Sadness on the Faces - Italia Loose UEFA Final

Italy cast aside their reputation for defensive football for a game rich in creativity, guile and excitement at UEFA EURO 2012, winning friends along the way if ultimately not the final.

They say that no one remembers the losing finalists but the football played by Cesare Prandelli's progressive side at UEFA EURO 2012 will live long in the memory as Italy cast aside their reputation for defensive football for a game rich in creativity, guile and excitement.

In a nutshell
Prandelli's charges came through a baptism of fire in their opening match against Spain but that 1-1 draw against the world and European champions was the platform upon which the remainder of their campaign was built. Inspired by their outstanding architect-in-chief Andrea Pirlo, the Azzurri improved game by game, entertaining the neutral in the process with their expansive brand of attractive football. Italy created chances galore, but for all their wonderful approach play Croatia, the Republic of Ireland, England and Germany were never put completely out of sight. The four-time world champions eventually met their match in Spain.

High point
Although the draw with Spain and the penalty shoot-out victory against England were both successful tests of character, the superlative semi-final success against Germany was the high point. Joachim Löw's side had been lauded for their attacking prowess and installed as favorites, yet after weathering the early storm it was Italy who emerged triumphant. The peerless Pirlo again pulled the strings in midfield, the 'blocco Juve' defended the Azzurri goal defiantly and Mario Balotelli came good with two exceptional strikes. The only blot on the copybook was Federico Balzaretti's handball that gave Germany a last-minute lifeline from the penalty spot but the late tension only served to make this team's victory taste all the sweeter.

Key man
Pirlo was Italy's creative force at the 2006 FIFA World Cup and his influence remains as strong as ever. Throughout the tournament he pulled the strings from midfield with his extensive range of passing, a trademark free-kick against Croatia and his 'Panenka' penalty in the shoot-out against England. He won three Carlsberg Man of the Match awards and, as Cesare Prandelli said: "He is one of the best midfielders in the world. Others may get forward and score more but the consistency he shows over 90 minutes is extraordinary."

Hope for the future
Headlines followed Balotelli in the Italian, English and Polish newspapers before and throughout UEFA EURO 2012 and they will doubtless do so long after he has left. Goalless in his opening two matches, the 21-year-old responded to being dropped for the final group match with a goal that sealed victory against the Republic of Ireland. Although he missed several chances in the quarter-final against England, his two unstoppable goals did for Germany and SuperMario's pace, power and unpredictability will make him a mainstay of the national team for years to come.

Vital statistic
15 – the number of competitive matches unbeaten under Prandelli, until the UEFA EURO 2012 final. For all the talk of their attacking verve, the Azzurri are a very hard side to beat. It took Spain two attempts to lower their colours.

Final word
"As long as we play football we are a good side. So long as we try to take supremacy in midfield we are a good side, but if we try to protect a result we become a side with a thousand fears. I have to compliment my team because they really played an excellent tournament."
Coach Prandelli sings the praises of his Azzurri squad.

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Sadness on the Faces - Italia Loose UEFA Final

Torres and Mata's Joy for Club and Country - Spanish Victory in UEFA

Fernando Torres and Juan Mata both came on to score in Spain's defeat of Italy and join a select group to have played in European Cup and EURO final wins in the same season.

Spain's UEFA EURO 2012 final defeat of Italy means Fernando Torres and Juan Mata have joined a select group of players to have played in European Champion Clubs' Cup and UEFA European Championship final victories in the same season.

The pair both featured in Chelsea FC's UEFA Champions League triumph against FC Bayern München in May and followed that up by collecting another winners' medal in Kyiv tonight. As in Munich, Torres came on as a second-half substitute in the final, but still had time to become the first player to score in two EURO finals as he struck the third in a 4-0 win.

Torres was also Spain's top scorer in Poland and Ukraine, registering three goals. "I have won my first titles at club level this season, the FA Cup and the Champions League," the 28-year-old said. "Now I have this EURO as well, which is beyond anything we could have imagined."

Mata came on in 87th minute and scored the fourth a minute later – the perfect way to mark his only participation in the tournament. The pair's success means three Spaniards have now achieved the feat, Luis Suárez having lifted the UEFA European Championship in 1964 shortly after helping FC Internazionale Milano to overcome Real Madrid CF in the European Cup final.

Twenty-four years later, the Netherlands triumphed, with Hans van Breukelen, Ronald Koeman, Barry van Aerle and Gerald Vanenburg all in their victorious side in the final against the USSR in Munich. The triumph marked a double celebration for the quartet, who were fresh from helping PSV Eindhoven to European Cup glory against SL Benfica.

