UEFA Final Match Spain vs. Italy

Spain and Italy will contest the 2012 edition of the European Championships Final after they won their respective semifinals against Portugal and Germany.

While Spain needed a penalty shootout after a 0-0 draw to progress to the final in Kyiv on Sunday, Italy made for impressive viewing as they dismantled Germany, taking a 2-0 lead before a late penalty halved the deficit.

The last two winners of the FIFA World Cup should put on an entertaining spectacle, as Spain bid to become the first team to retain the Euros and also win three major tournaments on the spin.

Here are five key battles which could shape the result of the match, and ultimately decide the winner.

Having already crossed paths in the group stage, Vicente del Bosque of Spain and Cesari Prandelli of Italy will be plotting their tactical routes to glory between now and Sunday.

The group stage match finished 1-1, offering little insight as to who might be the stronger outfit now.

Del Bosque has switched between playing a central striker and playing a false nine and must decide on who to start in that position for the final, with the only other possible change being to replace David Silva with either Pedro Rodriguez or Jesus Navas.

Italy have more decisions to make, with the right-back issue to be decided upon and, by association, whether to partner Chiellini with Barzagli, or leave Bonucci in there with the latter.

Timing and tactical changes with substitutions will also play a big part no doubt, with a possibly cagey affair in the final meaning that one mistake or piece of inspiration could be the difference between failure and glory.

It should be a thoroughly intriguing final which awaits us.

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Spain beats Portugal in penalty shootout

DONETSK, Ukraine -- Still not pretty to watch, still just as effective.

Spain again failed to dazzle at the European Championship yet still advanced to its third straight major championship final, beating Portugal, 4-2, in a penalty shootout Wednesday following a scoreless draw after extra time.

"We're playing better in defense than what the characteristics of our players would suggest," Spain coach Vicente del Bosque said. "That's what earns victories." After earning plaudits for the eye-catching one-touch passing that helped Spain win titles at Euro 2008 and the 2010 World Cup, this year's team is struggling to create chances. Against Portugal, the defending champions managed only one quality shot in regulation time.




It didn't matter, though, because the Spanish still came through when it mattered. Cesc Fabregas, who came on as a substitute in the second half, scored the deciding penalty after Bruno Alves hit the crossbar for Portugal moments earlier.

"I played poorly, but the team worked really hard," Fabregas said. "I had this intuition that we could advance if we went to penalties and that's what we did."

Spain will next face either Germany or Italy on Sunday in Kiev. "Being in another final is a miracle," Fabregas said. "It's really incredible."

Cristiano Ronaldo had several chances for Portugal, but he sent three shots well over the crossbar as his team held its own for the entire match. The Real Madrid star, who came alive with three goals in his last two matches at the tournament, did not take a penalty in the shootout. He had been slated to take the fifth one, but it never got that far. "Our players trained and were prepared for a situation like this," Portugal coach Paulo Bento said. "We didn't have much luck."

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Can anyone stop Spain?

 Can anyone stop Spain? After winning the UEFA Euro 2008 and the 2010 World Cup, Spain looks poised to win their third straight major international tournament and cement the place in history as the greatest national team of all-time.
Spain has been playing in their typical Spanish style; steady as a rock. Aside from a 4-0 thrashing they dished out to a weak Irish squad, Spain has muddied along with a 1-1 tie against Italy and a 1-0 win against Croatia before defeating France 2-0 in the quarterfinals.
Meeting Spain in the semifinals is Portugal. After slipping 0-1 to Germany in their opening match; Portugal has been a runaway freight train. The Portuguese squad has won three straight, including wins over Denmark (3-2) and Netherlands (2-1) in the group stage and Czech Republic (1-0) in the quarterfinals.
Spain will be the clear cut favorite in the semifinals. As defending Euro and World Cup champs, they have earned the right to be called "world's best" until they can be defeated. But one can't help but think that perhaps now is Portugal's time. After many disappointing performances in recent major tournaments, this might be their time to breakthrough and make their mark on the world stage.
Here is the information you need to know for the first semifinal match between Spain and Portugal:

