Mario Balotelli can always count on him to put on a show. The question has always been: Would it help or hurt the team? In the Euro 2012 semi-final on Thursday against Germany, which was certainly the first, scoring two goals in the first half to give the Italians a 2-1 victory and with it a place in Sunday's final against Spain.
It was a fully deserved victory to Italy, however, which was also unexpected, even when the quality of the staff of the Azzurri ignored. Germany came into the match as favorites considerable, had two days off over the Italians and seems to work at top form. But along the way, there have been some warning signs, namely, a weakness along the defensive line was punished mercilessly by Balotelli. He nodded, crossed the home of Antonio Cassano on 20 minutes, then finished with a lightning fast counter-attack with a thunderous end nine minutes before the break.
Mesut Ozil from Germany sent Italian nerves jangling when converting a penalty two minutes into injury time, but the Italians saw the rest of the game, setting up a rematch with Spain, who drew 1-1 in the group stage.
At the moment, Italy is left to celebrate a victory rewarding - and not just heroics Balotelli. Cassano did a lot to alter the momentum of the game early, because without resolving the German defense with his movement. Goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon overcame some shakiness early to offer several key saves, and the bottom line was solid overall. In midfield, Andrea Pirlo was the same usual strong, while Daniele De Rossi recovered from an illness go back to 90 minutes.
And with the victory, Italy continued their jinx in Germany in the big tournaments. The Azzurri now have a 4-0-4 record against the Die Mannschaft in major tournaments, adding to his win in the semifinals of the 2006 World Cup.
After some lineup changes for the springing unexpected quarter-final victory against Greece, Germany, Joachim Low restored Lukas Podolski and Mario Gomez midfielder striker to the starting lineup in place of Andre Schürrle and Miroslav Klose. Under instituted a minor adjustment, however, that Toni Kroos a chance to play in place of Marco Reus, with Bayern Munich man moving toward the center and push Mesut Ozil across the width of the right.
As for Italy, Cesare Prandelli manager made only one change, replacing injured back Ignazio Abate with Giorgio Chiellini, who took the place of left-sided exchange with Federico Balzaretti to play on the right.
As has been his custom throughout the tournament, Germany started on the front foot and almost scored in the fifth minute when Mats Hummels Özil corner redirected through the legs of Italian goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon, but Pirlo was there to gently clean in the arms of her caregiver. Buffon then suffered another unstable moment only a few minutes later, fumbling a pass from Jerome Boateng, but Andrea Barzagli was asked to delete.
Germany remained the owner of most of the ball, linking well with Özil Kroos. Kroos test results of Buffon on 13 minutes, stinging the palms of the hands of the goalkeeper of Italy.
But after absorbing the pressure in the early going, the trio of Italian attack Balotelli, Cassano and Riccardo Montolivo began to find each other. Cassano scored the change in momentum with a shot that was saved by curly Manuel Neuer after 17 minutes, and the Italians broke into the top three minutes later. Cassano did well to escape the attention of Hummels in the left wing and his cross was nodded home by Balotelli, who rose above Holger Badstuber marker.
Germany tried to strike back, continually testing Chiellini on the left side Italian, and while Boateng broke with a dangerous cross on 33 minutes, the Italian defense held firm.
Italy is much safer to attack, however, and Montolivo really should have done better with a glorious opportunity a minute later. However, after being clean through Cassano, who hesitated on the ball instead of shooting, and Badstuber recovered to tackle the ball away.
It mattered little, as Italy won a second on 36 minutes a classic counterattack. A corner of Germany was authorized by Buffon at the foot of Montolivo and his defense splitting pass found Balotelli acres of space. German defender Philipp Lahm tried to regain ground, but Balotelli galloped forward and hit an absolute laser on the top to make the score 2-0.
In an attempt to carry his team back into the match under Reus and Klose brought on at half time instead of Podolski and Gomez, respectively. And the switch almost paid immediate dividends, with Reus and released in only 47 minutes to polish his shot straight into the arms of Buffon grateful.
Germany continued to pile on the pressure, shooting just wide after a layoff Lahm spot Kroos. Balotelli stem the tide a bit in the 60th minute, firing wide on the right Neuer, after creating a space for himself. Reus then almost scored from a free kick two minutes later, but Buffon was in charge of the palm of your effort over the bar with both hands.
