Spain held to 1-1 tie by scandal-ridden Italy

ASSOCIATED PRESS

GDANSK: Playing for a third straight major title, Spain had to rally for a 1-1 tie against Italy on Sunday at the European Championship.

Antonio Di Natale put Italy in front after an excellent setup from Andrea Pirlo in the 61st minute, but Cesc Fabregas tied it for the defending champions three minutes later by finishing off a dazzling display of Spain's trademark passing game.

Spain, which followed up its Euro 2008 victory with the 2010 World Cup title, dominated the Group C match for long stretches but struggled to finish at times, while Italy relied on dangerous counterattacks.

The draw ended a 14-match winning streak for Spain in competitive matches, which began after a 1-0 loss to Switzerland to open the last World Cup.

Spain pulled a surprise by starting with no regular strikers in its lineup, with Fabregas at forward between David Silva and Andres Iniesta — leaving Fernando Torres, Alvaro Negredo and Fernando Llorente on the bench.

Italy countered with an attack of Antonio Cassano and Mario Balotelli and an untested three-man defense.

Di Natale replaced Balotelli in the 56th and scored five minutes later, collecting a pass from Pirlo just as he slipped in between two defenders, then expertly shooting around Spain goalkeeper Iker Casillas.

The 34-year-old Di Natale has scored 20 or more goals the past three seasons with Udinese in Serie A.

Fabregas' goal from the center of the area capped a series of passes that started with Iniesta giving the ball to Silva, who then found Fabregas cutting toward the goal.

On a pleasant evening at the Arena Gdansk near the Baltic Sea, red-clad Spain fans appeared to greatly outnumber Italian supporters, with surprisingly large sections of empty seats in the corner allotted for Azzurri fans.

The Italians, just like when they won the 2006 World Cup, are weathering a widespread match-fixing scandal.

Among the 38,869 in attendance were Italy President Giorgio Napolitano and Spain Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy, along with former Poland President and Solidarity founder Lech Walesa.