Event: UEFA Euro 2012 Semifinals
Stadium: Donbass Arena - Donetsk, Ukraine
Date: Wednesday, June 28
Time: 2:45 AM GMT(+8:00)
Teams: Spanish National Team vs. Portuguese National Team
Winner: Advances to the finals to face the winner of the Germany-Italy semifinal match




Semifinal 2 - Germany vs. Italy
Germany is on a roll. After dominating the group stage with impressive wins over Portugal (1-0), Netherlands (2-1) and Denmark (2-1), the Germans took their play to a whole other level by crushing a feisty Greece squad 4-2 in the quarterfinal round.
Waiting Germany in the semifinal round is Italy. The Italians have had a tougher time making it this far in the tournament. Italy tied both Spain and Croatia with 1-1 scores and beat a hapless Irish team 2-0 to advance to the knockout stage. In their quarterfinal against England, Italy played well but needed to come from behind in PKs to advance onward.
Germany will be the clear favorite in this match, but Italy will be tricky. Expect the Italians to sit back and play a ball-controlling style to counter the impressive team speed of Germany. Even if Italy plays well, it is hard to imagine anything but a Germany - Spain final.
Here is the information you need to know for the second semifinal match between Germany and Italy:
Event: UEFA Euro 2012 Semifinals
Stadium: National Stadium - Warsaw, Poland
Date: Thursday, June 29
Time: 2:45 AM GMT(+8:00)
Teams: German National Team vs. Italian National Team
Winner: Advances to the finals to face the winner of the Spain-Portugal semifinal match

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Spain Vs. France, UEFA Euro 2012 Quarterfinals: A Few Thoughts

The Spanish juggernaut continued cruising (as the commentators on ESPN noted: "it looked like they were only in 2nd gear") towards a berth in the finals for the second consecutive time in the European Championships, dispatching France 2-0 yesterday evening. Much thoroughly deserved praise was lavished on Xabi Alonso who celebrated his 100th cap for Spain by recording a brace and being absolutely dominant throughout the match. According to Zonal Marking, Xabi completed 97 of his 108 attempted passes, on this particular evening outshining his more celebrated midfield mates in the glare of the spotlight. Sergio Ramos was also excellent (in the fleeting moments he had to be) and should be singled-out for his performance yesterday. Spain were obviously a level beyond the French side, but still I have to question Laurent Blanc's approach. Join me after the jump.

Obviously any side in world football has to respect Spain's talent, experience and stature as reigning world and European champions, but, in my view, there is a distinction between respect and fear (and self-defeat for that matter). The buzz leading up to the match was that Blanc openly vowed to a adopt a conservative, defense-first mindset and approach the quarterfinal clash with an overtly defensive line-up and tactical plan. Some nations would have no choice but to approach a match with Spain in this matter, lacking the quality and resources to even consider another gameplan, let-alone an ambitious or open one. But France, at least on paper, did not appear to be one of those nations. Laurent Blanc's team is filled with an exciting new generation of rising stars such as Yohan Cabaye, Yann M'Vila, Samir Nasri and Real Madrid's Karim Benzema. Players that helped Les Bleus enter the tournament on a 23 match unbeaten run, and whom some favored as a darkhorse team capable of winning the entire tournament. I was waiting to see an interesting battle between sides oozing with beautiful, creative football talent, a battle that was short-circuited by Blanc at the outset and sadly never materialized. The French manager's approach seemed self-defeating and went far past caution and respect for Spain and into fear and paralysis that crippled his young team's psyche. I guess this could (and maybe should) be viewed as a subliminal commentary on the level of psychological dominance exerted by this generation of Spanish players on the rest of the world's footballing nations.

I'm a huge Benzema fan, but if we're all being honest he was very disappointing in this tournament. Samir Nasri is apparently the most pointlessly angry and aggrieved human being on planet Earth and was either dropped due to the defensive nature of the tactical approach or for his sorry, belligerent crusade against French journalists; most likely a little of both. Even conceding that neither man was exactly in top-form, Blanc still had their considerable talents at his disposal--not to mention those of Franck Ribery and others already mentioned like Cabaye. Why he decided to essentially forgo the adoption of any sort of offensive thrust, creativity or ambition in his approach was baffling, disappointing, and, quite frankly, sad.

