The European Central Bank piled on another outsized interest rate hike aimed at squelching out-of-control inflation, increasing rates at the fastest pace in the euro currency’s history and underscoring the bank’s determination to control prices despite the threat of recession. The 25-member governing council raised its interest rate benchmarks by three-quarters of a percentage point at a meeting Thursday in Frankfurt, matching its record increase from last month and joining the U.S. Federal Reserve in making a series of rapid hikes to tackle soaring consumer prices. ECB President Christine Lagarde acknowledged the risk is growing that the 19-country eurozone may plunge into recession but says “inflation remains far too high” and will stay high for an extended period, so the bank expects to keep hiking. “We are not done yet. There is more ground to cover,” she told reporters, despite bank expectations that the economy will weaken the rest of this year and beginning of next. “In the present state of uncertainty, with the likelihood of recession looming much more on the horizon ... everyone has to do their job,” Lagarde said. “Our job is price stability. This is our primary mandate, and we are riveted to that.” Central banks around the world are rapidly raising interest rates that steer the cost of credit for businesses and consumers. Their goal is to halt galloping inflation fueled by high energy prices tied to Russia’s war in Ukraine, post-pandemic supply bottlenecks, and reviving demand for goods and services after COVID-19 restrictions eased. The Fed raised rates by three-quarters of a point for the third straight time last month. Quarter-point increases have usually been the norm for central banks. But that was before inflation spiked to 9.9% in the eurozone, fueled by higher prices for natural gas and electricity after Russia slashed gas supplies during the war in Ukraine. Read: Soaring inflation threatens to unleash political turmoil across Europe “A long-lasting war in Ukraine remains a significant risk,” Lagarde said. “Confidence could deteriorate further and supply side constraints could worsen again. Energy and food costs could also remain persistently higher than expected. A weakening world economy could be an additional drag on growth in the euro area.” Inflation robs consumers of purchasing power, leading many economists to pencil in a recession for the end of this year and the beginning of next year in the 19 countries that use the euro as their currency. While inflation in the U.S. is near 40-year highs of 8.2%, fueled in part by more pandemic support spending than in Europe, the American economy grew in the third quarter after shrinking in the first half of 2022. The ECB has now raised rates by a full 2 percentage points in just three months, distance that took 18 months to cover during its last extended hiking phase in 2005-2007 and 17 months in 1999-2000. The benchmark for short-term lending to banks now stands at 2%, a level last seen in March 2009. The next meeting in December may see a smaller rate increase, analysts say. “We expect the pace of hiking to slow, given that the window of opportunity to raise interest rates is narrowing with a recession in the euro area looming,” said Nicolas Sopel, senior macro strategist at Quintet Private Bank. Higher rates can control inflation by making it more expensive to borrow, spend and invest, lowering demand for goods. But the effort to raise rates also has raised concerns about their impact on economic growth and on markets for stocks and bonds. To sop up economic stimulus efforts that have outlived their purpose now that rates are rising, Lagarde encouraged banks to repay the cheap, long-term loans they received from the ECB to help them keep lending to businesses. The central bank raised the interest rates on the loans and said it would let banks voluntarily repay the money. Another potentially fraught issue in drawing down stimulus without triggering turmoil in nervous markets is what to do with the bank’s 4.9 trillion euro ($4.9 trillion) pile of bonds bought under earlier efforts to lower market borrowing costs. That will be not be outlined until the December meeting, Lagarde said. Read: EU employed over 1.3 million people in sports sector in 2021 For now, the bank is maintaining the size of its holdings by using money from maturing bonds to buy new ones. Because the ECB is such a large bondholder, shrinking the bond pile could roil bond markets and make government borrowing costs more expensive. The risks of bond market trouble were illustrated last month when then-U.K. Prime Minister Liz Truss announced tax cuts and spending increases that raised questions about state finances, triggering a sudden selloff in British government bonds and forcing her resign after 45 days in office. Bond market turbulence also threatened to break up the eurozone during its 2010-2015 debt crisis. Now, borrowing costs for indebted eurozone governments such as Italy have risen along with ECB interest rates. The euro flirted below parity with the dollar after the ECB decision and remains near its lowest levels in 20 years. A weaker euro worsens inflation by raising the price of imported goods. Reasons for the drop in the exchange rate include higher U.S. interest rates that attract money into investments priced in dollars and, more broadly, the dwindling prospects for Europe’s economy.

