Euro 2012: Spain seal their place in history with Italy's destruction

For Spain there was symmetry and symbolism in success – and style too. The cycle was completed against Italy, the same team against whom it had all begun. Once the team that never won, they have become the team that never lose – European, world and European champions, two consecutive qualifying campaigns with perfect records, 10 wins out of 10, and 10 successive knockout games across two Euros and a World Cup without conceding a goal, stretching back six long years. And now they put four goals past Italy: Silva, Alba, Torres, Mata. No side have ever achieved what Spain have achieved. Surely no one has ever won an international final with such authority. No other team have scored four in a European final.
This will forever be recalled as Spain's era, unrivalled by any team. Forty-four years it took them to win a major tournament. In four years they have won two more. No other team have retained this trophy and yet at times it felt as if winning this tournament was an obligation; winning it well was an obligation, too. Spain fulfilled both brilliantly. Fernando Torres scored in this final just as he scored against Germany in 2008. It was Spain's third and it gave him the tournament's Golden Boot. Juan Mata came on for his first minutes of the tournament. He scored with his first touch – 12 goals scored, one conceded.
Spain's era began with a penalty shoot- out against Italy in 2008. It was only the quarter-final but the Spanish had finally broken a barrier that had stood before them for 24 years, one that had seemed insuperable. Spain feared Italy, the team that many liked to portray as everything Spain were not: dirty, cynical, boring … successful. Even Torres later said of the quarter-final: "That was the night that we won the European Championship."
This was the night that they won it again. Torres scored again. Now it is Spain who are insuperable. No one has ever won three major tournaments in a row. As Iker Casillas had admitted, there would never again be anything like 2008 and 2010.
"It is different," he said on the eve of this game – 2008 had been the explosion, success at last 44 years later but 2010 was "nervous" – first Europe, then the world. "Success debilitates you but we have been lucky that we have good players who have not lost their competitive spirit," Vicente del Bosque said.
That side of Spain's game is often forgotten. "It is not enough," Del Bosque says, "to have talent." Yet Spain have talent, so much of it that just competing, achieving something unique, has been treated as if it is not enough.
Here it was not just the fact that they won but the way they won. There was a sensation that Spain needed a final like this. Different demands are made of great teams, debates sparked. "Tournaments," said Del Bosque, "always concentrate debate and tension. It's impossible to win over everyone all of the time." Those debates have been destroyed. Did anyone remain unconvinced on Sunday night? Spain were not just better; they were brilliant.
They had the lead inside 14 minutes and never looked like relinquishing it. Andrés Iniesta's pass was slotted diagonally into the area for a run from Cesc Fábregas. He got to the byline and pulled it back for David Silva, racing in from deep to head home. It was Silva's second goal of the competition; he also has three assists. Like Spain's goal against Italy in their opening game, it was also an expression of what Del Bosque seeks with a striker-less formation. There is no fixed point; instead there is combination, control, mobility, unpredictability, players arriving not waiting.
Asked whether he would play an attacker before the match, Del Bosque had replied: "I'll play three of them." "Yes," came the retort, "but will any of them be No9s?" "People who can create and score goals," the Spain coach said. When Silva headed in, Spain had taken five shots already. They had begun with speed, moving the ball with intensity and intent. Now they were 1-0 up.
Italy had already played their part before the goal and they sought the equaliser after it. They had not come simply to stop Spain. Casillas was forced to intervene on a couple of occasions. "Of course the games are not as good when [only] one team try to attack and the other team defend," Iniesta had said. Here Italy attacked. And so did Spain. If control was harder to find, spaces appeared; the game was longer, less compressed. There was space in front of the Italian defence; space behind it too. Spain had not finished with less than half the possession since the final four years ago. Italy had 53% of the ball in the first half. Spain had two goals.
For a man whose position has been questioned constantly, Fábregas's impact on this tournament has been huge. Xavi's, on the other hand, had not been. "I would have liked to have been more transcendental than I have been," he admitted on the eve of the final. The remark is all the more striking because he is the man who perhaps embodies best of all the style that has made Spain different. In Kiev it was a different story. With Iniesta he took central stage again, always involved, his passing crisp and clever. He had space ahead of him, runners too. That had largely been denied him during this championship.
Shortly before the interval that runner was Jordi Alba. Spain may play without strikers but Alvaro Arbeloa has had more touches in the opposition penalty area than any other defender here and now it was Alba, one of the stand out performers of Spain's championship, who bombed forward. Once a member of the front three, he had been converted by the Valencia coach Unai Emery into a full-back. But Alba, who this week confirmed that he is returning to Barcelona, where he started out as a teenager, has not forgotten his roots. The interception happened deep inside his own half. A first-time touch inside and off he went on a run. Five yards, 10, 20, 30, 40, faster and faster. As he screeched past the last defender, the ball appeared ahead of him, perfectly weighted by Xavi. A touch to control was followed by a tidy finish.
"If we can crush them, we crush them," Luis Aragonés told his players at Euro 2008. That Spain do not has been one of the accusations most often levelled at them here. "Those people who think we are playing boring... in my opinion they don't understand the game," Fábregas said. "This feels really amazing, one of the best days of my life. I don't think we're ready to see what we have done yet. Three major trophies in a row has never been done before in the history of football."
They crushed Italy, not any team but Italy. This was the defining game and Spain can now be defined only with ever-increasing superlatives. Iniesta said: "We gave our best performance in the last game. This is unrepeatable." Torres slotted past Gianluigi Buffon, then Mata finished too. And the night ended with the centre-back, Sergio Ramos, attempting to score with a back-heel from three yards out. Four goals were enough – four.

