In my opinion Azzurri will start as favorite in todays final. They have been more organized and unlike Italian teams of past they are not about just defending till death. Pirlo, Super Mario and Cassano all have been in great form.

Spain despite having too many good players in their squad have found it difficult to find the net. They are missing David Villa big time.

As far as Fantasy league concerned ,I am just a win away from clinching the title .

man_05 Says

With his performance in the semifinals, Balotelli has proven himself to be the real Super Mario, unlike Gomez, who had to be subbed at half-time itself.

Balotelli is definitely more talented than Gomez. The only problem is his temparment. Since he has already played the game of his life in the last match, I doubt if will repeat it again the finals.

The Euros has again proved that to win a championship you need a strong defense. Defensively these were the best two sides along with Portugal. Germany might have been the best in attack but their defense made 1-2 silly mistakes which brought their downfall.

man_05 Says

I agree with @rahulrevenger. Spain's pass only style has become quite boring and has limited effectiveness. Besides, they have the option of using Fernando Llorente as a target man, but for some reason, have'nt done so yet. He'll give them more of a cutting edge in attack, than what they are getting from their false number 9.

Forget all of 'em!!! Where is Roberto Soldado!!! :w00t:

Even my lame eyes can tell that Soldado would have been the best target man that Spain could have fielded!! He, in all ways, is a perfect new generation (he ain't that young, but still his late inclusion into the team makes him one) striker after Raul and David Villa. Torres is not effective anymore, as his lack of confidence has dented his precision rate. :nono:

Why on Earth was he not included in the squad seems to be a mystery to me.

Italy wins unless Del Bosque plays a striker upfront and refrains from the Headless chicken type passing Football, where they pass pass pass and pass
.
.
But where are the Goals Spain??:sneaky:

I agree with @rahulrevenger. Spain's pass only style has become quite boring and has limited effectiveness. Besides, they have the option of using Fernando Llorente as a target man, but for some reason, have'nt done so yet. He'll give them more of a cutting edge in attack, than what they are getting from their false number 9.

With his performance in the semifinals, Balotelli has proven himself to be the real Super Mario, unlike Gomez, who had to be subbed at half-time itself.

Italy wins unless Del Bosque plays a striker upfront and refrains from the Headless chicken type passing Football, where they pass pass pass and pass
.
.
But where are the Goals Spain??:sneaky:

:nono: it was bound to happen ...........only 2 team can play finals ............


"BAKAR BAKAR KE bakar ko Samjho,
BAKAR karna bhi ek kala hai,
BAKAR ko jo Samajh na paaya,
Maan ke chalo ke wo ek naye type ki BAKAR hai." :splat:

it was bound to happen ...........only 2 team can play finals ............


"BAKAR BAKAR KE bakar ko Samjho,
BAKAR karna bhi ek kala hai,
BAKAR ko jo Samajh na paaya,
Maan ke chalo ke wo ek naye type ki BAKAR hai."

Did anyone of you notice that out of the 100 people who voted, only 29 + 7 remain in the contention! Rest all voted for an ousted team.

saurabh100 Says

ITALY :sneaky:

It has to be Italy!

I love Italy as much as I hate Spain. Pirlo and Co. (sans that idiot Mario) deserves it!!

ITALY

kapil.viit Says

It will be spain again

History in the last few tournaments has shown that the team defeating Germany goes on to win the cup. So although my support will be for Spain, I think Italy will win it.

It will be spain again

Super Mario shows just why he is regarded as one of the best strikers in the game today. He missed a couple of chances in the England game, but yesterday he was deadly. The second goal is extra special because, after getting the pass from Montolivo, he just zipped and then thumped it, no time at all for the defenders or the keeper.

Heart breaking day for all Germany fans including myself...i think Germany was psychologically in a pressure situation given their past records against Italy...but still happy though not euphoric as my dark horses have reached the finals,but my favourites have lost out..now i want Italy to lift the cup...

