Forza Azzurri - reward of determination

During the quarter finals, Italy defeated England in penalty shootouts (regular time ended 0-0). But clearly Italy was the team who put more effort into generating opportunities to score. They had at least 65% of the ball possession and probably more than double the amount of shots on goal that England had. It was due to the inaccuracy of their forwards that Italy could not score on the regular time.

England was limited to play defensively, and relied on some sort of long ball strategy for Rooney (who didn't play well) to get chances on scoring. I have to admit that England did a great job defending and holding until the penalty shootouts. But based on what the game showed, Italy was the team with much more determination to score and win the game, and they got the victory via the stressful penalty shootouts.

Special mention to Andrea Pirlo for his confidence in scoring the penalty kick with such remarkable technique.

In the similar way, I believe that the determination to work hard for the Lord and to glorify Him will yield fruits in His own timing.