Euro 2012 Finals Preview: Italy vs Spain

All eyes will be on Mario Balotelli when Italy faces Champions Spain for the final match of the Euro 2012 tournament.The people over at theUpcoming presents the match review below. However we here predict a victory for Italy. #TeamItaly. Don't say we never told ya. Catch the match review below.

This Sunday sees defending champions Spain take on Italy in the Euro 2012 final. These European Championships have been exciting as well as being somewhat unpredictable as the likes of Holland and Russia along with hosts Poland and Ukraine all fell at the first hurdle. It was Portugal who progressed from the groups ahead of the unimpressive Dutch who finished on zero points and the Portuguese reached the semi-finals following a 1-0 with over the Czech Republic. In the second quarter-final, Greece dared to surprise everyone again before losing 4-2 to Germany. Spain easily beat a lacklustre France 2-0 in their quarter-final match before edging out Portugal in the semis on penalties following a goalless 120 minutes. England briefly defied the odds as they topped Group D before coming face-to-face with penalties again ending in defeat to the Italians, this set up last night’s second semi-final between the Germans and the Italians where Mario Balotelli stole the show in the Azzurri‘s 2-1 win to ensure their unbeaten run over Germany in competitive football (four wins, four draws, zero defeats), and ensure that the Germans didn’t conquer Eastern Europe again.

It’s fair to say that these two teams deserve to be in the final as both have played attractive football and produced when it has mattered most. The Italians have had their critics, especially early on, but manager Cesare Prandelli has introduced an attacking mentality to the side that not many Italy teams have possessed in years gone by. In last night’s win over Germany, Andrea Pirlo stole the show again but his supporting cast of De Rossi, Montolivo and Marchisio played their part as the four midfielders outclassed the likes of Schweinsteiger and Özil. They defended like many great past Italian sides in the second half but still looked dangerous on the break and should have finished the game off during the closing stages. 

Italy have eased their way into the tournament as they got through their group with 1-1 draws against Spain and Croatia and ending in a 2-0 victory over the Republic of Ireland in the final group match. It was in that game against Ireland that we first saw Balotelli’s brilliance but that was briefly, last night “Super Mario” was fantastic. His first goal was a well-taken header whereas the second was arguably goal of the tournament as, following great movement, he broke through the German defence before smashing home from 20 yards. The Italians’ slow improvement as the Euros have reached the latter stages has been vintage stuff and their class has been clear for everyone to see following their performances against England and Germany in the knockouts. The Azzurri has a habit of either bowing out of competitions early or reaching the business end of it. In 11 World Cups after progressing from the groups they have won four out of the six finals they’ve reached meaning they have finished as runners-up twice. The other five times have seen them finish in 3rd place in 1990, 4th in 1978 with the otherthree ending in one quarter-final defeat and two round-of-16 defeats. They have only won the Euros once previously, back in 1968. The World Cup before that in ’66 saw them out in the groups which also happened in 2010 and now they are 2012 finalists so omens are with the Italians along with their great pedigree in tournament football for this Sunday’s final.

The Spanish, like the Italians, have slowly eased their way into the tournament as the matches have gone on. They finished top of Group C with seven points out of nine, scoring six goals. They drew against Italy 1-1 in their opening game before destroying Ireland 4-0 and edging out Croatia 1-0. The performance over France was impressive as well as dominant but Thursday’s game saw them endure some nervy moments against Portugal before their triumph on penalties. The manner in which they won the game may have been cruel as Fàbregas’ penalty hit the inside of the post before beating Rui Patrício but great sides win tough matches and this Spanish side is beyond great as they look to become the first international team to win three straight major tournaments in a row. If they achieve this then they are arguably and quite possibly the greatest international football side ever.

