Here’s a sad article that addresses many topics regarding Italian society, including the problem of racist taunts aimed at Mario Balotelli.

Mario Balotelli is back playing in Italy with AC Milan, and the Italians are hoping this leads to a successful 2014 run in the World Cup. John Molinaro is optimistic.

Soccer fans had to be happy with the Euro 2012 tournament. The level of play was excellent and we may be watching one of the greatest all-time dynasties in action. Spain’s Tiki-Taka style was on full display throughout the tournament. Any doubts about their lack of dominating play were put to rest with a 4-0 thrashing of a resurgent Italian side in the final. The Italians were playing excellent football, but they ran into a Spanish side that had even more talent and was ready to rise to the occasion.

Many think that Spanish dominance won’t end here. With an unprecedented three straight major tournament victories, Spain is now going for number four with the 2012 World Cup two years from now in Brazil, and many experts think they can do it. It would be a huge accomplishment, as it would be unprecedented for a European team to win a World Cup in South America. No South American team has ever won a World Cup in Europe, so location matters.

It will be interesting to see if Spain can break this streak as well. If they do, coupled with their recent string of success, there will be nobody arguing which is the best soccer dynasty ever. Spain also has one built-in advantage – the Spanish heritage of many South American. Of course that doesn’t apply to Brazil where Portuguese is spoken, but we should expect many Spanish-speaking South Americans rooting for Spain as their number two choice following their home country. This could galvanize the Spanish side and give them the extra motivation needed to pull off this accomplishment.

We can expect to see the fruits of this recent winning streak everywhere. Memorabilia and Spanish jerseys are flying of the shelves all over the world. Readers can join in and get huge discounts on soccer merchandise. We can expect Spanish fans to invade Brazil two year from now, but how many fans from South America will also be wearing Spanish jerseys? That will be very interesting to watch. If Spain can turn their Brazilian adventure into a mini-home crowd advantage, they might be unbeatable.

Of course there will be many other national teams ready to take on the mighty Spain. The home Brazilian side will be geared up to win the World Cup in their home country. Argentina is always a force on the word stage as well, and all of the South American teams will have some advantage.

As for the other European countries, we can always expect several of them to emerge as real threats. Germany always looks strong, and despite their continued frustrations against Italy in major tournaments, you can’t ever count them out. As for the Italians, they showed that they are resurgent again, and Mario Balotelli is the ultimate wild card. He’s only 21 years old now, and the sky is the limit with his talent. If he matures and works harder after the embarrassing loss against Spain, then the Italian side can be a real threat as well.

It’s been fun to see the renewed interest in these tournaments since ESPN started making the World Cup and the Euro Cup featured programming, so expect plenty of hype and interest as we watch Spain go for the four-peat.

This one is a shocker.

The United States beat Italy for the first time in 11 games over 78 years, a 1-0 victory in an exhibition Wednesday night on Clint Dempsey’s goal in the 55th minute.

Dempsey took a short pass from Jozy Altidore following Michael Bradley’s cross and put a right-footed shot from just inside the penalty area just past an outstretched hand of goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon. It was his 25th goal in 83 international appearances.

A native of Nacogdoches, Texas, who turns 29 on March 9, Dempsey has had the most accomplished season by a U.S. attacking player in European soccer. He’s scored 16 goals this season for Fulham, becoming the American career scoring leader in England’s Premier League with 43 goals.

The loss was particularly deflating for Italy, a four-time World Cup champion preparing for the start of the European Championship in June. The Americans, who are getting ready for their opening qualifier for the 2014 World Cup in June, had been 0-7-3 against Italy and had been outscored 32-4.

Italy dominated for stretches but the American defense held and the Azzurri were called for offsides nine times.

The Italians had been playing well, but forwards Giuseppe Rossi and Antonio Cassano were out with injuries. Also, Manchester City striker Mario Balotelli was “left off the squad because of his temper and unpredictability” according to this ESPN article. He’s a well-known hot head so this shouldn’t be a surprise.

Will Italy’s National Team ever be the same?

Here’s a great profile of Manchester City’s Mario Balotelli who also plays on Italy’s National Team.