Italian defender http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Leonardo-Bonucci-c22064 feels that England have finally started to get organized at the back and are becoming very similar to Italy when it comes to how they play their football.
The two teams are on course to face each other on Sunday and with a spot in the semi finals up for grabs, neither one of the two sides are going to be going easy on each other.
However, even though http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Italy-c2926 are considered to be the more successful nation on the international stage, Bonucci feels that things might not be so simple this time around.
He feels England have come a long way and the way they are holding their lines is going to be a great asset to them in the game.
“In a certain way, yes, http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/England-c749 have become more like an Italian team,” the 25-year-old told reporters.
“This is thanks to [http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Fabio-c13152] Capello and all the Italian managers in the Premier League.
“So now England are defending better. They can play on the counterattack. So I think we have to be really careful against this team.”
He then insisted that the team could perform brilliantly upfront given their players and admitted that http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Wayne-Rooney-c36736 was not the only player they needed to mark.
“We have been analysing him, but England are made up of top-class players,” he added. “It is not only about [Wayne] Rooney. They are not a one-man team.”
“I think we have to put in a complete team performance in order to defeat them.”
England have gone on to surprise a number of critics due to their performances in the group stages of the Euro 2012.
They have gone on to draw with http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Ukraine-c3032. As a result, they went on to top their groups, which was something that no one saw happening at the start of the contest.
Nonetheless, Roy Hodgson is going to have to get his team to be as sharp as ever against Italy. The team has a very successful track record in international competitions and their squad is full of players who can win the match for them in an instant.
Should Hodgson be able to get the team to stay focused at the back and get his key players to run at the Italian defenders, causing them all sorts of problems, we could potentially see the Three Lions head into the semi finals this year.
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