The Spanish’s “tiki-taka” style of football is breath-taking to watch and since the team’s victory in Euro 2008 they had the world observing in awe, further success continued at the 2010 World Cup but some people are beginning to brand the football as boring. It consists of mainly keeping hold of possession where the whole team, mainly midfielders, base the team’s play on movement and roaming with quick, sharp one- or two-touch passing. One of its main focuses is also moving the ball in intricate patterns with positional interchange. The Spanish may not have the great footballing history that the Italian’s possess but this particular style of play has captured the imagination of football and revolutionised football as teams look to find a way of recreating the “Spanish way” or finding a way to counter tiki-taka and with their current crop of extraordinarily talented players, nobody would be shocked if Spain were to make history this Sunday by beating Italy, especially as Del Bosque has won 50 matches out of the 60 he has took charge Spain’s manager.

One thing is for sure, Sunday’s match should be entertaining for all football fans around the world. The Italians are the only team to score against Spain so far in the Euro’s when Antonio Di Natale put Italy 1-0 up before Cesc Fàbregas equalised in the teams’ 1-1 draw. Italy don’t quite equal the Spanish in terms of class but they are well organised, they have lots of heart and the likes of Pirlo and Balotelli can turn the game in any given moment. Spain have a whole team full of match winners but without a main focal point up front Del Bosque has a big decision to make this Sunday with regards to whether Torres should start or if he should stick with the six midfielders. The match will have its nervy spells but with both teams encouraging attractive football, it should surely deliver in being a great ending to this year’s European Championships and don’t be surprised if the Italians reign supreme in Kiev.

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Tom Cruise 'deeply saddened' as Katie Holmes files for divorce and 'seeks sole custody of their daughter''

Holmes, 33, filed for divorce in New York yesterday citing "irreconcilable differences", announcing the split via a statement to People magazine.

Cruise, 49, said he was “deeply saddened” by the news. The couple have a six-year-old daughter, Suri.

Holmes is asking for sole legal custody of Suri, according to the US website TMZ, setting up the couple for a high profile legal battle if Cruise chooses to contest her claim.

The pair signed a prenuptial agreement before their wedding in November 2006, which guarantees Holmes a yearly sum. However, legal experts said the actor could be prepared to give up a larger slice of his £160 million fortune in return for Miss Holmes remaining silent about the details of their marriage.

Such a deal would echo that of Tiger Woods and Elin Nordegren in 2010. While they had a prenuptial agreement giving Miss Nordegren an annual sum, Woods is believed to have given her a settlement of close to £100 million in order to avoid an “ugly” public dispute.

Cruise remains one of the world’s most bankable actors. The star of Top Gun and the Mission: Impossible franchise earned an estimated £50 million last year alone and runs his own Hollywood production company.
Michael Kelly, a leading Californian divorce lawyer who specialises in pre-nuptial agreements, said: “One thing you can rely on is that Tom Cruise will have an airtight pre-nup. This is a man who is in control of everything and the pre-nup will be pretty restrictive.
“He could choose to give Katie a bigger settlement, as Tiger Woods did with his wife, but that will be his choice. There is also the prospect of a custody dispute, which he will want to avoid.”
This will be the third divorce for Cruise. He was married to Mimi Rogers, the actress, from 1987-1990 and to Nicole Kidman from 1990-2001, with whom he adopted two children.
His relationship with Holmes, then an up-and-coming actress best known for her role in teen drama Dawson’s Creek, began in April 2005.
Two months later, Cruise used a press conference in Paris to announce that he had proposed under the Eiffel Tower.
The actor famously jumped up and down on Oprah Winfrey’s couch to demonstrate his love for Holmes. At the time, there were rumours - strenuously denied by the couple - that Cruise had “auditioned” a number of actresses to become his date.
The wedding took place in November 2006, a lavish affair in an Italian castle with guests including the Beckhams and Giorgio Armani. The official photograph showed the couple to be matched in height, despite Miss Holmes standing several inches taller than her husband in real life.
Cruise is a Scientologist and in the run-up to the wedding a “Free Katie” campaign was started by opponents of the religion urging her not to marry him, with slogans including “Run, Katie, Run!”
The couple were last photographed together in February and Miss Holmes was absent from the red carpet during Cruise’s recent promotional tour for Rock of Ages.
Holmes’s lawyer, Jonathan Wolfe, said: “This is a personal and private matter for Katie and her family. Katie’s primary concern remains, as it always has been, her daughter’s best interest.”
A spokesman for Cruise said last night: “Kate has filed for divorce. Tom is deeply saddened and is concentrating on his three children.” The actor is currently in Iceland shooting a new sci-fi film, Oblivion.
[Telegraph]

