Premier Mario Monti and striker Mario Balotelli gave a much-needed boost to a country suffering for months under harsh austerity measures and embarrassed by a match-fixing scandal in its national sport in which dozens have been arrested.
To the east in Warsaw, the talented soccer player with a discipline problem led Italy's national team to a 2-1 victory over Germany, propelling them into the finals of the European soccer championships.
Monti, an economics professor who replaced the flamboyant Silvio Berlusconi with a mandate to put debt-ridden Italy's finances in order, had vowed to keep talking at the EU summit until an agreement was hammered out.
"May I stress that Italy worked a lot and put a lot of pressure at the negotiating table for this result to be achieved," he said, referring to measures to contain borrowing costs.
During the overnight talks, he seemed to be leading the charge against Merkel and several other northern European leader who fear having to pay even more in bailouts and loans for the profligate south, composed of Greece, Spain, Portugal and Italy.
To the east in Warsaw, the talented soccer player with a discipline problem led Italy's national team to a 2-1 victory over Germany, propelling them into the finals of the European soccer championships.
Monti, an economics professor who replaced the flamboyant Silvio Berlusconi with a mandate to put debt-ridden Italy's finances in order, had vowed to keep talking at the EU summit until an agreement was hammered out.
"May I stress that Italy worked a lot and put a lot of pressure at the negotiating table for this result to be achieved," he said, referring to measures to contain borrowing costs.
During the overnight talks, he seemed to be leading the charge against Merkel and several other northern European leader who fear having to pay even more in bailouts and loans for the profligate south, composed of Greece, Spain, Portugal and Italy.
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