Wim Kieft was a European Cup winner with PSV and an unused substitute in the Netherlands' EURO triumph, while Nicolas Anelka went through the same experience with France in 2000 after appearing in Real Madrid's UEFA Champions League final triumph. Anelka's Madrid team-mate Christian Karembeu holds the unique position of being an unused substitute in European Cup and UEFA European Championship final triumphs in the same year.

Ten players have played in European Cup final victories and EURO final defeats in the same year: Sepp Maier, Hans-Georg Schwarzenbeck, Franz Beckenbauer and Uli Hoeness (1976, Bayern München and West Germany) and Ricardo Carvalho, Nuno Valente, Costinha, Maniche, Deco and Paulo Ferreira (2004, FC Porto and Portugal).

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Torres and Mata's Joy for Club and Country - Spanish Victory in UEFA

Spain Join Germany Atop the EURO Podium

Having become the first team to successfully defend the UEFA European Championship, Spain have joined Germany as the only three-time winners of the continent's greatest prize.

Spain's class of 2012 have etched their country's name on to the Henri Delaunay Cup for a third time with their record 4-0 victory against Italy in Kyiv.

Vicente del Bosque's men won the 14th edition of the UEFA European Championship at the Olympic Stadium, denying their opponents a second title in the process. Spain were previously crowned European champions on home soil in 1964 and in Austria/Switzerland four years ago and they now join Germany (1972 and 1980 as West Germany, 1996) as the only country with three titles.

France (1984, 2000) have claimed the cup twice; the Soviet Union (1960), Italy (1968), Czechoslovakia (1976), Netherlands (1988), Denmark (1992) and Greece (2004) complete the nine-strong list of former winners.

UEFA European Championship finals

01/07/2012 Spain 4-0 Italy – Kyiv
29/06/2008 Germany 0-1 Spain – Vienna
04/07/2004 Portugal 0-1 Greece – Lisbon
02/07/2000 France 2-1 Italy (aet) – Rotterdam
30/06/1996 Czech Republic 1-2 Germany (aet) – London
26/06/1992 Denmark 2-0 Germany – Gothenburg
25/06/1988 USSR 0-2 Netherlands – Munich
27/06/1984 France 2-0 Spain – Paris
22/06/1980 Belgium 1-2 West Germany – Rome
20/06/1976 Czechoslovakia 2-2 West Germany (aet, 5-3 pens) – Belgrade
18/06/1972 West Germany 3-0 USSR – Brussels
08/06/1968 Italy 1-1 Yugoslavia (aet) – Rome
10/06/1968 Italy 2-0 Yugoslavia (replay) – Rome
21/06/1964 Spain 2-1 USSR – Madrid
10/07/1960 USSR 2-1 Yugoslavia (aet) – Paris

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Spain Join Germany Atop the EURO Podium

Del Bosque's Spain won UEFA Champions League 2012

Vicente del Bosque spoke of a "great era for Spanish football" after his side retained the Henri Delaunay Cup with an emphatic win against a tired Italy team whose luck was out.

Vicente del Bosque became the first coach to complete the hat-trick of UEFA Champions League, FIFA World Cup and UEFA European Championship on Sunday but he refused to linger on personal achievements.

"This is a great era for Spanish football," said Del Bosque, who paid tribute to his players after an "extraordinary" performance but also praised opponents Italy, a side he said had everything but luck. His counterpart Cesare Prandelli, looking as tired as his players, admitted he would have "pangs of disappointment" departing Ukraine, but he leaves satisfied with a tournament where his Azzurri squad warranted an 8/10 mark.

Vicente del Bosque, Spain coach
Before I start to analyse anything I'd like to say that everyone loses sometimes. Italy had a great tournament but had that injury with Thiago Motta [which left them to play the last 28 minutes with ten men] and the game effectively ended then. We played well, got the first goal and though Italy responded well we reacted and got a second. Our success is historic but we have to begin looking to the future and qualifying for Brazil.

This is a great generation of players. They have roots and know how to play because they come from a country that knows how to. We have a great bunch of lads, some playing abroad – they never used to. This is a great era for Spanish football. After Vienna [and the UEFA EURO 2008 final] Luis Aragonés, the then coach, showed us the way, the direction to go. But there are challenges ahead with World Cup qualification,and then the Confederations Cup where, representing Europe, we want to do well.

We had an extraordinary match but don't underestimate Italy – they just had no luck. Everything went our way tonight. Italy had one fewer player, one less day of rest and they tried throughout but couldn't get into the game. We played our own game and were faithful to what we've done over the years. I have spoken to the King [Juan Carlos] and his son and they told us they will see us tomorrow. This is a great time for all the Spanish people.

Cesare Prandelli, Italy coach
Our only regret is that we were so tired. We were up against a great side, the world champions, and as soon as we went down to ten men it was game over. We had a couple of chances at the start of the second half but didn't take them and when Thiago Motta went off we had nothing left in the tank. When we did attack, we struggled to get back to cover.