In an effort to stem the tide, Prandelli brought some fresh legs in the form of Alessandro Diamanti and Thiago Motta. Germany still has more of the possession, but the possibilities in front of goal was dried, and was Italy, which really should have put the first leg, as Claudio Marchisio squandered two great chances. Later, the replacement for Antonio Di Natale could only hit the side netting after being put through a clean break.
Germany finally broke through in stoppage time as Balzaretti was whistled for handball as he fought with Klose. Ozil easily dispatched the spot kick to put Germany within one, but it was not enough. Although Germany, throwing everything - including Neuer - forward, Italy won, and now goes to the final.
Man of the Match: Mario Balotelli
When people look back at the career of Balotelli, this could be the game that people remember as one in which they actually announced on the world stage. Prandelli also deserves credit here for his careful management of Manchester City striker. The manager of Italy, has pushed all the right buttons and has gotten the best of his young striker. But also give credit to Balotelli. He has largely kept his emotions under control, and this game was the reward.
Verdict for Italy:
Again, Prandelli did everything right, from preparation to his tactics, his choice of personnel. Not even another set of lesions induced by the defensive line was enough to unsettle the side, as Balzaretti - his last years despite handball - put on an excellent performance as well as he played out of position at right back. As a result, the Italians are fully deserving of its place in the final. Can prevent the march from Italy, from Spain to a third consecutive major tournament? The two teams drew 1-1 in the group stage, and Balotelli in good shape, there is every reason to think they can prevail.
Verdict for Germany:
Hard as it may seem, the Euro 2012 will be remembered as another failure for this generation of players, as well as down. It is true that Germany has reached the semifinals in four consecutive majors, a feat that most countries would give anything for. However, Die Mannschaft standards have always been higher, and for the first time in his term, some hard questions are asked for the floor. That is, he made his touches in the second round destabilize the team? Maybe, but for all his talent, it was a team that had its share of problems for the tournament, ie, a defense of something fragile and vulnerable in the transition. The pipeline of young German players bodes well for the team's competitiveness in the future. You already have the mindset to make a long-awaited breakthrough is another issue altogether.
It was a fully deserved victory to Italy, however, which was also unexpected, even when the quality of the staff of the Azzurri ignored. Germany came into the match as favorites considerable, had two days off over the Italians and seems to work at top form. But along the way, there have been some warning signs, namely, a weakness along the defensive line was punished mercilessly by Balotelli. He nodded, crossed the home of Antonio Cassano on 20 minutes, then finished with a lightning fast counter-attack with a thunderous end nine minutes before the break.
Mesut Ozil from Germany sent Italian nerves jangling when converting a penalty two minutes into injury time, but the Italians saw the rest of the game, setting up a rematch with Spain, who drew 1-1 in the group stage.
At the moment, Italy is left to celebrate a victory rewarding - and not just heroics Balotelli. Cassano did a lot to alter the momentum of the game early, because without resolving the German defense with his movement. Goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon overcame some shakiness early to offer several key saves, and the bottom line was solid overall. In midfield, Andrea Pirlo was the same usual strong, while Daniele De Rossi recovered from an illness go back to 90 minutes.
And with the victory, Italy continued their jinx in Germany in the big tournaments. The Azzurri now have a 4-0-4 record against the Die Mannschaft in major tournaments, adding to his win in the semifinals of the 2006 World Cup.
After some lineup changes for the springing unexpected quarter-final victory against Greece, Germany, Joachim Low restored Lukas Podolski and Mario Gomez midfielder striker to the starting lineup in place of Andre Schürrle and Miroslav Klose. Under instituted a minor adjustment, however, that Toni Kroos a chance to play in place of Marco Reus, with Bayern Munich man moving toward the center and push Mesut Ozil across the width of the right.
As for Italy, Cesare Prandelli manager made only one change, replacing injured back Ignazio Abate with Giorgio Chiellini, who took the place of left-sided exchange with Federico Balzaretti to play on the right.
