Sáez salutes Italian finishing

Spain coach Iñaki Sáez was left to lick his wounds after watching his side eliminated from the UEFA European Under-21 Championship on Tuesday night but praised the dazzling finishing of rivals, Italy.

Monumental strikes
Two terrific first-half strikes from Giorgio Chiellini and Riccardo Montolivo put Italy firmly in the driving seat and although substitute Roberto Soldado gave Spain a glimmer of hope with a flicked header on the hour, the home team were unable to get back into contention.

Tall order
Sáez said afterwards that Italy's precision in front of goal was the deciding factor. "Italy's finishing was more clinical than ours," said Sáez. "They scored two tremendous goals - the kind that you don't see every day - and after going 2-0 down so early in the game, our task was made even harder. It is not easy for any team to claw itself back into the running after such a setback and it's even harder when you are a young side.

Italian guile
"During the second half we created more chances but Italy know how to play these kind of games better than anybody," added the coach. "If we had managed to equalise then I am sure we would have created more chances. It's a blow for my players but you cannot win every game, nor always be champions."

Premature exit
It is the third time in succession that Spain have failed to progress to the finals of the tournament that they won in 1986 and 1998. They stumbled at the qualifying stage in 2002 after losing to Portugal, then again two years later at the hands of Denmark.