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Instagram Still Down After Storm Cuts Power During Brutal Heat Wave

Popular mobile photo-sharing service Instagram is still down this morning after violent storms in Virginia knocked out the cloud computing services that run it.
Amazon’s Elastic Compute Cloud, which powers sites like Netflix and Pinterest, and SocialFlow, as well as Instagram, was impacted during the widespread power outages that affected the region.

On its EC2 support forum, Amazon posted the following updates about the N. Virginia region:

 

Jun 30, 1:42 AM PDT We have now recovered the majority of EC2 instances and are continuing to work to recover the remaining EBS volumes. ELBs continue to experience delays in propagating new changes.
Jun 30, 3:04 AM PDT We have now recovered the majority of EC2 instances and EBS volumes. We are still working to recover the remaining instances, volumes and ELBs.
Jun 30, 4:42 AM PDT We are continuing to work to recover the remaining EC2 instances, EBS volumes and ELBs.

Affected users took to Twitter and Facebook to rail against the service outages.
However, the storms that caused the loss of Instagram and Netflix also knocked out power across wide swaths from Indiana to New Jersey, according to the Washington Post. A large portion of the outages centered around Washington, D.C., which has just posted its worst heat wave since 1934, with a temperature of 104. Two deaths have been reported so far, both from fallen trees.
The power outage is expected to last several days.
 [Mashable]

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Hostgator sold for $225 Million USD

It seems Endurance International Group is buying up any and every major web hosting company out. Hostgator is reported to be the latest acquisition.
The major hosting giant HostGator has been sold. According to the sources HostGator has been sold to EIG [Endurance International Group]. The deal is already signed however there is no specific reason mentioned for it. This is a major occurrence in the web hosting industry. EIG is a group of web hosting companies and over a period of time they have acquired many prominent web hosting companies. Among the arena of web hosting companies, EIG also has HostGator now.

It is believed that an amount of $225 Million USD was offered to HostGator owner, Brent Oxley and the deal was accepted by him. The process of transfer of ownership is still in process. Previously, EIG has acquired a lot of big web hosting companies. In terms of the acquired web hosting companies, the effect of this step was the loss of customer base. As EIG transfers all the account to their data center, the customers experience downtime at regular intervals and thereby the customer base is lost. The outcome of the deal between EIG and HostGator is unknown however considering the effects on the prior web hosting companies acquired, there will surely be a major impact on the web presence, brand awareness and customer base of HostGator. HostGator currently has over 400,000 customers globally, there is a big question as to how EIG will be able to mange the HostGator setup. The owner seems to be pretty convinved with the deal with and one of the reasons he mentioned for accepting this deal is that he is looking for a new challenge, could he be thinking of HostGator replication?

Some companies owned by EIG:
Netfirms
BlueHost
Netfirms
FastDomain
FatCow
iPage
And Now Hostgator

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Google Nexus 7 Could Heavily Impact heavily on Tablet Wars

With Wednesday's launch of its Nexus 7 tablet, Google gives the current tablet market a much-needed jolt of energy.

The Nexus 7 is the tablet that Google should have launched with a year ago. The Nexus 7 packs a high-performance, no-compromise set of features at attractive prices--$199 for the 8GB model and $249 for the 16GB model.