I'm going to sign off with some words from Alou Diarra, who openly questioned his country's approach to yesterday's match, saying:

"Well, we should obviously consider who were we playing against, a team that is very good at attacking so we needed to be stronger at the back but without forgetting that we needed to attack as well. We needed to find that balance and we didn't do it in the end. It's disappointing to be out of the Euros, we played against a team which was better than us, individually and collectively. It's still a shame because I feel that in the second half there was still a lot to play for and to pose them problems but that's how it goes sometimes."

source: anagingmadrid.com/2012/6/24/3114572/spain-vs-france-uefa-euro-2012-quarterfinals-a-few-thoughts

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UEFA Euro 2012 Group Stage: Biggest Surprise And Biggest Disappointment

The Euro 2012 has provided no shortage of entertainment this month with several thrilling matches in a group stage that saw teams like Germany, England, Italy and Spain advance to the next round.
Not surprisingly, viewership is up 82 percent in U.S. from four years ago as we enter the knockout stage of the tournament this afternoon. But in the off chance you didn’t watch any of the group stage here’s the tournament's biggest surprise and biggest disappointment (so far).

Biggest surprise: England.

 

The Three Lions went into the tournament with tons of questions about their players and their manager Roy Hodgson. After besting Sweden and the Ukraine and coming up even with France, those questions have dissipated.

In doing so, England won its group -- thereby avoiding any matchups against Spain or Germany until the finals -- and for the first time since 1996, went unbeaten in the group stage.

Injuries to regulars Frank Lampard, Gary Cahill and a two-match suspension to Wayne Rooney (and the semi-shocking omission of Rio Ferdinand) figured to weigh down England in this tournament.

Instead, they’ve found success with their young players and team captain Steven Gerrard who has proved consistently dangerous in his crosses. Danny Welbeck, Theo Walcott and Joe Hart have played exceptionally well thus far and Rooney scored a goal in his first game back indicating the best may yet lie ahead for the Three Lions.

They face a tough quarterfinal opponent in Italy. But if they can get by the Azzurri, England has a legitimate chance to make the finals for the first time and may even have the talent to be the champions of Europe. Hey, if Greece could win it all in 2004…
Biggest disappointment: The Netherlands.

After losing the 2010 World Cup finals, the Netherlands managed to bounce back -- after all, they (briefly) gained the no. 1 ranking in the FIFA World Rankings and trounced their opponents in Euro 2012 qualifiers.

Now, one wonders how they will bounce back after being eliminated from this tournament without a single point.

Losing all three matches was bad enough. But to do so with such little display of heart from players had to be particularly painful for Oranje supporters.

Yes, they were in the “Group of Death” with Germany and Portugal. But even then, this was mostly the same team from the World Cup run (with the noticeable exception of Giovanni van Bronckhorst) that knocked off Brazil, Uruguay and had chances to defeat Spain.

Barring the possibility of a mole on the team, the Dutch can mostly fault a very porous and inexperienced defense (Jetro Williams and Gregory van der Wiel were consistently outplayed) for its disastrous showing. But, with few exceptions, the Dutch attack lacked the creativity that has been the trademark for the country that introduced the world to Total Football.

Arjen Robben, Robin van Persie and Wesley Sneijder all had chances to put their team ahead in matches time after time. But the trio combined for just one goal.

Where Holland goes from here is anyone’s guess.  Manager Bert van Marwijk just signed an extension through 2016, but after this showing, it’s very up in the air if he’ll ever coach another match at the national level.

This team is simply too talented to have fallen so flat, and it will be a very long summer for the Oranje to dwell on this failure.

source: neontommy.com/news/2012/06/uefa-euro-2012-group-stage-biggest-surprise-and-biggest-disappoinment

 

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UEFA launches fresh racism investigation against Croatia after fan incidents during Spain game

WARSAW, Poland - Croatia is facing a second charge over the racist behaviour of its fans after UEFA launched a new investigation against the country's football federation following crowd incidents during a European Championship match.

