Euro 2012 Review: The Semi Finals

Ok, the joke’s on me for doing the sensible thing, as an Englishman, and backing the Germans to prosper in this European Championships. Well done Italy and well done Mr William Hill.

Tomorrow’s final in Kiev continues an unerring trend – which occurs every eight years - of finalists having met in the group stage (see Holland v USSR in ’88, Germany v Czech Republic in ’96 and Greece v Portugal in ’04) and it was of absolutely no surprise to me.

Before that though, there were two contrasting, yet equally enthralling semi finals to enjoy and ‘chew the fat over’, here goes...

It was a good semi-final for:

Italy – What a turn up for Cesare Prandelli’s side. Gianluigi Buffon is stating a case for being the world’s best ‘keeper at the moment, the chiselled Giorgio Chielleni was back in the fold, Andrea Pirlo (right) was majestically untouchable and Mario Balotelli was...himself (more of that later). The Azzurri have been captivating to watch because they’ve adopted a 4-4-2 formation with a twist, but stuck to their principles at all times; keep it tight at the back and see what you can pinch down the other end, perfect tournament tactics.

Bookmakers – Unsurprisingly never far from the Italians, the bookies have profited – as they always do – from the joint favourites, Germany, departing. I was put off by Italy’s huge 16/1 outright winners price after group game number two, so for purely personal reasons, will be supporting Spain on Sunday.

It was a bad semi-final for:

Spain – They just do not look themselves; they look tired, disorganised and have no ‘plan B’. I agree that they might go all the way on ‘plan A’ alone, as it is so good, but Vicente Del Bosque (right) regularly and randomly rotating his centre forward smacks of trial and error.

Heroes of the semi-final:

Mario Balotelli – The performance from the maverick Manchester City striker was the best I’ve ever seen by him and his finishing was world class. His brace was the type which we were warned he was capable as a teenager at Inter Milan. It may be cliché but he is the master of his own destiny.

Sergio Ramos – Cheeky penalty from the centre half, takes bottle and I had to agree with suggestions that John Terry is unlikely to ever follow suit.

Villains of the semi final:

Cristiano Ronaldo – If you want to be considered better than Messi, you’ve got to be bigger. Bafflingly, he didn’t fancy doing the hard yards in the penalty shootout when his side needed him most and left it to the cumbersome Bruno Alves of all people.

Which nicely leads me to my Magic Moment – Balotelli’s thunderous second goal takes some beating and was stunning, but Bruno Alves getting to the 18 yard line to take the third Portugal penalty of the shootout and then being recalled by Nani, who stepped up, was utterly bizarre.