CESC FABREGAS WAS THE HERO AGAIN AS SPAIN KEPT ALIVE THEIR HOPES OF DEFENDING THE EUROPEAN TITLE WITH A DRAMATIC SHOOTOUT WIN IN DONTESK

The Barcelona midfielder put Spain into Sunday's Euro 2012 final, drilling his penalty in off the left-hand post to spark scenes of jubilation.
Joao Moutinho and Bruno Alves missed for Portugal, with Cristiano Ronaldo a frustrated, unused fifth penalty-taker.
The match finished 0-0 after extra-time with neither side doing enough to win.
“For Spain to play that badly for 90 minutes and then pick themselves up for extra-time is the sign of a really top side”

Alan Hansen Match of the Day analyst

It took until half past midnight local time to get there, but Fabregas, who had scored the winning penalty in the Euro 2008 quarter-final win over Italy, ensured Spain proceeded to a final against Germany or Italy on Sunday and remain on course for an unprecedented third successive tournament victory.
The world champions have now won their past nine knockout games at major tournaments without conceding a goal, and are unbeaten in their last 19 competitive matches.
Neither side had produced their fluent best during only the second 0-0 draw of the tournament. At times it was a bad-tempered affair and the apparently inevitable shootout made a nervy start as goalkeepers Rui Patricio and Iker Casillas denied Xabi Alonso and Moutinho respectively in the first round.
Andres Iniesta calmly put Spain in front, only for Pepe to keep Portugal on terms with a clinical low finish. Spain defender Gerard Pique found the bottom left-hand corner of the net, but Nani responded by firing his spot-kick high into the roof of the net to make it 2-2.
But when Spain's Sergio Ramos nonchalantly chipped his penalty beyond Patricio and Alves hit the bar for Portugal, it was left to Fabregas to send Spain into the final and spark memories of 2008 when their footballing history changed forever as a nation remembered how to win.
It had been billed as a clash of Ronaldo, the ultimate individualist, and Vicente Del Bosque's finely tuned orchestra - Ronaldo against Spain, Real Madrid against Barcelona, individual brilliance against the collective mastery of the defending world and European champions.

