Benny, All the bars and some patios will have big screen tvs and you wont have any problems watching the game. Im not sure if your driving, although parking is going to be a little tricky, especially on College St., so if you decide to go there,its best to park a short distance away and flag down a taxi for a short ride (or you could walk if your lucky to find close parking). Just be careful where you park so you don't get ticketed or towed. Or you could take toronto transit which may take a little longer to get there, but with no worries about parking. Dufferin and St.Clair is much bigger, so if you dont mind large crowds (2006 to me seemed like i seen millions celebrating) you will have a good time there too. As forza_azzurri mentioned, if you want more space and hassle free parking, Woodbridge is also good. Anyways if all goes well on sunday, this will be a party to remember. GOOD LUCK - FORZA AZZURRI.
This is going to be a very difficult game because Spain have a "Goal Button". Seems like when they feel like scoring they just press it and it happens. I heard they got it fixed after the Portugal game.
Within 2 short years Prandelli has completely managed to change the face of "calcio" as we know it. We are seeing a new era of Italian football as far as the national team is concerned, and it has (for once!) managed to win the hearts and praises of one-time haters that did nothing but spit on Italian football and the Azzurri. This Euro squad has turned nay-sayers into believers, and regardless of what happens on Sunday, this tournament will stand out in my memory as the most impressive I've ever seen the NT play during my almost 20 years of watching professional football...
By the way, I was originally very skeptical about the idea of reverting back to the 4-3-1-2, mainly because of our lack of a true trequartista that can get the job done. Needless to say, Montolivo has proven me completely wrong and has done a fine job thus far. We could see first hand in the matches against both England and Germany than our mids are now linking up MUCH better with our attack. You also notice the immediate difference on our wings now that Giach and Maggio are on the bench.
ciao benny i went to toronto to watch the azzurri couple years ago...thinking of going again ....best time of my life woodbridge has four giant screens...than you have college st and st clair. iam in utica ny.
This will be a good game but perhaps not as exciting as the match with Germany. The thing Prandelli needs to do is stick with his four-man backline and keep Montolivo up top as trequartista. He may be tempted to go defensive and switch to 3-5-2, but he should not show too much fear to Spain. The truth is, we've gotten stronger every game and the players will think they can beat Spain on Sunday. And I think it will happen, God willing. Don't change too much and transmit every confidence to the players. That's the key for the final.
i don't know about greatest of all time.. that's like saying messi is the greatest of all time because he's the current best at his position. pirlo is one of the best in this era. when you say greatest of all time your talking about since the sport been around. and that's just ridiculous.
I love this team. I love how they are playing. However, I think we have to guard against saying they are the only Azzurri squad to have played entertaining football. I'm too young to remember 1978, but from every video I've seen, we played very attractive attacking football in 78. -1982 speaks for itself. That midfield was amazing. -1988 team was quite entertaining and attacking -1990 deserved better and had a hell of a midfield -2000 Euro team played great football under Zoff and DiBiagio had a fantastic tournament. We were unlucky there. -2006 team was very dominant at times. They demolished Ukraine and really dominated Germany in Dortmund. Point is...don't fall into the trap of the media who are trying to portray this as the first dominating Azzurri team ever. They don't know history clearly.
