Euro 2008

pardon my historical naivety, but aren't most contemporary national coaches around for that time anyway?

 

Germany v. Spain, Spain v. Germany

While Holland and Portugal deserve consideration, I think it has come down to the two best and arguably most talented teams. Should make for a hard fought final, which should be good.

 

I'm with Spain all the way on this one even, though I think I have as much German in me as Spaniard, I think an 1/8 each, which isn't much.

PCB I know your for Germany so.....

Go Espana!

 

Don. Don't feel bad; the only game I've gotten right so far is the Spain QF game.

 

That South Korea squad also got some really favorable officiating, IIRC.

 

I could not believe how completely Spain dominated Russia. I really thought we were going to be in for a back and forth barnburner of a match. It is hard to believe that Fabregas is not starting for Spain. I know Xavi scored but Fabregas looked to be pure quality.

If you apply Euro2008 logic to the upcoming game on Sunday Germany should win because every time a team has looked dominant they seem to lose.

 

Somehow I'm sitting in second place in the pool (a big thanks to everyone sucking worse than me). I believe PCB you mentioned a check to the winner/runner up 8)

Can only imagine the pressure Ballack and Torres are getting back in their home countries. Both have been relatively quiet and w/another lackluster performance one will be wearing the goat horns for a team failure.

Leaning towards Spain just for the Lehman factor, but this is a coin flip.

 

Almost go time!!!

 

Anyone up for some chat i'll be in the chatroom.

 

Should've been 2 or 3 nothing, Spain thoroughly deserve it. They went 6-0 and exorcised plenty of demons. Torres stepped up and Ballack bled and was a typical Blue Poo punk all game long.

 

Ole, Ole, Ole, Ole, Ole, Ole!

The beautiful game was on display today in all of its glory! The match-up of the traditional powerhouse versus the traditional underachiever produced a spectacular match if you were a fan of the Spanish side or a neutral fan that enjoys watching the game being played at its highest level. On the other hand those rooting for the German side found very little to rejoice in. Truly the best team of Euro 2008 dominated this match for large periods of time and produced the moments of magic expected of them for so many years.

Germany opened the first half nicely and played in the Spaniards side of the field for about the first fifteen minutes of the match. They looked organized and my initial reaction was that Germany was going to find a way to score an early goal and then hunker down and grind out the match. Shortly after the fifteen-minute mark Spain settled in and turned the tide of match. The Spaniards passing game began to cut through the German side with precision and carved the defense apart time and again producing a stunning display of attacking soccer and tidy but effective defending. The game stats in fact show that Germany managed only four shots with one on goal the entire match and in this case indicates the dominant performance by the Spanish side.

Fernando Torres play was scintillating and his runs were electrifying. Phillipp Lahm undoubtedly will have nightmares of Torres racing past him and watching helplessly as he put the ball past Lehmann for what turned out to be the game-winning goal. However, as good as Torres was the game was won in midfield. The passing display put on by the entire five-man midfield was wonderful to watch. At times it looked like Spain was on the practice pitch playing keep away. The passing was crisp and when the opportunity arose the men in red pressed forward almost at will.

Much to their credit the German squad refused to go away meekly. In the 58th minute Kevin Kuranyi was substituted in for Thomas Hitzlsperger and Germany switched from a five-man midfield to a 4-4-2. My immediate comment when seeing the Kuranyi preparing to enter the match was it was time to fasten our seatbelts because the game was about to open up. The change did produce an impact on the flow of the game and Germany was suddenly pressing into the Spanish end once again. For what seemed like a ten-minute period of time the German side produced numerous crosses and Germany found themselves as the aggressors in the match. Unfortunately for the German supporters there was no equalizer to be found this day but to be honest it would have been undeserved had it occurred. Having absorbed the attack Spain killed off the final twenty minutes of the game by attacking the German goal. Never did it appear that the thought of hunkering down crossed the mind of the Spanish side as they continued to display the way the beautiful game should be played in the dying minutes of the match.

Well earned and well deserved to Euro 2008 champions; Spain.

 

The only things I found terribly unattractive about this match were the quality of the officiating and Ballack.

 

Officiating was terrible for a final. Possibly cost Germany at least some extra time.

 

Well, it wasn't the best match in the tournament, by far, but was much, much better than the DC United - LA Galaxy game earlier. I was unfortunately present at that game and while it was "cool" to see Beckham in person, the poor quality of the game (and the reffing) wasn't worth the sunburn.

Spain deservedly won the game; Germany rarely looked threatening.

 

Your wish is granted!

 

Nice write up Barry!

I was in the chatroom with Barry, JMH, Nevzter, Fulhamburger and even TimmyG came for a bit today. We we were all rooting for Spain so a good time was had by all.

Personally, while there wasn't a lot of scoring and Germany really did almost nothing, Spain created so many scoring opportunities and there were so many unbelievable mid range passes and some nifty possessions by Spain. I thought it was quite enjoyable.