Italy Defeat England On Penalties To Advance In Euro 2012

How many games would he miss? How badly would this hurt England’s chances of summertime glory? At first, rumour had it that it would just be one match, but a ruling from UEFA banned him from all three group-stage games, later reduced to the first two on appeal. At that point, the narrative was set.

*I can’t figure out whether I like the mental image of Wayne Rooney riding a zebra or Wayne Rooney as a centaur more. They’re both things to cherish, nurture and love, I think.

Mario Balotelli SCORES. Brilliant into bottom corner, Joe Hart guessed the right way but couldn’t stop it.

Steven Gerrard SCORES. Pretty much exactly the same penalty.

We have live coverage in our England vs. Italy, Euro 2012 quarterfinals StoryStream. For more on Euro 2012 and the entire world of football, follow @SBNationSoccer on Twitter.

The Manchester City goalkeeper launched himself to the right in a despairing dive. The ball just eluded him, scraping by his fingertips, before brushing off the outside of the post and away to safety. That’s the closest anyone’s come in a while. Still 0-0, 105 minutes in.

We have live coverage in our England vs. Italy, Euro 2012 quarterfinals StoryStream. For more on Euro 2012 and the entire world of football, follow @SBNationSoccer on Twitter.

Yes.

Yes he is.

The lineups essentially mean that England will be attacking down the flanks while Italy dominate the centre and, presumably, possession. This is not a surprise. It’s an open question as to whose system will work better, though. Less than an hour until kickoff now ...

We’ll have live coverage in our England vs. Italy, Euro 2012 quarterfinals StoryStream. For more on Euro 2012 and the entire world of football, follow @SBNationSoccer on Twitter.

“Defence wins championships” is a cliche that is ingrained in the culture of sport around the world. But as annoying as the phrase is, it does ring true in a way. Defence is, after all, the basis of most sports. Scoring goals can only get you so far if you can’t hold your lead. Of course, a philosophy based on defence hardly the most glamourous, so it’s understandable why so many fans would rather just look to outscore the opposition.

However, over the course of international tournaments we see a pragmatic, defence-minded philosophy more than ever. The knockout rounds of major competitions tend to be low scoring because teams don’t want to throw caution to the wind and end up getting eliminated as a result. It’s simply too risky to engage in all-out attack.