This winning--on paper--combo will immediately put the Nexus at center stage. It also will make all current Android tablet makers reevaluate their own offerings on the market. But selling a tablet directly to consumers online, with no clear changes to the app ecosystem behind it, won't be enough for Google to gain market share at Apple's expense.
 Manufactured by Asus, the Nexus 7 tablet represents the first commercial manifestation of Nvidia's Project Kai. Nvidia designed the Kai reference platform to provide manufacturers with a shortcut blueprint of how to create a competitive tablet at consumer-friendly pricing.
At CES 2012, when Nvidia and Asus announced plans to produce a Tegra 3 tablet for $250, the two companies clearly had the Amazon Kindle Fire in their sights.
 The Kindle Fire, which shipped last fall, is the best-selling Android tablet thanks in large part to its low price of $199. But the Kindle Fire takes a lot of heat for its mediocre 1024-by-600-pixel display, its forked Android operating system, its limited specs (no camera, little onboard storage, no expansion), and its slow performance. Sales numbers for the Kindle Fire have dropped off since the initial burst of enthusiasm from consumers; but no other Android tablet has made a significant impact, either.

Google Takes Charge of Its Own Tablet--Sort Of

Google's move into the tablet arena with its own branded Nexus tablet is significant for several reasons. First, it shows that the company recognizes how important it is for an OS maker to be deeply involved in creating hardware that complements its own software.
For evidence, look no further than the mess of compromises and mediocrity we've seen from Android tablets over the past year, including poor choices in weight, processors, display, and design.
In today's Apple-dominated, post-PC age, a tablet with hardware designed independently of its operating system is unlikely to emerge as an impressive flagship device. And certainly that approach isn't the way to generate the Apple-level frenzy that every tablet maker yearns for.
 That's why Microsoft jumped into the PC hardware fray for the first time in 37 years, with last week's introduction of the Microsoft Surface tablet.

And it's why Google is expanding on what it already offers with its Nexus phone line by now offering its own tablet. The company should have taken this step last year when it launched Android 3.0 Honeycomb, the first operating system designed specifically for tablets, instead of crossing its fingers and hoping for the best with the spectacularly unimpressive Motorola Xoom tablet.
To what extent the Nexus 7 embodies Google's vision of a tablet is unclear. One area where Google may have influenced its design is in the tablet's inclusion of near-field communication capability. But beyond that, the core specs for the Nexus 7 are the ones that Nvidia and Asus talked about as far back as CES.
Back then, Asus went so far as to introduce the Asus Eee Pad MeMo 370T with specs, price, and a time frame for availability that are quite similar to the Nexus 7's. Since CES, however, Asus has said nothing more about its MeMo plans. Now we know why.
Clearly, all parties recognized that for the Android tablet OS to succeed, something had to change. And the reality of Kai should have a significant impact on current tablet makers.
How can Toshiba's Excite 7.7 tablet, priced at $550 and carrying a 1280-by-800-pixel display, compete with Google's Nexus 7 when the latter offers the same screen resolution and costs $300 less? The Toshiba does have a 0.7-inch larger screen, but both have 16GB of memory and both run on an Nvidia Tegra 3 processor.
Meanwhile, Amazon is rumored to be prepping its coming Kindle Fire replacement for a midsummer launch. Whether Amazon will step up its game with that tablet remains to be seen; but based on today's news, we believe that the company will need to have a competitive answer to remain firmly in the mix.
Read More from PC World.

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Kevin Durant, Thunder Beat Miami Heat in Finals Game 1

