Chiellini goal fuels Italian belief

Fittingly for a player who has performed so impressively for ACF Fiorentina and Juventus in recent seasons, Giorgio Chiellini was the man to step forward when Italy were looking for inspiration against Ukraine. With their second Group B match going the same way as the first, a draw with Denmark, the left-back headed in Cesare Bovo's cross to fire the Azzurrini to a 1-0 victory and the Group B summit.

'Lucky'
"We were a bit lucky against Ukraine as a draw would perhaps have been a fair result - but this is our prize for not giving up," said Chiellini, who played 17 times as Juve won Serie A this season. "Ukraine are a good team who run all day. They played for a draw and didn't leave us any room to get in behind them. But in the end we can say we deserved the win because we created so many chances."

'Amazing goal'
Alessandro Rosina had passed by a hat-trick of such openings and Pasquale Foggia and Michele Canini other decent chances before Chiellini's late intervention. "It was possibly the most important goal of my career," said Chiellini. "I scored one two seasons ago against Juve for Fiorentina which was pretty important at the time but this one was amazing - not only because it arrived in injury time but because it can give us a push to go on and win the tournament."

Past glory
Chiellini knows all about tasting glory in the blue of his country after winning the 2003 UEFA European Under-19 Championship. At the time he was playing for his hometown club, AS Livorno Calcio, where his combative displays earned him a four-year contract at Juve, who immediately sold half of his playing licence to Fiorentina. Chielli wasted little time in making his mark with the Viola, prompting Juve to pay €4.3m to sign him outright 12 months ago.

Confident Chiellini
Seen as the natural heir to the excellent Gianluca Zambrotta for both club and country - he already has five senior caps - Chiellini is looking no further than 5 June when he will hope to be turning out in the final of these finals at the Estádio do Bessa Século XXI in Porto. Can Italy win it? "We certainly have the quality to do so," he said. "We've proved in our two matches that we never give up. With that type of spirit anything is possible."