Marchisio talks up Italy´s chances

Claudio Marchisio believes that Italy have what it takes to advance to the knockout stages at Euro 2012.

The Italians are third in Group C with two points from two games, but the Juventus midfielder is hopeful they will beat Republic of Ireland to book their ticket for the quarter-finals.

“Although we’re third, we have a great chance of qualifying. We just need to worry about our own game and what we must do to beat Ireland,” Marchisio told UEFA.com.

“The squad is united. We’ve got a great group here, even if we didn’t manage to win against Spain or Croatia. We’ll try to get through the group by giving it everything we’ve got.

“It won’t be an easy match, even if Ireland are out already, because they are a very gritty side. We played them last summer and it didn’t go well.

“That was a friendly match and our approach will be different this time, as will the result I hope.”