Euro 2012 Tournament
Final match: Spain to face Italy in the Euro 2012 championship match
After nearly three weeks of soccer madness taking over the globe — the European part of the globe, specifically — only two teams remain, headed for what promises to be an engaging championship game full of intrigue, starpower and lots and lots of passing.
The lots and lots of passing will come from Spain. It's not surprising they've made the finals, and with wins at the 2008 Euros and the 2010 World Cup, a win on Sunday would give them the first-ever "treble" (three championships in a row) of this variety.
Throughout the tournament, they've played with their usual amount of possession and passing, but without the usual finishing flair displayed in the past two international tournaments. In fact, Spain got past Portugal in the semifinals match yesterday after 120 minutes of scoreless play, winning 4-2 on penalty kicks — essentially winning a staring contest against their Iberian rivals.
Spain will face Italy, who upset Germany 2-1 Thursday on the strength of two first-half goals by enfant terrible Mario Balotelli and a stellar game from veteran Italian goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon. After chance after disappointing chance fell short for the favored Germans, a handball in the Italian penalty area allowed Mesut Özil to score in the second minute of stoppage time on the resulting penalty kick. Despite a frantic effort in the remaining two minutes of the game to score a second goal, the Germans couldn't send the match to extra time.
Spain and Italy have already met once in this tournament, playing the opening game in Group C against each other on June 10. They tied 1-1, with the teams trading goals in the 61st and 64th minute of the match.
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You can watch the action at the CultureMap-sponsored Euro 2012 Finals Watch Party at the ND (5th and Brushy) on Sunday. Doors open at 1 p.m., and the match set to start at 1:45 p.m. You can also start talking it up now with your fellow Austin soccer fans on Twitter, using the #euro2012atx hashtag.