Cesare Prandelli has said that his Italy players do not fear Spain and that they will spend all their time before the final on Sunday looking at the weaknesses of the world and European champions.
The Italy coach, who admitted that the past two months "have been hard", said: "We are physically and mentally stronger than when we faced them in our opening game. We only have one day to prepare for this game but we will try to find Spain's weaknesses. They are the world and European champions and they are an example to everyone. But we have grown and we should not fear them. We have to have the strength to face them with ideas and quality."
Prandelli, who took over from Marcello Lippi in 2010 and has a contract until 2014, went on to say that he will consider his future after this tournament. The 54-year-old has appeared weary at times with the constant questions about the match-fixing scandal afflicting the Azzurri back home, as well as the criticism for bringing his son to the tournament as a physical trainer. "I miss being out on the pitch more, but I have a great relationship with the federation," he said. "But the last two months have been very difficult." Concerning his son, who works for the Serie A side Parma, Prandelli said that some comments had "really hurt him".
On the plus side, Prandelli talked about how much he is enjoying working with Mario Balotelli, who scored twice against Germany. "I have coached Adriano, [Adrian] Mutu, [Antonio] Cassano and Balotelli. They are difficult to manage but it's more fascinating. In the end, they are more faithful than those [players] who think they are a champions when they aren't."
Balotelli, meanwhile, said he is aiming to end a "special season" on a high. "It has been a special year for me," he said. "We won the league at Manchester City so having a good season does not depend on winning the Euros. It would just be something special for me. If we don't win it, it wouldn't spoil the other things. If we win and I score, it will be amazing but equally if I don't score and we win it will still be amazing."
Asked whether he was confident ahead of the game, he said: "We are in the final. We are one of the two best teams in the tournament so we have to go there and play to win. I am really happy [at the moment' and on Sunday I hope I will be even happier than today. I don't have a special celebration for the final. I just hope I am going to score. I don't think about a celebration."