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| Super Mario: Brace helped his side to final |
This was Germany's
year. A golden age for their national team, with some of the
brightest young footballing talent on the planet. Winning Euro 2012
was written in the stars for them, everything else would just be a
formality. Or so we thought...
There have been shocks
in this year's European Championships – Greece advancing to the
knock-out stages at the expense of Russia, the Netherlands imploding
spectacularly and Sweden defeating the Group D favourites, France.
But how many people genuinely expected Italy to make it to the final?
For starters, they were
drawn in one of the toughest looking groups, having Spain and Croatia
for company. With an ageing team, many doubted their chances of even
making it to the quarter-finals.
Indeed, draws against
both the Spanish and the Croats left them on the brink of crashing
out early on. It was only last minute drama in the the game between
those two sides that meant Italy would advance.
Then came 'plucky'
England, as the media constantly refer to them as. After winning
Group D against the odds, Roy Hodgson's men suddenly found themselves
as favourites against a side who had supposedly struggled for form of
late.
In truth, though, only
one team deserved to win that game in the end, and there was
certainly no sense of injustice when Alessandro Diamanti calmly
slotted home the winning penalty.
You didn't have to be
an expert to realise that the star man in that game was a certain
Andrea Pirlo. Now aged 33, but with hardly a hair out of place, the
deep-lying midfielder was coolness personified, controlling the game
with almost metronomic rhythm, precision and grace.
So then, you would have
thought the ever efficient Germans might notice that stopping him
would be the key to their successful progression to the final. Close
him down quickly and stick Sami Khedira to him like a limpet.
Strangely, they didn't,
so it was little surprise that the Italians made light work of their
much hyped opponents. Whether it was a reckless lack of respect or a
just a serious error of judgement is open to debate, but the facts
are clear, Italy will contest the final – not Germany.
Aside from Pirlo, the
Italians were thankful for another master performance on the night
from none other than Mario Balotelli. Popularly referred to as Super
Mario, both of his goals were taken with the sort of devastating
incision that would leave anyone thinking he genuinely had just
stepped straight out of a video game.
"...with hardly a hair out of place, the deep-lying midfielder was coolness personified, controlling the game with almost metronomic rhythm, precision and grace..."
Spain will have to take
note. For all their tiki-taka football is much heralded, and at times
supremely beautiful, it is also painfully negative.
For much of the
tournament they have played a bizarre sort of 4-6-0 formation which
has seen talented goalscorers like Fernando Torres and Fernando
Llorente left to watch from the sidelines. It was little wonder that
they only reached the final by beating Portugal on penalties after a
dire, goalless 120 minutes of football.
Don't get me wrong, the
Spanish have played great football over the past four or five years,
but with that has come a certain arrogance. Suddenly, they are trying
to reinvent the beautiful game; as if they are too good for corners,
set-pieces and, God forbid, strikers.
When Italy go head to
head with Spain on Sunday, there can only be one winner. For the sake
of football, please let it be the Azzuri.
