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Goals from Antonio Cassano and Mario Balotelli sent Italy into the quarter-finals of Euro 2012 with a 2-0 win against Republic of Ireland at Stadion Miejski in Poznan.

Cassano headed home from an Andrea Pirlo corner on 35 minutes, before Balotelli volleyed a brilliant second on 90 minutes.

The Azzurri qualified second from Group C after Spain beat Croatia 1-0 in the other Group C match. There was a nervous wait at the end as the final seconds ticked down in Gdansk, where a Croatian equaliser would have sent Italy home.

Giovanni Trapattoni's Ireland produced their best performance of the tournament, but were still well beaten and exit the tournament with three defeats from as many games. Keith Andrews was sent off late on, picking up a second yellow card for dissent.

Italy coach Cesare Prandelli made a radical tactical shift, abandoning his three-man defence and reverting to a more familiar back four - thereby returning Daniele De Rossi to his preferred midfield station.

Balotelli, still nursing a minor ankle injury, was left on the bench and his replacement Antonio Di Natale had a fine game, linking instinctively with Cassano and looking a constant goal threat.

Trapattoni made a single change, restoring Kevin Doyle at Simon Cox's expense, while making Damien Duff captain to mark his 100th cap.

Despite enduring a miserable tournament on the pitch, the Irish fans were in terrific voice, belting out both nations' anthems and frequently indulging in a geographically accurate version of 'the Poznan'.

And early on, the boys in green fared showed signs of the fine form that saw them qualify in the first place.

Doyle seized on an errant Andrea Pirlo pass and nearly got a shot away, while the Italian box was bombarded with balls in from the flanks.

But Italy established a foothold and became increasingly dominant as the first half progressed.

Cassano crossed low for Di Natale whose low shot was charged down by Richard Dunne, before Sean St Ledger's block of a Di Natale shot brought fervent - though unsuccessful - penalty appeals.

Italy won a cheap corner after Shay Given spilled a Cassano shot, and the Azzurri duly took the lead. Cassano glanced Pirlo's delivery goalwards, Given made half a save and Duff hooked it away from his position on the far post.

However, the officials rightly adjudged the ball to have crossed the line.

That goal moved Italy provisionally top of the group, but they knew events in the other Group C match in Gdansk could take matters out of their hands.

The second half followed the same pattern as the first, as Cassano and Di Natale were denied by some heroic Irish blocks. Di Natale went off on 75 minutes having racked up seven shots, six on target.

Italy suffered a potentially crucial injury when their best defender Giorgio Chiellini went down just before the hour mark - the Italians' body language suggested the Juventus man will not play again in this tournament.

Ireland threatened to break Italian hearts as the second half went on and the Azzurri became nervous. Countless set piece chances came and went, while Andrews tested Gianluigi Buffon with a long shot.

It took the substitute Balotelli to put the result beyond doubt. He met a corner from the Italian right with a sweetly-struck volley on the turn, and Given had no chance.

Balotelli dusted off his customary no-celebration celebration, and Leandro Bonucci put his hand over the striker's mouth as he unleashed a tirade of abuse at someone or something.

As news of the Croatian defeat came through, Italian celebrations began in earnest and they can look forward to a last-eight tie against the winners of Group D - France, England or Ukraine.

Italy and Croatia must wait until the final round of Group C matches to learn their Euro 2012 fate after a 1-1 draw at Poznan's Stadion Miejski.

Juventus midfielder Andrea Pirlo gave Italy the lead on 39 minutes after a spell of dominant play when he swept a delightful free-kick over the Croatian wall and into the net with goalkeeper Stipe Pletikosa beaten low to his right-hand post.

Croatia emerged a lot brighter in the second period and earned a merited point when Mario Mandzukic controlled Ivan Strinic's cross on 72 minutes and smashed the ball high into the goal from close range after central defender Giorgio Chiellini somehow missed the high ball in the heart of his box.

It was Mandzukic's third goal of the finals and leaves him alongside Mario Gomez of Germany and Russia's Alan Dzagoev as the top goalscorer at the tournament.

Croatia top Group C with four points from two games while Italy have two points after two draws, but the Italians will be quietly confident of progressing to the quarter-finals.

If world champions Spain win their final two games of the section against Republic of Ireland tonight and Croatia on Monday, they would go through as group winners with Italy needing a win over Republic of Ireland in their final match to join them.

Croatia remain unbeaten in all four competitive matches against Italy: 2-1 at 2002 World Cup, 2-1 and 1-1 in qualifying for Euro 1996 and now 1-1 at Euro 2012.