What nobody had accounted for, however, was Spain playing out of tune for long periods - Portugal were the conductors as inspiration gave way to perspiration in Donetsk.
Ronaldo was a constant danger. But at no stage did Spain man-mark him, subject him to rough-house treatment or even cut off the supply from the excellent Moutinho.
Spain's plan simply was to use the ball to mark Ronaldo, controlling the match through possession in an attempt to render him impotent.
Portugal had other ideas. Their physicality and unswerving desire in midfield prevented Spain settling into their familiar rhythm. At every turn, Xavi and Iniesta found a willing opponent, pressing Spain high up the field and forcing mistake after frustrating mistake.
There were warning signs that Spain might find their rhythm when Iniesta linked up with Jordi Alba down the left flank after eight minutes. The Barcelona midfielder collected Alba's pass, drifted beyond two defenders and cut the ball back only for Alvaro Arbeloa to thump a first-time shot over the bar from the edge of the area.
Opportunities such as that soon became the exception rather than the rule, however. Tempers flared at times, passes were misplaced and Portugal grew in confidence.
Ronaldo's confidence was never in question. After 12 minutes, he reduced Gerard Pique to vain pursuit, surging beyond the Barcelona defender with that remarkable power steering only for his delicate cross to be picked off Nani's head by goalkeeper Casillas.
A left-foot snap-shot found the side netting and, with half-time approaching, he spun away from Sergio Ramos, winning a free-kick and responding with that chest-out, hands-on-hips pose he has trademarked. Ronaldo was in the mood.
Spain were out of their comfort zone but their individual brilliance made them a danger on the rare occasions they did attack. Iniesta and Xavi combined well midway through the first half only for the former to curl his shot agonisingly over the crossbar.
After an hour Del Bosque had seen enough, abandoning his original plan to use a traditional centre forward in Alvaro Negredo by introducing Fabregas. The ineffective David Silva also made way for Jesus Navas as Spain sought width.

Spanish success

• Spain will play their fourth European Championship final on Sunday (1964, 1984, 2008 and 2012). They have lost just one (1984)
• Cesc Fabregas also scored the last penalty in the 4-2 victory over Italy in the quarter-final of Euro 2008
• Wednesday's match was the first time since that match in 2008 that a Spain match had finished goalless

Briefly, Xavi began receiving the ball in advanced positions more regularly, showing the poise and the grace to dribble into dangerous areas.
At the other end, Ronaldo thumped a dipping free-kick over the bar after 73 minutes but Portugal's raids were growing more infrequent as they were forced to rely on set-pieces. Ten minutes later, Ronaldo repeated the trick and, as the game ticked into injury time, the Real Madrid man had a chance to win it.
Portugal broke like a sprint-relay team as a Spain free-kick was cleared. The tireless Miguel Veloso found Raul Meireles, but the Chelsea man's pass forced Ronaldo to check his run down the left flank, and his shot was dragged wide.
Fatigue was beginning to show in Portugal's play and it was Spain who revived in extra-time to come as close as at any point to breaking the deadlock.
Navas might have done better with a shot, from which Alba collected and picked out Iniesta's surging run only for the midfielder to see his close-range shot pushed round the post.
Ramos thundered a free-kick inches over the bar from 30 yards moments later, before Patricio was forced into action again, turning Navas's fierce low shot away.
It was all Spain now, and Fabregas put Pedro through on goal with a delightful touch on the half-way line but Portugal flooded back before the Barcelona forward could pull the trigger.
It was a moment that encapsulated the contest - Spain pushed for a winner, desperate to avoid penalties but Fabregas ensured they need not have worried.

Bank of America planning investment banking cuts

(Reuters) - Bank of America Corp is planning to cut about 300 jobs in its investment banking and capital markets group, as it struggles to rein in costs to make up for weak revenue growth, sources familiar with the situation said on Tuesday.

The layoffs are not nearly as eye-popping as the bank's job cuts in areas like retail banking. Wall Street companies have broadly been looking at cutting jobs recently.

The bank, the second-largest in the United States by assets, is also assigning junior bankers to work with broader groups of companies, the sources said. That move could also lead to more layoffs, the sources said.

The changes for junior bankers are part of the cost-cutting program known as "Project New BAC," which the bank launched last year, the sources said. The program, named for the bank's ticker symbol, is meant to improve profits as a sluggish economy weighs on revenue growth, and new regulations boost compliance costs. The bank is also trying to streamline a company that has grown increasingly bloated after decades of acquisitions.

