Italy vs Spain: EURO 2012 Final - live scores, blog

Roar Guru

1st July, 2012

1389 Reads

Italy vs Spain: EURO 2012 Final - live scores, blog

Probable lineups:

SPAIN

Casillas
Arbeloa, Pique, Ramos, Alba
Xavi, Busquets, Alonso
Silva, Fabregas, Iniesta

ITALY
Buffon
Abate, Barzagli, Chiellini, Balzaretti
Marchisio, Pirlo, De Rossi
Montolivo
Balotelli, Cassano

Match notes:

* Spain are bidding to become the first team in history to win three successive major tournaments (Euro 2008, World Cup 2010 and Euro 2012) and the first to retain the Euro title.

* Vicente del Bosque's side are 19 competitive games without defeat and have won their last nine knockout matches at major tournaments without conceding a goal.

* The Azzurri are facing Spain for the 31st time, with their record in prior encounters reading 10 wins, 12 draws, 8 losses. The sides' most recent meeting was in their opening match in this tournament, which finished as a 1-1 draw.

Write for The Roar

Anyone can contribute to The Roar and have their work featured alongside some of Australia’s most prominent sports journalists.

Matt Bungard

Roar Guru

1st July, 2012

1389 Reads

After a month of competition, we’ve finally reached the final of EURO 2012 and it will be between Group C opponents Spain and Italy.

Three weeks after they contested a 1-1 draw in the group stage, the two will meet again and this time it’s for all the marbles.

Whilst the majority of people expected the Spaniards to be gracing the final with their presence again, few predicted Italy would be joining them; in fact, there was a significant portion of people that believed Croatia would advance from the group at the expense of Prandelli’s men.

That was not to be, and after a penalty shootout victory over England and a virtuoso performance against Germany, the Azzurri are just one game away from clinching another major honour, with next to nobody believing in them.

Spain too had to deal with the lottery of penalties en route to the final, seeing off Cristiano Ronaldo and his Portuguese team in the semis.

Before that, they dominated France in the quarter-finals after topping the group that their opponents in the final were the runners-up in.

Many would argue that Italy were the better team in that opening match, and with the magnificent Andrea Pirlo pulling the strings and the enigmatic Mario Balotelli (fresh off a brilliant brace against the Germans) leading the line, who wouldn’t give them a chance now?

For Spain, it’s less about individual brilliance and more about another clinical team performance if they want to claim their third tournament success in six years. They are of course the reigning World and European Champions.

Regardless, it’s been a fantastic tournament so far and let’s hope for a thrilling final.

See you all just before 4:45am for all the line-ups, team news and formations.

Join the conversation

Are you the ultimate team manager? Pick your own superstar team and go head to head with other football fans for glory and cash prizes on Draftstars. Imagine what you could be buying instead. Set a deposit limit.