And it's Italy against Spain in the final! Löw seems to have confused his team with his line-up - it wasn't quite clear where Kroos and Özil were supposed to play, which directly lead to Italy's first goal. Crazy final phase with Germany throwing everything forward (including, by the end, goalkeeper Neuer) and chances on both sides.

I think Portugal did very well by playing aggressively against Spain and pressing them high up the pitch, something Spain aren't really used to. It didn't make for a very beautiful game, though, also because Spain looked content to wait until their opponents get tired. It's not so much Spain's passing that's frustrating, but they simply don't field enough players who can score goals. A lot has been made of the decision whether to start with a true striker or not, but I think it's more important that they don't start with goalscoring wingers either (Villa is injured, but why not Pedro?)

I really wonder who will win at the end. I've voted for Spain in a fun competition at work, but I'm everything but sure about it. Italy plays much more interesting than they used to do in the tournaments before, but it still doesn't look that great. I like the way Spanish teams play with their short passes, but somehow the games of the Spanish team looked a bit uninspiring as well. Who could blame them though—it has been enough what they did so far. (Even against Portugal where they had "some" luck.) From my point of view the game Italy vs. Spain in the group stage was one of the best games of the tournament, so there's maybe some hope that the final will be a good and interesting one.

I was surprised to read that perennial powerhouse Italy has won only ONE European Championship Tournament!

That surprises me, in that, if I remember correctly, Italy has won FOUR World Cup championships; (but only ONE European Championship?!)


Chess Fan

Well, two of Italy's World Cup wins came in 1934 and 1938, while the European championships only exist since 1964. Also, there have been several surprise winners in European championships (Greece 2004, Denmark 1992, Czechoslovakia 1976), but none in World Cups.

Meanwhile the line-ups are in without any real surprises, so Spain again without a "true" striker.

2-0 Spain at half-time, can't see Italy coming back there. Spain looked very sharp when they increased the tempo with quick combinations, striker or not. They went into energy saving mode a bit after 20 minutes, even having less possession, but never got under much pressure.

Italy down to 10 men after an injury, when they had already used up all three substitutions. Too bad, now it's pretty much a non-game.

Spain win it 4-0, eventually it was an impressive display of superiority. That makes them the first team to defend their European championship title, and they also won a World Cup in between. Clearly one of the best teams in history. Although their game may look ponderous at times, they proved they can always step it up a notch when necessary, and looked dominant throughout most of their games. Apparently no one has really found a way to stop them yet - even though some, like Portugal and Italy in their group game, managed to somewhat contain them.