Italy won the UEFA EURO 2020 final after beating England in a penalty shootout at the wembley Stadium in London on Sunday (11th July). England dominated the first half of the play after establishing an early lead in the game. Italy fought back in the second half and scored within 25 minutes. The match ended in a 1-1 draw, with no goals scored in extra time. The winner was decided in a penalty shootout. Italy triumphed 3-2 in a penalty shootout and clinched their second European Championship. The match report of the EURO 2020 final is discussed in this article. EURO 2020 Final Match Report: Italy vs. England Italy won the European football championship for the first time in 53 years. The match finished at 1-1 after 120 minutes of play. Italian players kept their nerve during the penalty shootout and won 3-2 over England on Sunday’s final at the iconic Wembley stadium. Read Read:Racist abuse targets 3 English players who missed penalties Italian goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma was the final match's hero, who saved two penalties in the shootout. Bukayo Saka and Jadon Sancho both missed penalty kicks, while Marcus Rashford's shot struck the post. On the other side, English goalkeeper Jordan Pickford saved penalty kicks from Belotti and Jorginho. However, Berardi, Bonucci, and Bernardeschi all scored from the penalty spot and helped Italy to win their second European Championship after 1968. England scored the match's first goal in the second minute. English left-back Luke Shaw became the fifth fastest scorer in European Championship history when he smashed the ball into the back of the net in one minute and 57 seconds. Read:Italy wins Euro 2020, beats England in penalty shootout England performed well for most of the first half even after taking a 1-0 lead early in the game. However, Italy fought back and continued to push the English defense in the second half. Leonardo Bonucci eventually equalized in the 67th minute to cut the lead. The match was thereafter dominated by Italy till the end, including extra time. They came close to scoring the second goal at least twice, but couldn't find another to secure the victory. Clear chances were scarce as the game moved closer to penalties. The referee issued six yellow cards in the EURO 2020 final. Italy had the most yellow cards with five, while England received only one. Read:England, Italy set for thrilling EURO 2020 showdown on Sunday With this victory, Italy have now won 34 games in a row under head coach Roberto Mancini.Italian fans were disappointed when their team failed to qualify for the 2018 World Cup. So, the Euro 2020 victory will be crucial in their football revival. Germany and Spain have won the European Championship thrice out of a total of 16 times. Both Italy and France have won the tournament twice. The one-time champions are the Soviet Union, the Czech Republic, the Netherlands, Portugal, Denmark, and Greece. Read:Euro 2020 final: Italy holds historical edge over England Bottom Line England and Italy had a really intriguing battle in the EURO 2020 final. Italy's coach Roberto Mancini outsmarts England's Gareth Southgate in the case of a tactical decision and the best team eventually win the championship. The real hero of the final was Italian goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma. Italy crowned European Champion thanks to his good work in the penalty shootout. Donnarumma became the first goalkeeper to win the player of the tournament award. Portugal's Cristiano Ronaldo was named best scorer, while Spain's Pedri was named young player of the tournament. Read Copa America 2021 Final: Di Maria’s Early Strike Sinks Brazil

England and Italy are set to face off on Sunday to be crowned the best in European football at London's iconic Wembley Stadium. Italy are looking forward to win their first European title after 53 years when they beat Yugoslavia (1-1 and 2-0) in the EURO 1968 final, Anadolu Agency reported. They then lost two finals in European Championships, a 2-1 loss to France in EURO 2000 and a 4-0 defeat to Spain in EURO 2012. The Azzurri's defeat to Spain in EURO 2012 final is the biggest margin of defeat in a European Championship final. With four final matches at the European Championships, they are now tied with Spain and the Soviet Union for second place