EURO 2012 | 2nd Semifinals Italy eliminates Germany thanks to Balotelli doubled (2-1)

Italy a team lost by betting scandals before the European Championship, reached the final after beating Germany for the umpteenth time, he could never stop the creative storm Andrea Pirlo, the imagination of Antonio Cassano and the punch of Mario Balotelli. A couple of selections used to elevate soccer with his historic meeting brought together in a crash in which Germany, as always, started as favorite. The past, full of losses to the Alpine combined, seemed not to matter. Again, the "Mannschaft" convinced together in one team to three different generations of young talent, jumping to the turf with his chest puffed up with pride. No room to the memory of the deletions in the World Mexico 1970 and Germany 2006. Nor for the defeat in the final played in Spain in 1982. Not to remember that Germany had never beaten Italy in a major international competition. "The past is not worth," Loew said before kick-off. But it does have. It was Bonisegna or Riva or Rivera, or Rossi or Tardelli, or so many others who once gave a lesson to the great Germany. But on the field there were other players well taught by a coach, Cesare Prandelli has changed the playing style of a country accustomed to conservatism. Stands above the rest of Italy Andrea Pirlo. It is sad to continue fulfilling years. Deserve to be eternal. It is a perfect metronome, a brain with German precision calculator but with the Mediterranean touch needed to create magic. And against Germany did not fail. After holding the initial pull Joaquim Löw's men, with a good chance the young center Mats Hummels and a Barzagli, which almost marks an own goal, the player of Juventus decided to take the ball and started playing. He was only able to Sami Khedira, an authentic "panzer" that was destroying everything in the beginning of the meeting. Pirlo took the baton and his team began to octane. Of his game took the imaginative Antonio Cassano and Balotelli unpredictable.Among the three cooked the first goal with a header from striker final City, he repeated near the end of the first act. On this occasion, was Montolivo who gave a sensational assistance to Neuer could only watch the whiplash of Balotelli. History again repeated. Italy again acting as a "black sheep", although there remain 45 minutes ahead. In them, Marco Reus Löw sought to find the spark he needed his team and he got in the first quarter of the second act. At that time, the young Borussia Dortmund revolutionized his own and almost scoring with a free kick that Buffon saved and the crossbar. However, while Italy lost the ball, knows how to defend nature. He did it to perfection, until the end, with little surprises, and may even increase the score on the counterattack, but Marchisio and Di Natale did not put the final nail. With the Germans more than enough thrust, but lacking in ideas, the party was dying slowly and only late goal Özil created uncertainty. Italy is not satisfied with the appointment of Gary Lineker exdelantero English, who left a phrase to remember: "Football is a sport where eleven against eleven Germany always wins." He was wrong. In football, when faced Italians and Germans always win first. Today, once more, and are numerous. Spain expected in the final.

3.7 MILLION Portugal-Spain was the most watched in eight years

The game between Portugal and Spain broadcast on Wednesday, was followed by 3.689 million people, making it the most watched in eight years. According to data from GfK audiences, worked by Marktest, the set of all the game had a rating of 39.5% and a market share of 76%. However, the period marking the shootout after extra time already, was the most watched, and even surpass the barrier of the four million viewers. The first meeting of the semi-finals of European Football Championship this year, the national team lost on penalties, was also followed by 15 000 people Online Web site. The game of the semi-finals of Euro 2004, held in Portugal and played between the national team and the Netherlands, continues to be the most watched, was followed by 3.8 million viewers. Also in Spain the audience was high. Given the data KantarMedia, which performs the audience measurement in the neighboring country, marking the 13 minutes of penalties, which eventually give the victory to Spain, have been accompanied by about 18.5 million people.

Hillary Clinton arrives in Russia to Syria meeting on

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton arrived on Thursday to St. Petersburg in northwest Russia, where he will meet with his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov to discuss the crisis in Syria. Clinton also will attend a conference in Russia's second largest city on the role of women in the economy, before meeting with the Russian minister, scheduled for Friday, the eve of an international meeting in Geneva on the conflict in Syria. This meeting comes at a time when Russia said he would not support a solution imposed by the west to Syria, a day after the presentation by the envoy of the UN, Kofi Annan, a plan that provides for the formation of a transitional government, thus cooling the hopes of an agreement at the Geneva meeting. "Russia can not support and will not support an income imposed from outside," Lavrov said during a news conference in Moscow. The Annan plan should be discussed Saturday in Geneva in the presence of the five permanent members of Security Council UN (United States, Russia, China, France and the UK). Russia has so far been adamant in its support for its ally Syria, for which continues to send weapons, while denying on several occasions his personal support to President Bashar al-Assad. The revolt and its repression in Syria had about 16 people dead, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.

Bombings and armed attacks leave 30 dead just on the outskirts of Damascus

Syrian regime forces bombed and invaded with tanks various locations on the outskirts of Damascus, where, according to the opposition, caused the deaths of more than 30 people on Thursday. Most deaths were recorded in the town of Duma, the scene of attacks with tanks and helicopter gunships, have denounced the opposing platforms and Local Coordination Committees Syrian Observatory for Human Rights. Among the victims are a whole family and several children. In the Duma, the government troops broke out with tanks and armored vehicles in other nearby towns as Saqba, causing more casualties. According to the Committees, the total number of deaths in violence this Thursday across the country reached 90 people, a number that the Centre reduced to 60 civilians and 23 government forces, killed in fighting with the rebels. The other region was most punished by bombing Homs, where numerous homes were destroyed and about 20 people died. Opponents also charged that the city of Atarib situated in the province of Aleppo, there was a mass displacement of people after the destruction caused by the intense bombing of the Syrian Army. In the city of Deraa, the bombing of the town of Ashara caused the deaths of a couple and their three children, an operation that also resulted in several arrests and house burnings. The Committee indicated that, despite the military campaign, about 10,000 people attended Wednesday's funeral of three young men who died on Wednesday in a bombing that hit the city of Dael. As for the violent battles fought between government forces and rebels, the agency reported that they extended the outskirts of Damascus, Deir ez Zor, Homs, Idlib and Deraa. According to UN figures, more than 11,000 people lost their lives in the 16 months since the last armed conflict in Syria, the opposition figure that rises to more than 15,000 people. In addition, about 230,000 have moved both internally and more than 60,000 have sought refuge in neighboring countries, according to the same data.

Eleven killed in anti-Shiite attacks in Pakistan

At least eleven people including nine Shiite pilgrims were killed Thursday in a bomb blast in southwest Pakistan, a police source said. The incident occurred in Hazarganji, near Quetta, the provincial capital of Balochistan, which has huge oil and gas reserves and borders Iran and Afghanistan. "A bomb blew up a bus carrying Shiite Iran to Quetta in Pakistan. Eight people died, including nine Shia pilgrims and two policemen who were escorting her," he told AFP Hamid Shakeel, a police officer. "The initial investigation suggests that the bomb was activated from a distance. The bomb was placed in a car and exploded in the bus fare," he said. More than 20 people were also wounded in the attack. Another police official, Sikandar Tareen, confirmed the deaths. The Balochistan became the focus of violence between the Sunni majority and Shiite minority, who number about one-fifth of the 167 million inhabitants. On Thursday, eight other people were killed in an attack that occurred in Bara, the main town in the troubled tribal region Khiber, a stronghold of Taliban militants linked to al-Qaeda, the nearby Afghan border.