Three of the final four spots in the UEFA Euro 2012 semi finals have already been punched. Now, the final piece of the puzzle will be determined when England and Italy take to the pitch in the final quarterfinals matchup. The UEFA Euro 2012 Quarterfinals England vs. Italy start time is set for 2:30 p.m. Sunday and it will be televised nationally on ESPN. Currently the odds have both teams as equal to advance, meaning it should be a very close game.
Wayne Rooney came away from his suspension and helped send the English into the quarterfinals with a header on Thursday in the 48th minute of action against the Ukraine. That tally would hold up and be the deciding factor in the contest, giving the English a 1-0 victory overall. That win secured their spot in the quarterfinals action. England finished with a 2-1 record overall in Group D and picked up seven points in the pool play stage. England tied with France 1-1 way back at the beginning of the tournament before picking up wins over Sweden and Ukraine in full time.
Italy hasn't officially lost yet in this tournament, but they have played to draws in two of their matches. They also picked up a win 2-0 over Ireland earlier this week to officially qualify to play in the quarters, where the tournament really does begin to open up. Both of Italy's draws were of the 1-1 score variety. They finished second as a squad in the dreaded Group C, which was won by Spain and that country's seven points. Italy scored up with five points to qualify and are considered one of the best teams left.
The UEFA Euro 2012 Quarterfinals odds have each team favored to advance at -110 (Risk $110 to win back $100). Those bets solely mean that one country or the other will advance to play in the semifinals, it does not specifically say how they get there. For instance, if you were to bet on England to win in full time, there actually would be plus money on that at +170 (Risk $100 to win back $170). Italy also has plus money on winning in regulation time, sitting with odds of +180 (Risk $100 to win back $180). These lines indicate that we should have a really good match on our hands with what oddsmakers are projecting to be a close, low-scoring affair. The total for the match has been set at just two goals, with the over carrying odds of +107 and the under having odds of -123.
We think Italy is the better team here, but they have struggled putting the ball in the net. Obviously if other teams aren't scoring you don't need to score a whole lot of goals yourself, but England does have a 5-4 goals scored advantage so far in the tournament. But then again, does that really matter? Both teams play excellent defense and like to control the ball and the style of play. We'll take the OVER in this matchup as we think England squeeks out a 2-1 win late in the second half of regulation time.
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