The first phase of the program is expected to cut about 30,000 jobs and $5 billion in annual expenses in consumer and technology areas over the next several years. Plans for the second phase, which covers investment banking, sales and trading, commercial banking and wealth management, are expected to be finalized in May.

Bank of America declined to comment on its plans for the second phase. In earnings conference calls, executives have said the second phase will produce fewer job cuts and less savings than the first phase because it covers a smaller and more efficient area of the company.

Trimming expenses in the bank's institutional businesses is a delicate task because these operations, bulked up by the 2009 Merrill Lynch acquisition, have produced much of the bank's profit in recent years.

Still, Bank of America and other Wall Street firms have been scaling back after market volumes slowed last year amid concerns about the European debt crisis. In the first quarter, Bank of America's trading revenue and investment banking fees rebounded from a weak fourth quarter but were still down from a year ago.

"Clearly on the margin this quarter you feel better about the overall sales and trading opportunity, (but) it's not going to change the rigor and discipline with which we go through" the second phase of New BAC, Chief Financial Officer Bruce Thompson said during the bank's first-quarter earnings call.

Bankers in equities, mergers and acquisitions, and sales and trading, where business has slowed, are bracing for job cuts in coming weeks, sources familiar with the matter said. Higher-ranking managing directors whose salaries have increased in compensation for reduced bonuses could be targeted in the reductions, sources said.

The bank could also trim its workforce further by selling its wealth management units in Asia, Latin America and Europe. Reuters reported on April 17 that Bank of America was looking to sell the operation for as much as $3 billion. The business has fewer than 2,000 employees, according to a source familiar with the situation.

At the end of March, Bank of America had about 278,700 employees worldwide.

Amid the cost-cutting efforts, Bank of America's investment banking and capital markets group, which is led by co-chief operating officer Tom Montag, has experienced significant upheaval in its upper ranks.

Key executives such as European dealmaker Andrea Orcel and corporate and investment banking chairman Michael Rubinoff have departed for other jobs in recent months, leaving few Merrill veterans in top positions. Last week, the bank hired Alex Wilmot-Sitwell from UBS as president of Europe and emerging markets, excluding Asia.

In the first four months of this year, Bank of America Merrill Lynch has dropped in the league tables in some key businesses as total volume shrinks, according to Thomson Reuters data. The bank fell to No. 8 in worldwide announced mergers and acquisitions from No. 3 in the same period a year ago, while it slipped to No. 7 from No. 2 in global equity capital markets deals.

In global debt capital markets, it held at No. 5 in the rankings, according to Thomson Reuters, while it climbed one spot to No. 1 in global syndicated loans from a year ago.

World Cup venues will be ready, Brazil tells Fifa

Fifa, football's world governing body, has no reason to worry about preparations for the 2014 World Cup, Brazilian Sports Minister Aldo Rebelo has told the BBC.

Mr Rebelo was speaking ahead of a meeting at Fifa headquarters in Zurich.
Fifa officials are concerned that some venues in Brazil will not be ready in time for the Confederations Cup in 2013.
That event is seen as a key rehearsal for hosting the World Cup.
Brazil has spent billions refurbishing old stadiums and building new venues for the biggest sporting event in the country's history.
It is also investing in airports and roads.
But analysts say the work is running behind schedule.
Brazil's biggest and best-known stadium, Maracana, may not be finished in time to host the closing match of the Confederations Cup on 30 June 2013.

Sports Minister Aldo Rebelo insists there are no delays in the building schedule

The two-week tournament gathers eight of the top teams in world football. Brazil, who qualify as hosts, will face the champions of Fifa's regional confederations, including Spain, Uruguay, Mexico and Japan.

                           Now in defence: Ronaldo is in the Brazilian organising committee

Fifa regulations say all venues must be ready by February 2013, four months before the tournament takes place.
Ahead of the meeting in Zurich with Fifa president Sepp Blatter and other officials, Mr Rebelo told BBC Brasil: "There is no delay and the building schedule is going ahead according to plan."
Former world champions Ronaldo and Bebeto, now in the Brazilian organising committee of the World Cup, were also due to be at the talks.

