Alonso: A dream final

Sunday sees Italy play Spain in the final of Euro 2012. This will be rather a special match for Fernando Alonso, one of the most important Spanish sportsmen of all time, but also since 2010 a standard bearer for the Ferrari team, which is a symbol of Italy. Fernando gave his thoughts on this event to ferrari.com and fernandoalonso.com.

“What a Sunday in prospect! We got underway with Spain-Italy while we were in Montreal for the Canadian Grand Prix and now we are back again, three weeks later for a rematch, this time in the final. For the past thirteen years, I have spent more time in Italy than in Spain and for the past three, I’ve been with a team that represents Italy around the world, so I cannot ask for a nicer end to Euro 2012. On Wednesday night I suffered right to the final penalty for my Spain and on Thursday I was overjoyed at the well deserved win for the Azzurri!

“I am happy for all my Italian friends: no one fancied Italy as finalists before the tournament and yet, here they are. They never gave up and always believed in their abilities, proving they are at the level of the best. It’s a bit like our Ferrari this year: we got off to a bad start, we came in for quite a bit of criticism with everyone saying we were done for and yet things have changed, haven’t they? The difference is that for us at Ferrari we still have a lifetime to go, another twelve races before the end of the championship, whereas Spain and Italy are just ninety or maybe a hundred and twenty minutes away from the title being decided!

“It will be tough on Sunday, because Italy are strong: they were in that first game and they will be even more so on Sunday night, as they have come on a lot. The key players? That’s easy, Iniesta and Casillas for us, Pirlo and Buffon for them. Then there could be surprises from Balotelli for example…

“For we Spaniards, although actually, the same goes for the Italians, it would be fantastic to win. It would be something incredible, as winning the European championship, the World Cup and then the European again would be an amazing cycle. And it would also give everyone something to smile about at what is a difficult time right now in our country. As I said, the same goes for Italy. The two nations that are in the eye of a storm, that are in serious economic difficulties are the best in Europe at least at football. Funny isn’t it? A nice return match!!!”