The proceedings relate to "the improper conduct of supporters (display of racist banners and symbols)" during Monday's Group C match against Spain in Gdansk, UEFA said Wednesday

UEFA is also investigating "the setting-off and throwing of fireworks" by Croatia fans and the "improper conduct of the team," which had six players booked during the 1-0 loss.

The new probe was opened by UEFA only a day after it fined the Croatian FA €80,000 ($101,000) for its supporters' racist abuse of Italy forward Mario Balotelli in the team's second match at Euro 2012. Stadium monitors showed 300 Croatia fans making monkey noises at Balotelli, who is black.

The association was also fined €25,000 ($31,500) last week for its fans' behaviour at an earlier match against Ireland.

Croatia was eliminated from Euro 2012 after finishing third in its group.

UEFA's disciplinary body will deal with the new case on Sunday.

UEFA President Michel Platini said at a media briefing on Monday that the poor behaviour of Croatian fans had soured an otherwise impressive tournament in Poland and Ukraine.

After saying he was "not happy with the Croatian people," Platini described the atmosphere at Euro 2012 stadiums as "99 per cent great. The people who come to the stadiums, they were nice, except some Croatians."

Croatia's games against Ireland and Italy were both delayed to clear fireworks and smoke from the field after goals by the Croatians.

On Sunday, Croatia coach Slaven Bilic defended his country's image after UEFA announced its first racism charge against the federation.

"We are not a racist country and that's why we are so angry with these couple of crazy supporters," Bilic said.

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Euro 2012: Reasons Why Spain Will Ease Past the French

From the match of France against Sweden, the French defense looked suspiciously weak. The very nature of the French fullbacks means they’ll look to get forward at every opportunity. But it did not worked from the past  match from Sweden.  Philippe Mexes and Adil Rami look disjointed at best when they're under pressure.Rami, in particular, looks like he needs time to think about what he's got to do before he does it.Against the Spanish, France will need to be more defensively sound than they were tonight.

No disrespect, but Sweden aren't Spain.However, they ripped the French defence apart at times tonight. If that happens on Saturday against Spain, Les Blues could be looking at a very heavy defeat.

The Spanish midfield is so good that players like Cesc Fabregas,Sergio Busquets and Xabi Alonso aren't even guaranteed spots in the starting 11.

From front to back, every member of the Spanish team is comfortable with the ball at their feet.

Make no mistake, they'll dominate possession against France.

The French will have to work very hard to get and keep the ball from Spain on Saturday.

Judging by their performance against Sweden tonight, France are going to struggle quite badly.

They looked second-best throughout and were soundly beaten—and that's against a team that are nowhere near the level of Spain.

The Spanish will be overwhelming favourites to progress, regardless of how long it takes.

They'll remain patient and pass the French into submission before they get their just rewards.

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UEFA EUROPE 2012 Updates | Spain Win Over Croatia 1-0

GDANSK, Poland (AP) — Unconvincing as it was, it was still enough for Spain.

The defending champions advanced to the quarterfinals of the European Championship on Monday, getting an 88th-minute goal from substitute Jesus Navas in a 1-0 win over Croatia. Spain dominated possession as expected but failed to create many clear opportunities at the Arena Gdansk. And on the other end, Spain goalkeeper Iker Casillas needed to make a pair of clutch saves in the second half to bail out the world champions. 

"It was a question of believing in what we are doing," said Spain midfielder Andres Iniesta, who flicked a short pass to Navas for the deciding goal. Spain, which is trying to win its third straight major title, will next face the second-place team in Group D on Saturday in Donetsk, Ukraine. Italy also advanced from Group C after beating Ireland 2-0.

"We made a great step forward. We qualified. That's what motivates us for the quarterfinal. Our philosophy and style of play are good and we proved it in today's match," Del Bosque said. "The team played well even though the match didn't go as we planned."

After wasting a number of late chances, Spain finally broke open the Croatia defense when substitute Cesc Fabregas lobbed a through ball for Iniesta. The Barcelona midfielder then passed to Navas, who put his shot into the roof of the empty net.

"We played to the end and we deserved the win," said Navas, who scored his second career goal for Spain. Croatia coach Slaven Bilic, who is stepping down from the team following its elimination, wasn't convinced that Spain can win the European title again.

