KIEV, Ukraine - Stingy as it may be, Spains defenders are still a little worried about their rematch with Mario Balotelli and Italy in the European Championship final. Spains bid to win a third straight major title comes Sunday at Kyivs Olympic Stadium, where the Mediterranean rivals meet for a second time, after starting Euro 2012 with a 1-1 draw. Spain hasnt conceded since then and has reached the final with the fewest goals conceded since West Germany went on to win the tournament 40 years ago. In fact, Spains defence hasnt been breached in its last nine knockout games. After Balotelli scored twice in his teams 2-1 victory over Germany in the semifinals, defender Sergio Ramos said Friday "it would be a lie to say Im not worried about them but we are not obsessing over" Italy. "They are where they are today because of the way theyve played," Ramos said at Dynamo Kyivs stadium. "They really took the game to us, led by two strikers as they looked to hit us on the counter. We cant start worrying about them, we have to stay calm and stick to our philosophy of play. Balotellis goals against Germany on Thursday saw the mercurial Manchester City striker overcome a poor start to the tournament, which included wasting a glorious opportunity alone in front of goal against Spain. "Hes a great player and he showed that again yesterday," midfielder Cesc Fabregas said. "To score like that in the semifinal against Germany says it all. We have to try and throw him off his game because he is a player who can cause problems." One advantage for Spain is that Ramos and Gerard Pique have gelled as centerbacks after struggling in their first competitive pairing, which was against Italy. "Thats a positive aspect, it can facilitate things for us," said Ramos, who added that Spain would pay particular attention to Balotelli, Antonio Cassano and Andrea Pirlo. Spain is on the verge of becoming the first team to retain its European title after winning the World Cup. West Germany had that chance in 1976 but lost to Czechoslovakia on penalties. The current world champions needed penalties to beat Portugal in the semifinals after the game finished 0-0, despite extra-time. Though Ramos and Fabregas both scored in the shootout, Spain is hoping that its potential place in history is not decided on penalties on Sunday. And with greatness so near, its not surprising that the players are all too well aware of the stakes. "The truth is, yes, it is something we think about," Ramos said. "Thats what were playing for on Sunday, its something that will never be surpassed as no other national team has managed it before and we have the chance now to do it." "Whatever happens Sunday, Spain has already made history, but we obviously want to win this European championship again after all the work this team has done," Ramos said. "Its cost us a lot to get where we are, now we have to show our best level against a great team." ___ Paul Logothetis can be reached at: www.twitter.com/PaulLogoAP Cheap Jerseys From China ." But the Toronto Blue Jays are banking heavily on R.A. Dickeys dancing knuckleball leading them back to the baseball playoffs. Wholesale NFL Jerseys .Y. -- Vince Youngs lawyer disputed a companys claim that the Buffalo Bills backup quarterback defaulted on a high-risk loan and now owes nearly $1. http://www.chinajerseyswholesaleno... . Texas also Tuesday purchased the contracts of infielder Leury Garcia and left-hander Joe Ortiz from Triple-A Round Rock, adding them to the 40-man roster. [url=http://www.chinajerseyswholesalenow.com/]Cheap Jerseys . "Im more frustrated by the lack of progress," Daly told TSN on Monday. "Its a challenge in terms of finding how to move the process along and the bottom line is the process hasnt moved very quickly over the course of the summer. Cheap NFL Jerseys . Theisen, from Humboldt, Sask., cruised to 6,440 points at the NCAA outdoor championships, the best since Diane Guthrue-Gresham of George Mason scored 6,527 back in 1995.SOUTH BEND, Ind. -- The wrenching story of Notre Dame football star Manti Teos girlfriend dying of leukemia -- a loss he said inspired him to play his best all the way to the BCS championship -- was dismissed by the school Wednesday as a hoax perpetrated against the linebacker. Notre Dame said it believes the Heisman Trophy finalist was duped into an online relationship with a woman whose "death" was then faked by the perpetrators of the hoax. The school made the statement following a lengthy story by Deadspin.com, saying it could find no record that Lennay Kekua ever existed. The website story suggests a friend of Teo may have carried out the hoax and that the football player may have been in on it -- a stunning claim against a widely admired All-American who led the most famed program in college football back to the national championship game for the first time since 1988. "This is incredibly embarrassing to talk about, but over an extended period of time, I developed an emotional relationship with a woman I met online," Teo said in a statement. "We maintained what I thought to be an authentic relationship by communicating frequently online and on the phone, and I grew to care deeply about her. " However, he stopped short of saying he had ever met her in person or correcting reports that said he had, though he did on numerous occasions talk about how special the relationship was to him. "To realize that I was the victim of what was apparently someones sick joke and constant lies was, and is, painful and humiliating," he said. "In retrospect, I obviously should have been much more cautious. If anything good comes of this, I hope it is that others will be far more guarded when they engage with people online than I was." Word of the hoax spread quickly and raised questions about whether the school somehow played a role in pushing the tale. Teos grandmother died during the season and the apparent double tragedy became fueled stories about Teos perseverance and leadership. Notre Dame athletic director Jack Swarbrick