Italy edge past Germany in 2 -1 margin in the second semifinal of EURO 2012 to set up an encounter with Spain in the final on Sunday

            

        Italy edge past Germany in 2 -1 margin in the second semifinal of EURO 2012 at National Stadium Warsaw & swings into the final where they will take on Spain on Sunday. Italy once again proved to be Germany's nemesis after Mario Balotelli struck two handy first-half goals in 19^th & 36th minutes in the other hand  Germany remain failure once again to cross the hurdle of Italy in any kind of major competitive game.

         If we go through the result it might seems that Germany fought equally & lost a close match but that was a different story in real, according to the chances Azzuris created throughout the game, if they became successful to convert half of them then they should win the game in half dozen margin & could be a shame for this German side.

          Joachim Low's side came into the semi-final full of confidence having swept all before them in Poland and Ukraine, but perhaps lingering at the back of their minds was the fact that Germany had never beaten the Azzurri in seven competitive meetings. That tally is now eight after Italy produced a wonderfully measured performance with Manchester City man Balotelli at its heart.
           The entire dynamic approach of this youth German side have been completely neutralized & rinsed by the strategy of Cesare Prandelli also found Mario Balotelli  in clinical form. The striker headed his side in front midway through the opening period and doubled the advantage nine minutes before half-time.
          In the early stages of the game, Andrea Pirlo's torso stopped Mats Hummels giving Germany the lead, and then Andrea Barzagli watched helplessly as Gianluigi Buffon's parry ricocheted off him and just past the post. Italy soon found their stride, though.
         In the 19th minute, Pirlo, ever the instigator, swung the ball out to left-back Giorgio Chiellini who fed Cassano. The No10 tricked Hummels and delivered an inviting cross. With the door was wide open Balotelli merely needed to put his head on it as it flashed past Neuer. It was Italy's first UEFA European Championship semi-final goal on their fourth appearance. The new AC Milan recruit Montolivo sent a through ball to Balotelli once again over the top of evading German captain Philipp Lahm who tried to trap Baloteeli in an offside trap but Balotelli sped away to rifle a shot into the top corner of the post in the 36^th minutes, Manuel Neuer didn’t have anything to do apart from watching the ball.

        The Manchester City man was booked for ripping his shirt off  in a passionate celebration, but there were no such signs of desire from Germany, who were showing none of the verve from their entertaining win over Greece in the previous round.

         German coach Joachim Loew introduced Marco Reus and Miroslav Klose in the beginning minutes of the second half, Reus's first involvement was an effort on goal and then Lahm could only lift his shot over when well placed. Ozil got to the byline, but Khedira got in a tangle.
          Buffon's fingertips just did enough to send a Reus free-kick on to the bar and away to safety, yet Balotelli was still a menace at the other end and Claudio Marchisio nearly made it three on two occasions. As German belief ebbed away, Antonio Di Natale had a clean run on goal only to fire wide.

         Mesul Ozil finally scored a consolation goal from the spot for his side in the dying minutes of second half while Balzaretti handled the ball inside the box & the French referee aimed towards the spot but it merely offered forlorn hope. However, there was nothing left from Low's side despite an even later surge forward, giving Italy a nervy, but deserved victory and setting up a second meeting with Spain in this European Championship.

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Epical battle between Germany & Italy in the 2nd semifinal of EURO 2012

                
           Regarding their current side Germany are the big favourites in the second semifinal encounter of EURO 2012 against Italy at National Stadium in Warshw tonight. But we have to remember that Italy have never lost to Germany in any kind of big competitions, lasttime these two European giants met in the semi stage of the World Cup 2006 in German soil where the homeside had to concede a defeat in front of their homecrowd & Italy became through to their way towards fourth World Championship triumph.
             Yes, this is not Italy 2006 edition (vintage, brilliant, organized) but it is also not Italy 2010 edition (poor, slow, lacking attacking prowess). This Italy team is somewhere in between. Italy are injured, and though they controlled the game for long spells against England, they lacked the cutting edge.
             German coach Joachim Loew has shown the luxury of dropping three of his first eleven players in the quarter final match against Greece. Although Germany have never beaten Italy in a competitive game, I think it’s important to point out here that the only side the Azzurri has completely dominated in Euro 2012 has been the Republic of Ireland—a side many think shouldn’t have been in the tournament.
             Italy have not lost in the tournament yet either, with 1-1 draws against Spain and Croatia and a penalty-kick shootout win over England on Sunday, but the Italians will surely be put to the test in Warsaw against a very deep and very motivated German squad.
            Against England, Andrea Pirlo (Juventus) played a superb game for La Nazzionale, which completely dominated time of possession and shots in the match.

            Goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon (Juventus) has allowed just three goals in four matches so far—one coming on a penalty kick—and has been his usual incredible self for Italy. And if you ever wondered how Juventus went so long last season without losing a game in Series A and bested AC Milan.
           This is going to be a battle between renowned Italian defence & renowned German forwardline, Germans have some quality mix of youth & vintage players in the forwardline. They can outrun any side by their pace within 90 minutes. German side have the player like Lukas Pododloski who also have scored 100^th goals for his country in the age of 27 only, Thomas Muller who is known for his pace, hitman Mario Gomez who have an accuracy of scoring & the vintage Miroslav Klose, who is full of experience knows his duty very well.
          German side also have some speedy midfielders like Mesut Ozil, Sami Khedira, Bastin Schweinsteiger & they also have a very good & handy captain like Philip Lahm who might play in the right back position but always lead his team from the front, showed his utility in the German side by breaking the deadlock against Greece in the quarter stage.
         German side only have few defensive problems because all of their defender often leave for the upfront instead of covering their own arena even if we watch throughout the tournament we often saw that goalkeeper Manuel Neuer have the knack of playing with the opponent forwards, sometimes he tries to come nearby the centre line even.
       Joachim Loew only will face the problem of selecting first eleven regarding whom should he keep in bench & whom should be in playing eleven from the beginning, he has one injury problem regarding Bastin Schweinsteiger who has an ankle injury since February 2012 & still now suffering from that.
         Whatever its going to be an epic semifinal the match of the tournament between two exciting, dynamic sides that will determine the rightful finalist & possibly the ultimate winner of these European Championship.

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Champions luck guided Spain towards the final of EURO 2012

             
Cesc Fabregas put the final nail in the Portugese coffin in Spain’s 4-2 penalty shoot-out win over Portugal following a goalless draw in scheduled 90 minutes & added 30 minutes in the first semifinal of the EURO 2012 at Donbass Arena, Donetsk lastnight, setup an encounter for the grand finale with either Germany or Italy in Kiev on 1^st July. Back to back three major finals for Spain, if they can win it they would be the first team in the history to bag the back to back UEFA title following their win in 2008, also they will hold the record of winning back to back three major titles in world football history including FIFA world cup win of 2010.

          It has to be told few poor decisions & poor team selections of Spanish coach Vincente Del Bosque push the match towards tie-breaker, when experts were thinking that Del Bosque will start with the best eleven then he had shown the daringness of putting Fernando Torres & Cesc Fabregas in the reserve bench at a time, Vincente Del Bosque shows the luxury of not using his number one striker Fernando Torres throughout the entire game even not as a substitute also. It is not clear yet why did he bring Pedro & Jesus Navas ahead instead of Fernando Torres. Del Bosque had hoped to pose Portugal centre-backs Pepe and Bruno Alves a more physical conundrum, yet a bluntness was taking hold whenever his team moved forward, from there only the champions luck guide Spain towards the final of the EURO 2012.
         Just before the pre-match session all the hopes of Portugese side were revolving around Real Madrid superstar Cristano Ronaldo, regarding his match winning ability comparison going on everywhere with the Argentine sensation Lionel Messi, Ronaldo himself could put the curtain forever in this issue by guiding his side towards a memorable victory in here, but he became as usual in-vain in mega-event in here once again, even he hesitated to take the shot in the penalty shoot-out also.

         It has to be told once again that genuine opportunities were quickly draining from the game. Ronaldo was unable to trouble Casillas with a trio of free-kicks before his best chance – the chance to settle the contest in normal time – came in the final minute. Raul Meireles broke through the middle and there, unmarked to his left, was his colleague. With Del Bosque surely fearing a missile into the top corner, Ronaldo sliced high and wide.

        That miss was responsible to take the match into extra time and Rui Patricio made the first notable save of the evening when he sprawled left to deny Iniesta at point-blank range following Jordi Alba's cut-back. The Portugese goalkeeper also had to move quickly to his right to thwart Navas in the second period. The deadlock was not broken even after the end of 120 minutes guided the match towards the penalty shoot-out.

