Euro 2008 Final -Spain v. Germany

Germany after their 1-0 defeat.

Full report to follow...

Spain vs. Germany Preview (kind of)

As you all must know, the Euro 2008 final is today. This is the biggest tournament (maybe) in football, after the World Cup. In the final are two of the biggest soccer countries in Europe - Spain and Germany. The funny thing is that anyone could have predicted this result. Sure, maybe some people guessed it would be Portugal instead of Germany, or the Netherlands instead of Spain, but this is not an abnormal final. What is abnormal, is the way we got here. There were upsets (Russia v. Netherlands or Croatia v. Germany), there were blowouts (Netherlands v. France and Netherlands v. Italy), there were comebacks (Turkey v. Czech Republic and Turkey v. Croatia), and, finally, Germany didn't actually play that well.

Anyway, I have compiled some statistics, so that you can see how the different teams compare. To compare the squads, I have combined the probable starting eleven into one gigantic player representing each team.

• The height of the Spaniard is 64'5" (19.61 meters) compared to the German 67'1" (20.44 meters). This comes out to be a 2' 8" difference in heights.
• The Spanish player has 435 caps (aka appearances for the national team), whereas the German has 571.
• The Spaniard is 265 years old, which is 35 years younger than the German, whose age is 300!
• Finally, the Spanish player has scored 43 career goals in international competition, and the German has scored 131.

Pato e Kaka'

This is a video of some little kid, who has obviously learned to imitate Kaka and Pato's* celebrations when they score goals.

When the man says "Pato" the kid puts his hands into a heart shape, and when the man says "e Kaka" the kid sticks his fingers in the air, which Kaka does to thank God. If you listen carefully, you will hear the Pippi Longstocking theme song in the background.








* Kaka and Pato are my two favorite soccer players. They are both Brazilian and play for AC Milan.

Joachim Low - Armpit Smelling and Nose Picking

Joachim Low, coach of the German national team, was suspended for the Germans' quarterfinal match against Portugal and had to watch the game from high above in one of the luxury boxes. While his team was down on the field winning, Low was captured live on worldwide television picking his nose. While we couldn't find footage of that event, we can share this short video of highlights of Low's other efforts...

David Beckham's Sharpie Commercial

Kind of funny actually...

Bullet and Threat Letter

A threatening letter was sent to AC Milan headquarters recently, according La Gazzetta Dello Sport. The letter contained a bullet and threatening messages addressed to Adriano Galliani (the acting president of the club) and Silvio Berlusconi (the club's owner). These events are almost identical to ones that happened in January, when a fan also sent a threats accompanied by a bullet in the envelope. That letter was sent because of Milan's bad start to the season, and this recent letter was probably because Milan failed to reach the Champions League (the top four teams in Italy are entered into Europe's elite soccer competition, and Milan was 5th).

read more

What I've been watching lately

Duas Caras

Crisis on the Turkish side?

With all the injuries and suspensions, the Turks are having trouble putting together a complete team for Wednesday's semi-final against Germany. They may even have to ask their third-string goalkeeper, Tolga Zengin, to play as a position player.

Click here to learn more.

Nazi Anthem Lyrics on Swiss TV

On Swiss TV, while Germany's national anthem was being played for Euro 2008, the lyrics to 'Deutschland, Deutschland über alles' were shown. The station claims it was a mistake...

read more!

Euro 2008 update

In just a few hours, Italy will play Spain in the last quarter-final of Euro 2008. Italy will not be able to use either Gattuso or Pirlo, both of whom are suspended for one game due to accumulated yellow cards from earlier matches. I don't know if any Spanish players have to miss this game - probably not. Those of you who saw Turkey beat Croatia or Russia beat the Netherlands in their earlier quarter-finals will know that we can only hope that today's match is just as exciting. Those of you who only bothered to watch Germany defeat Portugal will probably not understand what I am talking about.

What I have been reading lately #3

I recently finished reading The Case Book of Sherlock Holmes, the last of Arthur Conan Doyle's stories about the British detective. This is not very remarkable, except that it means that, after almost thirty years of on-again, off-again reading, I have read all of the Sherlock Holmes stories Conan Doyle ever wrote - all four novels and all the collections of short stories. I didn't set out to read them all, and I can't honestly say that my time was very well spent, but now I am done.

