Congratulations to Spain who overcame Germany 1-0 last night in the final of the 2008 European Championships, held in Austria and Switzerland.
I saw quite a bit of this tournament, and feel that it was one of the best tournaments I’ve seen. I think the fact that as Europeans we generally know the teams and a fair amount of the players involved, compared to the World Cup where you have lesser known nations, gave the tournament a special interest.
Obviously without the British teams taking part there was not the same need to cheer on in hope, but instead you could enjoy the games for what they were.
Spain fully deserved their victory for their attacking flair. The fact that they only conceded 3 goals – 1 when fielding a mainly reserve team – shows that throughout the team they had quality players.
Holland looked as if they would be contenders, as did Portugal and Croatia, however they failed to live up to their group stage form, and bowed out in the quarter finals.
Whilst Germany did well to get to the final, they didn’t look as if they had too much flair, except for perhaps a couple of players. They are ruthlessly efficient, but I’m pleased that the winners were for once the most attractive playing team
