Spain vs. Italy: Draw Puts Italians in Perfect Position to Advance from Group C

Italy was able to hold off a few late chances by Spain to notch a 1-1 draw, and put itself in a perfect position to advance to the knockout stages of the tournament.

Antonio Di Natale got the Blues on the board in the 60th minute after receiving a perfect pass from Andrea Pirlo and guiding the ball past Iker Casillas into the back of the net.

The Spanish evened the score in the 64th minute when David Silva connected with a streaking Cesc Fabregas, who found the back of the net thanks to Silva's beautiful touch pass to the front of the net.

The score wouldn't change for the rest of the match, which is a great outcome for the Italians, who now have as good a chance as any team in their group to finish in the top two. Spain is the best team in the world, so it's huge for Cesare Prandelli's club to come away with one point.

Consensus expected Spain to take three points here, but now that they haven't, the entire group is still up in the air. With Croatia as the dark horse of the group—highly ranked but not as highly thought of as Italy—the momentum for the Italians is almost as important as the one point.

Now all Italy has to do is win its next two matches against Croatia and Ireland. They won't have to worry about goal differential or head-to-head, all they have to do is string together a couple of victories against clubs that they are capable of beating.

It's no secret that the Spanish were the better team on the pitch today, but that should give more confidence to this underdog Italian team. They know they didn't play their best, but they were still able to tie the best team in the world.

Not only was this game a testament to Italy, it serves as a reminder that Spain is not the unbeatable juggernaut it was once thought to be. Italy could have scored another goal if not for a great save by Casillas in one instance and a mental gaffe by Mario Balotelli in another.

Italy could be in even better shape if Croatia and Ireland play to a tie today. That would mean there would be only a slight chance that they finish in the top two, barring an unforeseen upset loss.

This is the way that Prandelli wanted his club to start off. Well, a win would have been nice, but this result is obviously the second best outcome. Now the Blues can worry about winning their next two matches against inferior opponents.