Kevin Durant did something LeBron James couldn't last year in the finals, he delivered a big 4th quarter. So forget those NBA Finals jitters at the start. Durant and the young Thunder showed they have already figured out how to finish. Durant scored 17 of his 36 points in another nightmarish final period for James and his team, leading a Thunder storm that overwhelmed the Heat and gave Oklahoma City a 105-94 victory over Miami in Game 1 on Tuesday night.
"That's what they do, they keep on coming," Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said. "They're relentless." Teaming with Russell Westbrook to outscore the Heat in the second half by themselves, Durant struck first in his head-to-head matchup with James, who had seven points in the final quarter and was helpless to stop the league's three-time scoring champion. "Well, those guys, they came out on fire. They were passing the ball well, knocking down shots. We just wanted to continue to keep playing," Durant said. "It's a long game, and every time our coach was just saying play harder, play harder, and that's what we did." Westbrook turned around a poor shooting start to finish with 27 points, 11 assists and eight rebounds for the Thunder, keying a strong finish to the third period that gave the Thunder the lead for good. Durant took over from there. Scoring in nearly every way possible, Durant finished 12 of 20 from the field and added eight rebounds. He and Westbrook outscored the Heat 41-40 over the final two periods, showing that maybe this time it will be offense that wins championships. James finished with 30 points, his most in any of his 11 finals games, but had only one basket over the first 8:15 of the fourth, when the Thunder seized control of a game they trailed for all but the final few seconds of the first three quarters. James averaged just three points in the fourth quarters of the Heat's six-game loss to Dallas last year, taking almost all the heat for Miami's finals failure. He was good in this one, Durant was just better. "They didn't make many mistakes in the fourth quarter," James said. And when fans chanted "MVP! MVP!" late in the game, they weren't talking about James, the guy who won the regular-season award. They meant Durant, who is in a race with James for his first ring — and maybe the title of best player in the game. Game 2 is Thursday night in Oklahoma City. Dwyane Wade had 19 points but shot just 7 of 19 for the Heat, while Shane Battier provided some rare offense by scoring 17 points, his high this postseason. Turning to a small lineup late in the third quarter, the Thunder improved to 9-0 at home in the postseason. Defensive ace Thabo Sefolosha helped defend James during the Thunder's comeback, relieving Durant of the burden so he could focus on his scoring. And right now, nobody does it better. Spoelstra said his team, pushed to seven games against Boston in a grueling conference finals the Heat finally won Saturday, preferred this quick turnaround. But perhaps they ran out of gas against the young Thunder, whose core players are all 23 and younger and look as if they could keep playing all night. "Honestly, I think we just came out with a lot more intensity on the defensive end. Made them feel us a little bit," Westbrook said of the second half, when the Thunder outscored the Heat 58-40. James and Wade both were bent over, hands on knees, during one stoppage with about 7 minutes remaining. Durant kept pouring it on, racing down the court to throw down a fast-break dunk and later adding a 3-pointer that pushed it to 87-81 with 6 1-2 minutes remaining. The Heat got within four points, but Durant hit two quick baskets and Westbrook added another for a 10-point lead with 3:35 to go. "They just made more plays than us," Wade said. "They got a couple offensive rebounds that kind of hurt us. Got a couple of open shots and from that point we were kind of playing from behind." It's been a rapid rise toward the top for the Thunder, who started 3-29 in 2008-09, their first season here after moving from Seattle. Fans were clearly embracing the finals' arrival in Oklahoma City, where cars, buildings and even fans' hair seemed to be painted some form of orange or blue.

[Read more]

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New Video: Usher "Scream"

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WTF!!! Desperate Oprah interviews the Kardashians

Oprah Winfrey will sit down with the eight Kardashian-Jenner family members in an interview set to air on Winfrey’s cable channel, Oprah Winfrey Network (OWN).

OWN on Monday announced that Winfrey spoke with Kris and Bruce Jenner and their combined kids at their Hidden Hills, Calif., home. Also featured in the interview are Lamar Odom, and Kourtney Kardashian‘s boyfriend, Scott Disick.

The interview will air on ‘Oprah’s Next Chapter’, Sunday, June 17, 2012 and will be followed with a second part of Winfrey’s interview with rapper 50 Cent.

All we can say is anything to boost poor ratings and save her network. Oprah has been on it recently..

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Kanye west tweets a Naked picture of Kim Kardashian (Viewers Discretion)

'Can I have a bad b***ch without no flaws come and meet me without no draws'
Not so fast.... Kanye West accidentally tweeted his girlfriend Kim Kardashian's full nude behind picture on twitter.com and immediately deleted it but we were so fast we saw it all and saved it too. You can see the picture when you continue. It will not be long before a sextape is accidentally released and we will be waiting.


