Udinese and former Italy striker Antonio di Natale said he would retire at the end of the season. The 36-year-old played for Italy 42 times and scored 11 goals before quitting international football after the 2012 European Championship.
Antonio Cassano's first-half header and a spectacular Mario Balotelli volley in the final minute sent Italy through to the Euro 2012 quarter-finals as Group C runners-up after a 2-0 victory over Ireland on Monday.
Spain coach Vicente del Bosque has defended his decision to start without a striker in their 1-1 Euro 2012 draw against Italy and suggested he might use the same tactic for Thursday's Group C clash with Ireland.
Italy emerged from a trough of pre-tournament gloom to slug out a 1-1 draw with holders Spain on Sunday thanks to a performance that suggests they are serious European Championship contenders.
Alessandro Del Piero, almost certainly playing his last home game for Juventus at the age of 37, celebrated with a goal as the Serie A champions beat Atalanta 3-1 on Sunday to finish their campaign unbeaten.
Spain's gamble of starting without a recognised striker almost backfired when the holders needed a Cesc Fabregas equaliser to salvage a 1-1 draw against Italy in their Euro 2012 Group C opener on Sunday.
AC Milan produced a storming comeback with goals by Maxi Lopez and Stephan El Shaarawy to win 2-1 at title rivals Udinese on Saturday and move top of Serie A as their strikers made light of Zlatan Ibrahimovic's absence.
Modest Udinese, whose coach Francesco Guidolin's target this season is to avoid relegation, went top of Serie A on Sunday with a 2-1 win over Chievo while AC Milan were held 2-2 at Bologna.
Antonio Di Natale, last season's Serie A top scorer, grabbed his seventh goal of the campaign to give Udinese a 1-0 win over Palermo and keep them one point behind leaders Juventus on Sunday.
Inter Milan suffered their first defeat in six games under new coach Leonardo when the Serie A champions deservedly lost 3-1 at in-form Udinese on Sunday.
Udinese climbed above Napoli to the top of Serie A, on Sunday, as goals from Mehdi Benatia and Antonio Di Natale gave the Bianconeri a comfortable 2-0 home win over lowly Bologna.
Arsenal teetered on the brink of elimination before coming from behind to win 2-1 at Udinese and qualify for the Champions League for the 14th season in a row on Wednesday.
There are few individual gongs that elude Lionel Messi and he is fast closing in on one that is missing from his trophy cabinet: the European Golden Shoe (www.eurotopfoot.com).
AC Milan warmed up for next week's Champions League clash against Manchester United with a patchy 3-2 home win over Udinese in Serie A on Friday.
He slid the ball into his own net in the 42nd minute just two minutes after the Azzurri had taken the lead.
Sergio Romero saved a penalty and Eder scored with a run from the halfway line as Sampdoria beat Fiorentina 3-1 to go third in Serie A on Sunday.
A beautifully-worked Antonio Di Natale goal saw lowly Udinese beat AC Milan 1-0 in Serie A on Saturday to deal a huge blow to the visitors' prospects of European football next season.
Gonzalo Higuain burst into life by scoring a hat-trick in the final half hour, his first league goals of the season, to help Rafael Benitez's erratic Napoli thrash Verona 6-2 in Serie A on Sunday.
Alessandro Florenzi ran more than half the length of the field to score and cap a 2-0 win for AS Roma over Genoa which took them back into second place in Serie A on Sunday.
Carlos Tevez scored a stunning goal as Serie A leaders Juventus beat Torino 1-0 on Sunday to continue an extraordinary dominance of their neighbours.
Francesco Totti made an instant impact on his return from a buttock injury when he scored one goal and helped set up another in AS Roma's 3-2 Serie A win over Udinese on Monday.
Rising Indian midfielder Manpreet Singh was named the 'Junior Player of the Year' by the Asian Hockey Federation in its Congress held in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
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