The first shot on goal came from Daniel Silva in the ninth minute, looping off Daniele de Rossi into Gianluigi Buffon’s arms.

After passing the quarter hour without real danger, Italy began to force their way upfield, working the left flank in particular.
From there in the 19th minute, Indian satta found Simone Perrotta running into space but his free header was straight at Iker Casillas.

The clash of footballing cultures was evident. The Spanish as flamboyant as Picasso, the Italians as functional yet austere as the buildings in the EUR district of Rome.

Italy had their plan A all right- Frustrate the opposition and then quickly get the ball to Luca Toni, but no second outlet, while the Spanish danced tiki-taca towards their opponents, hoping to release their meandering front two of Fernando Torres and David Villa in on goal.

While the Liverpool volcano called Torres was once again lying dormant, Silva proved a wandering nuisance from the start for Italy, and dirtied Buffon’s gloves twice in the space of eight minutes; first with a grasscutter of a set piece in the 24th and then a 20-yard drive from the left.