Thaindian News

Madrid, Dec 3 (IANS) Spain coach Vicente del Bosque was wary of having Italy in the same group of the Euro 2012 football after the draw for the tournament was held in Kiev, Ukraine.

Spain go into the competition as defending European and World Champions and have a 100 percent record from qualifying. Spain will be in a tough group consisting of four-time world champions Italy, the Republic of Ireland and Croatia. The mega event will be co-hosted by Poland and Ukraine, Xinhua reported.

Reflecting on the luck of the draw, Del Bosque warned that Spain would have to work hard to reach the knockout stages.

“It is going to be difficult, there are 16 strong rivals in the competition and each of them has their own particular difficulty,” said Del Bosque, who admitted he was pleased that Spain had missed being drawn against the dangerous German side.

“We have to face a powerful side in Italy and two other rivals who have come from the playoff. We will be prepared and we have to think about our own game,” he said.

Del Bosque recalled the memories of Spain’s recent defeat 2-1 to Italy in a friendly match.

“You never know what is going to happen in football, but it is a fact that we lost to them not long ago and they are a strong side,” he said, before valuing the possibility of a Spain versus Germany final.

“It is not a bad hypothesis and I hope that it happens, because it would be a fantastic final,” said Del Bosque.

Spain’s first game is against Italy June 10, before they move on to play the Irish four days later and finally Croatia June 18.