All ears: U.S. fans have been almost as receptive to Euro 2012 as those actually attending the tournament like these from semifinalist Germany (AP Photo).

And let’s hope it’s more interesting than the Euro 2012 quarterfinals (for the most part) as I point out in this week’s column.

The game of the week locally: German fans will gather at Alpine Village near Torrance, while those of Italian descent will live and die with their team at the Italian American Club in San Pedro for Thursday’s decider between the two nations.

American soccer fans in general have embraced the tournament to a greater extent than ever before:

BRISTOL, Conn. (AP) — The European Championship’s viewership is up big from four years ago.

The average audience in the United States was up 82 percent for English-language broadcasts through the group stage. The 24 matches on ESPN averaged more than 1 million viewers. For Euro 2008, the games were watched by an average of 552,000 people.

Where are you going to watch the games?