Spain finally overcame it’s underachieving streak this past weekend by defeating the European soccer stronghold of Italy.  It was a significant win for the Spanish, who had lost on the 22nd of June in their three previous international tournaments.  For Russia, their defeat of the Netherlands was not only unexpected, but represents a larger resurgence and investment of Russian interest into soccer, as the country has reached its first major international semifinal since the end of the Cold War.

An article on Goal.com analyzes the cultural significance of the win, and potential championship, for each country:

“Spain have always suffered from a deep cutting sense of inferiority complex, a Don Quixote-esque madness to perceive every windmill as a giant, to perceive things in just the way they are not. But that victory over Italy on penalties has brought on a new and far more favourable perspective: that the Spanish can and have managed to bulge out of the cocoon.”