Wonder if Vilanova will do the same as Guardiola and play him out of position on the left, so as to fit him in the team.

2-0 to the Italians against Germany! Take a bow Ballotelli!

didnt expect italy to race into a 2-0 lead. however, if germany can nick one back soonish, i can see them taking it to extra time.

Balotelli is class. Did fancy Italy tonight, impressed me against England, well disciplined, organised and resilliant. And as shown tonight, they have Balo for fire power and wow factor.

I wonder if the Spain squad are sat around the table at their hotel wishing they played more like the Germans?

When will Villa be back? Will Villa stay if that's the case? There was talk of him getting sick of playing on the left when he's arguably the best 'striker' in the world (I never count Messi as a striker, he's a God).

Did Barca ever bother signing Drogba or what?

You seem a bit confused....People who are not convinced by Spain and their insipid football, don't deny that they are efficient or that it gets them results, they just find them incredibly dull. Even their biggest fans can't say they have been enthralled by their football in the last 3 weeks.

It wouldn't surprise me if they end up as champions, but this side won't even be remembered for good football, never mind entertaining stuff.

I'm sure Villa is back in training so I'd imagine he'll make an appearance in the European charity shield, or whatever it's called. It'll be interesting as Afellay was out for most of the season, Alexis Sánchez was settling in while Pedro and Thiago were not used regularly. Add into that Cuenca and of course Messi and Villa could have a job on his hands getting back into the starting eleven.
I saw something about Barça signing Drogba, but it was days after I'd read he was signing for a Chinese club so didn't pay any attention.

Whether he's played in the middle or not Villa will usually drift out to the left and cut in onto his right foot. It's his little set move and gets him a lot of goals.

Of course, but I think it's more than just about a set move for Villa. He wants - and is good enough - to be the man that the attack creates for. He's playing second fiddle to Messi, maybe not even that now. He's won everything there is to win, I'd move on if I was him and enjoy the rest of my career trying out a new league or two.

Drogba supposedly had a clause in his contract with the Chinese club that if Barca came in for him then he could sign for them on a free.

Barca denied the story, Drogba's agent denied the story.

I cannot imagine that the Chinese club would offer him the kind of money they are giving him, and then just throw in the option for him to walk away for nothing if another club wanted him. Even a request like that from Drogba would instantly kill the deal IMO.

I'm glad that Drogba has gone to China, but I wouldn't have begrudged him a move to Barca though.

On the presentation of the players through Euro 2012. It might just be ESPN's US coverage, but here there has been minimal association between the club's each player plays for. In the past international tournaments pretty much every player was clearly linked to the club he played for, but apart from the odd mention like Hart v Balotelli the Man City clubmates and the like there has been very little mention of the clubs the players play for.

Is this a UEFA directive, or just a case of the USA presenting the games differently?

I was delighted with the positive way that Italy played.
They outplayed the Germans and produced an exciting semi-final worthy of TV coverage. Unlike yesterday's game which was boring.

I do hope that Italy beat Spain on Sunday in the same positive manner. If only for a change in winner.

Perlo is a joy to watch.

I think Italy will be able to hold the Spanish out and will actually win it

The flaw in that remark is that last night the Germans didn't play like the Germans. They changed their approach because they were too frightened of Pirlo and it blew up in their faces. The 10 minutes at the start of the second half when they did look like the team from the rest of the tournament they still seemed capable of pulling Italy apart. The Kroos selection was a huge error in hindsight.