A perfect start to the European Championship has Spain believing they can ditch that notorious underachiever tag, and a quarter-final win against World Cup champions Italy on Sunday would certainly do a lot to help.
Dani Guiza scored in the 88th minute on Wednesday for a second-string Spain to beat defending champions Greece 2-1, closing out the group stage with three straight victories and extending the team's winning streak to nine games and their unbeaten run to 19.
"We're going to do it. We're going to win," midfielder Cesc Fabregas said yesterday. "We have to do it however we can. If we have to play ugly, we'll do so."
Fabregas called on his teammates to forget about Italy and focus on their own game plan, which consists of patiently using possession in midfield before attacking.
"We have to be ready and we have to play our own game," the Arsenal player said. "With the ball, the Spanish national team is better than Italy."
Spain coach Luis Aragones has all 23 players fit after centre back Carles Puyol and left flanker David Silva returned from foot injuries to train yesterday. Strikers Fernando Torres and David Villa, who leads the tournament with four goals scored, return after being rested against Greece.
But Aragones said he could alter the line-up that beat Russia and Sweden to secure the last-eight spot.
"Things are basically clear but the play of some has me thinking, I'm not sure which team will play," said Aragones, who described Italy as one of the hardest teams that Spain could have drawn.
"We'll have to take advantage of any little defect in their game, but for them it's the same since we're two great sides. Let's hope we can counterattack. I can't imagine that we wouldn't have two or three chances on goal."
Sunday's match at the Ernst Happel Stadium in Vienna is the first meeting between the two since the 1994 World Cup, when Roberto Baggio's late goal gave Italy a 2-1 win and a semi-final spot. The Spaniards best remember that match for how Italy defender Mauro Tassotti broke forward Luis Enrique's nose deep into injury time.
The Spanish press is hyping Sunday's encounter as a grudge match.
"I was hit with six matches suspension. I missed the World Cup final and I never played again for Italy. What more do they want?" Tassotti told Spanish newspaper Marca.
The 69-year-old Aragones believes his current squad - one of the youngest in the tournament - can overcome the team's long-held reputation of being mentally fragile and win a second major football title, after their 1964 European Championship win.
"I don't sense that any of the players doubt their ability to win this game. We aren't hung-up on this," Aragones said