Euro 2008 Final: Germany vs. Spain

[José M. Rico]

Any football (soccer for our American friends) fans here?

Spain and Germany will play the final next Sunday at the Ernst-Happel-Stadion in Vienna.

http://www.euro2008.uefa.com

For Spain reaching the final is a major achievement. The last time we played a final was 24 years ago and Spain lost against France led by the great Michel Platini. Spain has only won the European Championship once back in 1964 (I wasn't even born!). On the other hand Germany is a powerhouse having won the competition 3 times and placed second 3 other times (not to mention their success at the World Cup).

I wont be missing the game!!

[Karl Heidenreich]

José,

This is, for me, an awful Final: my both favorite teams have to clash . As a matter of fact is a surprise to have Germany there, because they were not playing that good.
I will be glued to the TV set but it will be happy and sad at the same time. I would like more a Germany vs Russia final to see the white shirt team victorious over the moscovites... or Spain vs Turkey to have a little bit of El Cid poetry taught to the islamists.
Well, I will not miss it neither...

[Bgile]

I'm afraid I'm not much of a soccer fan except the occasional match of the US Women's team and a local college which also has a good women's team. I find I like the women's game better because, well ... I like to watch women ... and their game seems to involve more finesse and less crashing into one another and rolling around on the ground in pain.

Anyway, good luck to your team!!!

[Karl Heidenreich]

Bgile,

What you say is curious because here, in Costa Rica, soccer is religion... NO: is more than religion! And female soccer, incredible, is not that popular which is sad. I agree that women playing are, often, better than men. Here, in Latin America, there is testosterone problem which handicaps sports a lot, specially soccer.
Anyway, let´s see what happens tomorrow.

Best regards.

[José M. Rico]

It seems that Ballack may be missing the final because of an injury.

[Karl Heidenreich]

An hour left for:.. DER TAG!

[José M. Rico]

SPAIN WON!!!



The whole country went wild last night and the players will be welcomed as heroes today in Madrid.

Huge celebrations are expected.

[Bgile]

Congratulations! I'm very happy for you!

[Karl Heidenreich]

Indeed Spain was the one that PLAYED! Germany stood without any iniciative, tired. It look to me a lot as the final of Spain 1982 between Italy and Germany. Well, it´s good because Spain is a great team and one beloved in Costa Rica:

CONGRATULATIONS TO OUR MOTHERLAND, SPAIN!!!

[RF]

Congratulations to the Spanish team for winning, however I have to say that i viewed the competition with something between total indifference and a bemused sense of detatchment.

I have never understood why soccer should be viewed with the reverence of a religion, I don't believe in any religion anyway. To me soccer is big business, funded directly and indirectly by the fans, rather than pure sport. I believe that the influence of money on this sport has corrupted its ethics such that in my view it is not really sport anymore.

If I want to watch football I can watch kids in the park. There I don't have to pay the rip-off prices charged by the football clubs and TV companies, or have to watch ''football managers'' on the sidelines, some of whom remind me of Mafia dons. And the football perhaps may not always be good, but at least it is sport for its own sake and not to feed somebody's pockets.

[Karl Heidenreich]

RF:

I have never understood why soccer should be viewed with the reverence of a religion, I don't believe in any religion anyway. To me soccer is big business, funded directly and indirectly by the fans, rather than pure sport. I believe that the influence of money on this sport has corrupted its ethics such that in my view it is not really sport anymore.

You´re quite right, RF. I live in a country in which soccer is more than a religion. And the mass media is the great responsible of this: it didn´t matter if they play well or simply awfull; it didn´t matter if players do their jobs: TV and newspaper coverage for them is bigger than international business or a natural disaster. And it´s logical: it sells! People are make believe they´re integral part of the activity when, in reality, they´re exploited. I always say that Karl Marx was mistaken: Religion is NOT the opium of the people... soccer is!

Anyway, the Euro is a much better (2,500% more or less) than the usual garbage this country has, so it´s very welcome because is a qualitative change.
You don´t have the slightest idea of the mob and mobthinking around soccer in Costa Rica (and Latin America for that fact).

And Spain did an incredible job, they played beautifull, I have to admitt.

Best regards.

[RF]

You don´t have the slightest idea of the mob and mobthinking around soccer in Costa Rica (and Latin America for that fact).

Best regards.

Yes I do actually. I believe that one soccer match between two countries on the Central American ithsmus resulted in a war starting between those countries.
Most countries have sectarian tribal atitudes surrounding local football teams, and Britain has had something of a reputation of being the ''model originator'' of football hooliganism, somewhat unjustifiably as some other European countries have far worse records on this. Nevertheless where I live we have ridiculous rivalry between Wolverhampton Wanderers and West Bromwich Albion, whose supporters each try to pretend the other side doesn't exist and regulary compete for the maximum changes in soccer strips, always at prices most sane people would recognise as a rip-off.

Now just imagine what life would have been like if Hitler had been a soccer manager and not the Fuhrer.....

[miro777]

I gotta say...
man that final wasnt good for us Germans...

and then everyone said "the better team won" and after the first anger had passed, i Had to agree,,,,

Germany just had one good match, where they beat Portugal....
and the rest was luck...

The team did not perform as well as they did in Germany 06, where I still think they should have been the winners....

Congrats to Rico and Spain...

(we are good losers...hehe)

[RF]

(we are good losers...hehe)

Like 1966.....