UEFA European Championship 2012

[Hes]

Well it seems I´ve underestimated Italy once again. Still some time to go but I doubt Germany will come back from this.

Spain will have to play much better to beat Italy.

[StarryVeil]

Germany could have had a shot at the finals if only Low hadn't been so overconfident. What was the point in benching Muller, Reus, and Klose and bringing Kroose and Podolski on when the first three had already delivered in previous matches? You keep meddling with the lineup too much and players will lose confidence.

I applaud Buffon, Pirlo, and Ballotelli for their amazing work today.

[yorkiedoodle]

Well, i don't think many people saw that result coming!

Well played Italy - lets hope we get some goals in the final on sunday..

[SlyEd]

Germans have srsly bad score with Italians. But im glad the final is Spain - Italy.
Perhaps Italians could break the Spanish winning streak, or else they would win 3rd title in a row.

[Overdose]

I absolutely did not expect that, but Germany were completely manhandled all game.

Fabulous effort for Italy, just a bit unfortunate in my eyes because I'm not sure they'll beat Spain.

[StarryVeil]

You never know, Overdose, nobody was expecting them to beat Germany either. I'd give anything for Spain's winning streak to be broken!

[SlyEd]

Originally Posted by Overdose

just a bit unfortunate in my eyes because I'm not sure they'll beat Spain.

Italians feel comfortable NOT being favourites here. Pressure is on Spain!

[Tenshi]

Originally Posted by StarryVeil

Germany could have had a shot at the finals if only Low hadn't been so overconfident. What was the point in benching Muller, Reus, and Klose and bringing Kroose and Podolski on when the first three had already delivered in previous matches? You keep meddling with the lineup too much and players will lose confidence.

Klose is too old. He's not able to run for 90 min. Podolski is experienced and I guess that's why he's playing. Reus is a Noob and even though he did score I wouldn't put him on the pitch in such a game.

Overall I think Germany has a good line up and a lot of good choices. Hey, even the defenders score and attack. It just annoys me that Löw took Gomez off the pitch so late. That guy was useless yesterday. And then I don't understand either why Boateng had to leave, even though he did a great job.

I applaud Buffon, Pirlo, and Ballotelli for their amazing work today.

I thought Buffon delivered a rather poor performance. Too many mistakes and the defense in general. How many times did they slip and how many corners did Germany get?

I am so angry at the ref. His decisions made no sense at all. A player gets fouled and the other team receives a free kick? Or when Hummels got the yellow card in the last minute. The heck was that? And then he stopped the game right, when Germany was about to get close to the Italian goal. Every other sane ref would let them finish the attack and blow the whistle after the goal keeper shot the ball into the middle of the field again. To stop a game at such a point is plainly stupid.

[Mugglewizard]

Well it was either way for me yesterday. I like both the Italian and the German teams. Hoping Italy beat Spain though. Balotelli is really unpredictable. after all the chances he lost against England, I never expected him to be the hero of the semi final.

[SlyEd]

2006 - Italy won!
2008 - Spain won!
2010 - Spain won!
2012 - Both teams in final, we are watching same football AGAIN! I hate it -.-
Is it possible there is no 3rd team in whole EUROPE that could win the title?!?!?!?!?

[wolfbrother]

Originally Posted by SlyEd

2006 - Italy won!
2008 - Spain won!
2010 - Spain won!
2012 - Both teams in final, we are watching same football AGAIN! I hate it -.-
Is it possible there is no 3rd team in whole EUROPE that could win the title?!?!?!?!?

You know....in cricket, we went through nearly a decade with the Aussies winning absolutely everything. Three world cups in a row and almost everything else in between. Thankfully, no-one is absolutely dominating in football (even at club level where Barca haven't managed to win stuff consecutively).

[Mugglewizard]

I remember that time in cricket. Australia were just unbearable. Well look at the runners up for the last 3 tournaments
2006 France
2008 Germany
2010 Netherlands

Plenty of variety there. Am hoping for an Italian win though.

[wolfbrother]

Well, that turned into a rout. Pity that because italy played better than that. The injury to the italian player changed the match. It would have been really interesting if Italy had taken one of their chances early in the second half and not had one of their players go off injured.

[AldeberanBlack]

Dazzling from Spain. Pure masterclass. From 2008 to the present day certainly the best team I have ever seen.

[StarryVeil]

Well, wasn't that an exciting match?

That said, Spain played very well and certainly aren't undeserving champions. I also think Italy deserve some credit for their brilliant comeback from the fiasco they were 2 years ago.

And now....................

BRAZIL FOR 2014! Let's make it to six-time world champions!

[Overdose]

I love that Torres who has been on the pitch hardly at all has won the golden boot.

That was ruthless from Spain.

[Tenshi]

What an awesome game! Spain was crushing Italy, which made me so happy. I don't mind if they become champions for the 6th times in a row. They are great and they deserve to win.

My prediction almost came true. Which was 5-0. Yes, I am a sulky unforgiving Italy disliker.

[SlyEd]

Ok that was brutal !!! Spain owned them. As much as it hurts me to admit, Spain is simply unbeatable at the moment. 3 titles in a row, don't know if anyone pulled it off, till now.
But hey... Let's focus on World Cup qualifications and see how that goes..
Starts in September.

[Rich]

I watched the game until Italy was down by three. That was when I lost hope and put on the Yankees game. It was a disappointment for Italy (I think their team is better than how they played this game). Spain was on their game and deserved to win. The injury was a setback for Italy, but I doubt they would have won either way.

[AldeberanBlack]

It should also be noted that Spain are now tied with Germany as three-time EURO champions.

1964, 2008 and 2012