Schweinsteiger's Post-game interview

Here is a video of the German midfielder Bastian Schweinsteiger trying to answer questions after the Euro 2008 final (which Germany lost). Unfortunately for him, the Spanish team chose that place to have their celebrations, so behind Bastian you can see the Spaniards singing and parading... If this was any other German, I wouldn't be bugged, but Schweinsteiger is my favorite... So I am bugged...



Translator's note: It's unclear what the reporter is asking before the happy Spaniards come bouncing through, but he then asks Schweinsteiger (twice) if their celebrations are "hard to bear." Schweinsteiger kind of shrugs him off and says that the Spanish "can do what they want."

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.

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...

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.

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?

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!

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!

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!

Poor Pippo...

Super Pippo (Milan's Fillipo Inzaghi) has not been chosen by Donadoni (the Azzuri's coach) to represent Italy in Euro 2008. Meanwhile, Boriello, Di Natale, Del Piero, and Quagliarella were all picked. This means only Ambrosini, Gattuso, and Pirlo will represent (no Oddo- due to injury-, Bonera or Nesta at defence) AC Milan. The Italian team will be very Inter and Juventus dominated. Well, actually Milan has about the same amount as all the other teams. But still.