In keeping with the mystery-theme, I am now reading Janwillem van de Wetering's Death of a Hawker. It's written in the late 1970's, set in Amsterdam, and features a pair of police detectives - Grijpstra and de Gier - who are trying to solve a murder (actually several). In general, I don't really like mysteries, and I don't read them very often.

Turkish football

Follow the link below to read an interview with Nobel Prize-winning Turkish author Orhan Pamuk. He talks about football.

http://www.spiegel.de/international/europe/0,1518,557614,00.html

Teams by Letter

I decided to make teams of current soccer players whose names all start with the same letter. Here are the teams I have completed. The team name of each team is my favorite starting with that letter.

Atletico Madrid
GK: Marco Amelia
DF: Abidal, Alex, Agger
MF: Xabi Alonso, Ambrosini, Anderson
FW: Sergio Aguero, Amauri, Adebayor, Adriano

Botafogo (sorry Benfica, but Botafogo are from Brazil)
GK: Gigi Buffon
DF: Bonera, Bocanegra, Wes Brown, Gareth Bale
MF: Ballack, Brocchi
FW: Babel, Boriello, Ballotelli, Berbatov

Crewe Alexandra
GK: Iker Casillas
DF: Cafu, Ashely Cole, Chivu, Cannavaro
MF: Joe Cole, Michael Carrick, Camaronesi
FW: Cruz, Crespo, Crouch

(Iker had to work for his spot, because I had Cudicini, Julio Cesar, and Coupet to choose from)

Dynamo Kyiv
GK: Dida
DF: Digao, Demichelis, Da Costa
MF: Davis, Diarra, Diego, Deco
FW: Drogba, Di Natale, Del Piero

Espanyol
GK: Elftheropoulos
DF: Emanuelson, Eboue, Emerson, Evra
MF: Essien, Ernst, Elano
FW: Eto'o, Eduardo, Ezquerro

Fenerbahce
GK: Frey
DF: Favalli, Rio Ferdinand, Ferreia
MF: Flamini, Frings, Figo, Fabregas
FW: Faith, Farias, Luis Fabiano

Gremio
GK: Given
DF: Grosso, Gilberto, Gallas
MF: Gago Gattuso, Gerrard
FW: Govou, Gomez, Gilardino, Giggs

Heerenveen
GK: Hildebrand
DF: Hyypia, Hurtado, Hinkel
MF: Hargreaves, Hassan, Hleb, Hemdani,
FW: Thierry Henry, Higuain, Huntelaar

Internacional (I would have picked any team to avoid putting Inter)
GK: Isaacson
DF: Ibarra, Ismael, Inamoto, Inler
MF: Iniesta, Ince
FW: Invanov, Inzaghi, Ibrahimovic, Iaquinta

Juventude (I'd do anything to avoid writing Juventus)
GK: James
DF: Jankulovski, Juan, Johnson, Jonathan
MF: Jenas, Joaquin, Jorgenson, Jurado
FW: Jo, Jerome

Kilmarnock
GK: Kasey Keller
DF: Kaladze, Robert Kovac,
MF: Niko Kovc, Niko Kranjcar, Kuyt, Kaka
FW: Klose, Bojan Krkic, Kalou, Roy Kean

Liverpool (my English team, I guess)
GK: Lehmann (sorry Loris, you're not experienced enough)
DF: Lahm, Luisao, Lucio
MF: Lampard, Leyva, Lulinha, Ljungberg
FW: Lucarelli, Larsson, Lopez

Milan (Forza Milan!)
GK: Jose Moreira
DF: Maicon, Maldini, Makelele, Materazzi
MF: Mascherano, Mancini, Maniche
FW: McBride, Mutu, Messi

Newcastle
GK: Nikopolidis
DF: Nelson, Neville, Nesta, Nasuti
MF: Nihat, Nani, Nakamura, Nedved
FW: Nacho Novo, Neymar


I'll finish the second half of the alphabet later!
Here it is:

Oldham Athletic (there aren't a lot of teams starting with O)
GK: Ochoa
DF: Massimo Oddo, Ortiz, Osorio, John O'shea
MF: Ovalle, Owamoyela, Ortega
F: Michael Owen, Oliviera, Osvaldo

(The players on this team aren't as obscure as they may seem. O'shea plays for Man Utd., Oddo for Milan, and Ochoa is one of the best Mexican goalkeepers and plays for America.)