So this is it guys...
Euro '12 Final will be a contest between

Spain v/s Italy

it is always difficult to come behind from 2 goals down , philip lahm did a mistake in last euro tournament which let torres to score in the final ,

this time its balotelli's muscles which overcame lahm.........

still i rate him high like roberto carlos he is one kind of defenders who are great in opposition half rather than in their own half............

germans had the team to lift the cup it was not to be fate above football skils:(

Once again, we are deprived of seeing the ultimate contest between the Spanish and German styles of football. Germany continue to choke at both club and international level. Joachim Low's tactics were not upto scratch either.

German loses against Italy.......Heartbreak

Only thing consolable was Rafa losing his match in Wimbeldon

italians seem to play with extra spirit whenever there is corruption charges on them...happened in 2006 n happening now...lets hope pirlo n co puts an end to spains domination:)

:(( ---> Infinity

Sadly Germany have been losing finals and semis since a long time to the eventual champions. I am sad to say but they seem like the South Africans of Football. Chokers :(

WC2002- Lose finals to Brazil
WC2006 - Lose semis to Italy
Euro2008 - Lose finals to Spain
WC2010 - Lose semis to Spain
Euro2012 - Lose semis to Italy

Going by this rate players like sweinsteiger and Lahm wont win anything in their lives. Like Ballack !!

My prediction for today:

Germany 2 Italy 1

Will be a tricky test for Germany today as they have never beaten Italy in a competitive game so far. (However, it was the same story for England vs Sweden till these Euros and we know how that ended).

I too am hoping for a Germany-Spain final. Would be an amazing tactical contest between Spain's tiki-taka and Germany's more direct approach. (In a way, it would be a Barcelona vs Bayern Munich contest, which we would have loved to see in the Champions League!!!)

It will be ''GERMANY Vs SPAIN'' in the finals.....

I would love to see Germany lifting the cup

If not Germany, then it should be Italy :grin::grin::grin:


Spain :nono::nono::nono:

Was a clash of two contrasting styles and eventually, required the lottery of a penalty shoot-out to separate them. Feel sorry for Portugal, who really gave it their all, sometimes overdoing it (witness their high number of bookings). 2nd Euro in a row where Spain have progressed on penalties (They beat Italy in the same manner in 2008 ).

Both sides played their heart out.
In the end, Spain won

Repeat of euro 2008 final is on the cards.
Last time, i was supporting Germany in the final and Spain won.:sneaky:
This time i am supporting Spain:biggrin: and hope that they don't disappoint me with too much 'tiki-taka'. They need to be bit unpredictable and make direct forward passes too.


Alos, what do you guys think of pepe's back pass to patriciao.....it was intentional block and pass though it would have killed portugal instantly.

Each of the defender of both teams gave it their all.

the Dream Final still on...Spain V/S Germany.....:D

Let's see if Italy can hold out to Germany..like Portugal did today...brave defending by the way

Feel bad for Portugal. I think they took to fight to Spain. At penalties Spain were always going to win because of Saint Iker and their experience.

Hopefully Germany extract revenge for 2006 WC semis loss to Italy tomorrow and 2008 Euro/ 2010 WC loss to Spain in the finals.

spain won it and they were deserving winners

frm the second half it was all spain but still portugal defended well............

SPAIN win...........

SPAIN - ITALY final........

cristiano ronaldo wasted in the penalty shootout....portuguese r a bunch of morons......

portugal played better in 1st half thanks the animal pepe and co in defence.........

spain had more posesion as they have always ! but portugal had better of the chances...........

Spain:3 Portugal:1

my first attempt at being baba octopus....

Portugal 1-0 et goal.

My semifinal prediction:

Portugal 1 Spain 2

Portugal 2-1 SPain

it will be a tie in full time + extra time

finally ronaldo hits the post in shoot outs

------Prediction frm a messi fan

Not many of my predictions have come right but just cant resist posting again :biggrin:

Spain 1-0 Portugal

going by midfield every one knows who is great

but if portugal scores first and with animal in pepe turns on ( hope cards are barred:sneaky:) we have great match in our hands as spain lacks something upfront .............

