Euro 2008 Final - Germany vs. Spain

shazlx wrote:

Forza Italia!Forza Milan! wrote:Germany were a solid team.

Did we all miss something. This team were closer to flair than solid and considering how ugly they were...

I meant in the sense that they were very solid physically and mentally as well. I just didn't think they could match Spain in the end.

facking amazing night!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Fey wrote:Germany will score in the next 7 minutes though, Germans are born killers!

Z wrote:So, Spain had Puerta and Italy and Calciopoli. If England are ever going to win it, Beckham will have to be killed in a horrible plane crash or something.

Pat Lampard

What a lovely day it is outside today. Goddd it feels great not to be German

Pierre Littbarski wrote:Spain deserved it on the night but Turkey are the people's champions.

Its an unsatisfactory end to a great tournament - Spain's best outfield player was a Brazilian and if Marchena had correctly been sent of for violent conduct 5 mins into the 2nd half or Silva later on it could have been so different.

I don't think too much money will be going on Bayern to win the CL next season if they have Klose and Toni up front as they are strictly UEFA Cup standard.

Truly gut-wrenching to see Fabregas win something - Torres did a couple of classic push and runs worthy of Henry but unlike teh Frenchman he finished brilliantly when it counted.

I have to say, through gritted teeth, that it was a superb finish that I would rave about if it had been done by a player I like but he was absolute shite apart from that and his lack of ball control is sometimes embarrassing.

Casillas MOTM and player of the tournament.

The biggest suprise is that Shazlx gave MOTM to Iker and not Patrick Vieira

Must be a typo.

ballack should have gone in the 1st half at least 3 yellow card offences but by some miracle he only got 1

http://www.marca.com/elementosPortada/fotosPortada/2008/06/30/rey310x100.jpg


imagine the queen doing this in the UK? The royalty here are great so much more normal and show emotion, they were cheering with the rest last night fooking great!!!!

Ah, fucking EC hangover, I really hate such days.

Anyway, congratulations to Spain for a more than deserved win last night.

sorry for you guys chrissi, there was a german family watching the spanish celebrate last night, really felt awful for them. BUT had such a ball last night

http://www.skysports.com/video/0,20285,12602_3757149,00.html

The-Frank-Tavern wrote:sorry for you guys chrissi, there was a german family watching the spanish celebrate last night, really felt awful for them. BUT had such a ball last night

Thanks, Frank. I've just seen a few pictures from Spain last night, must have been a great night...

btw, Sergio Ramos was not the only one making a tribute last night. In case anyone was wondering, Palop's green jersey was his own tribute to Arconada, the Spanish keeper who made a mistake in the 1984 final which Spain lost to France.



http://www.marca.com/edicion/marca/futbol/eurocopa/espana/es/desarrollo/1140506.html

The King & President with the Cup

kas wrote:btw, Sergio Ramos was not the only one making a tribute last night. In case anyone was wondering, Palop's green jersey was his own tribute to Arconada, the Spanish keeper who made a mistake in the 1984 final which Spain lost to France.



http://www.marca.com/edicion/marca/futbol/eurocopa/espana/es/desarrollo/1140506.html

Cheers, that explains why Platini said a few words to him.

chrissicross wrote:

The-Frank-Tavern wrote:sorry for you guys chrissi, there was a german family watching the spanish celebrate last night, really felt awful for them. BUT had such a ball last night

Thanks, Frank. I've just seen a few pictures from Spain last night, must have been a great night...

seriously amazing marbella is still a relatively small town there was absolute mayhem there but all good natured great fun. 44 years of hurt came out last night in a big way, usually avoid spanish tv like the plague cos its so bad but tonight i'll be riveted.

kas wrote:btw, Sergio Ramos was not the only one making a tribute last night. In case anyone was wondering, Palop's green jersey was his own tribute to Arconada, the Spanish keeper who made a mistake in the 1984 final which Spain lost to France.



http://www.marca.com/edicion/marca/futbol/eurocopa/espana/es/desarrollo/1140506.html

Was wondering about that last night.

Another very nice touch by another Andalucian(sp?)

