On the eve of the UEFA EURO 2008™ quarter-final between the sides in Vienna, Spain defender Carles Puyol paid fulsome tribute to the winning mentality of Italian footballers as he acknowledged that one of the biggest tests of his career lies ahead.

`Absolute maximum`
Excluding Olympic Games, Spain have never beaten the Azzurri in a competitive fixture, yet with David Villa`s goal earning a 1-0 friendly victory over Italy in March and given their form in the group stage – taking maximum points while the Italians struggled initially – the momentum would seem to be with La Furia Roja. As a close friend of former FC Barcelona and Italy midfielder Demetrio Albertini, and a long-standing admirer of Paolo Maldini, Puyol does not expect it to be that simple though, explaining: "I admire the Italian footballing mentality. Every Italian player always plays to his absolute maximum and I love that in sport."

Albertini link
Albertini, now vice-president of the Italian Football Federation, spent a year alongside Puyol at Camp Nou in 2005 and the Barcelona captain revealed that the pair have been in regular contact since Italy booked their last-eight place on Tuesday. "Over the last few days, since we knew who our quarter-final opponents were going to be, I`ve been chatting a fair bit to Albertini because he`s a good pal," the 30-year-old said. "It`s been a mixture of discussing the game and joking about which of us is going out. Beyond trying my best to make sure it`s us in the semi-final, I was happy to wish him good luck."

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