said at a news conference Wednesday night that Teo told coaches on Dec. 26 he had received a call from Kekuas phone number while at an awards ceremony during the first week of December. "When he answered it, it was a person whose voice sounded like the same person he had talked to, who told him that she was, in fact, not dead. Manti was very unnerved by that, as you might imagine," Swarbrick said. Swarbrick said the school hired investigators and their report indicated those behind the hoax were in contact with each other, discussing what they were doing. The investigators "were able to discover online chatter among the perpetrators that was certainly the ultimate proof of this, the joy they were taking," Swarbrick said. "The casualness among themselves they were talking about what they accomplished." Swarbrick said for Teo "the pain was real." "The grief was real. The affection was real," he said. "Thats the nature of this sad, cruel game." Swarbrick said Notre Dame did not take the matter to the police, saying that the school left it up to Teo and his family to do so. He added that Notre Dame did not plan to release the findings of its investigation. "We had no idea of motive, and that was really significant to us. ... Was somebody trying to create an NCAA violation at the core of this? Was there somebody trying to impact the outcome of football games by manipulating the emotions of a key player? Was there an extortion request coming? When you match the lack of sort of detail we lacked until we got some help investigating it with the risk involved, it was clear to me until we knew more we had to just to continue to work to try to gather the facts," Swarbrick said. The Deadspin report changed all that. Friends and relatives of Ronaiah Tuiasosopo told Deadspin they believe he created Kekua. The website said Teo and Tuiasosopo knew each other. Attempts by The Associated Press to reach Tuiasosopo by telephone were unsuccessful. As for Kekua, Deadspin said sshe does not have a death certificate.dddddddddddd Stanford, where she reportedly went to school, has no record of anybody by that name, the website said. Deadspin said a record search produced no obituary or funeral announcement. There is no record of her birth in the news. There are a few Twitter and Instagram accounts registered to Lennay Kekua, but the website reported photographs identified as Kekua online and in TV news reports are pictures from the social-media accounts of a 22-year-old California woman who is not named Lennay Kekua, the website reported. Still, Swarbrick said, "Nothing about what I have learned has shaken my faith in Manti Teo one iota." Teo talked freely about their relationship after her supposed death and how much she meant to him. In a story that appeared in The South Bend Tribune on Oct. 12, Mantis father, Brian, recounted an anecdote about how his son and Kekua met after Notre Dame had played at Stanford in 2009. Brian Teo also told the newspaper that Kekua had visited Hawaii and met with his son. Brian Teo told the AP in an interview in October that he and his wife had never met Mantis girlfriend but they had hoped to at the Wake Forest game in November. The father said he believed the relationship was just beginning to get serious when she died. The Tribune released a statement saying: "At the Tribune, we are as stunned by these revelations as everyone else. Indeed, this season we reported the story of this fake girlfriend and her death as details were given to us by Teo, members of his family and his coaches at Notre Dame." The week before Notre Dame played Michigan State on Sept. 15, coach Brian Kelly told reporters when asked that Teos grandmother and a friend had died. Teo didnt miss the game. He said Kekua had told him not to miss a game if she died. Teo turned in one of his best performances of the season in the 20-3 victory in East Lansing, and his playing through heartache became a prominent theme during the Irishs undefeated regular season. "My family and my girlfriends family have received so much love and support from the Notre Dame family," he said after that game. "Michigan State fans showed some love. And it goes to show that people understand that football is just a game, and its a game that we play, and we have fun doing it. But at the end of the day, what matters is the people who are around you, and family. I appreciate all the love and support that everybodys given my family and my girlfriends family." He was asked again about his girlfriend on Jan. 3 prior to the BCS title game, saying: "This team is very special to me, and the guys on it have always been there for me, through the good times and the bad times. I rarely have a quiet time to myself because I always have somebody calling me, asking, Do you want to go to the movies? Coach is always calling me asking me, Are you OK? Do you need anything?" Teo finished second in Heisman voting, and led Notre Dame to its first appearance in the BCS championship. His widely reported story was among the most heartwarming of the season. "It further pains me that the grief I felt and the sympathies expressed to me at the time of my grandmothers death in September were in any way deepened by what I believed to be another significant loss in my life," Teo said in his statement. "I am enormously grateful for the support of my family, friends and Notre Dame fans throughout this year. To think that I shared with them my happiness about my relationship and details that I thought to be true about her just makes me sick. I hope that people can understand how trying and confusing this whole experience has been." Teo and the Irish lost the title game to Alabama, 42-14 on Jan. 7. He has graduated and was set to begin preparing for the NFL combine and draft at the IMG Academy in Bradenton, Fla., this week. "Fortunately, I have many wonderful things in my life," he said in his statement, "and Im looking forward to putting this painful experience behind me as I focus on preparing for the NFL Draft." ' ' '