Diamanti expects attacking England

Italy forward Alessandro Diamanti expects his team’s Euro 2012 quarter-final against England to be an open and attractive affair.

The 29-year-old attacker has admitted England pose a bigger challenge than the Republic of Ireland did in the group stages, but insisted Italy would be well prepared.

“The England game will be a fantastic match. I think it’s a fascinating game between two great nations. It will be an open encounter and an attractive one,” Diamanti said.

“It will certainly be a lot harder than the Ireland match, because though (Giovanni) Trapattoni’s side are physically strong, England have players with greater technique and experience.

“They have a lot of great players in their side, starting with (Steven) Gerrard, then (Scott) Parker, (Theo) Walcott and (Wayne) Rooney.

“I haven’t watched many of their games, apart from the last one, but in the next few days we will do our research.

“We are working very hard and we’re hoping to go all the way. We are putting everything into it as we do every match.”