We have heard and seen many a trolls on Facebook and ed at them.
But I was blessed by Thy God of Sarcasm by one such incident!


While travelling from home to office, I heard a couple of co-passengers in my bus discussing football. Naturally I started eavesdropping as soon as I heard the word Goal.

This guy in his REEKOB sweatshirt (YES, it was REEKOB , and it also was a SWEATSHIRT in Mumbai, in such a hot weather!) was gyaan-feking his friend who was donning an iPhone (I couldn't confirm whether it was a REAL one or a one just like his beloved friend's REEKOB)

Sweaty-shirt lad: Dude did you just see how well that guy played for Italy! Amazing player he is! I am not able to remember his name, but its something like Contra. He has this tendency to get Red-carded so easily, and plays for Manchester City. (TROLL 1 -He was talking about Mario Balotelli)

iPhone dewd: Ahaan!! But yaar I toh only watch Brazil and Argentina matches only! What players Pele and Maradona were! Anyways these days even Sergio is playing great!!!

Sweaty-shirt lad: Sergio? Who? (TROLL number 2 - And I thought he was a ManCity fan!)

iPhone dewd: Arre wohi, lambe baalon wala! Sergio Ramos!!! He plays for Real Madrid! You know he scored 56 goals this season!!!! (TROLL number 3 and this one was EPIC)

I ALMOST DIED!!!!

EURO 2012 champions: ITALY....

Interestingly Real Madrid have 9 players in the semis all of whom play in the first team.

Casillas, Ramos, Alberloa, Alonso - Spain
Ronaldo, Contrerao, Pepe- Portugal
Ozil, Khedira - Germany

I think none of the teams have 9 first team players left in the competition.

They have Albiol too....so 9 out of 10 play in first team.

Bayern and Barca have a fair bit....I'm counting em' off my head so I might have missed some...

Bayern - Swcheni, Badstuber,Lahm, Neuer, Gomez, Muller, Kroos

Interestingly Real Madrid have 9 players in the semis all of whom play in the first team.

Casillas, Ramos, Alberloa, Alonso - Spain
Ronaldo, Contrerao, Pepe- Portugal
Ozil, Khedira - Germany

I think none of the teams have 9 first team players left in the competition.

The only part of Spain I like is Xabi Alonso, Sergio Ramos and Iker Casillas.

I am a loyal Madrid fan, but I would leave Ramos out of that list....atleast for now. He is a decent player and I rate his defensive skills very highly but his frequent lashing out at opponents is quite unnecesary and tarnishes his reputation as a top defender....he doesn't quite display Pepe levels of retardation though....who's pure defence skills are even better than Ramos imho.

The player I love to watch in Spain is Iniesta....the way he glides past players is unique and effortless. The top attacking midfielder in the world along with Ozil (Ozil being better at making the final pass and Iniesta slightly better at ball possession).

Saying that....Spain is a very boring team to watch. It is almost as though they keep passing among themselves in the midfield while looking for Messi to pass to, but they never find him....so they keep passing and passing and pas....well, you get the picture.

Rooting for Portugal today and 'gel boy' to take them to the final. Ozil vs Ronaldo....couldn't be better for a RM fan .

Meanwhile...its been a few days but...twitter fight over Ronaldo

Cristiano Ronaldo's paramour Irina Shayk has hit back after Israeli model Bar Refaeli criticised the Portugal star's hairstyle on Twitter.
"The only thing I can think of when I watch Ronaldo is that hair gel should really be outlawed," said Refaeli on her Twitter account, where she has some 220,000 followers.
A furious Shayk hit back on her account, saying: "Being a hater is not a cute look. Learn to love."



