Euro 2012 Balotelli sends Azzuri to glory

The much misunderstood Mario Balotelli gave a superb performance grabbing two goals to send Italy to the final. They eliminated the favourites Germany in a game where surprisingly Germany had played not to their usual standard. The Italians who narrowily missed out on keeping back to back clean sheets, could be rightly proud of taking their place in the final where they meet Spain.

For Spain it will be a tester with the fast paced Balotelli. The Man City star will no doubt force the Spanish defence on the back foot as the current holders also look to deny the influence of Pirlo who has been one of the big guns in the competition. An unmarked Pirlo can cause problems for Spain unless they can stick a player on him and not let him pick out the passes for Balotelli to finish. Somehow I dont think this will go to penalties.

For Germany this was a minor setback for the young team as they continue to build for the future. They will now focus on qualifying for the 2014 World Cup in Brazil. For this team a group which features Sweden, Republic of Ireland, Austria, Faroe Isles and Kazakhstan, qualification should be an easy process.

Euro 2012 :De ja vu: Young and Cole join the infamous list

After getting through the group Stages, England faced an Italian side that to be honest, was most certainly a shadow of its former self. England set up to face the Azzuri and an early positive start looked like England could get something. They did however let the Italian's in although it seemed that Man City's Balotelli was doing most of the offensive work. As the game went on the Italians looked like they would edge it and then half time came. It couldnt have come at a better time for England. An opportunity to regroup and go out and start again.England started the second half well and almost went ahead, again though Italy were allowed to get back in the game. John Terry had a good game and found himself unlucky not to win England a penalty after finding himself flung to the ground after having his shirt pulled.

Rooney who had disappointed against the Ukraine, was still a distant self from his Premier League performances. Steven Gerrard who had been at his best in an England shirt in this tournament, had also not been at his best. Glen Johnson who had been often criticised more than praised had a good game and was unlucky not to score as in previous matches. James Milner though continued to disappoint and how long he can continue wearing an England shirt is beyond me and many others.

It came to penalties Italy went first with Ballotelli and he scored in the corner with Hart given no chance. England's captain Gerrard stepped up lead by example and slotted it into the corner. All seemed fine at 1-1. Montolivo stepped up and sent it wide. Hope was starting to build in the England fans. Rooney who had not had his best stepped up next. A bit of penalty spot patting and thoughts immediately turned to Beckham's Portugal penalty miss. All would be good though as the Man Utd front man sent Buffon the wrong way. Pirlo, who had been in control in midfield was next and he cheekily chipped the ball in. Ashley Young who had been disappointing again, completed his misery by slamming his penalty against the crossbar. It was now 3 taken each and 2 scored. Italy up next and an opportunity to make it advantage Azzuri. Nocerino calmly stepped up and made it 3-2. Up next was Ashley Cole. The man who never seemed to shirk responsibility prepared himself. Cole saw his penalty saved in what was a poor penalty. It remained 3-2 and Diamante just had to place his penalty past Joe Hart. Not only did he score but he sent Hart the wrong way and Italy into a semi final against Germany.

Euro 2012 - The Pain with Spain

Spain's late win enabled their defence of the trophy to continue at least for another 45 minutes. Having seen the opening game without a recognised striker, the Spanish got a point against Italy. They pasted Ireland with a striker, but that was hardly a shocker. So going into the final game against a strong Croatia who also need victory to ensure qualification, Del Bosque knew that it was a win that would see a passage to the quarter finals especially with Italy still in the frame to qualify. The Croatian's fought bravely but a second half goal from Jesus Nava secured top spot. Italy needed to win although even that may not have been enough had Spain and Croatia drawn 2-2 it would have been good night Azzuri, thankfully for Prandelli's men that was not to happen and a 2-0 win saw them take top spot and await the winners of Group D.

Spain to be honest will have to pull their socks up. Yes people will say they haven't lost and that's a fair point but they have played an Italian side that has been slow and a Republic of Ireland side that has been disappointing compared to previous. Hopefully they will recover from this and will be stronger.

There is a lot of talk that if England play Spain that England will lose. It could happen, but then we might as well go home now. We should look to Chelsea, no one gave them any chance against Barcelona. They proved them wrong. Why can't we prove the rest of  Europe wrong. A game lasts 90 minutes, we play to 90. We should not panic, not react like headless chickens, we must remain composed and take it to the opposition.

Walcott Welbeck Wonderful: young guns kill off Swedes

A delayed kick off for England saw England get the vital three points to take them on the verge of the knockout stages. After Andy Carroll's header had given Hodgson's side a first half lead, it looked like England would just need to defend and build. Of course we all know with England these things don't tend to be simple.

Both teams came out in the second half and it didnt take long for the Swedish to level. The equaliser didnt come with out its fortunes as a deflection saw Glen Johnson look like he may claw it off the line. The bounced off the post and in.

