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...

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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,...

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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...

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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...

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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...

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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 WednesdayUEFA 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...

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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...

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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...

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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...

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Ukraine Aims to Impress Home Crowd versus France

UKRAINETournament Statistics (as of June 15, 2012)FRANCE 2Goals Scored1 5Attempts On Target15 8Attempts Off Target4 3Corners11 12Fouls Committed9 0Yellow Cards0 0Red Cards0 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, 2012Time: 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...

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