Italy, Spain in quarterfinals

Italian forward Antonio Cassano (C) is the toast of his teammates after scoring the opening goal against Republic of Ireland during their Euro 2012 Group C match at the Municipal Stadium in Poznan last night.Photo: AFP

Antonio Cassano and Mario Balotelli scored the goals as Italy beat 10-man Ireland 2-0 at the Municipal Stadium here on Monday to reach the Euro 2012 quarterfinals.
Spain's 1-0 win over Croatia meant Italy finished second in Group C and will play the Group D winners in the last eight while Ireland finish bottom with three defeats.
While Italy were worthy winners, Ireland coach Giovanni Trapattoni will have been bemused to see his side concede both goals from corners.
The Italians - who trailed Spain and Croatia by two points going into the game with the Irish having already being eliminated after two defeats - took the lead in the 35th minute through a header by Antonio Cassano.
The Irish produced a more spirited challenge than their previous two games but ended the game with just 10 men as Keith Andrews was sent off and the Italians rubbed salt into the wound as Mario Balotelli volleyed in the second.
Defending champions Spain left it late before ousting Croatia 1-0 in Gdansk on Monday. After a tight encounter which rarely hit the heights Jesus Navas bundled in a close-range winner in the 87th minute.
Having come on for Chelsea star Fernando Torres in the second-half, Sevilla's Navas hit the 88th-minute winner after Barcelona's Xavi Hernandez chipped the Croatian defence and Andres Iniesta provided the final pass.
Spain coach Vicente del Bosque named an unchanged team, while Bilic abandoned the 4-4-2 formation he used in the opening win over Ireland and the draw with Italy for a 4-2-3-1 formation.
As they had done in Thursday's hammering of Ireland here, Spain started with almost 80 percent ball possession, which never dropped below 60, as Croatia seemed content to hit long balls down to lone striker Mario Mandzukic.
On a rare early forage into the Spanish half, Bayern Munich's Danijel Pranjic fired a shot to the left of Spain goalkeeper Ilker Casillas, who dealt with the left-footed shot comfortably on 25 minutes.
Croatia defender Vedran Corluka was booked for dissent soon after as German referee Wolfgang Stark chose not to award a penalty appeal after Spain's Sergio Ramos sliding tackle caught Mandzukic's ankle.
It remained goalless at the break and news of Italy's lead against Ireland raised the tension inside the Gdansk stadium rose noticeably as the second half wore on.
Croatia's best chance came approaching the hour mark when Tottenham Hotspur's Luka Modric crossed in for Ivan Rakitic's header, but Casillas parried away their best chance of the game.
After a fairly ineffective first 60 minutes, Torres made way for Jesus Navas in the three-man forward line, but both sides squandered chances.
With time almost up, the decisive blow came when Xavi Hernandez floated his pass over the defence for his Barcelona team-mate Iniesta to draw Croatia's goalkeeper Stipe Pleitkosa and put Spain in the last eight.
There could be more bad news for Croatia on Tuesday when UEFA are expected to make a ruling over alleged racist chants from Croat fans directed towards Italy striker Mario Balotelli in last week's 1-1 draw.
A stiff penalty is expected given UEFA president Michel Platini's previous assertions that European football's governing body has a "zero tolerance" on the issue.
European football's governing body has already imposed the threat of a six-point reduction on Russia's next European championship qualifying campaign, after missiles and fireworks were thrown at their opening Group A match against the Czech Republic on June 8.