Italy’s Mario Balotelli finally showed some quality finishing, scoring twice Thursday to give Italy a 2-1 win over Germany and an unexpected spot in the European Championship final, The Associated Press reported.

Extending its winless streak against Italy in major tournaments to eight matches, Germany had no answer for Balotelli nor Antonio Cassano’s creativity.

In the 20^th minute, Balotelli had no trouble getting past Holger Badstuber to head in a pinpoint cross from Cassano. Then in the 36th, the 21-year-old striker received the ball behind the defence and blasted a long shot into the top right corner.

While he did score against Ireland, Balotelli was criticized for wasting numerous chances against Spain, Croatia and England.

 “All I can say is that when you talk about Italy, everyone needs to be careful,” Italy coach Cesare Prandelli said. “We played an extraordinary match. We displayed a model of fair play and attachment to this shirt.”

Germany failed to trouble Italy for much of the match, but Mesut Oezil scored a consolation penalty in injury time after Federico Balzaretti was whistled for a handball.

Italy will face defending champion Spain in Sunday’s final in Kyiv, Ukraine — a rematch of their 1-1 draw that opened Group C.

“We showed we’re on Spain’s level and that’s where we started this run,” Italy midfielder Claudio Marchisio said. “It’s no longer a question of fear. Now we’ve got to pull out everything we still have inside ourselves.”

 

szólj hozzá: Italy vs Germany 2:1 ALL GOALS