As has been his custom throughout the tournament, Germany started on the front foot and almost scored in the fifth minute when Mats Hummels Özil corner redirected through the legs of Italian goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon, but Pirlo was there to gently clean in the arms of her caregiver. Buffon then suffered another unstable moment only a few minutes later, fumbling a pass from Jerome Boateng, but Andrea Barzagli was asked to delete.
Germany remained the owner of most of the ball, linking well with Özil Kroos. Kroos test results of Buffon on 13 minutes, stinging the palms of the hands of the goalkeeper of Italy.
But after absorbing the pressure in the early going, the trio of Italian attack Balotelli, Cassano and Riccardo Montolivo began to find each other. Cassano scored the change in momentum with a shot that was saved by curly Manuel Neuer after 17 minutes, and the Italians broke into the top three minutes later. Cassano did well to escape the attention of Hummels in the left wing and his cross was nodded home by Balotelli, who rose above Holger Badstuber marker.
Germany tried to strike back, continually testing Chiellini on the left side Italian, and while Boateng broke with a dangerous cross on 33 minutes, the Italian defense held firm.
Italy is much safer to attack, however, and Montolivo really should have done better with a glorious opportunity a minute later. However, after being clean through Cassano, who hesitated on the ball instead of shooting, and Badstuber recovered to tackle the ball away.
It mattered little, as Italy won a second on 36 minutes a classic counterattack. A corner of Germany was authorized by Buffon at the foot of Montolivo and his defense splitting pass found Balotelli acres of space. German defender Philipp Lahm tried to regain ground, but Balotelli galloped forward and hit an absolute laser on the top to make the score 2-0.
In an attempt to carry his team back into the match under Reus and Klose brought on at half time instead of Podolski and Gomez, respectively. And the switch almost paid immediate dividends, with Reus and released in only 47 minutes to polish his shot straight into the arms of Buffon grateful.
Germany continued to pile on the pressure, shooting just wide after a layoff Lahm spot Kroos. Balotelli stem the tide a bit in the 60th minute, firing wide on the right Neuer, after creating a space for himself. Reus then almost scored from a free kick two minutes later, but Buffon was in charge of the palm of your effort over the bar with both hands.
In an effort to stem the tide, Prandelli brought some fresh legs in the form of Alessandro Diamanti and Thiago Motta. Germany still has more of the possession, but the possibilities in front of goal was dried, and was Italy, which really should have put the first leg, as Claudio Marchisio squandered two great chances. Later, the replacement for Antonio Di Natale could only hit the side netting after being put through a clean break.
Germany finally broke through in stoppage time as Balzaretti was whistled for handball as he fought with Klose. Ozil easily dispatched the spot kick to put Germany within one, but it was not enough. Although Germany, throwing everything - including Neuer - forward, Italy won, and now goes to the final.
Man of the Match: Mario Balotelli
When people look back at the career of Balotelli, this could be the game that people remember as one in which they actually announced on the world stage. Prandelli also deserves credit here for his careful management of Manchester City striker. The manager of Italy, has pushed all the right buttons and has gotten the best of his young striker. But also give credit to Balotelli. He has largely kept his emotions under control, and this game was the reward.
Verdict for Italy:
Again, Prandelli did everything right, from preparation to his tactics, his choice of personnel. Not even another set of lesions induced by the defensive line was enough to unsettle the side, as Balzaretti - his last years despite handball - put on an excellent performance as well as he played out of position at right back. As a result, the Italians are fully deserving of its place in the final. Can prevent the march from Italy, from Spain to a third consecutive major tournament? The two teams drew 1-1 in the group stage, and Balotelli in good shape, there is every reason to think they can prevail.
Verdict for Germany:
Hard as it may seem, the Euro 2012 will be remembered as another failure for this generation of players, as well as down. It is true that Germany has reached the semifinals in four consecutive majors, a feat that most countries would give anything for. However, Die Mannschaft standards have always been higher, and for the first time in his term, some hard questions are asked for the floor. That is, he made his touches in the second round destabilize the team? Maybe, but for all his talent, it was a team that had its share of problems for the tournament, ie, a defense of something fragile and vulnerable in the transition. The pipeline of young German players bodes well for the team's competitiveness in the future. You already have the mindset to make a long-awaited breakthrough is another issue altogether.
0 comments:
Post a Comment