Controversial remarks

Work at the Maracana stadium was delayed last year by a strike. Builders complained they were being poorly paid and stopped work for weeks.
Now, a major corruption scandal involving some of Brazil's top politicians, may also get in the way.
A building company contracted to do one third of the work, Delta, is facing a congressional investigation after being caught up in the bribery allegations.
As a result, Delta is no longer involved in the Maracana project.

Now in defence: Ronaldo is in the Brazilian organising committee

Mr Rebelo said Fifa's concern is natural, "but we will show them all venues will be ready in time".
Relations between the Brazilian government and Fifa were strained earlier this year after controversial comments made by Fifa's secretary-general, Jerome Valcke.
Mr Valcke said that that Brazil needed a "kick up the backside" and appeared more concerned with winning the World Cup than organising it.
He later apologised in a letter to Mr Rebelo.
Mr Rebelo told the BBC that relations had "neither improved nor deteriorated" since he took office as sports minister last October.
The Brazilian government has always said it is determined to deliver a successful World Cup as well as a lasting legacy.
The 2014 World Cup will be the first in South America since Argentina hosted the tournament in 1978 and the first in Brazil since 1950.

 

Putin and Medvedev complete job swap in Russia

Reuters) - Russia's lower house of parliament confirmed former president Dmitry Medvedev as prime minister on Tuesday, completing a job swap with Vladimir Putin that has sparked protests against the two leaders' grip on power.

The approval vote, comfortably won by Medvedev as Putin looked on, ignored growing concern in the country that keeping power in the hands of the same men who have led Russia for the past four years will bring political and economic stagnation.
Police led away more than 20 people, including two opposition leaders, when they broke up a peaceful protest near the Kremlin hours before the vote, after detaining more than 700 on the previous two days to keep a lid on dissent.

The vote in the State Duma, the lower house, was held under tight security, with camouflage-clad riot police guarding the building near Red Square and police trucks and buses parked nearby.
Medvedev stood and nodded his gratitude to Duma deputies and then shook hands with Putin. The president smiled and applauded the outcome of the vote, one day after he was sworn in as president for a six-year term.
"I thank you for showing your trust in me," Medvedev told the assembly. "I am absolutely sure that if we work together we can achieve results."

Medvedev, 46, had told the chamber before the vote that Russia must reduce red tape, crack down on corruption and protect property rights to improve the business environment and become more competitive against the top world economies.
"
The attitude to business in this country must change drastically," he said before the approval vote.
Medvedev pledged wholesale changes in the line-up of the government, without naming any of his cabinet, but said the new team would be one of continuity, pursuing a similar direction to its predecessor under Putin.
He also promised to be open to dialogue with his political opponents, although it was not clear whether he had in mind the non-parliamentary opposition, which has organized the biggest protests since Putin first rose to power in 2000.

Putin's opponents question the legitimacy of his victory in the March presidential election and say his choice of Medvedev as premier is a slap in the face for democracy.
"Everything as always has been decided without consulting the people ... People don't like this," said Ilya Ponomaryov, one of the organizers of protests that were triggered by allegations of electoral fraud last December.

Nikolai Levichev, a senior member of the Just Russia party, criticized the lack of political reform during Medvedev's presidency and said many of the promises he had made - such as on battling corruption and strengthening the independence of the judiciary - had not been fulfilled.

WEAKER PREMIER THAN PUTIN
Putin, 59, gave a brief speech to the Duma presenting Medvedev as an experienced politician who had served Russia well as president and would not let the country down now.
They have been friends since working together in the St Petersburg city authorities in the 1990s, and Putin steered the younger man into the Kremlin in 2008 because he was barred from a third successive presidential term himself.
But Medvedev will be a less influential prime minister than Putin, who has remained Russia's dominant leader for the last four years even though the presidency has much more power, including command of the armed forces.

Putin displayed his dominance of the political system by taking the floor after the proceedings to give his own answers to questions deputies had put to Medvedev.
None of the deputies asked about the protests in their questions to Medvedev, focusing instead on issues such as the pension age and state support for science.

