He put Italy in the European Championship final. He shamed the morons who have been making monkey noises at him because he is black. And he salvaged the honor of Europe's strikers, by making sure these Euros didn't set a new record for goal-scoring sterility. In short, self-proclaimed genius Mario Balotelli had an outstanding night to finally match his nickname, Super Mario.
With the end of the group stage, Euro 2012 is more than two-thirds complete _ 24 matches have been played and just seven are left, culminating with the July 1 final in Kiev.
Cristiano Ronaldo finally found the form he was lacking at the European Championship, scoring twice Sunday to give Portugal a 2-1 win over the Netherlands and a spot in the quarterfinals.
Germany, one of the main favorites to win Euro 2012, plays Cristiano Ronaldo's Portugal. Earlier Saturday, Denmark pulled off a shock 1-0 win over the Netherlands.
The Netherlands are playing Denmark in their first group game at the European Championship.
Denmark pulled off the first big surprise of the European Championship with a 1-0 victory over the Netherlands on Saturday in Group B.
Germany beat Portugal 1-0 Saturday on the second day at the European Championship. Earlier, Denmark pulled off a shock 1-0 win over the Netherlands. Here is a running account of Saturday's play. All times are local to Poland.
Lionel Messi secured a 1-0 friendly win for Argentina over traditional rival Brazil on Wednesday, while World Cup champ Spain slumped to a 4-0 defeat at Portugal.
Isaac Vorsah scored and goalkeeper Manuel Neuer added an own goal as Hoffenheim beat Schalke 2-0 for its third straight victory in the Bundesliga season.
