Soccer, Italy | featured news

Admir Suljic is thought to be an associate of Tan Seet Eng, a Singaporean who has been implicated in suspected match-fixing cases dating back more than a decade... Officials from Europol and other European law enforcement bodies said Feb. 4 that they had identified 680 matches worldwide that appeared to have been fixed over the past few years, including at the very height of the sport, in World Cup qualifiers and the Champions League.

Just like clockwork, Spain's "tiki taka" passing game tore Italy apart. The World Cup champions controlled the play Sunday in the European Championship final, as they usually do. They moved the ball up the field with short pass after short pass, as they usually do.

Despite an embarrassment of rested riches, Germany came up short against Italy, who moves on to the final in Kiev against Spain.

The Euro 2012 match went to a shootout that Spain won, 4-2, heading to Kiev for the final against the winner of Germany’s match against Italy on Thursday.

Italy is restoring pride in a tarnished national game while England is shaking off past inhibitions. The European Championship is turning out better than expected for the English and Italians, who meet on Sunday in the quarterfinals. The Italians are providing a welcome distraction from another match-fixing scandal at home after setting out in the tournament under siege from fans - and the police.

Brazil meet Portugal in a mouth-watering finale to the World Cup group matches on Friday after holders Italy were knocked out in a humiliating defeat by tournament debutants Slovakia.

Italy's World Cup title defense came to an embarrassing end with a dramatic 3-2 defeat by European footballing minnows Slovakia on Thursday