England found themselves 2-1 down as Olaf Mellberg headed home. Visions of Euro 92 may have started to come back to haunt England. Hodgson did what we all had hoped he'd do and in the 60th minute, the yet again disappointing James Milner ( why was he in the squad?) was replaced by Theo Walcott.

Walcott's introduction on the right mafe an immediate difference, he took players on, he looked comfortable and confident. In the 64th minute Stevie G's corner was cleared to just outside the penalty area and a sublime finish from the Gunner saw the game level.

A draw for England wouldnt necessarily have been a disaster, but it would have meant having to beat the Ukraine or face elimination. That event was taken out the equation when Walcott was involved again. He crossed the ball and found Welbeck who cheekily struck the winner with the back of his foot.

England have a good chance to get all three points on Tuesday against Ukraine. Despite flashes of good attacking, I dont see too much trouble. I can see Walcott starting together with Welbeck and Oxlade-Chamberlain. The hot pace of the youngsters could do some real damage against the Ukranian defence. The way the qualification for nations level on points is like, England could very well win having two shiny stickers and a club badge sticker. Should both England and France finish level I would assume given the draw, it may go down to the results against the others unless goal difference does count at some point. I imagine for England fans so long as the Three Lions qualify thats all that matters.

Harry to go? Di Matteo to stay

Over the last few days Harry Redknapp's future at Tottenham has appeared to be thrown into doubt. Despite his denials regarding resignation, talk is rife that there is no agreement getting close in regards Redknapp's new deal. It's reported that Chairman Daniel Levy is not happy about the way Spurs season went downhill as they took 4 wins in the final 13 games. This is clearly not acceptable for Spurs fans or I imagine the Chairman, who had hoped they would not have to worry about 4th spot Champions League worries. Spurs saw their North London rivals Arsenal pip them to third and Champions League football. It will also be interesting if this uncertainty and no Champions League football will lead to players leaving the Lane. 

One man who looks to be going nowhere is Roberto Di Matteo. The decision makers at Stamford Bridge look like they will be keeping the Champions League winning Italian for a little bit longer. It is an interesting one. Di Matteo was there with Andre Villas Boas whose disappointing run saw his departure from the Bridge. Minding that Di Matteo was a link and assistant manager, usually he would get the boot. Something  was different for the former Chelsea player, they seemed to enjoy playing for him (although John Terry seemed to enjoy directing behind RDM's back). With the new signings arriving at the Bridge, it will be interesting to see if the form continues into the new season.

Euro 2012 - England good start, Rusian fan trouble

Despite all the fears and worries regarding England's performance against the 'Mighty France'. The French seemed to get the rub of the green with several decisions 'missed' by the referee. The French attack also found themselves to long range shooting as the England defence held strong despite the Nasri goal that deceived his club team mate Joe Hart.The big issue from England was that the defence went to deep which inevitably lead to the goal. There were many positives and an all round decent performance and the debut of Oxlade-Chamberlain brings great promise not just for this competition but to England's future.So long as England management don't rush him too soon seeing how young he is, Oxlade-Chambers can become and England great.

Co hosts Ukraine got their campaign off to a win over Sweden. Not sure how many would have called this result but it gives hope to England when they face them this Friday. Former Chelsea man Andrei Shevchenko got both goals to put his side 2-1 up and an unbeaten start.

Russian fans continued to bring trouble to the championship. Following incidents at the opening game against the Czech Republic, Russian 'supporters' clashed with Polish 'supporters' before the game. Clashes lead to arrests and Uefa are going to investigate. It will be interesting to see what they do, I hope they come down tough, but whether they do, will be another matter.

Euro 2012 opener - More than we expected

When the opening game was decided as Poland v Greece, did anyone expect it to be anything other than 3 points for the joint hosts. Well 2 red cards and a missed penalty later and it indeed turned out to be a decent game. Poland took the lead after the Greek keeper Chalkias went awol and let Lewandowski in. It looked like it was game over just before half time, the Greeks found themselves rather harshly down to ten men after Papastathopoulos was adjudged to have held Obraniak, who appeared to have no more than lost his footing. A second yellow card saw the 2004 winners a man down a goal down and up against it. Well that was what we may have been thinking. An early substitution for Greece proved to be inspired as Salpingidis levelled the score. Greece seemed to be on the charge and it looked like they could get something from the game. Poland's Szczesny gave the Greeks an opportunity with a foolish tackle and giving himself an early bath and a one game suspension. Up stepped Karagounis with a chance to put the Greeks ahead but a dive to his left saw substitute goalkeeper save the penalty and keep it level. The save proved vital and the game finished as a draw.

Russia took on the Czech Republic in the other Group A game. The Russian's took the Czechs apart despite the good early start from the Czechs, the Russians were in control. For one Chelsea goalkeeper it would be a night to forget. A while since the big man conceded 4 goals in one game, whether it happens again who knows, but the man with the Champions League medal will be hoping that his national team mates can turn it round so he can have small hope of having a European Championship medal added to his collection.