Baletlli did it: Italy slides by Germany and heads to Euro finals

Mario Balotelli

Well, it certainly didn't lack for entertainment value. And it had more scoring than the other semi-final too.

Italy beat Germany 2-1 Thursday afternoon to reach the Euro 2012 Finals against Spain. Oh, the game will be played in Ukraine for those curious.

Your star of the game: Mario Balotelli with 2 goals for Italy. Quite honestly, the storyline started on his goal in the 20th minute and ended when he scored again 16 minutes later.

And the game was relatively controversy free...so it had that going for it. Though Balotelli did create a bit of a stir after his second goal when he took off his shirt. That in soccer is cause for a Yellow Card.

It winds down, but doesn't finish what has been a highly entertaining couple of weeks. The soccer played in the tourney has been top-notch and thanks to ESPN, the games have been running in the afternoons and have drawn pretty good ratings.

It would be nice to see this kind of soccer take off here in the states, and it is showing signs of happening with the TV ratings improving and in fact exploding when Team USA plays.

We can only hope it is a precursor of things to come.

Here's the second goal, which broke Germany's back...
((HT: UEFA/youtube))

Spain wins on PK's, Ronaldo controversy begins

Yes, we are doing a soccer story.

Because if you are a fan of Sports, you should be watching the European Soccer Championships. It's some of the most entertaining, dramatic moments that you'll see.

And before some of you say it....it's more exciting to watch then most baseball games if you know what you are watching.

The 1st of the Euro League semi-finals was played Wednesday afterooon (our time) and featured defending champion Spain vs. Portugal, featuring all-world star Christian Ronaldo.

The game ended regulation time in a draw. So much like hockey (appealing to American fans), the two teams chose sides and went to a Penalty Kick shootout.

And Spain won the shootout 4-2 after their goaltender Iker Casillas stopped the 1st shot and another Portugeses shot hit the crossbar.

However, it did not end without some controversy as Portugal did not have Ronaldo, their supposed best player, take any of their attempts.

Spain will face the winner of Thursday's Germany vs.Italy game. The finals will be on Sunday.

Ronaldo's omission would be roughly the equivalent of the Heat taking LeBron or Dwyane Wade out of the game in the final 2 minutes. Or Tom Brady on the bench during the Patriots last possession.

(Yes, I know we are dumbing this down. But it's shocking how many people don't get "Big-Time" Professional Soccer.)

We are efforting highlights. We'll post 'em when we find 'em...

Found 'em...hope they don't get pulled.

Why Soccer Needs Goal-Line Technology

((HT: UEFA/ITVSport/youtube))

Okay, it's the last day of round-robin play for the 2012 European competition held in both the Ukraine and Poland...

Donetsk was privy to the co-host's last game against the Three Lions...
England was up 1-0 on a Wayne Rooney goal until, we all thought, this...


You can easily see, on overhead replay, John Terry was inside the goal when he retrieved it. But the side judge didn't call it...

The HQ is wondering, if the co-hosts lose, how long it will be before the rioting starts and UEFA has to apologize...

EURO 2012: Day One Gives Goal Of The Tourney

((HT: Sport1/youtube))

Roman Pavlyuchenko is ridiculous...
Evidence below...


Poland and Greece tied 1-1 in the other game before Russia destroyed the Czech Republic 4-1 with the above goal contributing...

Tomorrow is the Group of Death... and that'll be worth watching...