BOOM! another choke, some great vision, and a new Euro Supremo beckons

Ten minutes before half-time Balotelli bags his and Italy's second with a screamer. Montolivo is just inside his own half and sprays a diagonal down the centre for Balotelli who is 40 yards out. He chests the ball down, turns, and a delicate touch takes the ball towards the edge of the German penalty area ...BOOM! 2-0 Italy

"I can hardly see any weak links in the German team. When you've won all your competitive games since the semi-final at the 2010 World Cup, you don't have to fear any opponent,"  Franz Beckenbauer on the eve of  Semi-Final No. 2 : Germany v Italy.

You know when an elder tells a child that it does not have to fear something; it generally means that the child has a certain fear of something.

Well done this morning to Duncan, Stylianos, and Nestor for predicting this morning's second semi-final, but really why were there only three Mates going for an Italian victory over ze Germans? The Italian's too had a formidable record (undefeated) in qualifying, took the game to the current European and World Champions during the group stages of this tournament, controlled their Quarter Final game against England, had a superior defensive record (to Germany) prior to today, and had an impeccable record against Germany at 'competitive' matches that now stands at 4-4-0. To add further salt into the wound, as we pointed out in a previous blog, Germany's record at the business end of tournaments is an catalogue of one failure after another, yet somehow they were overwhelming favourites to make, and win the Final. Germany has a history of standing on the threshold of achieving their ambition for greatness in a variety of areas, but they never seem to get there. Perhaps great technique together with pragmatism and flexibility always overcome rigid efficiency. Someone should let the Germans in on the secret that there is simply more to football that robotic tactics. 

It seems that the time has arrived for the football world to place the unwanted tag of underachievers/chokers across the German national team as the Spanish once unceremoniously wore it. We did say at the beginning of the tournament, these are the Euros and the gloves are off.  As mention in the pre-game Quarter Final hype between Germany and Greece, to achieve a great result you must have belief, even against the greatest odds, even when there is little support, even when victory seems impossible. Yet Germany, with all these odds in their favour, always fail, and what seems to be a great irony, teams who achieve this virtue, do so at the expense of the Germans. Perception can be a wicked vice, and hammering teams you are expected to defeat with clear-eyed efficiency does not make you a great side. Congratulations to Italy who once again turned around what their media described as ‘scandalous allegations’ and ‘poor preparation’ to make it into the Final of another major tournament. 

Vision Award

Pre-tournament Prediction of the Finalists

Spain V Italy

Congratulations

Stylianos & Nestor

father and son have gone for Italy in the Final

On the ladder, the quest for Supremo will go down to the final game. Jason (56), Luke (53) and Jeremy (52) missed out on gaining any advantages for the top prize, opening the door for Nestor (53) to pull equal second with Luke, three points behind Jason. A preview of the Final plus the full ladder will be out shortly. 

Euro 2012: Joachim's Löw's Germany condemned to follow famous footsteps