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EURO2008 begins Saturday, June 7 in Austria/Switzerland. Join here to compete in the SCSoccer.com League.

http://en.fantasy.euro2008.uefa.com/
SCSoccer.com — Code to join this league: 6447-1818

Group A - Czech Republic, Portugal, Switzerland, Turkey
Group B - Austria, Croatia, Germany, Poland
Group C - France, Italy, Netherlands, Romania
Group D - Greece, Russia, Spain, Sweden

Bump!

Just a reminder.

Group C is the group of death. Jeez...

Team, Manager
Capital City FC, Kyle Heise
Congaree River Rat, Kevin Heise
whee fc, Jordan Burkett
Team of Carraghers, Tim Saleeby
MetzAtlantaFC, ben clarke
Ellas, Alex Koutrakos
Old Stags, tim shiner
Loddda in Love, Matthias Wiechert
old_trafford_united, Matt Smith
FCNY Kaisers, Kevin Staehlin
StaphInfectionUnited, David Schroer
Doms_Munchers, Dom Wren
Flat Rock Noles, Ozzie Ahl

Sportsbook.com Odds
Austria, 100 - 1
Turkey, 50 - 1
Poland, 50 - 1
Romania, 40 - 1
Switzerland, 28 - 1
Greece, 28 - 1
Sweden, 25 - 1
Russia , 20 - 1
Czech Rep, 16 - 1
Croatia, 14 - 1
Holland, 12 - 1
France, 8 - 1
Portugal, 15 - 2
Italy, 13 - 2
Spain, 11 - 2
Germany, 7 - 2

EURO2008 TV Schedule for United States

GAME ID, Date, Team 1 - Team 2, Time (Local), Eastern Time, Channel
1, 6/7, Switzerland - Czech Republic, 18:00, 11:50, EC/ED/360
2, 6/7, Portugal - Turkey, 20:45, 14:30, EC/ED/360
3, 6/8, Austria - Croatia, 18:00, 11:50, EC/ED/360
4, 6/8, Germany - Poland, 20:45, 14:30, EC/ED/360
5, 6/9, Romania - France, 18:00, 11:50, EC/ED/360
6, 6/9, Netherlands - Italy, 20:45, 14:30, EC/ED/360
7, 6/10, Spain - Russia, 18:00, 11:50, EC/ED/360
8, 6/10, Greece - Sweden, 20:45, 14:30, EC/ED/360
9, 6/11, Czech Republic - Portugal, 18:00, 11:50, EC/ED/360
10, 6/11, Switzerland - Turkey, 20:45, 14:30, EC/ED/360
11, 6/12, Croatia - Germany, 18:00, 11:50, EC/ED/360
12, 6/12, Austria - Poland, 20:45, 14:30, EC/ED/360
13, 6/13, Italy - Romania, 18:00, 11:50, EC/ED/360
14, 6/13, Netherlands - France, 20:45, 14:30, EC/ED/360
15, 6/14, Sweden - Spain, 18:00, 11:50, EC/ED/360
16, 6/14, Greece - Russia, 20:45, 14:30, EC/ED/360
17, 6/15, Switzerland - Portugal, 20:45, 14:30, EC/ED/360
18, 6/15, Turkey - Czech Republic, 20:45, 14:30, EC/360
19, 6/16, Poland - Croatia, 20:45, 14:30, EC/360
20, 6/16, Austria - Germany, 20:45, 14:30, E1/ED/360
21, 6/17, Netherlands - Romania, 20:45, 14:30, EC/360
22, 6/17, France - Italy, 20:45, 14:30, E1/ED/360
23, 6/18, Greece - Spain, 20:45, 14:30, E1/ED/360
24, 6/18, Russia - Sweden, 20:45, 14:30, E2/360
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
25, 6/19, Winner Grp A - Runner-up Grp B, 20:45, 14:30, E1/ED/360
26, 6/20, Winner Grp B - Runner-up Grp A, 20:45, 14:30, E1/ED/360
27, 6/21, Winner Grp C - Runner-up Grp D, 20:45, 14:30, ABC
28, 6/22, Winner Grp D - Runner-up Grp C, 20:45, 14:55, E1/ED/360
29, 6/25, Winner Game 25 - Winner Game 26, 20:45, 14:30, E1/ED/360
30, 6/26, Winner Game 27 - Winner Game 28, 20:45, 14:30, E2/ED/360
31, 6/29, Winner Game 29 - Winner Game 30, 20:45, 14:30, ABC

Source: www.espnmediazone.com
EC – ESPN Classic
E2 – ESPN2
E1 – ESPN
ED – ESPN Deportes
360 – ESPN360.com

Per the FIFA World Rankings released today. Group C is indeed the Group of Death.