behind Germany, which appeared in six finals. Also read: Brazil and Argentina clash in a soccer final for 5th time Roberto Mancini's side topped Group A by beating Turkey and Switzerland 3-0, and sealing a 1-0 victory against Wales. Following the group stage, they beat Austria in the last 16 and Belgium 2-1 in the quarterfinals, moving to the final after defeating Spain on penalties in the semifinals. They conceded three goals, while Ciro Immobile, Federico Chiesa, Manuel Locatelli, Lorenzo Insigne and Matteo Pessina scored two goals each. According to Anadolu Agency, the historic EURO 2020 game with 60,000 spectators will be the Three Lions' first-ever final in the European Championship, and their first final appearance in a major tournament since claiming the 1966 World Cup title. England won only two of their last 14 games against Italy in all competitions, 2-0 in June 1997 and 2-1 in August 2013 – both friendly matches. However, in the 1977 World Cup qualification, the English team won against Italy 2-0 – the only victory in eight competitive games during the tournament. Also read: Copa America 2021: Lionel Messi vs Neymar da Silva They are unbeaten in their last 12 matches in all competitions, keeping 10 clean sheets and conceding just two goals. Collecting seven points, England won Group D in the EURO 2020 ahead of Croatia, Czech Republic, and Scotland. The Three Lions reached the final, eliminating Germany, Ukraine, and Denmark, respectively, conceding just one goal following the conclusion of the group stage. Only three nations have ever lifted the Euros title on home ground – Spain (1964), Italy (1968), and France (1984). Portugal (2004) and France (2016) made it to the final, but lost. The match will be officiated by Dutch referee Bjorn Kuipers. The 48-year-old was also the referee in the 2014 World Cup's group stage match when England suffered a 2-1 defeat to Italy.

They are opponents who have long struck fear into the heart of Spanish soccer. The Italians: tough, defensively strong, cynical. Winners by whatever means possible — or so it was widely perceived in Spain anyway. And Luis Enrique knows all about it. Read:Italy advances to semifinals at Euro 2020 The current Spain coach was a member of the national team that was beaten by Italy 1-0 in the 1994 World Cup quarterfinals. As famous as the 88th-minute winning goal by Roberto Baggio was the elbow to Luis Enrique’s face administered by Italy’s hard man in defense, Mauro Tassotti. The violent act went unpunished during the game — Tassotti would later get an eight-match ban — but wasn’t forgotten in Spain. The photo of an anguished Luis Enrique, blood pouring from his broken nose onto a splattered white towel, has gone down in history, and is often brought out whenever the two rivals meet. Like they will at Wembley Stadium on Tuesday in the European Championship semifinals. “We’ve spoken a few times since but that’s in the past, part of footballing history,” Luis Enrique said Monday about the incident with Tassotti. “Both of us, of course, would’ve preferred that had gone differently but there’s nothing more to say.” Actually, Luis Enrique doesn’t appear to hold any grudges toward the Azzurri, his feelings possibly changing after spending a year coaching Italian club Roma in the 2011-12 season. “It’s a country I’m very fond of,” he said. “Whenever I’ve a bit of free time, I always like to visit Italy. It’s lovely to come up against the Azzurri — it’s always very nice.” Many in Spain would disagree. For 88 years, Spain didn’t beat Italy in a competitive match and an inferiority complex naturally grew. A clash of styles — typically attacking Spain against defensive Italy — always went one way. Also read: Euro2020 semi-finalists have been determined Until 2008, that is. That was when a weight was lifted from a nation as Spain defeated Italy in a penalty shootout in Vienna in the European Championship quarterfinals on its way to its first continental title in 44 years. Four years later, Spain would beat Italy again at Euro 2012, this time 4-0 in Kyiv for the most lop-sided score in a final in the tournament’s history. Yet Spain’s title defense was ended in the last 16 five years ago by a limited but tactically superior Italy coached by Antonio Conte, which won 2-0 in Paris. The teams, then, will be meeting in a