Euro 2012 finalists Italy initially feared failure at the tournament after a match-fixing scandal and poor form, goalkeeper and captain Gianluigi Buffon said Sunday.
Left-back Domenico Criscito was dropped from Italy’s Euro 2012 squad in May after police visited him at the national team’s training base and officially declared a suspect so-called Calcioscommesse sports betting scandal, while the team lost their three friendlies before the tournament, their worst run in 26 years.
Italy will face Spain in Sunday's final after two fierce strikes from Mario Balotelli gave them a surprise 2-1 semifinal win over Germany.
"We came here with lots of non-football related problems, and also the friendlies we played during our preparation went pretty badly," Buffon said on the UEFA website.
"So that's why we were a bit afraid of playing a bad tournament. But along with the coach we managed to find the right atmosphere within the team, so we could make it here."
Italy’s only European championship title came on their first appearance in 1968, when the then-hosts beat Yugoslavia 2-0 in a replay after the first final ended 1-1.
Since then they have reached the final once more, losing to France 2-1 in the Euro 2000 final thanks to David Trezeguet's golden goal.
Spain are seeking to become the first team to win two consecutive European championship titles, but have only beaten Italy once at a major tournament, on penalties in 2008.