i good read that makes you wonder. Mario Balotelli as a black Italian hero: long may it last Italy's joy at Balotelli's goals is a stark contrast with the racism he has faced. Can Super Mario change national attitudes ? When Mario Balotelli smashed the ball into the corner of the net against Germany last night, wrote La Repubblica, the German keeper "watched the ball go by like a peasant observing a lorry on the motorway". At that moment, Italians all over the world jumped up from their seats and began to party. The festa went on deep into the night across Italy, with the usual chaotic cacophony of car horns, fireworks, flares, chants and scary car driving. But who was the two-goal Italian hero? Could some of those celebrating so wildly have been the same fans who, for years, had given Balotelli such a hard time in stadiums across the peninsula. The most infamous chant of all implied that the striker was not what he claimed to be: "Balotelli you are not an Italian/you are a black African". Another version of this chant was even more explicit. "There is no such thing as a black Italian". As is well known by now, Mario Balotelli was born in Palermo to Ghanaian parents in 1990, who then gave him up for adoption to an Italian family in the north of Italy when he was just two. Under Italian law, however, he was not able to obtain Italian citizenship until he reached the age of 18, despite having been born in Italy and having always lived there. Meanwhile, players who were born elsewhere (for example, Thiago Motta from the current squad, born in Brazil) had a near-automatic right to Italian citizenship as they had Italian relatives. But Balotelli has always been Italian. He speaks the language with a broad Brescian accent, attended local Italian schools and learned his football there. His "blackness" is therefore the issue, something which has marked him out in a country that has experienced mass foreign immigration since the mid-1980s. And Super Mario is not one to hide from publicity. He is not humble, but extremely sure of himself. He does not bow and scrape, but seems almost to enjoy the notoriety he has received from fans and players alike. He is black and extremely good at football, and he is a winner. He has played less than 100 league games for his two major clubs (Inter and Manchester City) and won four championships in that time (and four other trophies). Not a bad record for a 21-year-old. So, Balotelli's two goals last night exposed the contradictions of the racist chants against him. Did the racists sit in their seats and look glum, as the goals went in? No, of course they didn't. They partied just like everyone else. Those two goals have taken on immense symbolic power. They are a sign that black Italians are here to stay, and this is something that a strong minority of Italians find very difficult to accept. Mario Balotelli encapsulates the stark reality of a multicultural society. Immigrants are usually seen as OK as long as they are invisible, they don't bother you and they don't have rights, and work in kitchens, or as cleaners or carers. Last month, some of those who died after the earthquakes in central Italy were immigrants, obliged to return to factories which then collapsed on their heads. Life in Italy, for the average immigrant, is back-breaking and dangerous. They are not supposed to be seen, to be rich and famous, or be good at anything, or to be "one of us". Reactions to Balotelli's recent success with the national team have also been illuminating. After the England game, La Gazzetta dello Sport published a bizarre cartoon depicting Mario as King Kong. At best this was in very bad taste, especially as Croatia had been fined for monkey chants towards Balotelli after an earlier game in the tournament. Yet, La Gazzetta didn't seem to think that they had made a mistake at all. They didn't get it. Their apology, when it finally came, was grudging. They simply didn't understand that depicting Balotelli as a large ape could have been seen as a problem. This morning, Tuttosport did it again. Their headline was a play on words. "Li abbiamo fatti neri" (we made them all black). This phrase literally means "We smashed them", "we humiliated them". But the pun, was linked the word "neri" – blacks. It was not very funny, and very problematic. Twitter was also awash with debate. Some still claimed that Balotelli was "Ghanaian". Others defended the Tuttosport headline as "just a joke". Racism itself is a contested idea, and this problem has dogged Balotelli's career. On many occasions, it has been said that the insults against him were his own fault. People blamed the victim, arguing that his "attitude" was provocative, and that he wasn't a "real champion". This is why life in Italy, for Balotelli, will always be difficult. He has always been an easy target. Don't be fooled into thinking that he has been forgiven for being a successful, proud and somewhat arrogant black Italian. The next time he makes a bad mistake, or gets sent off, or looks like he is not trying, the hostility will quickly rise again to the surface. But those spectacular two goals will have made a difference. Of that, there can be no doubt at all. But there is hope. In November 2011 I gave a talk to 150 children in a Scuola Media in Cagliari about football. To break the ice, I asked the kids which team they support. Some said Juventus, some said Milan, some even said Cagliari. And a couple then piped up with something that surprised me a lot. They said they supported Manchester City. Why, I asked, surprised? "Because of Balotelli. He is so cool". Super Mario. He is only 21 years old, but he is already world famous. Young boys have changed their team, in Cagliari, because of him. What power!