Off Topic: Irina Shayk is so fine

man_05 Says

Iberian derby tonight!!! For Portugal to have any chance, they need the Cristiano Ronaldo of the Netherlands and Czech Republic games to turn up. Spain clearly have the greater strength in depth of the two squads.

I feel that Spain will sail through quite comfortably. They have enough depth to crush the One Man Show Portugal quite easily.

I was a big Portugal fan when the players like Maniche, Figo, Deco, were still up and high! CR7 is a brilliant player, but not a good team leader.

I have always hated Spain the only reason being the acting and diving tactics by some of their players. :nono:

The only part of Spain I like is Xabi Alonso, Sergio Ramos and Iker Casillas.

Hoping to see Italy/Germany lift the Cup as my 3 beloved teams (Holland, England, Ireland) have bowed out.

Iberian derby tonight!!! For Portugal to have any chance, they need the Cristiano Ronaldo of the Netherlands and Czech Republic games to turn up. Spain clearly have the greater strength in depth of the two squads.

My predictions

Spain 1 -Portugal 0

Germany -Italy 1-0

wrong prediction buddy...:nono:

ITALY will beat GERMANY in the semifinal......UEFA EURO 2012 final will be played b/w SPAIN and ITALY.........

My predictions

Spain 1 -Portugal 0

Germany -Italy 1-0

My Predictions for the semis :

Spain to win against Portugal 2-1 and Germany to win against Italy 3-1.

even at 33 pirlo is still a champion!

this time there was no unwanted hype like last time but still same result getting out in quarters, english need a play maker in midfield who could suppourt some athletic forwards which they have upfront............


match btw italy and germany wud be interesting , only concern fr me is the fitness of shweinstiger................

ps: i wnt germany to lift the cup and one more thing best team won in all quarters including italians.......

skctee Says

So today it's CR7 vs tiki-taka...this is the golden chance for CR7 to wash away all the criticisms that has been hurled at him for years that he can't reciprocate his club form when he represents his country...

Today??? :nono:

Its on the 28th!

So today it's CR7 vs tiki-taka...this is the golden chance for CR7 to wash away all the criticisms that has been hurled at him for years that he can't reciprocate his club form when he represents his country...

A major reason why England got dominated in midfield was the lack of genuine cover for Gerrard and Scott Parker (no Lampard, Carrick, Gareth Barry), forcing Hodgson to play them long minutes in every game, which meant they were almost out of gas for the Italy game.

Mid Field was the key we presumed, Mid Field was the key it turned out to be

Technically astute, creative and fluent was Italian Midfield led by Pirlo
Defending and clearing the ball was the English Midfield led by Gerard

Italian strikers if better could have settled the game very early, but English strike force had a few and far between, so it would be unfair to criticize the English forwards,

except for the time span between 5-20 mins where English created a few chances nothing bothered Buffon, Glen Johnson was the best English player and Pirlo with almost having a say in almost every 3rd pass for Italy was the Best in the game..

Italy showed that why they are the dark horses of this years Euro..the performance that Italy displayed yesterday ,although will not help them against the Germans ,but Italy has all my respect for putting up such a tough fight..however the match rolled on till the ET because of the lack of good strikers in either side,none of who could capitalise the opportunities that they got..but have to say that Italy deserved to be in the semis with the performance that they put up yesterday in comparison with England's performace ...

England tried the old Chelsea tactics of parking the team bus in front of goal and it worked for them till they came up against their nemesis (penalty shoot-out). Pirlo's performance in yesterday's game was the best individual performance in these Euros by any player, in my opinion. That audacious chip to beat Hart was extraordinary.

Finally, my prediction was close to the actual result of the match

England and Italy have similar tales in Penalties..though italians won the 2006 WC on penalties..
England havent beaten anyone on penalties since 1996 ..quarter final against spain...that match english were outplayed but yet hung on..and won on penalties...i can see a similar tale of events tonite..

0-0 or 1-1 at the max...england to win 4-2 on penalties..

the exact opposite happened there my friend..