fourth straight tournament. This match promises to be different, though, purely because of the way Italy’s approach has altered since Roberto Mancini took over as coach in 2018. Sure, the trademark Italian robustness in defense is still there, but the team has an attacking swagger these days and also has become more of a passing team. They’re not in Spain’s league in terms of possession, but then again who is? “We’re leaders in the possession stats, but they too are a side who enjoy playing with the ball. So that’s going to be the first battle to win,” Luis Enrique said. “But they’re also very good without the ball. We need the ball. We want to have it.” Spain has the squad with youngest average age in the tournament — at 24.1 years — and there’s a sense that Luis Enrique feels his players have exceeded expectations by reaching the semifinals. It’s why he was so proud of getting past Switzerland in the quarterfinals, albeit with the need of a penalty shootout. Also read: Italy advances to semifinals at Euro 2020 “It’s impossible to understate this,” he said. “We’re not an experienced national team.” Indeed, when it comes to being streetwise at international level, few can top the Italians. A clip of Italy striker Ciro Immobile falling dramatically in the area and apparently feigning injury during the win over Belgium in the quarterfinals, only for him to instantly spring to his feet moments later after Nicola Barella scored the opening goal, has been spread widely over social media. Italy defender Leonardo Bonucci laughed it off on Monday, saying “the joy and excitement of a goal in matches such as these means you don’t experience any more pain.” But to some it was another classic example of gamesmanship. It’s why players like Champions League winners Cesar Azpilicueta, Sergio Busquets and Jordi Alba will be so important for Spain to guide the team’s younger players at Wembley. “We’re not an experienced team,” Luis Enrique said, “but it doesn’t mean we don’t have experience of the game. Many of our players have played at a very high level and are used to these games. “I just hope we’re up to the challenge.”

The semi-finalists of the UEFA Euro 2020 have been determined. The final matches of the quarter-finals were held on Saturday. In the quarterfinals, Italy beat Belgium in Munich (2:1), the Spanish national team defeated the Swiss team in St. Petersburg (1:1, 3:1 - on penalties), Denmark in Baku beat Czech Republic (2:1), and England defeated Ukraine in Rome (4:0). Also read: Denmark beats Czechs 2-1 to reach Euro 2020 semifinals The semi-finals will have the matches between Italy - Spain on July 6 and England vs. Denmark on July 7. Both meetings will take place in London at Wembley Stadium. The final will take place in the same arena on July 11. The current European champion is the Portuguese national team, which in 2016 beat the hosts of the tournament, France (1:0). Also read: Italy advances to semifinals at Euro 2020

The Euro 2020 was suspended because of the pandemic coronavirus. The competition was postponed for a year due to growing concern over covid-19. Finally, UEFA Euro 2020 will begin on June 11 this year. The month-long tournament will end on July 11 at wembley stadium in London with the final match. Although Portugal won Euro 2016, they are not the favourites to win this year's tournament. Other European giants are strong contenders for the prestigious title. Which European teams have the best chance of winning the competition this year? In this article, we discussed the UEFA Euro 2020 favorites, underdogs, and outsiders.  Who are the favourites to win Euro 2020? France The 2018 World Cup champion, France are one of the favourites to win Euro 2020 this year. This team has some of the most well-known players in the world today, who can make opponents scared. France can win the European Championship for the third time if they are in good form from the start of the tournament. Five key playersto watch out for Antoine Griezmann (Striker), KylianMbappé (Striker), N'GoloKanté (Midfielder), Paul Pogba (Midfielder), RaphaëlVarane (Defender)  Read: BAN vs SL ODI Series 2021: Bangladesh Player Ratings  Belgium Belgium's greatest team in history will compete in the Euro 2020 competition. They have several outstanding players in every department. However, they lack