Italy Advances to Euro 2012 Final

2- Italy (Balotelli 20', 36')

1- Germany (Ozil 90'+)

The Italian National Team upset Euro favorites Germany 2-1 in the semi, reaching the final against defending champions Spain.   Despite the public’s view, the Azzuri  netted two early goals with the help of young gun Mario Balotelli and held the Germans goalless until stoppage time.

In the 20^th minute, Balotelli used his size and skill to head home a ball past defender Holger Badstuber and goal keeper Manuel Nuer from the boot of Antonio Cassano.  Sixteen minutes later, the Manchester City striker received a ball behind the German line of defense and blasted a rocket into the right upper ninety. 

Though the German squad had many chances at goal, they simply could not finish—not to mention Gigi Buffon was at his best.  The Italian last-minute defense, though nerve wracking, proved to be more than enough to keep out the likes of Mario Gomez and Lukas Podolski out of their goal.

Late in the game, Germany went into an all-out attack which proved fruitless until an a hand ball was called on Italian defender Federico Balzaretti in the 92^nd minute.  Real Madrid midfielder Mesut Ozil slotted the ball past Buffon, but the Germans were unable to level the game in stoppage time and the Azzuri came out on top. 

Balotelli’s heroics lands him on top of the scorer’s table for Euro 2012.  The team’s confidence will be sky-high as they prepare to rematch their Group C counterparts.  Italian midfielder Claudio Marchisio commented, “We showed we're on Spain's level and that's where we started this run… It's no longer a question of fear.  Now we've got to pull out everything we still have inside ourselves."  The game to decide Europe's champion kicks off on Sunday at 1:45.

By Matthew Sinacore