Putin and Medvedev face a huge challenge in modernizing the country and reforming the $1.9 trillion economy to reduce its heavy dependence on energy exports, which makes it vulnerable to any reduction in the global price of oil.
Putin set out their intentions on Monday by ordering the government to boost investment and shake up state-run industries to usher in a "new economy".
He also set long-term goals that included raising capital investment to no less than 25 percent of GDP in 2015, from the current level of 20 percent, and creating 25 million high-productivity jobs by 2020.
An array of decrees also set goals of making life easier for ordinary Russians, including raising wages for state workers, making mortgages cheaper, expanding kindergartens and improving health care.
He and Medvedev face a battle to quell rivalries between liberals and conservatives, and Putin's choice over who joins the cabinet will go some way to showing how determined and able he is to push through reforms and privatization.

Google gets Nevada driving licence for self-drive car

Driverless cars will soon be a reality on the roads of Nevada after the state approved America's first self-driven vehicle licence.

The first to hit the highway will be a Toyota Prius modified by search firm Google, which is leading the way in driverless car technology.
Its first drive included a spin down Las Vegas's famous strip.
Other car companies are also seeking self-driven car licences in Nevada.

Accident

The car uses video cameras mounted on the roof, radar sensors and a laser range finder to "see" other traffic.
Engineers at Google have previously tested the car on the streets of California, including crossing San Francisco's Golden Gate bridge.
For those tests, the car remained manned at all times by a trained driver ready to take control if the software failed.
According to software engineer Sebastian Thrun, the car has covered 140,000 miles with no accidents, other than a bump at traffic lights from a car behind.

Human error

Bruce Breslow, director of Nevada's Department of Motor Vehicles, says he believes driverless vehicles are the "cars of the future".
Nevada changed its laws to allow self-driven cars in March. The long-term plan is to license members of the public to drive such cars.
Google's car has been issued with a red licence plate to make it recognisable. The plate features an infinity sign next to the number 001.
Other states, including California, are planning similar changes.
"The vast majority of vehicle accidents are due to human error," said California state Senator Alex Padilla, when he introduced the legislation.
"Through the use of computers, sensors and other systems, an autonomous vehicle is capable of analysing the driving environment more quickly and operating the vehicle more safely."

Official public screening of Champions League final

A competition-first official public screening of the UEFA Champions League final will take place at the Olympiastadion, adjacent to the UEFA Champions Festival site, on 19 May.

 
The first-ever official public screening of the UEFA Champions League final will crown the UEFA Champions Festival celebrations in Munich on Saturday 19 May.
This official public screening of the final between FC Bayern München and Chelsea FC, hosted by Olympiapark at the Olympiastadion, will form part of the four-day UEFA Champions Festival.
Making the final available via the official public screening gives fans a chance to celebrate the game and experience the magic of the UEFA Champions League final, which will be watched by millions of viewers around the world.
Tickets are priced at €5 apiece, which will help cover organisational, security and administrative expenses. Each applicant can purchase a maximum of four tickets. The capacity of the Olympiastadion will be 65,000 for the screening.
Gates will open at 18.30CET, followed by live musical entertainment prior to kick-off at 20.45.
Ticket sales start today, Friday 27 April, at 18.00 and tickets will be available to all on München Ticket's website http://www.muenchenticket.de/, through the different retail stores and sales points, and through the München Ticket call centre on +49 / 89 / 54 81 81 81.

Wheelchair access tickets are also available in limited quantities.
The annual UEFA Champions Festival will be held at Munich's Olympiapark from 16–19 May. The festival is open to everyone and UEFA invites fans, families, all Müncheners and visitors to the city to 'Join the Game' by coming to the event and participating in a series of activities, including photo opportunities with the UEFA Champions League and UEFA Women's Champions League trophies.
The festival will also offer a platform for the UEFA Women's Champions League final, which will be played at 18.00CET on Thursday 17 May in the adjacent Olympiastadion. As with the public screening, tickets are available through München Ticket.
The festival opening hours are:
• Wednesday 16 May 12.00–22.00
• Thursday 17 May 10.00–22.00
• Friday 18 May 10.00–22.00
• Saturday 19 May 09.00–20.00