A calamitous mix-up in the English defence led to the Azzurri taking the lead. Daniel Perry's attempted clearance was unfortunately blocked his own keeper Simon Herding, the goal credited to England's number one.
But John Carey sent a 25-yard rocket past the Italian keeper Andrea Rossi for the equaliser and after no-one scored in extra-time, England needed penalties for the second straight time in a major tournament.
Luca Germanotta's effort was saved by Simon Herding, and after everybody else had scored their spot-kicks, Garry Stratford stepped up to win EuroCup 12 for England.
Italy: 1 Andrea Rossi; 22 Paolo Aloisi, 5 Giuseppe Guilacci, 13 Emiliano Tournetti, 23 Guglielmo Dal Rocca, 3 Paolo Lupatelli; 16 Francesco Chianelli, 4 Gianni Riccoli; 8 Giampaolo Mondini; 10 Luca Germanotta; 9 Andrea Romano
England: 1 Simon Herding; 15 Neil Crandall, 5 Daniel Perry, 6 John Macdonald, 14 Liam Cole; 16 Kevin Warhurst; 24 Craig CraiCo; 11 James Douglas; 9 John Carey, 23 Chad Blake, 10 Edward Redwood
Referee: Simon LeClair (France)
Goals: Herding o.g. 17' (Italy), Carey 33' (England)
Penalties*:
Italy: Castelloni (scored), Germanotta (saved), Culpi (scored), Mondini (scored), Aloisi (scored)
England: Redwood (scored), CraiCo (scored), Carey (scored), Douglas (scored), Stratford (scored)
*Italy went first
Man of the Match: John Carey (England)
Highlights: