Euro 2008: Tourney Wrap and Final Fantasy Standings (like, fantasy soccer…not the playstation game)
At the end of the day, it was a Liverpool man who ruled the day at Euro 2008. A thrilling, wholly entertaining tournament came to a close with the pride of Merseyside holding the European Champion’s trophy aloft while the streets of his native Spain erupted.
His armband proved he was a Red, Torres, Torres!! You’ll never walk alone it said, Torres, Torres!!!!
Fernando Torres celebrates with his Spanish teammates.
Behind Torres’ opportunistic poach, Spain defeated Germany 1-0 in the final game of Euro 2008. It was tough to see the tournament end - it corresponded with fortunate lull in my work schedule which allowed me to watch nearly every game. Old friends greeted me with regular reports as to the goings-on in my old home of Basel, Switzerland where the Dutch set the streets Oranje one memorable day.
Fantasy Standings:
Kudos to myself for waltzing out of Vienna with the fantasy crown - my lead after the group stage proved too much for the competitors to overcome. However, after topping out at sixth place in all of ESPN, my Dutch-heavy squad fell flat in the knockout stage and I finished a respectable 148th.
In the mini-league, my fantasy nemesis Lars pipped Cojo by a point for the second spot with a game Shannon recovering from a brutal beginning to claim fourth place.
The real winner, however, is everyone. Cojo reports the fantasy game vastly improved his European soccer knowlege - he can now name 2-3 players on every team. Quite an accomplishment and one that all of us can relate to, I believe.
Memorable Moments:
Frei spielt nicht mehr - Swiss hopes were all but crushed in the first half of the curtain-raiser. With one sickening thud, Switzerland’s talisman Alexander Frei left the pitch (and the tournament) with a knee injury. Frei leaving the field in tears remains one of the indelible images of the tournament. While the injury did open a space for the fantastic youngster Eren Derdiyok, whose pace and poise impressed for Switzerland.
And then the rains came - Were it not for the logistical impossibility of rescheduling a came in the European Cup, the monsoon match between Switzerland and Turkey would certainly have been called off. As it happened, Basel’s rain-drenched pitch set the stage for one of the most memorable matches of the tournament. Who can forget Derdiyok’s cross to Hakin Yakin stopping in the puddle for the Swiss midfielder to gleefully poke home.
Turkey’s late-game heroics - Facing near-certain elimination against Croatia, Turkey’s Semih Senturk provided the of goal of the tournament with his bolt-from-the-blue equalizer. After 119 minutes of goalless soccer, Croatia looked a lock for a place in the semifinals before Senturk’s last-gasp goal. It was the moment of the tournament for the Cinderella Turks, who no one fancied after they carried a depleted squad into Vienna. They bowed out valiantly against Germany in the semi-finals, but earned the respect of soccer fans throughout during their memorable run.
Arshavin’s magic - How wonderful it would be to turn the clock back a couple weeks, when the Dutch were riding high after summarily dismissing both teams in the 2006 World Cup Finals. As much as it burns me to admit it, Russia’s forward pairing of Roman Pavulychenko and Andrei Arshavin tore the Dutch apart in the quarterfinals. In extra-time with the Dutch chasing, the duo poured forward in waves and earned Russia a well-deserved victory against Holland. Not to be forgotten was van der Sar’s heroics in goals - pay special attention to his superb save against Arshavin in the video. The Dutch keeper was rewarded with a spot on the offical All-Tournament Team.
There will be blood - It seems fitting that the bullfighting nation should triumph in a tournament that featured an inordinate amount of gore. Several players played through bloody head wounds, including Ballack in the final, while Poland’s Yellow Press turned blood red.
And so it comes to a close. For my money, the European Cup far exceeded the World Cup in terms of the quality of soccer and entertainment. I thoroughly enjoyed the past three weeks and am sorry to see it go.
Feel free to add any other moments you will remember.
The streets of Seville.
June 30th, 2008 at 11:26 am
Here’s a cool slideshow of the best goals of the tournament.
http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/multimedia/photo_gallery/0806/euro.2008.best.goals/content.1.html?eref=T1&eref=T1
June 30th, 2008 at 12:03 pm
Gotta agree with your assessment of the tournament being better than the World Cup (and was actually going to write a post saying as much before I decided to bash ESPN instead). The shorter length of the tournament, overall quality of squads, and history amongst the European nations make it the ideal experience. I’m sad it’s over.
June 30th, 2008 at 1:30 pm
I thought it was a great showcase for the game. Part of the problem I always had with Soccer is the complex nature of the leagues and national play. They sometimes blend together both at the league level (ie Premier - Series A - bundesleague - La Liga - etc.) and the National level (friendlies v. qualifiers v. actual tournaments, etc.). I know it’s not rocket science, but as a casual observer, it’s difficult to grasp sometimes.
I liked Euro 08′ because it brought a lot of things together. I understand the qualifying process, and in a strange way, having a lot of the players from the various leagues in the tournament helped clarify those as well. A lot of commentating on who is speculated to go where, and who is teammates with who on the club level, all of which makes it easier to understand. I think the massive amount of coverage allowed for a lot of information to get to a casual observer like myself, who watched virtually every game in lieu of watching MLB (which is way more boring. by the way).
Anyhow, as someone who has always liked soccer, but never really followed it closely on an international level outside of World Cup, Euro 08′ was about as good as it gets in terms of intro courses.
June 30th, 2008 at 5:15 pm
Good match yesterday! I just wish they wouldn’t schedule these things opposite women’s golf.
July 1st, 2008 at 12:36 pm
I particularly enjoy the fallout policies that soccer clubs employ. Didn’t win it all? Fine - everyone’s fired (Italy). Not only that, but from the article that I read, they aren’t really even firing the guy in the classic sense of the word. Firing someone in the sports world means paying them their money. Italy is just going to “annul” the contract (and the contract is structured to allow this!). Never happened. That is awesome.
The NBA/ MLB should take a look at these contracts.