"I don't see them as big favorites," Bilic said. "There are some other teams that have more pace and they are more hungry to win and maybe more aggressive on the pitch than Spain team." Navas' goal came moments after Iniesta and Fabregas failed to convert late opportunities, with the European champions often trying to string together one too many passes.

"We suffered a lot tonight. They are very good," Iniesta said. "We had to be patient. We had to wait for our chance. That's what we did in the end." Croatia could have reached the quarterfinals with a victory — or a draw depending on the score. Casillas, however, made a reflex save on Ivan Rakitic's header in the 59th minute and then punched out substitute Ivan Perisic's low volley in the 79th.

Casillas, who recorded his 76th shutout in his 134th appearance, was Spain's steadiest player in defense as the backline was often troubled in the second half by balls into the box. Spain appeared to be more hesitant than against Ireland, but more attacking than against Italy, which held it to a 1-1 draw.

The Spanish defense also did well to shut down Croatia striker Mario Mandzukic, who scored three goals in the team's first two matches.

Lineups:

Croatia: Stipe Pletikosa; Ivan Strinic, Vedran Corluka, Gordon Schildenfeld, Domagoj Vida (Nikica Jelavic, 66); Danijel Pranjic, Ivan Rakitic, Ognjen Vukojevic (Eduardo, 81), Luka Modric, Darijo Srna (Ivan Perisic, 66); Mario Mandzukic.

Spain: Iker Casillas; Sergio Ramos, Gerard Pique, Jordi Alba, Alvaro Arbeloa; Sergio Busquets, Xabi Alonso, Xavi Hernandez (Alvaro Negredo, 89), Andres Iniesta, David Silva (Cesc Fabregas, 73); Fernando Torres (Jesus Navas, 61).

source: mail.com/int/sports/soccer/1370980-spain-beats-croatia-1-0-advances-euro-2012.html#.1370602-stage-related1-5

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UEFA EURO 2012 | ITALY VS. IRELAND WHO WILL ADVANCE

UEFA EURO 2012 | ITALY VS. IRELAND WHO WILL ADVANCE? Match starts at 2:45 AM GMT +8:00

Ireland’s 7 losses against Italy are enough to fuel the Irish fire and reclaim their lost honour and glory. Drawing inspiration from Jack Charlton, Ireland is set to grab victory. As a matter of fact, Ireland got the upper-hand during their last three (3) matches. These wins foretell that Ireland shall not be kind to Italy during its EURO matchup this June 19.

Meanwhile, Italy’s Azurri is serious in taking the crown back. The Italian squad is hungry for yet another title. It has been years since they won the EURO Championship title in 1968 and after making two (2) semi-final appearances, Italy would never let Ireland get into their way.

Will Italy make it to the finals or will Ireland put a stop into Italy’s quest for victory?

THE NUMBERS

• Total previous matches: 6
• Italy – 7 Wins
• Republic of Ireland – 2 Wins
• 2 Draw
• Previous EURO Head to Head Matches
• None

Italy must tackle three points in their final Group C match cons of Ireland. Series or lose, Gli Azzurri have to return home. In fact, any win, Italy may not be able to qualify for the quarter-finals. Italy has always followed the Euro or World Cup event since 1992, they have never been absent until now. While Ireland's Euro 2012 is the first event they qualify for the EURO group stage since making his debut in 1988. In 1988, Ireland had beaten England, but they did not qualify from group stage after a series against the Soviet Union and the defeat of theNetherlands.

Italy's record of 11 so far is 7x Irish victory, 2x serial, and 2x less.

Of the six official matches of both teams, Italy won 3 games, 2x serial, 1x and losing.

This is the first time for Ireland's success to the group stage since making his debut at EURO 1988. In 1988, Ireland had beaten England, but they did not qualify from group stage after a series against the Soviet Union and the defeat of the Netherlands.

Italy is currently ranked the 12th FIFA World Ranking, while Ireland was ranked the 18th FIFA World Ranking.

