England take on Azzurri in Kiev’s clash of heavyweights

England will attempt to reach the semi-finals of a major tournament for the first time in 16 years tonight as they take on Italy in a heavyweight quarter-final collision

The burgeoning confidence within Roy Hodgson’s youthful squad is tempered by the knowledge that England have rarely progressed beyond the last eight of major tournaments, with three quarter-final exits in the past 10 years alone.

But after winning Group D ahead of highly-rated France and extending their unbeaten run to five games, England head into today’s test in Kiev with a mounting sense of belief that they can prolong their stay in the tournament.

“If we can go about the job in the way we are doing at the moment we will make a game of it and who knows what will happen,” Hodgson said.

“It will be another even encounter, another game that will swing either way. The good thing is we are there, we are taking part and still in the competition and we want to be in the competition because we have really enjoyed it.”

A potential headache for Hodgson is that no fewer than five key players are walking a disciplinary tightrope heading into the match.

Steven Gerrard, Ashley Cole, Ashley Young, James Milner and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain are all just one booking away from missing a potential semi-final against Germany.

However, Hodgson will instruct the players in jeopardy to ignore the threat of suspension for fear it could inhibit their performance.

Hodgson will harbour the biggest concerns over his captain Gerrard, the Liverpool star who has lit up England’s performances so far with a series of inspirational displays from midfield.

Gerrard has set up three of England’s five goals at these championships while at the same time shielding his team’s defence effectively with Scott Parker.

Hodgson is expected to field the line-up which started in the 1-0 win over Ukraine on Tuesday, with the more defensively-minded Milner holding his place on the right side of midfield ahead of Theo Walcott.

Italy coach Cesare Prandelli, meanwhile, has been forced to reshuffle his defence following the injury to rugged centre-back Giorgio Chiellini, who is likely to be replaced by Leonardo Bonucci.

Prandelli is wary of an England side which he believes have found the “right equilibrium” while maintaining the Azzurri have nothing to fear.

“We all know the English character, they never hold anything back but they also have some good creative players,” he said.

In an ironic reversal of traditional stereotypes, Italy head into the game with plaudits for their attractive style ringing in their ears while England have been lauded for their defensive obduracy.

Italy’s veteran midfielder Daniele de Rossi believes England still bear the hallmark of former coach Fabio Capello while remaining under the influence of former Inter manager Hodgson.

“England are a very Italian team,” De Rossi said.

“You can see the signs, from Fabio Capello to now, with Hodgson.

“One is Italian, one worked in Italian football. Hodgson was managing in Italy with Inter, so his teams know how to play defensively and then attack. They will have very good players on the flanks but also be a really compact team. It won’t be easy.”

The key battleground is expected to be midfield, where England are likely to require second striker Wayne Rooney to drop deep to prevent Parker and Gerrard from being outnumbered.

“The particular challenge with Italy is in the midfield area where they have a lot of very gifted and experienced players, players who are technically good on the ball, and they’re basically a central team,” Hodgson said.

“We’re going to have to be careful we don’t get outnumbered in that area and they don’t play around us ... We have to be aware of that.”

“We’re fully aware we’re meeting a technical and experienced team, and a team that’s been together for a while. But we’ll prepare for the challenge they give us and we’ll try and give them a few little headaches of our own.”

The last two meetings...

When England face Italy in the Euro 2012 quarter-finals in Kiev tonight it will be the first time the two sides have met in 10 years.

March 27, 2002 – England 1 Italy 2 (Leeds)

Sven-Goran Eriksson slipped to his second defeat at the helm of the Three Lions following a last-minute penalty from Vicenzo Montella. Eriksson was forced to experiment with his line-up in this friendly following a number of injuries.

England took the lead on the hour mark when Robbie Fowler latched on to a Joe Cole through ball and stabbed the ball past Gianluigi Buffon.

The lead was short-lived as Montella equalised with a fabulous strike minutes later.

In stoppage-time David James brought down Massimo Maccarone and Montella converted the spot-kick to complete the victory for the Azzurri.

November 15, 2000 – Italy 1 England 0 (Turin)

This was Peter Taylor’s first game in charge for England and one in which a very youthful team was employed. The attitude taken by Taylor was to experiment with his team for friendlies whereas the Italians fielded a near enough full strength side.

England were denied a penalty when it appeared Gennaro Gattuso lashed out at David Beckham. Moments later Gattuso scored the only goal in the encounter with a superb strike from long range.

This was to be Taylor’s only game in charge as caretaker manager as the appointment of Sven-Goran Eriksson followed shortly afterwards.

Head-to-head record

England: W7 D6 L9
Italy: W9 D6 L7

13 May 1933: Italy vs England - 1-1 (F)
14 November 1934: England vs Italy - 3-2 (F)
13 May 1939: Italy vs England - 2-2 (F)
16 May 1948: Italy vs England - 0-4 (F)
30 November 1949: England vs Italy - 2-0 (F)
18 May 1952: Italy vs England - 1-1 (F)
06 May 1959: England vs Italy - 2-2 (F)
24 May 1961: Italy vs England - 2-3 (F)
14 June 1973: Italy vs England - 2-0 (F)
14 November 1973: England vs Italy - 0-1 (F)
28 May 1976: England vs Italy - 3-2 (F)
17 November 1976: Italy vs England - 2-0 (WC)
16 November 1977: England vs Italy - 2-0 (WC)
15 June 1980: Italy vs England - 1-0 (EC)
06 June 1985: Italy vs England - 2-1 (F)
15 November 1989: England vs Italy - 0-0 (F)
07 July 1990: Italy vs England - 2-1 (WC)
12 February 1997: England vs Italy - 0-1 (WC)
04 June 1997: Italy vs England - 0-2 (F)
11 October 1997: Italy vs England - 0-0 (WC)
15 November 2000: Italy vs England - 1-0 (F)
27 March 2002: England vs Italy - 1-2 (F)

Day-to-day fixtures

Quarter-finals

Semi-finals and final