Euro 08 - After 3 sizzling hot weeks of partying - GER or ESP?

Italia - of course! Certainly folks here believe so, but it looks as if Germany may have the easiest path to the finals! Surprising that Netherlands is out... Spain will be a tough challenge for Italy Sunday night - they are overdue!

Ciao,
Ron

Andreas! Congratulations! It will be fun to watch for the results on Wednesday (early Thursday for us!) I've been in Europe during the soccer championships and it's such an exciting time! I know you're having a great time--even better now that Germany has done so well! Best of luck! Keep us posted on the outcome!

So here is my word for tomorrow night: EVIVA ESPANA! But then I really, really wonder about the Spain-Russia semi finale... whom will Germany face in the final now? What a tournament, what a WORLDcup ;-)... Eurocup, sorry ;-)

SPAIN, of course! (Isn't Turkey out now, Abraham?)

Having lived in Germany twice, and having had a German roomate who is a fanantic about soccer, I'm pulling for Germany! I feel like it is my home away from home.

Sorry, Ron!

This Euro has been great. Thank you ESPN!

I cannot express how much admiration I have for the Turks. We tell our young players, "Never give up". The Turks have truly lived it and been rewarded. Too bad they are gutted by injuries and carded players. The Germans, disciplined and hard-working, should have their way in the second half.

The Spanish finally have half the monkey off their backs. They played positive, creative football and deserved to win. I'm glad the Italians and their diving, negative football have been dispatched home.

Then there are the Russians. The youth of the tournament. They took care of the Dutch with typical youthful exuberance, impulsiveness, and flair. Watching the game I had the feeling I was witness to a harbinger of a changing of the guard. Arshaven does seem to be the real deal. I hope we get to see him in the EPL next season. I don't know who to support in their game against Spain.

Now, can anyone suggest a place in London to watch the final? We will be staying on Belgrave Rd. Thanks for any suggestions. Dennis

This has been the most amazing soccer tournament I have ever seen. Multiple games that would go down individually as classics. I got reminded how much I love the Beautiful Game again!

Dennis, I agree with your comments. About where to watch the final this can be tricky as you're staying in a country that didn't qualify to play top-level football ;-). But actually I'm sure pretty much every pub should show the matches. Or consider a Ryanair & Co. flight to Germany or Austria to enjoy public viewing. You wouldn't even need a hotel, just book the 6am or even earlier flight back the next moring ;-)... The final is Germany vs. Spain, right? ;-)

Andreas, I can't argue with Ger/Esp in the final. I wouldn't be disappointed with any of the four actually. I will be with my wife and don't think the overnight trip to a fanzone would go over well. She's not a fan. Great idea though. For viewing, I'll just ask at the place we are staying. They will know someplace with a good atmosphere for watching the game. I am wondering though how much interest there is in England since they aren't in it.

Good luck to Deutschland Wednesday. I actually spent a couple of nights in Frankfurt during WC '06. The fanzone area there was fantastic with the gigantic screen in the middle of the river. Very cool.

Italy is in mourning - Congrats to the Team from Spain; What a great game! You did not even need to have a TV on as every time there was a "close" shot the entire apartment complex was screaming - that's Euro 08!!!!

Unfortunately, there was NO cheering at the end! Having lived in Spain for almost 8 years, I'm now pulling for the Spanish... Italy is retooling ALREADY for their 2010 World Cup defense (and it's not pretty here today with a lot of finger pointing going on!!)

Good luck Andreas! See you at the World Cup!

Ciao,
Ron

A Germany/Spain final would make for a good game.

Go Deutschland!

In response on another site from a poster who asked about football and car horns I posted the following. I was a witness to the horn celebration in 2002 and was amazed at the line of cars as they traveled through the streets. We were in Wupprertal in June 2002 and Germany just happened to be playing the U.S. And were favored to win. Although I am a sports fan for baseball, American football and Golf I did not follow the World football games. Normally. But being in Germany with a quarter -final game against the U.S. One could not ignore the game. Walking through the streets of Wuppertal the sidewalk merchants had televisions available to the public and crowds of people were lined 5-6 deep watching the match. As I was walking a huge roar echoed through the streets of Wuppertal and it was obvious that Germany had scored. I stopped to see the celebration of the goal by the German team and as I was standing there a gentleman came up to me and asked something in German. Not sure what he said I replied, "Sprechen Kein Deutsch. Sprechen sie Engish bitte"? He smiled and asked "Who scored the goal"? Now, I did not know the American players much less the German so I had to tell him I did not know. I have to admit the excitement coming from the German people was a great thing to witness. They went on to win the game 1 to nil. I then became an interested fan for the remainder of the 2002 world cup and was pulling for Germany to win it all. Their enthusiasm won me over. The cars celebrated with horns and flags flying into the night.

Continued

Continued.......
We were in Cologne the next day and Turkey won and the Turkish flags were flying out the car windows and this went on for a while. Later that day we returned to Wuppertal where we were staying and the celebration was going on there as well. The traffic was completely stopped and the Turkey fans were getting out of the cars in the middle of the street celebrating. The Polizei had to break it up and tell the Turkey fans to get back in the cars and keep moving. They did and nothing came from it except the celebration continued with the horns blaring. I thought then that if Germany and Turkey had made it to the finals it may not be so peaceful there if Germany lost to Turkey. It did not work out for them to play as Brazil beat Germany in the finals. I do not remember much about the games except for the parade of cars blowing their horns and flying the flags and that the goal keeper from Germany was outstanding. I chalked this up as a nice travel memory.