        Amazingly Iker Casillas won both of the tosses of choosing the corner of the ground & who will take the penalty first. Both teams got off to the worst start possible as Patricio and Casillas both saved from Alonso and Moutinho respectively. Iniesta, Pepe, Pique, Nani and Ramos all scored - including a 'Panenka' from the latter - before Bruno Alves hit the bar to make the score 3-2 to Spain after four spot-kicks each. It offered Fabregas the chance to book their spot in the final and he obliged & sealed the game scoring via post.

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First semifinal of EURO 2012, Spain vs Portugal

   
       Old enemies and local rivals Portugal and Spain face each other in Euro 2012’s first semi-final at the Donbass Arena in Donetsk on Wednesday evening 27 June 2012(28^th June 12-15am IST). Portugal have never won this tournament before but Spain are the current holders following their triumph last time out in 2008. Spain also won it the second time it was held, back in 1964.
          Peoples are thinking that is going to be an unequivalent battle between a team full of eleven superstars & one man army Portugal side. But regarding the performances of few other good players like Nani, Postiga in this current EURO the battle of the Iberian peninsula should be a good between them. Spain, the best team in Europe, the obvious favourites. From a fantasy footballing perspective, it’s a dream to see play players like Xavi and Iniesta in a same side though Jordi Alba has also proven his utility in the La Furia Roja side in this tournament.
        There is a classic debate in Vincente Desl Bosque side regarding Fabregas vs Torres, no one knows which one will start from the beginning, which makes their selection a bit dangerous. Perhaps Fabregas will keep his place in the famed 4-6-0 lineup leaving Torres to make another substitute appearance latter. Torres did start two group games and does have two goals in the tournament, however…
        Portugal, of course, rely heavily on Real Madrid superstar Christano Ronaldo as he comes up against a number of his Real Madrid colleagues in this Spanish team. Golden opportunity for him to bring a conclusion on that debate that who is superior Messi or he. Not much more needs to be looked at than that. Meireles and Moutinho are affordable midfield selections who could burst forward but they won’t see much of the ball against Spain.

     Portugal were the first team to advance to the semi-finals – following their 1-0 win against Czech Republic on Thursday , now Paulo Bento is hoping the extra two days rest over Spain will be an added advantage for them. But the question how much they will occupy the possession of ball in that Spanish side.

   The Spanish armada have beaten France in the quarter stage by a clear 2-0 margin in the third quarter final on 23^rd June keeping immense dominance throughout the entire match. Only Vicente del Bosque is quite worried about the fatigue & tiredness factor just before the semis against Portugese side.

    Spain and Portugal met two years ago in the first knock-out round of the 2010 World Cup in South Africa. Then, a solitary second-half goal from David Villa saw Spain through to the quarter-finals. Spain, of course, went on to win the tournament.

       If we go through the previous records Spain have won most of the matches they played against Portugal. In their previous 35 encounters, Spain have won 17 times  while Portugal managed to win 6 times amongst them & 12 matches remain draw. Only twice they met in UEFA cup before, wayback 1984 they finished in an 1 all draw & in recent time in 2004 Portugal won the match in 1-0 margin.

Spain’s Route to the Semi-Finals

Tournament favourites and reigning world champions Spain continued their charge in the quarter-finals in what looked on paper like a tough match against France, but which ended up being a disappointing event as the French never really got into their stride. A first half header and a last-minute penalty, both from Xabi Alonso, sealed the 2-0 win.

In the group stages, Spain could only draw their opening game against Italy but rallied to demolish Ireland 4-0 in the second game. And they needed a late winner from Jesus Navas to win the final match against Croatia.

Portugal’s Route to the Semi-Finals

Any doubts that Portugal’s captain Ronaldo was now back to form after a poor performance in the first two group games were laid to rest as he tore through the Czech Republic defence in the quarter finals. True, they only won 1-0, but Ronaldo got that goal and the scoreline did not reflect the Portuguese domination of the game.

Portugal lost their opening group game 1-0 to Germany but then won a five-goal thriller 3-2 against Denmark. They fell behind to the Netherlands after 11 minutes, but Ronaldo rescued the day with a brace, one in each half. Portugal came second in the group, three points behind Germany.

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