I think we've had a terrific European Championship and our only regret is that we didn't have a few more days to rest before this game. We played against Spain in the group stage and I thought we were excellent then – because we were 100% fit. Against a team like Spain you need to be at your best, going into tackles, and tonight we simply weren't. You have to pay credit to Spain. They have made history tonight and deservedly so. They may not play with a recognised striker but they still cause a hell of a lot of problems.

I'd give us an eight out of ten for the tournament. We had a difficult group and played some good games; we just struggled to recover our fitness. Italy have shown terrific team spirit, they've shown you can play attacking football, they've shown you don't have to kick people, they've shown you can lose with dignity and that they can react to hard situations.

You can never be happy after defeat; you always want to win. But the longer the game went on the more I came to reflect on how well we've played. When we fly over Kyiv and see the stadium lights I will have pangs of disappointment but I leave proud.

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Del Bosque's Spain won UEFA Champions League 2012

Spain Won the UEFA Euro Cup 2012 Final Against Italy

UEFA Euro Cup Final Result: Spain 4-0 Italy
Vicente del Bosque's side saved their best until last at UEFA EURO 2012 as they overwhelmed an Italy outfit that ran out of steam.

Spain saved their best until last at UEFA EURO 2012, a final-record 4-0 victory in Kyiv completing an unprecedented hat-trick of major tournament wins.

Against a flagging Italy side whose thrilling knockout campaign looked to have caught up with them, Spain were in control from the moment David Silva broke the deadlock with a rare header on 14 minutes. A barnstorming second with half-time approaching from the indefatigable Jordi Alba, his first international goal, left the Azzurri with a mountain to climb. The sight of Thiago Motta, their third substitute, being carried off on a stretcher ended all hope, leaving Italy to play out the last 28 minutes with ten men – and Spain replacements Fernando Torres and Juan Mata fully capitalized.

This was billed as a meeting of great creative minds, of conductors in their prime, of Xavi Hernández against Andrea Pirlo; but for much of the opening stages it was a one-man show. Spain's No8 picked up the baton from the off, in harmony with Andrés Iniesta, dictating La Roja's now familiar staccato movement as Italy were forced deeper and deeper. The olés had already begun among the sizeable Spanish contingent in the 63,170 crowd when, just before the quarter-hour, the pair combined to such devastating effect.

Xavi, who had fired just over moments earlier, fed Iniesta and his finely weighted ball allowed Cesc Fàbregas to easily outstrip Giorgio Chiellini on the inside-right channel. There was still plenty to do but how easily Spain made it look as Fàbregas pulled a sharp ball back for Silva, all 170cm of him, to glance his header in. It proved a disappointed Chiellini's last real action as he soon succumbed to the thigh problem that has hampered him throughout his time in Poland and Ukraine.

A heavy-legged Italy could ill afford the double blow, but impressively they fought their way back into it. Pirlo, inevitably, was their driving force, the beating drum that pulled the strings at the back and sounded the horn to attack. Not that there was much of that. In fact, Pirlo's most telling contribution of the first half was a superb last-ditch block on Iniesta. Yet try as he might – and he did try – the 33-year-old could not be everywhere.

Spain's second was a little too easy, though. Standing on the touch line near halfway, Fàbregas headed Iker Casillas's clearance to Alba who turned the ball into Xavi before haring forward. The Azzurri back line did not seem to notice but the erudite Xavi did, advancing forward before slotting his new FC Barcelona club-mate in. The composed left-footed finish that followed would have pleased even David Villa, watching in the stands with Carles Puyol.

It seemed nothing could now deny Spain a first competitive victory against the Azzurri in 92 years – at least over 90 minutes – but Italy were not done yet. Antonio Di Natale, scorer in the 1-1 draw between these sides three weeks ago, came on for Antonio Cassano and within six minutes he could have scored twice. His first chance, a header, was far from simple but the striker could have done better when Riccardo Montolivo's pass found him in space. He snatched at the chance, though, and the advancing Casillas blocked.

Yet Italy's slender hopes of mounting a comeback disappeared when Thiago Motta did likewise down the tunnel. It was left for Xavi to resume his conducting, slowing things down until, with six minutes remaining, he upped the tempo for a rousing crescendo. First he robbed Pirlo in midfield and set up Torres for a goal to add to his UEFA EURO 2008 showpiece effort – a feat no one has managed before – then he combined with Torres to release Mata, just on, to set seal on an emphatic win. It has been an emphatic four years.

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Spain Won the UEFA Euro Cup 2012 Final Against Italy

Italy's Final Pedigree - With the Memories of Past

They lucked it a bit in 1968 and were sunk by a late goal in 2000; Pietro Anastasi, Paolo Maldini and Dino Zoff look back at Italy's past UEFA European Championship finals.