confidence as they yet to win a major championship. Belgium's best achievement in the Euro tournament is finishing second in the 1980 edition. Five key players to watch out for RomeluLukaku (Striker), Kevin De Bruyne (Midfielder), Thomas Meunier (Midfielder), Toby Alderweireld (Defender), ThibautCourtois (Goalkeeper) England A handful of standout players have joined the England national squad in the last five years. That's why England coach Gareth Southgate feels optimistic about his team. England, who have never played in a final before, are hoping to win the tournament this year. Five key players to watch out for Harry Kane (Striker), Raheem Sterling (Midfielder), Phil Foden  (Midfielder), Kieran Trippier (Defender), Jadon Sancho (Midfielder)  Read 2022 World Cup qualifiers: Bangladesh start preparations in Qatar Who are the underdogs to win Euro 2020?  Germany Germany have always been the hot favourite of the tournament.  Their form have deteriorated in recent times. However, the Germans may become invincible once the tournament begins. If that happens, no one will be able to stop Germany from becoming the first team to win the tournament record four times. Five key players to watch out for Timo Werner (Striker), İlkayGündoğan (Midfielder), Toni Kroos  (Midfielder), Manuel Neuer (Goalkeeper), Thomas Müller (Midfielder)  Portugal The tournament's current champion, Portugal have a chance to win it again. However, they are not favorites this time. Many consider Portugal to be the underdog side in this year's tournament. Cristiano Ronaldo will be hoping to win one more Euro before retiring from international football, and this might motivate the Portuguese. Five key players to watch out for Cristiano Ronaldo (Striker), Bernardo Silva (Midfielder), Bruno Fernandes  (Midfielder), Rúben Dias (Defender), Pepe (Defender)  Read Women's Football: Jamalpur Kacharipara beat Kachijhuli 4-3 Spain 2010 World Cup champion, Spain are no longer as strong as they were five years ago. The team have a number of new players. Nonetheless, Coach Luis Enrique remains hopeful. If Spain can make it to the knockout stage, they have a chance to do well. Five key players to watch out for Álvaro Morata (Striker), Sergio Busquets (Midfielder), Rodri Hernández (Midfielder), Koke (Midfielder), César Azpilicueta (Defender)  Read: Winners and losers at the end of 2020/2021 European Season Who are the outsiders to win Euro 2020?  Italy The failure to qualify for the 2018 World Cup saddened Italian supporters. The national squad of Italy is still under a lot of pressure and many people regard them as one of the outsiders to win the tournament. It will be a great success for Italy if they can make it to the semi-finals. Five key players to watch out for Moise Kean (Striker), Marco Verratti (Midfielder),  Leonardo Bonucci (Defender), Giorgio Chiellini (Defender), GianluigiDonnarumma (Goalkeeper)  Netherlands The Netherlands football team is also in a bad position. They have been trying to build a solid team since last year. The Netherlands have a number of talented young players, so it will not be surprising if they reach the Euro 2020 final. Five key players to watch out for Memphis Depay (Striker),Frenkie de Jong (Midfielder), GeorginioWijnaldum (Midfielder), Matthijs de Ligt (Defender), Jasper Cillessen(Goalkeeper)  Read Real Madrid says Zidane stepping down as team's coach Croatia The 2016 runner-up, team Croatia has lost some of its strength. So, it would be unreasonable to expect too much from them. Croatia have a chance to reach the final of the competition if they play at their best. Five key players to watch out for Ante Rebić (Striker), Mateo Kovačić (Midfielder),  Luka Modrić  (Midfielder), Ivan Perišić (Midfielder), DejanLovren (Defender)  Verdict We examined the strengths of the tournament's comparatively stronger teams to predict who could really win the UEFA Euro 2020 and who would be the favorites, underdogs, and outsiders. After evaluating the teams' strengths; it's clear that England, France, and Belgium are the front-runners to win the championship. Furthermore, Germany, Portugal, and Spain all stand a good possibility of winning Euro 2020. Momentum is crucial for this type of mega event. Overall, we expect the best team will win the tournament.  Read: Copa America 2021: Things you need to know