Ronaldo pays the penalty in shootout fiasco

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@$:What a final tomorrow’s match between Spain and Italy should be to decide the winners of the 2012 European Championships.

Both teams have different styles and have gone about their business in different fashions but, in my opinion, both deserve to have reached the final.

Spain did well to edge past Portugal virtue of a thrilling penalty shootout. It was always going to be a tough task for the Portuguese and I can only wonder why Cristiano Ronaldo didn’t take the first penalty and set the tone for his team.

Ronaldo is the player his team-mates look towards and it was strange that he wanted to wait until the fifth spot-kick. I hope it wasn’t a case of him wanting to take the ‘glory’ kick.’

If I had been the coach I would have told him he was taking the first kick and I wouldn’t have taken no for an answer. That sort of thing has to come down to the coach; he has to be in charge of the team.

You can’t be allowing the players to dictate which penalties they want to take.

I mean, Ronaldo is their best penalty taker and yet he didn’t step up to the spot in a shootout in one of his country’s most important matches. It was very bizarre indeed and arguably cost his side a place in the European Championship finals.

I thought the Italians played their game to perfection against Germany and my hat goes off to Mario Balotelli who once again emphasised his huge potential.

For his first goal he took the defender away from the near post while his second strike was an awesome display of finishing.

Every time he is on the field he is influential and shouldn’t be taken for granted at any moment; Spain should be very wary of him.

For his age, just 21, he has such a fantastic first touch and is probably the best youngster in England and one of the best in Europe.

The Germans shouldn’t be too upset with how they went out, though, they still have many years left for the current team; they are young and play fantastic football.

On any given day any team can win and sometimes you just need that extra bit of luck to get you over the hump.

The final will be a rematch of their group stage game and the Italians won’t allow the Spanish time to dictate the pace of the game like they did last time.

It should be a fascinating affair and Italy will have to be patient because Spain are capable of keeping the ball for such long periods.

The last result between the two sides won’t have any bearing on the outcome of this match and may the best team win.

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