Italy are playing in their third UEFA European Championship against Spain, having won the 1968 competition following a replay after famously getting through the semi-finals on the toss of a coin. However, as coach Dino Zoff recalls, their luck ran out in 2000, when a late lapse in Rotterdam cost them victory against France, as they succumbed to David Trezeguet's golden goal in extra time.

08/06/1968 Italy 1-1 Yugoslavia (aet) (Rome)
10/06/1968 Italy 2-0 Yugoslavia (Rome)

Pietro Anastasi: In the first final, Yugoslavia played better than us, and they deserved to have got to the final more than us, but they were 1-0 up when, ten minutes from the end, we had that bit of good luck that you need. Dominghini took a free-kick from just outside the box, their defensive wall opened up, the ball went through the wall and it finished 1-1. Then after two days there was this replay, the second final.

We can say that we played well in the second final. I would not say that we were dominant but we did not steal anything. If Yugoslavia deserved to win the first match, the second was a hard-fought game, but I think we won it on merit, with the first goal scored by Riva and then the second one which I scored myself.

To this day, I don't understand how I managed to score it. Well you can imagine, a 20-year-old boy who is playing his first international games, and then in the second final to manage to make it 2-0, and score the peace-of-mind goal. I saw this ball in the air, I did this half turn, I shot and I was lucky enough to put it in the right corner and I went crazy, jumping like a camel, a kangaroo rather. It was… I don't know how to say... at 20 you think about so many things. It was amazing.

02/07/2000 France 2-1 Italy (Rotterdam)

Dino Zoff: Toldo made some fairly good saves. They didn't cause us any trouble – unfortunately! – right up until the 93rd minute. When they scored from Barthez's long ball, touched by Cannavaro then by Henry and Wiltord, that was fate. On the pitch, from a technical point of view, they didn't give us any particular headaches. Unfortunately, we didn't have the strength to respond. I was trying to encourage them before extra time, but the blow was so big.

In that 20 seconds at the end of the game, we just lacked something, but that's probably just fate. We had been lucky against the Netherlands [winning the semi-final on penalties after a goalless draw]. I am a realist, but they cannot come and tell me that France did anything extraordinary. It was just France's moment.

Paolo Maldini: We had a great time at those finals. We formed a very compact group and things worked out well until very close to the end. Thirty seconds before the end of that final, we were champions of Europe. We had four good chances to clinch the win. However, we were up against a team that didn't give up and they managed to pull level in the last 30 seconds of the game.

We immediately realized we'd lost the game. We'd played an extremely tough semi-final against the Netherlands and had one fewer day to recover than France. So, psychologically, everything was in their favour. I would say that goal counted as double. It was an equalizer, but at the same time it was the winning goal. During the interval between normal time and the start of extra time, we told each other we had to pick ourselves up and win the final. But they were just words because I think that, deep inside, we knew the equalizer had been a crucial psychological blow.

It doesn't sound very nice to put it that way, but it's the truth. We were very tired and some of the players had started getting cramp. It was the result of all the tension, because during the rest of the match we'd been very strong as we were convinced we were going to win.

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Italy's Final Pedigree - With the Memories of Past

Euro Cup Closing Ceremony Set to Thrill with German Singer Oceana

Sunday's UEFA EURO 2012 closing ceremony in Kyiv will bring a memorable tournament to a spectacular climax ahead of the eagerly-awaited final between Spain and Italy.

Kyiv's Olympic Stadium will host the UEFA EURO 2012 closing ceremony on Sunday, an unforgettable curtain-raiser to the final between Spain and Italy.

Inspired by football, the 16 participating teams and the tournament's values, the 12-minute show will be presented shortly before kick-off, and will feature more than 600 volunteer performers. The concept has been created to celebrate the end of a historical event - the first UEFA European Championship staged in central and eastern Europe. It will also promote the participating nations together with key competition values: unity, rivalry and passion.

Both the opening and closing ceremonies were devised by Marco Balich, the president of Filmmaster Events, along with artistic director Lida Castelli and show director Bryn Walters. Balich has designed many international events, including the 2002 Olympic flag handover in Salt Lake City, the 2006 Olympic ceremonies in Turin and the Carnival of Venice.

The official tournament song, Endless Summer, will be performed live by German singer Oceana. The UEFA EURO 2012 hit is the first single from Oceana's outstanding new studio album, recorded in London, New York and Berlin with producers including Rob Davis (Kylie Minogue) and Blair McKichan (Lily Allen).

The national anthems of both finalists will be presented by Tamara Khodakova and Mykhailo Humenniy – soloists from the Kyiv Municipal Academic Opera and Ballet Theatre, under the leadership of Anzhela Maslennikova.

A total of 150 million viewers are expected to watch the UEFA EURO 2012 final live.

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Euro Cup Closing Ceremony Set to Thrill with German Singer Oceana