In a shocker, Italy beats Germany

Balotelli scored twice in the 2-1 upset to put his team into Sunday's final against Spain.

The Inquirer Staff
Posted: June 29, 2012

Mario Balotelli finally showed some quality finishing, scoring twice in the first half on Thursday to give Italy a shocking, 2-1 win over Germany and an unexpected spot in the European Championship final in Warsaw, Poland.

Extending its winless streak against Italy in major tournaments to eight matches, Germany had no answer for the creativity of Italy strikers Balotelli and Antonio Cassano.

In the 20th minute, Balotelli got past Holger Badstuber to head in a pinpoint cross from Cassano. In the 36th, the 21-year-old striker collected a long pass from Riccardo Montolivo behind the defense, chested it down with his back to the goal, then sprinted forward and blasted a long shot into the top right corner as German goalkeeper Manuel Neuer stood frozen.

Though he did score against Ireland, Balotelli had been criticized for wasting numerous chances against Spain, Croatia and England.

Italy will face defending champion Spain in Sunday's final in Kiev, Ukraine - a rematch of their 1-1 draw that opened Group C.

"This is the greatest night of my life - but I hope Sunday is going to be even better," Balotelli said.

Germany failed to trouble Italy for much of the match, but Mesut Özil scored a consolation penalty in injury time after Federico Balzaretti was whistled for a handball.

While Italy has won four World Cups, its only European Championship title came in 1968.

As when it won the 1982 and 2006 World Cups, the Azzurri have managed to maintain their focus despite a match-fixing and betting scandal at home.

Russia, Spain fined. UEFA fined the Russian and Spanish soccer associations for racist abuse by their fans at Euro 2012 matches.

Russia was fined $37,000 and Spain must pay $25,000.

Russian fans taunted Czech Republic defender Theodor Gebre Selassie, who is of Ethiopian descent, while Spain fans targeted Italy's Balotelli, who is of Ghanaian descent.

Index by Keyword
|
Index by Date
|
About Philly.com
|
Contact Us
|
Terms of Use & Privacy Statement
|
Copyright 2013