Penarol (you won't see me rooting for Nacional!)
GK: Pletikosa
DF: Pique, Puyol, Pannuci,
MF: Pele, Pirlo, Park Ji Sung, Petit
FW: Pato, Pavlyochenko, Podolski

Q
I really can't find 11 players whose names start with Q. Here is my starting 6:
GK: Quim
DF: Queudrue
MF: Quaresma, Quagliarella
FW: Quaranta, Quinteros

Rangers (should I have picked Real Salt Lake?)
GK: Pepe Reina
DF: Sergio Ramos, Riise, Rat, Rojas
MF: Cristiano Ronaldo, Robinho, Ribery
FW: Ronaldinho, Ronaldo, Rooney

Sao Paulo
GK: Stekelenburg
DF: Skrtl, Willy Sagnol, Alexandre Song, Senderos
MF: Seedorf, Schweinsteiger, Scholes, Sneijder
FW: Saviola, Shevchenko

Toluca
GK: Toldo
DF: John terry, Kolo Toure, Thuram
MF: Yaya Toure, Tiago,
F: Totti, Luca Toni, Tevez, Fernando Torres

Uwara Reds
Again, I cannot find 11 guys whose names begin with U. Here's my starting 9:
GK: Ustari
DF: Udeze. Ujfalusi, Upson, Urbano
MF: Umesaki, Uche
FW: Urzaiz, Utaka

Valencia (or Villareal. I honestly don't know the difference)
GK: Victor Valdes ( I know I should pick Van der sar, but VV is my favorite goalie!)
DF: Vidic, Van Bronkhorst, Van Buyten, Vermaelen
MF: Veloso, Viera, Veron
FW: Jan Vennegoor of Hesselink, Van Nistelrooy, David Villa, Van Persie

West Bromwich Albion Football Club (how grand!)
GK: Ian Walker
DF: Worley, Woodgate, Whittaker, Webster
MF: Wicky, Wagner, Whitehead
FW: Walcott, Wiltord, Washington

X
Are you kidding me? Here's some. Be happy with that!
DF: Xavier
MF: Xavi
FW: Francisco Xisco, Francisco Xisco (Football Database. com claims they are different people, but they are both 21 and born 1 day apart. I'm skeptical!)

York City (They play in Confernece National, the league below division 2)
GK: Yorke (This guy is actually a striker who plays for Sunderland)
DF: Yobo, Yanbaev, Yepes, Young
MF:Yacob, Yakin, Yeste, Yang, Yu, Yakubu

Zenit
GK: Zieler
DF: Zambrotta, Javier Zanetti, Zapata, Zauri
MF: Cristiano Zanetti, Zableta, Zinha, Zokora
FW: Zamora, Zurawski

Euro 2008 Team Sponsors Results

Updates on the earlier Euro 2008 Team Sponsors Teams post

Team Adidas:
5 (wins)- 3 (draws)- 7 (losses)

2/5 of this team advance to the quarter finals. (Germany and Spain).

Team Puma
3 (wins)- 3 (draws)- 9 (losses)

1/5 of this team advances to the quarters. (Italy)

Team Nike:
12 (wins)- 0 (draws)- 3 (losses)

5/5 of this team advance to the quarters (Portugal, Croatia, Turkey, Russia, and The Netherlands)

Team Umbro:
1 (win) - 0 (draws)- 2 (losses)

0/1 of this team advance.


I think this means team Nike is winning so far... ehhh?

Riise to Roma

John Arne Riise, the villain of Liverpool's Champion's League campaign, has officialy signed for Roma.

I just felt like mentioning that.

