Euro 2012: day 22 – live!

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11.26am: There's a play on about Leeds United! Read the Guardian's review here. NB you actually have to be in Leeds to see it.

11.24am: Rob Conway has penned a song for Mario Balotelli. It is to the tune of Enya's Orinoco Flow. Before this email arrived I had no idea that anyone have even thought about Enya's Orinico Flow, let alone sung it, for at least 15 years. My mistake. Anyway, the lyrics:

From Milan to Japan, We are on the Mario Flow,
Ballatelli's on the Telly and he's gonna score a goal,
Oh Mario Mario Mario! Oh Olay, Olay, Olay!"

Repeat until punched

11.11am: Highlights of Franz Beckenbauer's column in today's Bild: "The first-half performance was a mystery to me after we performed so confidently in the four games beforehand. The first 45 minutes were deeply disappointing. That was not the true German team. They seemed completely lifeless ... I think we have too much respect [for Italy]. The talk about the curse of Italy seemed to paralyse the players."

11.05am: Euro 2012 news! Portugal's Pedro Proenca will referee the final in Kiev on Sunday. Proenca, 41, took charge of last month's Champions League final between Bayern Munich and Chelsea.

11.04am: Looking ahead to the Euro 2012 final, you might want to brush up on your history. If so, check out our video histories of the two finalists, Italy and Spain. Thanks!

10.56am: And here's a Reuters story on Mario Balotelli and his mum.

10.56am: A couple of Guardian links for you: here's my Euro 2012 newspaper review. It's amazing what Italian newspapers get away with – not just voicing the questionable idea that Mario Balotelli "made Germany black", but inviting Angela Merkel to do one and calling her a lard-arse, all of which happened on today's various front pages.

10.53am: He also says: "My loan spell with Arsenal will be officially over tomorrow. I want to say again a big thanks to the fans and the club for the opportunity and the great support and I wish this club all the very best!" Sorry. It's the only news I've got.

10.52am: Twitter-based football news! Yossi Benayoun tweets: "Good morning and have a nice day everyone"

10.44am: Hello world! Simon Burnton here for the next few hours, looking forward to, um, something happening.

10.38am: And that's all from me. Back to the tennis. Please be upstanding for Simon Burnton.

10.23am: "You're not wrong about the Italians being supercool," says Simon McMahon. "My favourite moment of the tournament so far was the look on Pirlo's face a split second after his penalty against England as he realised that he had hit it perfectly and that Hart was on his way down, arms and legs flailing. Just the faintest hint of a smile. Nothing more. Coglioni, I think the Italians call it."

10.01am: Italy are just cooller than Spain, aren't they? Balotelli, Cassano, Diamanti, Buffon, Pirlo. They've got every base covered. Forza Italia!

10.00am: Mrs Balotelli and Son.

9.58am: And Cesare Prandelli has had this to say about Balotelli. Balotelli's efforts earned the praise of Italy manager Cesare Prandelli. "He was excellent, like the entire team," said Prandelli. "I really believe that a team needs to have an idea of the way they play, and he really subscribed to this playing style. He ran into space high up the pitch, was always available, and put in a very good performance this evening."

9.50am: Mario Balotelli has said his goals in Italy's win over Germany last night was for his mum. Mummy's boy.

After the game, when I went to my mum I said 'these goals are for you'. I waited for this moment for so long and I wanted to make my mum happy. Tonight was the most beautiful of my life - but I hope that this Sunday is even better. With Spain we are the two best teams in the tournament. Can we win? I'll tell you on Sunday. In the final I hope to make it four. I will try to score another goal but in football you can do that a lot and still never score. Sometimes you need a bit of luck."

9.47am: Mario Balotelli did what?!

Morning. Hello. I've spent the last four days Doing Tennis, and apparently there's been a football tournament going on. I thought that ended last Sunday after England's heroic draw with Italy? No? They carried on regardless? That bloody Platini. So, having seen the square root of bugger all this week, what have I missed? Will this be Cristiano Ronaldo's tournament? Or will Germany finally make good on their potential? All those questions, and more, answered right here in your live and exclusive and live rolling Euro 2012 live and exclusive live blog! Read More [category Sport][tags Euro 2012, Football, Sport, Italy, Germany]