Letters to the Editor
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Well deserved and satisfying
I would loved to have seen Spain score a second, and they came so tantalizingly close when Senna just missed connecting with that ball in the six-yard box.
This tournament reminded me of the 2002 World Cup: lots of surprising twist and turns, ending up with two traditional powers facing each other in the final. That, and Germany ended up coming in second.
If you liked it, take a chance on following some club football. Try following the EPL for a year. Tournaments are great, but the real soul of soccer lives in the club competitions.
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Spanish were flying, Turks were the delight
I agree that the Spanish deserved the win over the Germans. But think of what could have been. If the Turks hadn't been decimated by injuries and suspensions... As it was, they managed their fourth straight come-from-behind effort, counting the semifinal against Germany. It was too much, though. Imagine a Spain-Turkey final. No, let's not. We might still be waiting out sudden death penalty shots!
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Torres' diving
After your previously critical article about taking a dive in soccer, I'm surprised you don't mention Torres' shameful performance. In the most memorable example, he's lying down on the field (again) and Schweinsteiger has the ball. Rather than play against Spain with a one man advantage or kick the ball out of play for Torres' "injury", Schweinsteiger walks over to him ball in tow, gently grabs Torres' shirt and coaxes him to stand up. ALL OF THIS WITH THE BALL IN PLAY!
Does Torres quickly stand up and let the game resume? Or is he truly injured and call for a pause in the play so he can be treated? No, he sits there for another moment unhurriedly adjusting his sock and his shinguard before he stands up again and joins his team.
Well, we'll just wait for you, Torres. You go ahead and lie down whenever you need a breather or your sock gets twisted. No hurry at all.
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podemos, oe!
Obamites will be delighted to know that there´s a whole nation chanting "yes, we can"... for no other was the motto of the Spanish national team for the Euro 2008.
Monkey Whatever, get a life. Germany should´ve never made it to the final in the first place, not to mention Ballack´s pretty assholish attitude (and violent, uncalled-for kicks) throughout the whole game. Germany winning the Euro 2008 would´ve been a travesty, their defeat makes a great day for European soccer.
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Ballack Agonistes!
You tell' em, Monkey Pants. If you ever watch Liverpool play their brand of ultra-cautious football, you'll get two divas (I mean divers) for the price of one in Torres and Stevie Gerrard. I hear the kid does a stunning dressing room impersonation of Stevie G and Jamie Carragher's Scouser accent, too. Spain may have been smaller yesterday, but Aragonés, had them putting some stick on the obviously sore Ballack from the get-go. Ballack predictably rose to the bait and yet none of his colleagues, especially Torsten Frings, who can be quite the enforcer at Werder, jumped in to defend him. Ballack is an essential part of the squad, but there's no way Jogi Löew can mesmerize the rest of the squad into liking him. Beside Schweinsteiger, Ballack and perhaps Podolski, Germany's cupboard is surprisingly bare these days.
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Tepid
I have to say as someone who doesn't watch soccer that often but regards it with benevolence I found this title game a bit of a yawner. I suppose it's in the eye of the beholder. One could easily say of a 1-0 game that it was a thrilling nail-biter, in which a mighty side struggled to overcome the disadvantage of having given up an early goal.
But somehow it wasn't that. It was instead a rather dull and pouty performance by the Germans, with the exception of a brief surge or two, and just-enough play by Spain.
I found myself looking forward to baseball again.
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better tournament than final game
Excellent tournament, but I agree that the final game was a bit dull. The Spaniards definitely deserved to win -- not just on the night, but for the tournament as a whole. They played wonderfully all tournament. But the Germans didn't bring much to the game yesterday, and they really never looked as close to scoring as they could have or should have to make the game more exciting.
So well deserved win for the Spaniards, but I agree with the earlier comment that the Turks would have made it far more entertaining game...
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Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz
WOW!! The Sox swept the Cubs.
It was a great series.
I love AMERICASN sports.
Well, not all of them. Ghetto bouncyball sucks.
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Now boredom awaits
Such a treat having the Euro 2008 to forestall the baseball-only days of summer.
As is usual in tournaments, the group stage was a lot of fun, and naturally things tighten up a bit in the knockout stages, but the play remained lively and inventive. My thanks to ESPN for carrying all the games, and so many in HD.
It's a shame the final couldn't have been Spain-Netherlands. But Spain were worthy winners, and it's always priceless to see the Germans disappointed. Plus, getting to see Italy and France walloped is never unwelcome. The final was tense...It could've exploded, and one hoped it would've with Spain scoring first, but the Germans just weren't up to the challenge. As someone else noted, the cupboard there really is fairly bare, but, as always, the Germans can make up for a lot with their approach.
For those who aren't soccer fans, it's like any other sport. A person usually has to have a rooting interest, and then it takes on much more meaning.
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Thanks
Thanks, King, for not ignoring Euro 2008. I know you're still not fully on board with this sport, but you're giving it an honest go, and I respect that.
Kudos to Spain for a thrilling ride all the way through. Pity that they didn't have David Villa for the final. Torres was lethargic throughout the tournament except for that one opportunistic moment that he finished admirably.
Germany-Spain was hardly the final I'd hoped for, but it was about as exciting as 1-0 matches get. The earlier rounds provided a surplus of thrills, so I'd hoped that the final would be another cracker -- not so, but also not a bad closing match.