Group A (20.25 avg)
Czech Republic - 6
Portugal - 11
Switzerland - 44
Turkey - 20

Group B (35 avg)
Austria - 92
Croatia - 15
Germany - 5
Poland - 28

Group C (8 avg)
France - 7
Italy - 3
Netherlands - 10
Romania - 12

Group D (16.5 avg)
Greece - 8
Russia - 24
Spain - 4
Sweden - 30

A reminder - the fun starts on Saturday!

Capital City FC, Kyle Heise
ChampionReds, John Martin
Congaree River Rat, Kevin Heise
Doms_Munchers, Dom Wren
DownSouthSumterBoyz, Marcus Hunter
Ellas, Alex Koutrakos
FCNY Kaisers, Kevin Staehlin
Flat Rock Noles, Ozzie Ahl
Loddda in Love, Matthias Wiechert
MetzAtlantaFC, ben clarke
Old Stags, tim shiner
old_trafford_united, Matt Smith
StaphInfectionUnited, David Schroer
Team of Carraghers, Tim Saleeby
whee fc, Jordan Burkett
Whittle's Winners, John Whittle

European Champions, Runners-Up, & Semifinalists

1960 @ France
1. USSR, 2. Yugoslavia, 3. Chzechoslovakia, 4. France

1964 @ Spain
1. Spain, 2. USSR, 3. Hungary, 4. Denmark

1968 @ Italy
1. Italy, 2. Yugoslavia, 3. England, 4. USSR

1972 @ Belgium
1. West Germany, 2. USSR, 3. Belgium, 4. Hungary

1976 @ Yugoslavia
1. Czechoslovakia, 2. West Germany, 3. Netherlands, 4. Yugoslavia

1980 @ Italy
1. West Germany, 2. Belgium, 3. Czechoslovakia, 4. Italy

1984 @ France
1. France, 2. Spain, 3. Portugal, 4. Denmark

1988 @ West Germany
1. Netherlands, 2. USSR, 3. West Germany, 4. Italy

1992 @ Sweden
1. Denmark, 2. Germany, 3. Netherlands, 4. Sweden

1996 @ England
1. Germany, 2. Czech Republic, 3. England, 4. France

2000 @ Belgium & Netherlands
1. France, 2. Italy, 3. Netherlands, 4. Portugal

2004 @ Portugal
1. Greece, 2. Portugal, 3. Czech Republic, 4. Netherlands

2008 @ Austria & Switzerland

2012 @ Poland & Ukraine

Day 1 Results:

GROUP A
Czech Republic 1-0 Switzerland
Portugal 2-0 Turkey

Day 2 Results:

GROUP B
Croatia 1-0 Austria
Germany 2-0 Poland

Some interesting reading on EURO 2008. Really enjoyed the piece on Jens Lehmann.

6/8/08

Sporting Spectacles -- The most popular events on the planet
http://winnipegsun.com/Sports/Columnists/Wyman_Ted/2008/06/08/5809006-sun.html
Ted Wyman, The Sun (Winnipeg, Canada)

8. Champions League soccer final
An estimated 150 million viewers took in this year's final between Manchester United and Chelsea in Moscow and they were treated to a pretty good game, which came down to a shootout at the end. There would be more viewers if hooligans hadn't looted half the stores in Europe and broken all the TVs.

3. Euro soccer championship
At the last European soccer championship, in 2004, about 1.2 million people attended the event and it attracted an estimated 7.9 billion total views on television. Those numbers, of course, mean one guy could have flipped his TV on and off 7.9 billion times, but we somehow doubt it. Numbers may go down this year as England failed to qualify, but on the bright side, British pubs are doing a brisk business with fans drowning their sorrows.

1. World Cup of soccer
In Germany in 2006, 3.4 million people watched games live, millions more went to party and hang around outside the stadiums and the world tuned in like they have for no other sporting event. It's estimated that there were 26.29 billion duplicate views of the World Cup, which was one of the most memorable of all time, and estimates for the final between Italy and France are in the range of 700 million. Which means there are 700 million non-French people who think Zinedane Zidane is a butthead.

6/7/08

Euro 2008 gets royal treatment on TSN, Sportsnet
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/LAC.20080607.TRUTH07/TPStory/TPSports/Television/
William Houston, The Globe & Mail (Toronto, Canada)

6/5/08

Lehmann thanks England for lesson in tolerant living
http://www.independent.co.uk/sport/footb...ing-840367.html
Glenn Moore & Johannes Berendt, The Independent (London, England)

6/3/08

Euro 2008 hits the small screen
http://www.dailybreeze.com/sports/ci_9459978
Nick Green, The Daily Breeze (Los Angeles, CA)

"Not being on the pitch, you can't count him."

