Gianluigi Buffon claims Italy have proved they can beat anyone after knocking out Spain.
And he fired a warning to quarter-final opponents Germany that the world champions are next on their hitlist.
The 38-year-old Juventus star, who captains his country, was part of the team thrashed 4-0 by Spain in the final of Euro 2012.
But he helped Italy get their own back with their first competitive win over the Spanish since 1994.
Buffon said: “This result is very important for us. We’ve shown by beating Spain that we can beat world-class teams.
“Germany will have to be even better than we were in this game to beat us. We came here full of confidence because we knew what we could achieve in this tournament. We have nothing to fear from anyone else left in the competition.
“After many years of defeats to Spain, we made up for it. Okay, it was only a round-of-16 tie, but it’s better than nothing.
“There is a long and tortuous road ahead of us and very difficult teams on our path. We cannot yet say that it is a great Euros for Italy, as we’re only in the quarter-finals.
“Having said that, I will not forget that many thought very little of us before the tournament began. We have proved that we were vastly underrated and I am proud of that.”
Italy are a team of few real stars held together by the strict tactical discipline of incoming Chelsea boss Antonio Conte.
Buffon said: “He is an expert tactician and he gets the best out of his players. He is an important coach and we are looking forward to the rest of the tournament now.”
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