Spain versus Italy on paper looked an intriguing match. The Spanish, the holders, with all their attacking flair, against an Italy team caught up in a match fixing scandal again. The Italians were rumoured to be playing a 3-4-3 formation similar to the one Chile used in the 2010 World Cup. Interesting. It was the Spaniards who made the odd tactical surprise, though, playing with no striker. This is something that Scotland manager Craig Levein dabbled in against the Czech Republic – if anything, he founded the formation. How everyone wishes he didn’t.

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