Cazorla, Xabi Alonso, Sergio Ramos, Álvaro Arbeloa, David Silva and Pepe Reina.
• Casillas, Xavi, Alonso and Torres were also in the UEFA EURO 2004 squad, and for Casillas this represents a national record fourth UEFA European Championship appearance as he was also at UEFA EURO 2000.
• Casillas kept his 73rd clean sheet for Spain against Serbia on 26/05, beating Edwin van der Sar's international record. He also celebrated a record 95th international victory when Spain defeated South Korea 4-1 on 30/05.
Pre-tournament friendlies
03/06 Spain 1-0 China (Silva 84)
Casillas (Valdés 46); Arbeloa, Albiol, Ramos (Piqué 56), Alba; Xavi (Iniesta 46), Busquets (Juanfran 46), Xabi; Cazorla (Mata 67), Negredo (Navas 46), Silva.
30/05 Spain 4-1 South Korea (Torres 11, Alonso 52pen, Cazorla 55, Negredo 79; Kim Do Heon 43)
Reina (Casillas 81); Arbeloa, Albiol, Ramos (Domínguez 57), Monreal; Cazorla (Adrián 57), Alonso (Bruno 65), Beñat; Silva, Torres (Soldado 57), Mata (Negredo 57).
26/05 Spain 2-0 Serbia (Adrián 67, Cazorla 74pen)
Casillas; Juanfran, Ramos (Domínguez 46), Albiol, Alba (Monreal 46); Navas, Bruno Soriano (Javi García 72), Xabi Alonso (Beñat 46), Cazorla; Soldado (Adrián 46), Negredo (Silva 46).
UEFA EURO 2012 qualifying
• Spain won eight out of eight in Group I, becoming one of only five sides to go through a qualifying campaign with a 100% record in the history of the UEFA European Championship.
• Ramos and Villa were the only players to feature in all eight group games for Vicente del Bosque's side.
• Jordi Alba made his international debut in the 3-1 home victory against Scotland on 11/10/2011.
• Two of the final tournament squad did not feature in qualifying: Pepe Reina and Juanfran.
Domestic information
• Casillas, Ramos, Arbeloa, Albiol and Alonso helped Real Madrid CF win the Spanish Liga for the first time in four campaigns, though Albiol made just five league starts.
• Víctor Valdés, Gerard Piqué, Xavi, Fàbregas, Iniesta, Sergio Busquets and Pedro Rodríguez enjoyed Copa del Rey success. Pedro scored twice on 25/05 in a 3-0 final triumph against an Athletic Club side featuring Fernando Llorente and Javi Martínez. Barcelona also won the UEFA Super Cup, Spanish Super Cup and FIFA Club World Cup.
• David Silva was in the Manchester City FC side that won the English top flight for the first time in 44 years.
• Mata and Torres were UEFA Champions League and FA Cup winners with Chelsea FC, while Reina enjoyed English League Cup success with Liverpool FC.
• Juanfran was in the Club Atlético de Madrid XI that defeated an Athletic team featuring Llorente and Javi Martínez in the UEFA Europa League final in Bucharest on 09/05.
ITALY
• The Azzurri have lost their last three games.
• Coach Cesare Prandelli goes into his first major final tournament unbeaten in competitive internationals, recording eight wins and two draws to date.
• Emanuele Giaccherini is the only uncapped member of the Italy squad, though Fabio Borini and Alessandro Diamanti are yet to make their competitive debuts.
Injury news
• Giorgio Chiellini and Riccardo Montolivo arrived at Italy's training camp with thigh injuries suffered on the last day of the Serie A season on 13/05, though Montolivo started against Russia on 01/06.
• Antonio Cassano was expected to miss the rest of the season after undergoing heart surgery on 04/11 but returned to action at the start of April.
Miscellaneous
• Italy gathered at Coverciano, Florence, on 21/05, with players of Juventus, SSC Napoli and Paris Saint-Germain FC joining four days later due to domestic duties. The Azzurri arrived in Krakow on 05/06.
• At 1.64m, Sebastian Giovinco is the smallest player at UEFA EURO 2012.
• Gianluigi Buffon surpassed Dino Zoff as Italy's third highest appearance maker in February, and is now on 114 caps behind only Fabio Cannavaro (136) and Paolo Maldini (126).
• Eight of the squad have previous UEFA European Championship experience: Buffon (2004, 2008), Cassano (2004, 2008), Andrea Pirlo (2004, 2008), Chiellini (2008), Andrea Barzagli (2008), Daniele De Rossi (2008), Antonio Di Natale (2008) and Morgan De Sanctis (2008).
Pre-tournament friendly
01/06 Italy 0-3 Russia (Kerzhakov 59, Shirokov 75 89)
Buffon (De Sanctis 46); Maggio, Bonucci, Barzagli, Balzaretti (Ogbonna 53); De Rossi (Motta 60), Pirlo (Giovinco 68); Marchisio; Montolivo (Nocerino 60); Cassano (Di Natale 68), Balotelli.
• Italy's friendly with Luxembourg in Parma, scheduled for 29/05, was cancelled after the region was struck on the morning of the game by an earthquake with a magnitude of 5.8 on the Richter scale.
UEFA EURO 2012 qualifying
• Italy progressed with two games to spare and finished the campaign undefeated, their tally of 26 points from ten games a national record in a qualifying section for a major tournament.
• The Azzurri also finished with the best defensive record across the nine groups, conceding only two goals.
• Discounting the six minutes of the home game against Serbia before it was abandoned, Italy did not concede for 625 minutes between Estonia finding the net in their opening fixture and Serbia's goal 13 months later.
• Chiellini played every minute of Italy's campaign; Cassano was the only other ever-present member of the squad and also the Azzurri's six-goal leading scorer.
• Of the final squad, six players did not feature in qualifying: Angelo Ogbonna, Ignazio Abate, Giaccherini, Di Natale, Borini and Diamanti.
Domestic information
• The Italy squad features seven members of the Juventus side that went through the Serie A season unbeaten en route to the title: Buffon, Barzagli, Bonucci, Chiellini, Giaccherini, Claudio Marchisio and Pirlo.
• The Bianconeri suffered their first defeat of the season in their last outing in the Coppa Italia final on 20/05, losing 2-0 to a Napoli side featuring De Sanctis and Christian Maggio.
• Mario Balotelli scored 13 goals in 23 appearances and was sent off twice as Manchester City FC won their first English top-flight title in 44 years.
• Di Natale struck 23 goals as Udinese Calcio finished third in Serie A, the third successive season he has hit 20 or more. He did not manage more than 17 before he reached the age of 30.
• Giovinco (15), Marchisio (9) and Alessandro Diamanti (8) all established personal bests in front of goal in Serie A while Nocerino's return of ten in 35 games was four more than he had mustered in his previous four seasons.
• Andrea Pirlo has not been on the losing side in Serie A since 18 December 2010, when he was at AC Milan.
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