Now, Italy might be the only soccer-playing nation on the planet that is excited to face Germany in a Euro quarterfinal. At Euro 2008, Spain defeated them in a quarterfinal penalty shootout. Italy hadn’t beaten Spain in a major tournament since 1994. I battled for two years to have people grasp this point.”ENLARGE Sergio Ramos reacts after Spain’s 2-0 loss to Italy. But even as a side in transition, Spain came to France with two consecutive European titles behind it.

Source: Wall Street Journal June 27, 2016 19:41 UTC