Well, as Germany is playing Turkey tonight pretty much all the polititians, celebrities and football association bosses of both countries called for harmony after the matches... Let's see what's going to happen. German media at the moment only show countdowns to this important match. Nothing else is happening in this country...

We love football but hate the system of deciding games on penalty kicks. We think that was an innovation from America, originally rejected by FIFA and used only in US by MLS (Major League Soccer)

Andreas, it will be interesting to watch the reaction from the fans. While there in 2002 during the World Cup which was held in Korea and seeing the passion of the German and Turkey fans and the fact there are so mnay Turkey people in Germany I can see why the officials are calling for calm. Are the fans just as fired up for Euro 08 as they were for the World Cup?

MLS originally used shoot-outs to break ties; not penalty kicks. Penalty kicks in international soccer pre-dates MLS.

Congratulations Germany! Just one more. Andreas, do you hear the car horns?

That has got to be worst winning performance I have ever seen in any major soccer tourney. They won though so good for Germany I guess..

This is gonna be one noisy night. The cars have been honking persistently ever since the match ended. And I can also see cars with Turkish flags partying and honking anyway... On TV some Turkish guys said we're Turkish and German. We will win either way tonite. Local authorities in Frankfurt said Police won't intervene with honking car corsos until around 3am as this would simply be impossible. The Northern German city of Flensburg reported to have shut down public bus traffic at 10pm because due to the car corsos busses wouldn't be able to run anyway and that it was not their job to store people in "parked" busses in the middle of the night! 12 years ago, when the Euro was held in England, Germany made it to the final at Wembley and - as always at Wembley - won! Then the next two Euros we didn't made it beyond the group stages. Vienna must be turned into a success for us! 1972, 80, 96, 2008!!! About the performance of the team tonite: At this stage of the tournament burn-out starts to appear. That's always the case and e.g. finals are never as "beautiful" to watch than some group stage matches or quarter finals. It was a tough struggle, everybody agrees. But in football it's the final outcome that counts. And Philipp Lahm's last-minute goal was outstanding and therefore the German team deserved to win!

We guess that the term used was incorrect. We meant the shootouts, not PKs

For those of you who want to know how Germans party during this Euro check out this video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dUmiePuZ-3kIn the beginning you can hear the audience cheer "Deutschland, Deutschland, Deutschland" (Germany, Germany, Germany)... and then one of our most important worldcup/eurocup songs starts... 54, 74, 90, 2010 (the years we won the worldcup) and 72, 80. 86, 2008 (years we won the Euro)...

You won in 2010 already? Impressive! ;-)

I don't follow football (either kind) myself, but I think I just need to be taught the particulars by someone with enthusiasm. That's how I learned to enjoy cricket! Congrats to Germany on its win.

Liz, I know I'm a bit ahead of my times... ;-)

Here's the Oktoberfest live version of the song posted above: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4M2IqEB5cs4&feature=related

Glückwünsche Andreas! Wie ich vermutete, mit Mangel der Türkei an menschlicher Arbeitskraft konnten sie nicht wie benötigt für alle 90 Minuten so stark spielen. (How's my dictionary aided German?) Lahm should have been awarded a penalty, then he scores the winning goal. Great drama.

My money is on Spain tomorrow. They will match the Russians' enthusiasm and energy but will have the sophistication not to make the costly mental errors. I suspect that in the Russians' impatience to attack, they will leave the back exposed and Spain has the players able to take advantage. Both sides are exciting and should match the excitement factor and increase the creativity factor of today's game. It will not be a boring game.

Something tells me this is Spain's year to finally win a championship. It will be fun to watch.

OK, at this point of time let me predict the future: It'll end with this great win of the Spanish team. Well done Russia, anyway, congratulations! But what does this mean for Germany now? We'll need the creme de la creme of our defense players. Fortunately most of them, like Arne Friedrich, Per Mertesacker, are at least 1 foot taller than the Spanish guys. So as predicted a couple of days ago the final is a classical legitimat Euro-final. It consists of two teams who often play in finals (OK, Spain hasn't been in one for 24 years). I don't like worldcups or Euros where football-exotic countries are in the finals, like Greece last time ;-) (no offense, Greek people. I love you and your great food and Ouzo!)

Deutschland! Deutschland! Deutschland!

So that you will feel good, Andreas, GERMANY
We were in Germany during the 2006 World Cup and the parties were wild. Guess these are a bit less

I'm loving watching the exciting games. I'd also like to report that the WEATHER in Vienna is freaky beyond belief. For the last several days we've had hot, muggy days and then, in the evenings, all hell breaks loose in the sky. Amazing lightning shows and torrential downpours. (You probably saw some of the downpour during the Russia/Spain game.) But it remains hot. It is more like the tropics than Europe. Can't wait for the final on Sunday. I'm rooting for Deutschland, though I suspect Spain might blow their doors off. Happy travels!

VIVA ESPANA! VIVA TORRES! Well done Germany but Spain was clearly the much better squad tonight.

Spain was the clear winner of this match and under those circumstances I can only accept the result and send my congratulations to Spain!

Spain seemed quicker with much more solid defense.

Spain also seemed to get more than their share of headers against a much taller German team.

Although the one goal in the game wasn't the prettiest I've seen, Spain definitely deserved the win.

Germany had a great tournament.