Euro 2008 Team Sponsors Teams

Almost every major sports manufacturer (Nike, Adidas, etc.) sponsors one or more of the national teams. You can see the logo on their jerseys. Here on the blog, we will keep track of the wins by the teams sponsored by each company. EX: Team Nike. Don't worry, you'll catch on.

Team Adidas:
Germany
Romania
France
Greece
Spain

Team Puma:
Switzerland
Czech Republic
Austria
Poland
Italy

Team Nike:
Portugal
Turkey
Croatia
Netherlands
Russia

Team Umbro:
Sweden

When the group stage is finished, we'll update you on how each "team" is doing!

Alexandre Pato: Pets

Alexandre Pato, I have discovered, has a turtle. He found it, and it had no owner, so he kept it. She is named Joana.

Kaka Baby Pics!

And I thought I hated babies!

David Villa's Hat Trick ball

After the Russia v. Spain game, which Spain won 4-1, David Villa went to the ref hoping to keep the ball which he scored his third goal of the game with. (BTW - He dedicated the goal to Fernando Torres). The ref, however, wasn't going to allow it. Luckily, fellow Spaniard Pepe Reina (Liverpool's goalie), spoke English well enough to persuade the referee. David Villa got to keep the ball, and any possible crisis was averted!

Kaka's a Daddy!

Kaka's wife, Caroline, has finally given birth to their first baby. He's a boy, named Luca. He's perfectly healthy; 3.59 kilograms and 51 centimetres tall. Everyone's really happy! Me included. Pictures will follow!

French Open - Men's Final: The mysterious airplane

Rafa Nadal, as expected, defeated Roger Federer in the men's final of the French Open today. What was not expected was how bad Federer looked and how easily Nadal won: 6-1, 6-3, 6-0. There was only one brief period when Federer made it look even close - he was down one set and 2-0 in the second set when all of a sudden a strange, mysterious airplane flew over the court. John McEnroe on the television broadcast even remarked upon the unusual nature of this event. The flight of the mysterious airplane brought Federer alive - he fought back until he had pulled even at 3-3 and even had a break point against Nadal. But then the magic of the mysterious airplane wore off, Federer collapsed, and Nadal won all the remaining games. During the trophy presentation ceremonies, Nadal, speaking French, English, and Catalan, apologized for beating Federer so soundly and then celebrated by biting the trophy for the photographers. This was his fourth consecutive victory in the French Open.

Euro 2008 Mascots!

Euro 2008 Predictions

The title is self explanitory.

In the group stage, the top two teams in each of the groups will reach the quarter finals. These are my predictions of the order of each group.

Group A
Portugal
Czech Republic
Turkey
Switzerland

Group B
Germany
Croatia
Poland
Austria

Group C (the group of death)
Italy
Netherlands
France
Romania

Group D
Spain
Russia
Greece
Sweden

In the quarter finals, the runner up of one group will play the winner of another group. My winners are in bold. I never pick the underdogs.

Portugal v. Croatia
Czech Rep. v. Germany
Italy v. Russia
Spain v. the Netherlands

Semi Finals: At this point, I feel anyone could win....

Portugal v. Germany
Italy v. Spain

Finals

Portugal v. Spain

Suddenly, I feel like I should have picked Italy to beat Spain. Or maybe I should have picked France to get out of the group stage... These teams are all so good!

French Open - Women's Final

The French Open champion was Ana Ivanovic, who is Serbian. She defeated Dinara Safina, who is from Russia. The announcers made much of Ivanovic's abnormally flexible shoulders and the fact that she had to practice tennis in an empty swimming pool while growing up in "war-torn Belgrade." At the trophy presentation following the match, Ivanovic kept talking about how she rode her bicycle to tennis practice (presumably in the empty swimming pool...) Safina referred to Ivanovic's family and coaches as "annoying", but it appeared that she was trying to be funny. She also insisted that God likes the number three.

Tomorrow will be the inevitable Federer - Nadal showdown.

What I have been listening to lately #7

What I have been listening to lately #6

"Bella ciao" - An Italian partisan song

Brazil 3 - Canada 2

Here are some photos from last Saturday's friendly: