Italians in Toronto celebrate upset over Germany at Euros

Finally this Euro 2012 got what it needed: a shocking upset result, and a game to savour.

Italy 2, Germany 1, with the hitherto unbeaten losers mounting a furious but futile charge at the last, was the highest 90-plus minutes of drama this tournament has produced. But in these parts, where 500,000 in the GTA alone claim old-country Italian roots, it will have special resonance. It makes for a hell of a Canada Day, for one thing, the Tricolore set to compete with the Maple Leaf for car-flag supremacy, while Pirlo, Buffon and the boom-or-bust figure of Mario Balotelli try to: a) prevent Spain their spot among the very best, maybe the best team in the pantheon of the world's most popular game; or b) save the game from the "boring" style of the pass-happy Spaniards.

[Martin Rogers: Mario Balotelli goes from bad boy to hero for Italy]

However you answer that one marks you on one side or the other of this year's most tiresome debates. TSN, the pubs, and the betting websites don't really care. This is Pirlonomics at work. Canada's sports cable station and the new MLSE part-owners hit record soccer numbers with their 2.058-million audience for last Sunday's England-Italy quarterfinal. That may well be bettered this holiday Sunday, with Italy playing and a European championship at stake (According to the same census figures, the GTA audience claiming Spanish roots amounts to 100,000). The pubs will be full. The betting sites will rake it in - the Betfair betting exchange tweeted in-game that $38 million was wagered on their site alone on Italy v Germany (and with numbers like that kicking around, you wonder how long cash-starved governments will continue to ignore this unclaimed golden egg).

Thursday's result means one more game, one more bet, and one hell of a street party, for the team that, love 'em or not, you can never really ignore (for the sake of this argument, we'll just forget 2010 ever happened, okay?). The man, the myth, the crop circle, Balotelli us a lot of things. But his rocket of a second goal, with the Germans caught way up the pitch, seemed to typify Italy's ascent at this tournament, going from afterthought to interesting possibilities to a wow of an underdog at 3-to-1 against the defending Euro and world champions chasing their third major title on the trot.

[More: Fabregas and Ramos unfazed by Balotelli or record]

As for that Spain, it hasn't been easy. They were pushed by Portugal, who to their credit pressured them in the midfield, forcing them into several errant passes and another wobbly display. Spain's coach Vincent Del Bosque appears at a loss in dealing with his strikerless side, trying just about everyone and getting very little to fill the void left by the irreplaceable absentee David Villa. For all the talk of Spain's killer pass, you need a killer finisher, and Villa is as much that guy as a Torres is not. Playing deeper in their own end, their midfield duo of the most influence this tournament is not the all-world attacking pair of Xavi-Iniesta, but the all-lunchbucket Alonso-Busquets. They keep on passing, and they keep on winning not via goals but through the defence of a keep-away 65 per cent possession margin. You wonder how it can go on, and if/when it will all end, and suddenly those odds on the confident Azzurri look enticing, maybe even juicy.

Italy gets the last, best kick at all that history and all that uncertainty on Sunday. Half a million in Toronto alone, and countless more of us neutrals (maybe even a few Leafs fans who couldn't care less but would love to see some of the advertising dollars generated by all the interest turned into a better product) will be happy to watch how it all goes down.

Follow Chris Young on Twitter @HighParkCy