England vs Italy Euro 2012: Italians Should Be Feared After English Domination

Italy can’t be beat.

Sunday afternoon’s Euro 2012 match between Italy and England was all tied up at the end of regulation at 0-0. After an extra period, the score hadn’t changed, but that doesn’t mean it was a close game. Italy won 4-2 on penalty kicks, only finishing the domination that they had started.

Italy may or may not have been forced to wake Gianluigi Buffon up to participate in the shootout. His day was that boring. He only needed to make one save all match long, as the Italians' defense allowed just nine shot attempts despite the match going 120 minutes.

Joe Hart, on the other hand, couldn't have been busier. Italy possessed the football 64 percent of the match, and with it, they launched 35 shots at Hart. Twenty of them were on goal, so he definitely can’t be blamed for England’s loss after recording eight saves.

More than any other Italian scorer, Mario Balotelli would’ve, could’ve, should’ve put a dent in the scoreboard and prevented the need for a shootout. He was aggressive following his goal against Ireland and recorded seven of Italy’s shots on goal, but he couldn’t sneak the ball past Hart. Balotelli did redeem himself scoring on a penalty kick, though.

Italy displayed their ability to control the pace of the game, and they’ll look to capitalize on the opportunities that their command creates against Germany. Understandably, Germany would’ve rather faced off against England. According to The Press Association, German captain Philipp Lahm talked about taking on either Italy or England before Sunday’s match.

He said: “I think Italy are a bit stronger, cleverer and tactically well-schooled and they are harder to beat."

While Germany has won every single one of their matches since the group stage began, Italy has yet to lose one as well. Expect nothing less than the matchup of the tournament when the two teams face off on Thursday.

David Daniels is a featured columnist at Bleacher Report and a syndicated writer.

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