Italy have also failed to win any of their past six matches at the European and World Cup finals, but they will not be too displeased with their form having followed up a 1-1 draw against Spain with a diligent performance against a dangerous Croatia side.

Italy certainly enjoyed the better moments in the first period, starting when Mario Balotelli swivelled in the box to slip a shot wide of goal on three minutes before Antonio Cassano screwed an effort past a post ten minutes before half-time.

Pirlo scored the first goal direct from a free-kick at the European Championship finals since 2004 when he struck moments before half-time after Pletikosa made a commendable double save to keep out Claudio Marchisio.

The second period was disrupted by a series of silly fouls while Croatian fans sporadically interrupted the play by throwing on flares, but Croatia - convincing 3-1 winners over Ireland on Sunday evening - were good for their equaliser when it came.

The one worrying incident for manager Slaven Bilic - who departs his post to take over Lokomotiv Moscow after these finals - was the sight of Mandzukic being forced off injured in stoppage time after a strong challenge involving Chiellini.

Croatia will need all of their assets close at hand when they are confronting a Spanish side who will need a win from that match to continue their defence of the tournament they won in 2008.

Italy and Croatia must wait until the final round of Group C matches to learn their Euro 2012 fate after a 1-1 draw in Poznan.

Republic of Ireland face an uphill battle to reach the Euro 2012 quarter-finals after being outclassed 3-1 by Croatia in their Group C opener at the Stadion Miejski in Poznan.

Goals from Mario Mandzukic (3), Nikica Jelavic (43) and an unfortunate Shay Given own goal (48) completed a comfortable win for Slaven Bilic's side, who were easy on the eye for much of the night as they dominated possession. They could probably have won by more against an Irish side who lacked the necessary technique to live with their opponents.

Sean St Ledger headed an equaliser for Ireland on 19 minutes, but their performance lacked any real momentum throughout a sodden night in Poznan with basic defensive mistakes contributing to their downfall despite some wonderful support from their vociferous band of travelling fans.

Giovanni Trapattoni's team must avoid defeat against world and European champions Spain - who drew 1-1 with Italy earlier in the day - on Thursday night if they are to avoid elimination at the group stage.

On this evidence, their final match of the section against Italy on June 18 is likely to be their last game of the tournament.

Ireland had more fans than Croatia among the 43,200 crowd for their first match at the finals of a major tournament since the World Cup in 2002.

There was an air of expectancy for their first match at the European Championship since defeat to the Netherlands in 1988, but the Republic could not have made a poorer start as some sluggish defending was penalised by Mandzukic.

The bright Wolfsburg forward nodded into the net from 12 yards out with Aston Villa goalkeeper Given failing to get back across his line to prevent the ball from spinning beyond him.

It put a dampener on a saturated evening, but there would be brief joy as the Irish equalised with their first real chance of the evening as St Ledger rose deep in the opposition box to plant a header into the net from Aiden McGeady's free-kick.

No team had scored more goals from set-pieces in qualifying than Ireland, but it became painfully obvious the longer the night staggered on that there would be no other way to unsettle the slicker team in blue as Ireland seemed to be left marooned deep in their own half.

Croatia won all three group games at Euro 2008 and have made the quarter-finals in two of their previous three appearances at the Championships. Unlike Ireland, they have a pedigree at such blue-chip events, and a world-class playmaker in Luka Modric, who revelled in picking holes in the Irish defence with his speed of thought.

With opportunities obviously going to be at a premium in open play, Ireland needed to be diligent in defence, but were undone by more self-harm when Stephen Ward panicked in trying to clear a loose ball in his box.

The sliced clearance broke kindly to Jelavic, a figure who scored 11 goals in 16 Premier League matches since leaving Rangers for Everton in January. He produced a deft chip to lift the ball over Given as Croatia headed for half-time leading 2-1.

That became 3-1 when the excellent Mandzukic headed goalwards from Ivan Perisic's cross. The ball hit a post before rebounding back off the diving Given's head to drop into the corner of the net. So much for the luck of the Irish.

Ireland had conceded three goals for the first time at a tournament finals. Despite never lacking their typical smattering of spirit, it was difficult to believe they were not already done for.

Robbie Keane appealed in vain for a penalty when he was tackled from behind on the edge of the box by Gordon Schildenfeld, who was fortunate not to present Ireland with a way back into the match on 62 minutes.

Ivan Rakitic almost added a fourth goal for Croatia on 76 minutes when he curled an effort wide while Keith Andrews headed wide from Damien Duff's corner in five minutes of time added on, but the scoreline hardly flattered Croatia who roll on to a match with Italy in their second Group C outing.

Ireland fans were left to console themselves by doing the Poznan in Poznan.