In the minutes following England’s elimination (yet again) in penalties (yet again) to Italy (yet…) last night in Euro 2012 play, a bold Tweet popped up in my stream, and in that of tens of thousands of others. It captured the snarky, sardonic English spirit to a T and was crowned by many as the “Tweet of the match.” Judging by the overwhelming response to this Tweet heard round the world, there was a second victor in last night’s epic battle: English wit. You just have to wonder if the author’s boss approved?

The Tweet in question came from the National Tourist Board for England, or, as it’s known on Twitter, @visitEngland. Admirably, the @visitEngland tweeter (tweeters?) on duty last night fired off more zingers during the match than England’s front-line attack. But their big score came following Italy’s fifth and final clinching penalty kick:

As I write, this Tweet has been re-Tweeted nearly 7,000 times and favorited 903 times. From my view, it appears they picked up at least 750 followers since the match ended, and all the comments have been decidedly supportive of the Tweet.

And what of the English Tourist Board’s opponent, you wonder? Italian Tourism’s team was also Tweeting during the match. They have a much smaller Twitter following, but they were there Tweeting away in two languages at @join_Italy. Their jubilant tweet was on target, but lacked much drama or emotion, kind of like Piro’s tap-in penalty kick.

Here’s what the Italian side served up:

Let’s not get into the merits of the Italian v. England Tweets. I think it’s admirable that both groups chose to stay active on Twitter, and didn’t forget their followers, throughout such a tense match on a Sunday night when no doubt the odd glass of prosecco or pint of bitter was being imbibed by fellow supporters nearby.

If there’s a lesson here (other than the obvious one that wit and timing is highly valued on Twitter, and elsewhere) is that this commitment to community-building isn’t a Monday-through-Friday-9-to-5 job.

Well done to both sides!