PREVIOUS MATCHES

ITALY	IRELAND
June 14, 2012: Italy 1-1 Croatia (EURO 2012)	June 15, 2012: Spain 4-0 Ireland (EURO 2012)
June 10, 2012: Spain 1-1 Italy (EURO 2012)	June 11, 2012: Ireland 1-3 Croatia (EURO 2012)
June 2, 2012: Italy 0-3 Russia (Friendly Match)	June 5, 2012: Hungary 0-0 Ireland (Friendly Match)
March 1, 2012: Italy 0-1 USA (Friendly Match)	May 26, 2012: Ireland 1-0 Bosnia-Herzegovina (Friendly Match)
November 16, 2011: Italy 0-1 Uruguay (Friendly Match)	March 1, 2012: Ireland 1-1 Czech Rep. (Friendly Match)

POSSIBLE LINEUPS

Buffon

Bonucci - Barzagli - Chiellini

Maggio - Marchisio - Pirlo - De Rossi - Balzaretti

Cassano - Di Natale

Coach: Cesare Prandelli (Italy)

Ireland:

Given

O'Shea - Ledger - Dunne - Ward

Duff - Andrews - Whelan - McGeady

Cox - Keane

Coach: Giovanni Trapattoni (Italy)

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Ukraine Aims to Impress Home Crowd versus France

UKRAINE	Tournament Statistics (as of June 15, 2012)		FRANCE
2	Goals Scored		1
5	Attempts On Target		15
8	Attempts Off Target		4
3	Corners		11
12	Fouls Committed		9
0	Yellow Cards		0
0	Red Cards		0
PREDICTED STARTING LINEUPS
Ukraine (3-5-2)		Pyatov; Selin, Khacheridi, Mykhalyk; Tymoschuk, Gusev, Yarmolenko, Nazarenko, Konoplyanka; Shevchenko, Voronin
France (4-2-3-1)		Lloris; Evra, Méxes, Rami, Debuchy; Diarra, M’Vila; Ribéry, Nasri, Valbuena; Benzema

Date: June 16, 2012

Time: 12:00 AM (GMT +8:00)

DONETSK: Group D is expected to undergo a tremendous turn of events as France returns to Donbass to face host Ukraine on home advantage. France is stuck in a 1-1 draw versus England, a record that calls for better winning resolve from Les Bleus. Ukraine, on the other hand, currently tops Group D after they trounced Sweden before an energetic home crowd at 2-1.

Ukraine must repeat their feat against Sweden in order to get past through France – an international favorite to win Group D. If not, their chances of winning the group stage can be ruined, especially when they face England in their final group match.

Previous Matches

France and Ukraine met for 6 times. Ukraine never won against Les Bleus, with a lackluster record of 3 losses and 3 draws.

The teams recently met at a friendly in Donetsk last 2011. France shattered Ukraine at 4-1, with 2 goals coming from midfielder Marvin Martin.

Throughout those 6 meetings, France evidently grew stronger, particularly in terms of offense. In contrast, Ukraine has yet to be consistent in their winning form, particularly in improving their shaky defense.

Pre-Match Developments

Significant changes are not likely for both teams. No players from both sides are injured. France’s starting lineup might change a little if Laurent Blanc decides to put midfielder Yann M’Vila in place of Yohan Cabaye.

Oleh Blokhin will likely retain Ukraine’s current starting squad, given their impressive performance last Tuesday.

Ukraine-France Predictions

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A crucial factor in this match is the frail defense of both teams. The absence of injured defender Dmytro Chygrynskiy in Ukraine’s lineup can further cripple their efforts to defend the goal. France’s defense must learn not to rely too much on their team’s attacking power. Otherwise, they might be damaged by Ukraine’s desire to score before their home crowd. Ukraine’s legendary striker Andriy Shevchenko is one player Les Bleus have to watch out.

A repeat of France’s 2011 friendly victory against Ukraine is highly possible in this game. Their offensive stride powered by Karim Benzema, Franck Ribéry, Mathieu Valbuena and Samir Nasri (who scored France’s goal during its match versus England) can make Ukraine’s weak defense useless. The international pedigree of French players reflects more experience. That gives Les Bleus an obvious victory in their second Group D fixture, despite playing against Ukraine in their home field.

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