Rafa Benetiz's Final Euro 08 Blog in El Mundo......................

24 years ago, when the Spanish national team lost the final in Paris, of the Eurocup in France’84, Fernando Torres was barely three months old. Last night, in Vienna, the madrileño put sentence to a final that will become a part of history. He will too and in style. Spain won their second continental title and they did so brilliantly. They were superior to each and every one of their opponents and did so with a playing style based on ball possession, depth in attack, and executed by players of great quality. Then, Luis did the rest. First, he chose the proper men to suit his ideas. Then, he kept them united until the very end. Yesterday, during the epilogue, he only needed to preserve the formula of success.

Germany kept the 4-4-1-1 that gave them so much success in the last games. There was speculation that they were going to play with two strikers (4-4-2), but at the end Ballack, behind Klose, was their proposal. Meanwhile, Spain came out with the expected formation with Fabregas moving behind Torres. On the contrary, they had less possession than usual and were playing more on the counter-attack.

On one of those solitary actions, Torres imposed his pace and power over Lahm and finished superbly with a touch of quality over Lehman. It was on the 33rd minute and his dart was worth a final. From there on, the Germans went forward and the usual runs by Lahm himself were met by those of Metzelder, taking risks that Fernando was always willing to exploit.

With Spain ahead on the scoreboard, the second half was a repetition of the first. Germany again started very strong, betting, this time, on a 4-4-2 with the addition of Kuranyi up front. Despite all efforts, Spain steadily recovered their level, like they did in the first half, and balanced the control of the ball while enjoying some clear chances of sentencing the final. They had many chances on the counter-attack and Torres was looking a bigger threat every time. But the scoreboard wouldn’t change. At the end, the Spanish explosion, festivities at its fullest and the special prominence of Fernando. I’m happy for him, for Pepe, for Xabi, for Alvaro and for everyone else. My congratulations to them.

In conclusion, we reached the end of a Eurocup where, in my point of view, we had an excess of games and where we were surprised with some of the games that went into extra-time, giving us the feeling that some of the national teams were not very fresh at the end of games. With various teams that had looked promising leaving home early and with a superior Spanish team that were just winners. Better that way. About the semifinal draws, demented, better not speak about.

kroesius wrote:

Pierre Littbarski wrote:

Klose for Germany, Senna for Spain, The "Polish" Brazilian, Mehmet Aurelio.

Its a joke.

You think, a player, who immigrated to Geermany at the age of 7 can´t play for Germany?

I wasn't aware that he emigrated at such a young age - he is exempt.

Pierre Littbarski wrote:

kroesius wrote:

Pierre Littbarski wrote:

Klose for Germany, Senna for Spain, The "Polish" Brazilian, Mehmet Aurelio.

Its a joke.

You think, a player, who immigrated to Geermany at the age of 7 can´t play for Germany?

I wasn't aware that he emigrated at such a young age - he is exempt.

He was 9 in fact but it's still unimportant.

Sevilla president Jose Maria Del Nido has acknowledged Sergio Ramos’ homage to Antonio Puerta and the Rojiblancos chief was full of praise for the Real Madrid star.

Ramos dedicated the European Championship win on Sunday to Puerta who tragically lost his life after suffering a fatal heart attack during a football mtach last year.

It was a heartfelt gesture by Ramos who was great friends with Puerta when they played for Sevilla and it was well appreciated by Del Nido.

“What Ramos did is an act which honours him as a player and as a friend,” Del Nido told Marca.

“Sevilla is very thankful for this kind gesture. When the page needs to be turned, it is. So it’s necessary to move on when the moment arrives.”

Puerta earned himself one cap for Spain and he will always be remembered by the millions of fans around the world for his kind nature and charisma both on and off the pitch.

Ramos is such a classy guy!! He was wearing it with the celebration as well, hope that one was a clean one!

Good humorous take on things from Tim Stannard, who does an excellent (almost daily during the season) blog on FourFourTwo's site.