Anyone in the Longisland, NY area know of any places to watch the game sunday besides going to manhattan?
I live on Long Island. Not many places. Most Italians on Long Island assimilated to American culture a long time ago and probably don't know what the Azzurri are. Your only chance of seeing a stronger Italian contingent would be Glen Cove, parts of Westbury, Bayside Queens, Fresh Meadows, and Brooklyn. Don't think there are any places on the south shore that I recall.
A friend of mine went to Club Napoli and there was a huge turnout I guess somewhere on the island, I'm waiting on a response from him to tell me where its located.
Never been there but this is what Soccer America says...... http://www.socceramerica.com/article/4 New York Brooklyn Banter Bar 132 Havemeyer Street (718) 599-5200 Black Horse Pub, 568 Fifth Avenue (718) 788-1975 Hopeland Bar & Liquor, 320 Atlantic Avenue (718) 467-3526 Mulholland's Sportsbar, 312 Grand Street (718) 486-3473 Woodwork, 583 Vanderbilt Avenue (718) 857-5777 New York Brickyard Gastropub 785 Ninth Avenue (212) 767-0077 Firefly 54 Spring Street (212) 966-8716 Mustang Harry's, 352 Seventh Avenue (212) 268-8930 Nevada Smith's, 74 Third Avenue (212) 982-2591 Rattle & Hum, 14 East 33rd Street (212) 481-1586 Slainte NYC, 304 Bowery (212) 253-7030 Smithfield NYC 215 West 28th Street (212) 564-2172
Your best after party on the street would be along 18th ave in brooklyn it was very good after 2006. I don't know how much that neighborhood had been changing though. There was a video on YouTube of after the england game and it looked like a decent turn out.
In 2006 in Franklin Square they actually got Hempstead turnpike to shut down for alitle by with the after celebration. Besides that LI is. A joke like you said.
We are in the final!! What I am loving about our team is that we seem to be getting stronger, cockier each game. This is good as they believe they can beat anyone and aren't giving anyone too much respect. Spain is Spain, so we're going to have to be patient and deal with the fact we won't have the ball as much as we're used too. But Italy can take to heart that Spain hasn't beaten them in 90 minutes... that can play to Italy's advantage big time. I can't wait, and can honestly say it's been a joy watching the Azzurri in Euro 2012... they have shut up a LOT of critics over the past week and are getting much respect. But, right now, it's all about beating Spain and winning the Championship. FORZA ITALIA!!!!
Not sure if I remember correctly but Spain seemed a little slower on the pitch than Italy did in their first encounter 3 weeks ago. They also seemed a little slow against Portugal.
He's just starting to warm up... timing is absolutely PERFECT. Confidence is sky high, so I expect him to step up to the plate & become a household name on Sunday. He's behaved and shown he's maturing during this tournament. The X-factor is proving his worth and Spain should be very scared of him on Sunday.
They are tired. As many predicted, their players were going to get worn down after a very tough season at the club level (Barca, Real Madrid). Hey, they are in the Final and can win their 3rd Intl. championship in a row... they are still finding ways to win. Italy needs to not respect that too much and play to win.
I think Italy's players have had long seasons too although Juventus players didn't participate in any UEFA games this year so at least they may be a little less "tired" which could give Italy an advantage.....we hope....... Watching TG1 and they are giving Pirlo a lot of praise and saying (if Italy wins) he is about to be elected player of the tournament.
I didn't even know Cassano picked up an injury vs Germany, but apparently he did but he's going to be ready for the match, thank God! http://www.football-italia.net/20583/‘cassano-ok-final’ Anyone got any news on how's Abate doing?
Spain really doesn't worry me. Their fancy "tic-a-tac" posession football has great aesthetic appeal, and nothing more.