England and Arsenal midfielder Theo Walcott has said that he believes England can lift the Euro 2012 if they can progress past Italy. England have qualified for the quarter-finals stage of the competition as the group winners following their 1-0 win over Ukraine in the final group game. The 2-0 defeat for France meant that they will be having the toughest match in the group stages because they will face current world champions Spain. England, on the other hand, will be up against 2006 world champions Italy. Theo Walcott reckons that if England produce one of the best performances in recent times against Italy, then they will gain a lot of confidence in the semi-final against either Spain or France.

He has also said that England have not been looking to avoid Spain in the quarter-final stage of the competition. The Spanish have been one of the favourites to win the Euro 2012, but they have been far from the best in the group stages of the competition. As a result, Theo Walcott believes that it will be tough to call between the two teams when they face each other in the quarter-finals. He also says that the same goes for the match between England and Italy.

“Did we want to avoid Spain? I think it doesn’t matter. Every team you come against is going to be challenging. Playing the world champions, the European champions, is always going to be difficult but we will take anyone at this moment in time. The Italians will be tough but we’ve got some great players in that dressing room and I think we can go far. I feel we believe we could beat anyone the way we are playing as well,” Arsenal midfielder Walcott said ahead of the match with Italy.