Red shirts and riots as Spain get party started

Monday 30 June 2008 11:51

By FourFourTwo's guest columnist, Tim Stannard of La Liga Loca

When La Liga Loca was woken on Sunday by the sound of car horns and honking hooters (not those kind), it thought for one horrified moment that it had overslept by a good 12 hours.

After all, it had been a peculiar Saturday night, which involved a cameo from incompetent Zaragoza president, Eduardo Bandrés who was refreshing himself in a Madrid bar en route to Vienna to join all the other freeloading bigwigs of the Spanish game.

And both halves of the cowardly as custard La Liga Loca passed on the chance to call him incompetent, but instead meekly wished the pint-sized president ‘good luck’ next season.

It was two o’clock in the afternoon in the Spanish capital and the streets were already filled with cars driving around with more horn than a sex-starved Ronaldo.

Ronaldo: Looking sharp!

One notable spot was a fire engine cruising the back alleys with a five foot long flag sticking sideways out of the window - the perfect height to decapitate any unfortunate passing cyclist.

Cuatro had begun their preview show some two months before the final began, so by the time the game kicked off the six sugar-soaked commentators and pundits the over-staffed channel had stuffed into their media box were caught up in a frenzy of excitement.

“Titles don’t matter! Spain are better than Germany!” screamed the less than impartial announcer.

“It’s Peter Pan against Captain Hook!” wailed AS editor Alfredo Relaño - somewhat unfairly - as the Germans began their opening 15 minute torment of Sergio Ramos.

With the Spanish side invoking the spirit of Arizmendi in their inability to finish the game off, after Fernando Torres’ plucky opener, the suspicion was that the dastardly Germans would sneak a cheeky equaliser during the dying embers of the game. But it was not to be and footballing justice was done on the night.

The final whistle brought thousands out of the bars and into the streets and fountains of La Liga Loca’s soon to be trashed neighbourhood.

Even the trigger happy, shotgun slung riot police joined in the fun of the fiesta with a spot of projectile swapping with some supporters during the early hours of Monday morning.

The two Catalan papers dedicated their front covers to the Spanish victory with Sport boasting that “we are the best!” as their headline. Inside, Josep Maria Casanovas writes that “Spain’s play was unbeatable, unstoppable and all powerful.”

Unfortunately his very Catalan colleague, Lluís Mascáro wins party pooper of the year by refusing to touch on the victory for Spain.

“My only team is Barça and my only colours are blaugrana,” sniffs the miserable old goat.

Marca’s coverage of the final reaches a whopping 63 pages, with all other sports news dedicate to a “anything but the final” section. And that impressive performance kicks AS’ footballing booty into outer space - a paper that could only manage a paltry 35.

“Spain have been the best team and were again yesterday,” opined Bernd Schuster, overcoming the disappointment of seeing his beloved Mannschaft being given the roughest of rides by La Furia Roja.

Roberto Gómez continues his sycophantic sucking up of the Real Madrid big boss - a man he used to insult on a regular basis - with his dizzy declaration from Vienna that “the other king of the balcony was Ramón Calderón.”

“The popularity of the Real Madrid president was comparable to that of a megastar,” gushes Marca’s main man.

Marca also published photos of the sensational celebrations from all over Spain, except in the Basque country by the looks of it, with a shot of one lonely moped driver tootling around Pamplona with a flag and six people in an otherwise empty bar in Bilbao enjoying the show.

And that indifference appears to be mirrored by Basque news site Berria.info which dedicates a full 47 words to the game in an in-depth match report.

Errr, you've got something on your face, mate

AS come dangerously close to handing an apology to Luis Aragonés for all the grief dished out to the Spanish coach for failing to select Raúl for the tournament.

And it’s Tomás Roncero who takes one for the team and eats some humble tortilla, although the crazed columnist fails to use the ‘R’ word directly in Monday’s column.

“I recognise my error of not understanding that your reasons were in the interest of a side that behaved like a united and indestructible family,” writes Roncero in a message to the departing Spanish coach.

And it’s the AS-man who best sums up the feelings of 46 million or so Spaniards who celebrated - and are still celebrating - Sunday’s victory. “We can all go on holiday with our chests sticking out,” writes Roncero on a party that has only just begun.

