CERRITOS / INDUSTRY, CA (smt) -- I really didn't think people still went to the drive-in and that they still existed, but here I am finishing up this update at one.  I also really didn't think Italy would make it.  The 14th European Championship Final will feature Spain, a team trying to win its 3rd straight major championship, and Italy, a team trying to win its 2nd straight major championship when riled in a major match-fixing scandal.  They are also the last two World Cup champions and this is a rematch of the opening game of Group C.  While Spain was expected to make the final despite missing a couple of key players, Italy was a wild-card who knocked out favorite Germany in the semis.  On paper, this seems to be a great matchup and an exciting game to watch.  But then that's what we thought about the 2010 World Cup final between Spain and Holland.

In the first semifinal, Spain and Portugal slogged their way into extra time, the first scoreless match of the tournament, until Spain turned it up in the last 20 minutes or so of overtime for a little excitement.  As in the ITA-ENG match, the team that missed the first PK went on to win the Penalty Kick Shootout (PSO).  When Cesc Fábregas won it for Spain to clinch 4-2, it left Cristiano Ronaldo watching from the center circle.  Inexplicably, POR gambled and put Ronaldo 5th and he never got the chance to take one.

In the second semifinal, Italy stumbled out of the gate but quickly Mario Balotelli scored and then before halftime put in another stunning Germany.  In our first entertaining second half in four matches, Germany came at Italy and had a ton of chances but it had to get it by Gianluigi Buffon who came up with one big save after another (than and Germany couldn't shoot straight).  A frantic last part of regulation resulted in a PK for GER in the 90'+2 but it was too little too late as Italy held on, 2-1, snapping GER's record 15-match competitive win streak.

In the pool, Brian S's Flying Elvi (88 pts) leads for the 9th straight day (tied or led) but it will be his last as he picked GER to win it all.  Either Ricardo A's SalsaKing or Bernice P's Advinanza, both tied for 2nd (86), will win this inaugural HWCI EURO Pool title.  So it will either be the Chivas USA stat crew press box pseudo-officer who moonlights as a dancer or the reality TV veteran who once worked public relations for the WUSA's San Diego Spirit.  There's also 2nd to 4th place to be decided as well.  Edmund L's Thecomebacker (4th-Tied, 84), Alex R's Russo (4th), and David F's The Mighty Mobelfakta (6th, 83) win if ESP wins while Flying Elvi and SalsaKing (the only person guaranteed money) will win if Italy wins with Thecomebacker and Russo fighting for 4th (though it doesn't look good for Russo in the tiebreaker -- see below).

Advinanza and Russo were the only ones to pick ITA with Russo the only person to get both finalists correct (and thus move from 27th-T at the start of the knockout stage to 4th-T).  Eight (8) got none.  Mike A's Mikenjo was one of the 8 and will finish last in the pool (49) saving Eduard C's Blue Panther (38th, 57) from that dubious distinction.

Remember, the $390 (39 entries) will be split this way:

   1st Place =  $ 190
   2nd Place =  $  95
   3rd Place =  $  65
   4th Place =  $  40

The tiebreaker could come into play as Russo and Thecomebacker are tied.  Bad news for Russo as the total scored thus far is just 3.  He would need 9 goals scored in the final to win the tiebreaker.

Don't forget to read Albert Perez's column "A to the Z SPORTS!" and Eric Foster's "Foster's Football Brew".  So enjoy them and please +1/Like/Share/Tweet anything and everything on our blog or Facebook page.  You can join in discussions by commenting on any post on the blog or Facebook page. 

    SIDES 'N KICKS:  Before Flying Elvi, Mike W's Walleye (12th, 78) led/tied for the lead for the first 8 days with Bix Pix (29th, 64) leading for a single day... Flying Elvi had a 93.8% chance to win money (30 of 32) before the FRA-ESP match and could end with nothing if ESP wins... ITA is the only team to score a goal against ESP this tourney... GER has more wins (4) than the two finalists but will have to watch from home... ESP is the only team to record four shutouts and UKR, POR, and FRA are the only teams to be shut out twice... Balotelli's first goal was the tourney's first in the run of play in 3 matches... both teams that had just 3 full days rest (vs 5) won... Bernice will try to become our 3rd female winner in the past 4 HWCI soccer pools (Tina M in '02 and Cynthia S in '06)... in regulation, ESP had only 2 shots on goal while POR had none; in OT, ESP had 3 and POR 2... POR's loss eliminated 3 (including Charles D's Sisyphus who could've won the title) while GER's loss eliminated 4 and prevents Flying Elvi from winning the title... like our four HWCI World Cup pools, someone will pick the correct champion (12 ESP, 1 ITA)... ITA is still undefeated (4-0-4) against GER in tournament matches... 30 of 39 picked ESP to make the finals, 2 picked ITA... when scoring the first goal, teams are 21-2-5 (2 nil-nil draws)... when leading at the half, teams are 13-0-3 (14 scoreless/tied at the half)... total goals: 72 (16 shutouts, 2 0-0 ties), 2.40 per match... red cards: 3; with advantage: 1 GF-1 GA...  PKs: 4-for-5... PSOs: 12-for-18... Blogs/Facebook/Twitter are the discussion points these days (if you don't do social media, comment on our Blog!)... being new to Twitter, I think this is the process for updates -- twitter for mini-updates which post to Hwci WorldCup's Facebook page and on twitter at #hwcieuro; the blog for notable updates through this rss feed; then this newsletter for twice-weekly updates...