Didn't see a thread anywhere else.
http://deadspin.com/5923264/sorry-mario-balotelli-didnt-really-make-this-german-fan-cry-how-tv-lied-to-you-during-euro-2012
For the tl;dr-ers; UEFA prerecorded footage and dropped it into the live feed during the game, including Joachim Loew's incident with the ballboy, and the German woman crying during the semi final after Balotelli's second goal.
http://deadspin.com/5923264/sorry-mario-balotelli-didnt-really-make-this-german-fan-cry-how-tv-lied-to-you-during-euro-2012
In the 36th minute of the Euro 2012 semifinal, Mario Balotelli scored his second goal, a screamer to the top right corner. Balotelli ripped off his jersey and flexed, and the telecast cut to a woman in the stands, a German flag painted on her cheek, a single tear leaking from her eye.
"It's too early for tears," intoned ESPN's Adrian Healey, calling the action. And it was. The German newspaper Süddeutsche Zeitung talked to the tearful woman: Her name was Andrea, she came from Dusseldorf, and she was surprised when she started getting texts from friends asking why she'd started crying with nearly an hour of play remaining. She hadn't, Andrea told them.
Instead, she said, she had been overcome with emotion during the playing of the national anthems, before the match kicked off. A camera recorded her then, and the footage was inserted into live TV later on, at the moment it would have the most impact. The emotional power of sport, on cue.
Don't blame Healey or ESPN. They didn't know, nor did ARD, the German network airing the match, nor did ZDF or SVT, or any of the other hundreds of channels that had won the regional broadcasting rights around the world. They merely aired the streaming live signal from UEFA—which on multiple occasions goosed the live footage by adding prerecorded shots, with zero acknowledgement.
On June 13, during of Germany's group stage match against the Netherlands, cameras found German manager Joachim Löw sneaking up behind a ballboy and poking the ball from his grip. A humanizing moment in the middle of a tense game. Except it happened during warm-ups, well before the match, and was dropped in to make it appear live.
For the tl;dr-ers; UEFA prerecorded footage and dropped it into the live feed during the game, including Joachim Loew's incident with the ballboy, and the German woman crying during the semi final after Balotelli's second goal.