The definitive story of how Aragonés led Spain to Euro 2008 glory
July 2, 2008 10:31 AM
Sid Lowe

A month ago, there were calls for the head of Luis Aragonés. Now he
leaves the selección as their most successful ever manager. Here's how
he did it

In the end only those forced to watch Euro 2008 on Spanish television
could begrudge the selección their success - and even then not for
long. Because while the screeching bias clawed at your nerves as much
as the 15-minute ad breaks, the lack of analysis or even replays, the
catchphrases, and the permanent inane babble of an uncomfortably packed
commentary box in which the only person with anything to say wasn't
able to say it, and while the constant declarations of Spanish
superiority jarred, there was no escaping the fact that they were
right: Spain were simply the best team in Europe. It's hard to recall a
tournament-winning side in recent memory so deserving of their title.

This Spain squad now have a new mentality, a new horizon, too. Winning
this tournament was about changing history, but also changing the
future too; about 1964 and 2008 yes, but also 2010, 2012 and maybe even
beyond. Not just because Spain are a young and incredibly talented side
- Cesc Fábregas, Fernando Torres, David Villa, Sergio Ramos, Iker
Casillas, Andrés Iniesta and David Silva should all have at least three
more tournaments left in them - and seem to have removed the weight of
history from their shoulders, but because of the way they did it. "What
good did winning 2004 do Greece apart from giving them 10 minutes of
glory?" asked former Real Madrid assistant coach Ángel Cappa. "None.
Spain on the other hand have found a pathway."

That pathway is of course tiki-taka: the nonsensical phrase that has
come to mean short passing, patience and possession above all else.
What Luis Aragonés got right this time round, argues AS editor Alfredo
Relaño - and he is speaking for many - is finally embracing tiki-taka
properly. Marca's Roberto Palomar argued: "We will never know if Luis
found the team or if the team found him; I suspect it's the latter."

Only half true.

Aragonés has always insisted that with the players Spain have it would
be absurd to play any other way and he is of course right. Perhaps the
search for Spain's failures in the past was misguided: perhaps they did
not underachieve; perhaps the players were not as good as they - and we
- thought they were; perhaps this generation is the first one that
genuinely has the talent, just as Marcelino claimed at the start of the
tournament. For all the talk of jinxes, conspiracies and bad luck, if
it had been Julio Salinas running on to Xavi's pass in the final rather
than Torres, maybe Spain would not have won. Maybe they would not even
have been there. Perhaps Aragonés had no choice but to go for these
players and this style.

Perhaps. But he has remained pragmatic too, not taking that style to
the evangelical extremes demanded by the talibans of tiki-taka,
insisting that Spain learn to compete too, that they make possession
count. He is right.

Throughout his career, Aragonés' behaviour has often been completely
hat-stand, whether it's physically attacking his players, his
pliers-to-wires tomfoolery, his surreal phrases about chicken-sexers,
arses like a prawn and wolves chasing deer, or the insults directed at
opponents - such as the time he memorably shouted "old, old, more than
old" at Fernando Hierro, a man 30 years his junior. His record as a
coach is actually pretty average - a single league title in 30 years -
and his handling of circumstance has often been disastrous; his
relationship with players, officials and the media has been
unnecessarily fraught. Players often did not know what he wanted. Even
during this tournament his dealings with Torres and Sergio Ramos
threatened to cause problems in the camp.

And yet he did create a togetherness in the Spain squad, proving
especially adept at making the non-stars, the ones without press
protection, feel important - Carlos Marchena being the classic case.
And when it has come to footballing decisions, Aragonés has invariably
got it right, despite his many critics (yes, yes, I'm off to cook a big
plate of alphabetti spaghetti and literally eat my words ...).