 Scroll down for the pic...

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“I would never put any fault on my children" Creflo Dollar denies choking allegations in sermon

Do you believe him? if you don't that means you are implying the 'Man of God' is lying?

Atlanta megachurch pastor Creflo Dollar discussed the child battery charges against him as he preached at his church Sunday. Dollar is founding pastor of World Changers Church International.

Two days after being arrested for allegedly choking and slapping his 15-year-old daughter, the prominent minister denied the allegations during a sermon, the AP reports. Fayette County Sheriff’s deputies Friday charged the minister with simple battery and cruelty to children. USA Today reported that Dollar was released on a $5,000 bond.
ABC News reported that “Dollar’s version was that she became disrespectful and he was tried to restrain her, the report said. Only when she started to hit him did he wrestle her to the floor and spank her, the police report said.”
Dollar, news reports noted, along with Eddie Long, “is one of the most prominent African-American preachers based around Atlanta.” Like the allegations of sexual misconduct with male teen congregants and Long’s subsequent out-of-court settlement, the allegations against Dollar cast a shadow on his ministry.
Dollar was greeted with rousing applause Sunday as he approached the pulpit and spoke about an argument with his youngest daughter and accused news reporters of sensationalizing the incident. He and his wife, Taffi, have five children.
“As a church family, I want you to hear personally from me that all is well in the Dollar household,” he said after thanking the congregation for their prayers and support.
In response, many throughout the sanctuary applauded again.
“We remain committed to raising our children in the nurture and admonition of the Lord,” he said about the boundaries and guidance he and his wife instill in their home.
After applause subsided, Dollar continued: “I would never put any fault on my children. As Jesus would never put any fault on me. I love her with all of my heart. Amen. There are two things that are certain in the life of a Christian parent. Number one is that we win. And number two: Is that tests will come to try and shake your faith.”
The incident generated widespread attention from media as well as the blogosphere where observers commented on parenting issues, faith and the blurred lines between the public face and private life of well-known religious leaders.

 [WP]

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Maria Sharapova wins French Open 2012

 Here is to a Nadal winning tommorrow. Dont get mad at us, we are Team Nadal here. Congrats Maria. Great comeback!

Maria Sharapova completed the career Grand Slam on Saturday, handily defeating Sara Errani 6-3, 6-2 to win her first French Open and join a prestigious list of women to win all four majors.

The 25-year-old Russian capitalized on her power advantage and took control of the match early, breaking Errani in her first service game and four times after to win in an efficient 89 minutes. Sharapova won a whopping 70 percent of points on the Italian's second serve and more than half of all return points.
When Errani netted a ball on the third match point, Sharapova fell to her knees, raised her arms to the sky and jumped up and down in the middle of the court. The win was her first in a Slam since a shoulder injury sidelined her for 10 months in 2009.
Errani was a surprise finalist at Roland Garros. She entered ranked No. 24 in the world and had never advanced past the second round in Paris. But after struggling in a first-round match against Casey Dellacqua, Errani was a revelation for the rest of the fortnight. She beat three former Grand Slam winners and battled back in to win a decisive third set against reigning US Open champion Sam Stosur in the semifinals.
Sharapova was playing in her third Grand Slam final in the past 11 months. She was favored to win the previous two also, but struggled on her serve and couldn't deal with the power of Petra Kvitova and Victoria Azarenka. Against the light-hitting Errani, it was a mismatch.
The Russian joins Steffi Graf, Martina Navratilova, Chris Evert, Billie Jean King, Margaret Court and Serena Williams as winners of the career Slam in the Open era. She'll return to the No. 1 ranking on Monday for the first time since 2008.
"It probably is the most special moment in my career," Sharapova told NBC after the match. "When I looked at that trophy today, I never felt this happy. It's really incredible."

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