The Sporting Hack

So that’s it for another four years, Spain continued their dominance on the elite level stage and did so in impressive fashion by swatting aside Italy 4-0 in the final. A very big thank you goes to those of you who have kept up to date with Biltcliffe’s Sports Thoughts throughout the tournament to try and gain an alternate perspective of what has been a thoroughly enjoyable tournament. The big winners were: Italy – There was no shame attached to Cesare Prandelli’s side, who were unable to match the rampant Spaniards. Against a backdrop of irregularity in their homeland, the Azzuri displayed a defiance by showing 4-4-2 can work (to an extent) at international level. They’d already given their best in the semi final win over Germany though. The big losers were: Holland – The Dutch have primacy in this area. From World Cup finalists in 2010 to finishing bottom of Group B with zero points, the 1-0 defeat to Denmark set the tone for Bert Van Merwijk’s (right) c...

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...