He has been fortunate with the shenanigans at Valencia forcing him to
opt for Marcos Senna not David Albelda (something about which Aragonés
was at first privately devastated), while only Villa's injury early in
the semi-final against Russia saw Fábregas come in to such great
effect. But it was he who insisted on a defensive midfielder to protect
his ball-players. Who, having invented a five-man midfield to fit in
all those ball-players, recognised it wasn't really working, leaving
Fábregas out for Villa - who then scored a hat-trick. Who found a place
for Fábregas in Villa's absence and made it function by pushing the
Arsenal man forward and asking him to be more direct, more "vertical".
Who insisted on Ramos as a right-back when the press was screaming for
him to be the new Hierro. And who instilled a bit of edge in his side:
one stat not being so readily trotted out is that Spain committed the
most fouls in the tournament.

It was Aragonés who used tiki-taka to protect a defence that appeared
suspect (but which he had worked to improve), maintain possession and
dominate games, but did not take it to its slow, directionless extreme,
as displayed by Barcelona over the last two years. An extreme that
simply does not suit Villa or Torres, the men providing the cutting
edge. Aragonés recognised the need to be effective as well as
aesthetic. He admitted that Spain had played Italy on the break and of
Spain's first six goals, five came from a direct break (even the
occasional aimless punt), one from a set-play - the very antithesis of
tiki-taka. Xavi's goal against Russia in the semi-final was the first
real tiki-taka moment. Even Torres' goal in the final owed as much to
pace, faith and physique as touch and class.

And of course, he it was who left out Raúl, for the first time bringing
the full wrath of the media upon his shoulders. They had been given
plenty of opportunities to hammer him before - press boycotts, broken
promises, dire performances, that comment - and not taken them. Now
they ferociously and repeatedly attacked him for the wrong reason, only
making Aragonés more determined not to back down. He never explained
his reasons as perhaps he should: Raúl's age and lack of pace, the fact
that his goalscoring record was not in fact as good as Dani Güiza,
Torres or Villa, and above all that the former captain had been a
source of disharmony at the last World Cup, moping round like a bear on
the Superbok.

Raúl might have been brilliant, we'll never know. But Aragonés'
decision is vindicated now. Raúl's absence has helped foster
togetherness in the squad; most of the players agreed with the decision
and the pro-Raúl crusade - and it really was a crusade - only served to
create a siege mentality that united the national team still further.
As Spain celebrated on Monday, with Pepe Reina performing magnificently
at the mic, the most striking thing was the extent to which the squad
were behind Aragonés. A chant of "We won't play for Spain without Luis"
went round the plane that brought the players home and Colón chanted
"Luis, stay!", millions of fans imploring him to continue in the job. A
month ago, after Spain's final warm-up game they had whistled and
booed, chanted for Raúl and called for Aragonés' head.

After the last World Cup, Aragonés hung on even though he had promised
to go if Spain did not make it to the semi-finals, which they didn't,
and despite having the fans against him. Now, for the first time in his
four-year career at the head of the selección, he has the fans on his
side, but this time he really is walking away. And he does so as the
most successful manager in Spain's history.

From: Guardian

The-Frank-Tavern wrote: It's hard to recall a
tournament-winning side in recent memory so deserving of their title.

Good article and I only disagreed with the bit above - France 98 and Brazil 2002 were equally deserving imho.

Roger Hunt wrote:

The-Frank-Tavern wrote: It's hard to recall a
tournament-winning side in recent memory so deserving of their title.

Good article and I only disagreed with the bit above - France 98 and Brazil 2002 were equally deserving imho.

And Egypt 2008.

@Puro & Kimbo. In 1964 Spain had virtually no opportunity to fix it. The tournament finals then only consisted of semi-finals losers match and final. Semi-final went to extra time, but no complaints from Hungary about defeat. In final Spain absolutely deserved to win it. Again no complaints about it at time or later.

http://www.marca.com/edicion/marca/futbol/eurocopa/espana/es/desarrollo/1143524.html

Zizinhohakker wrote:

Aragones secret - look how united they are

O MAI GOT..

Рамос немного увлёкся, мне кажется...
Воистину самая "гомосексуальная" игра на планете...

добро пожаловать ответная часть.

Whats this? Wingdings?

подбородки

borocooper wrote:Whats this? Wingdings?

Clearly Russian...if you knew any geography you would know there's no such country as Wingdingia in the world.