Spain hasn’t beaten Italy in a competitive match since just after World War I. For some reason, oddsmakers are favoring Spain. They made the same mistake with Germany, who have never beaten Italy in a tournament. Sometimes the experts are quite daft, even in football.
My prediction since before the semis was Italy 3 – Spain 2 and Balotelli scoring the winning goal. So far my prediction is two-thirds right, with the final third to be determined tomorrow.
Now I am going to throw in one more idea. Balotelli is a free agent. Why doesn’t Barcelona pick him up? The Barca midgets desperately need a big aggressive striker. That would free up space for Messi and allow Barca to actually take corner kicks.
AC Milan proved that you can shut Messi down by not giving him any space, and Balotelli is just the guy to create it. Either Barcelona or Chelsea should pick up Balotelli. Man City has Toure and they don’t need Super-Mario. Barcelona and Chelsea do.
for the record, Spain has beaten Italy on penalties 4 years ago
3-2? Ha!
1-0 more likely. Or 0-1.
Kudos Steve, will be watching the game at 2 AM down under time.
Football News
http://dawn.com/2012/04/12/big-debts-lie-behind-spanish-glory/
and you ask Why doesn’t Barcelona pick him up?
Soon football (as we know it) will be something of the past (I hope)
Football is just one more way that dictators have to control their populations..
I disagree. Europe used to settle its differences with guns, tanks and mustard gas. Now they do it on the football pitch.
War in Slovenia (1991)
Croatian War of Independence (1991–1995)
Bosnian War (1992–1995)
Kosovo War (1998–1999), including the 1999 NATO bombing of Yugoslavia.
War is always a small step away ! Europe is in a crisis. Revolution could start any moment. If the money runs out and most people can’t feed their family things can change very quickly.
Just think what 4 more years of barak osama obama could bring to the US.
Most People of Catalonie http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Catalonia want to leave spain. You think spain will let us ?
People in madrid and the rest of spain hate the Catalans.They will do anything to kill our culture. They say that Catalans are not solidary.But most of the money we pay in taxes never comes back.
Spanish anthem Athletic – Barça. Vicente Calderon Copa del Rei 2012
with censorship of spanish television
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WInU8lb1zao
without censorship of spanish television
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ylZ0WLw5GV8
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ACpNen0D-RU
100,000 watts of power could not silence the people.
http://www.elmundo.es/elmundo/2012/05/25/madrid/1337949258.html
http://www.presseurop.eu/en/content/news-brief/796481-ronaldo-s-new-position-bank-collateral
http://www.zerohedge.com/news/bankia-bailout-costs-grow-exponentially-stealth-bank-run-taking-place-and-what-happens-ronaldo
EU Bailout to pay Spanish football you couldn’t make it up Try to explain that to the Germans
Germans used to make a habit of wrecking the lives of billions of people. Paying for football is a much cheaper option.
I was born in the glory days of sports in the forties. I watched the progression from intense competition among fair minded men , and a few women , to the doping and cheating that is now rampant among competitors. I no longer watch sports as I don’t care to view drugged up individuals unfairly taking advantage over their competition. I enjoy and support fair games among children and young adults but believe after a certain level in high school you need to grow up and contribute to society and quit playing games on other peoples money. Organized sports has become a farce and a burden wether you like it or not. It is now all about money.
stevengoddard says:
July 1, 2012 at 1:46 pm
Germans used to make a habit of wrecking the lives of billions of people. Paying for football is a much cheaper option.
The US is going to sponsor American Football al over the world
http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-yeDeypQwV0w/TpHlfyxGQWI/AAAAAAAAFDM/5eMJZ82wgrg/s1600/2.jpg
The small world elite always knew how to divide and conquer. For them we are just cannon fodder.
Now let us enjoy the game and remember that the universe would not miss us if tomorrow there would be no planet Earth.
Steve, if we see anywhere near 5 goals in the finals we should start a new religion and appoint you a Supreme Seer.
I hope you’re right but I am bracing myself for a 0-0 with endless passing in the middle. In case of a draw the main suspense for me will be Pirlo’s penalty execution. I think he’d shot more Panenkas than any major player lately but they include his failure against Barcelona. It would seem insanely risky if he did it again because nobody would blame him much if he failed in a conventional way. On the other hand Panenka himself remarked recently that his invention works best when nobody expects it and Pirlo is a cold-blooded shooter. I predict though he’d do something else.
Time to go.
Looking like five goals so far. Maybe Spain 5 and Italy 0. Pirlo looks dazed and confused. Balotelli is thinking too much.
The way it unfolded it could easily have been even more than 5. I could not get to the internet during the first half but I already conceded that I was wrong and I was happy about it, too. Totally different match than what I feared. I wish Italy did not fall apart in the second but they just did not know what to do. I don’t remember a championship game where a team had a 2-0 lead and continued playing as offensively as Spain. Memorable.
Italy was simply awful. Pirlo had no clue the whole game. They had several chances and took terrible shots, Balotelli started playing as Spain`s 12th man in the second half.
My favorite play of the match was Torres pass to Mata. He could have been the only player to score four in the tournament, but instead unselfishly gave the ball to his Chelsea teammate.
I yelled the same thing right there! He did not shoot. He passed. That makes him a great player even without the fourth goal.