Don't you have to ask the referee permission to leave the field? If you don't, aren't you ON the pitch?

Goal for Holland?.....or no?

Does anyone else hate listening to Julie Foudy? Ugh! On top of that the constant bickering and moaning with Tommy Smyth, it's really lousy commentary. Reece Davis looked like he was about to break his pen on the set in their halftime commentary of the Holland/Italy match.

Day 3 Results:

GROUP C
France 0-0 Romania
Netherlands 3-0 Italy

Fair explanation of the non-offsides call for Holland complete with frame-by-frame pictures.

http://unprofessionalfoul.blogspot.com/2008/06/italy-netherlands-in-ms-paint.html

11.11 DEFENDER LEGALLY OFF THE FIELD OF PLAY A defender who leaves the field during the course of play and does not immediately return must still be considered in determining where the second to last defender is for the purpose of judging which attackers are in an offside position. Such a defender is considered to be on the touchline or goal line closest to his off-field position. A defender who leaves the field with the referee's permission (and who thus requires the referee's permission to return) is not included in determining offside position.

Day 4 Results:

GROUP D
Spain 4-1 Russia
Sweden 2-0 Greece

Day 5 Results:

GROUP A - Round 2
Portugal 3-1 Czech Republic
Turkey 2-1 Switzerland

Poland got the shaft!

What in the world was that ref looking at?

Yeah that was a weak call. That call just cannot be made.

I disagree if the the ref told the player to stop with the shirt grabbing, etc right before the set piece was taken. At that point, I think that call is fair game.

Mike,

That was NOTHING. He made that call two minutes into extra time!

I've seen guys bear-hugged, headlocked and their shirt torn off their back in the box, five minutes into a match....and the ref lets it go.

Ridiculous!

Sucks it had to mess up Boruc's cleansheet. He pretty much kept the team in the game.

Petr ČCech Czechs out of Euro 2008 with slip of hand. WOW!!!!

Great comeback by Turkey! That's why the games are played -- play the full 90 and always BELIEVE!!! Tremendous finish.

Turks have a lot of guts.

Now we will find out what their back up keeper is made of.

Austria is not gonna wet their pants-
http://soccernet.espn.go.com/euro2008/index?cc=5901

Day 10 Results:

GROUP B - Round 3
Poland 0:1 Croatia (Klasnic 53)
Austria 0:1 Germany (Ballack 49)

I woulda done anything to ref this game-
http://nbcsports.msnbc.com/id/25199236/

You would say that 2000 and 4 Strokes!!!!!!!

Dutch start nine subs and win the match!

Wouldn't it have been easier to lay down like dogs and eliminate Italy and France?

I give them credit for winning the match. No one will confuse Romania for Turkey....very disappointing.

Yeah that was all the talk if Calcapoli-sp. was in play or not. Allowing a team like Italy back in with the history of strong finishing is scary stuff. Italy will be without Pirlo so that may be of some help to Spain.

Honestly Romania just didn't give any impression that they wanted it at all. The game plan folded and no attempt to change came of it.

Maybe the fix was in and Van Persie and Robben just weren't told. I can understand not sending Jan Johannes Vennegoor of Hesselink the note, who the heck has the time for that address?

Tim,

You are right on! Take Italy out while you can.

Those first two quarterfinals could easily be finals! Major heavyweights! Portugal-Germany and Spain-Italy?

Wow!

Current Odds (6/18/08)
10-3 Holland
9-2 Portugal
9-2 Spain
5-1 Germany
5-1 Italy
7-1 Croatia
20-1 Turkey
25-1 Sweden
28-1 Russia

OH no!!! Portugal is gettin the treatment from Germany!!!

Final: Germany vs Netherlands!!! WOW!!!

Is that Plies??? Strange!!!

Quarterfinal #1 - Thursday, 6/19/08
Germany 3:2 Portugal

Samuel -- who's the hottie?

Thursday, June 19, 2008

UEFA to decide whether to expand European Championship to 20 or 24 teams later this year

International Herald Tribune
http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2008/06/19/sports/EU-SPT-SOC-Euro-2008-Notebook.php

VIENNA, Austria: UEFA will decide later this year whether to expand the 2016 European Championship by as many as eight countries.

The tournament went from eight to 16 teams at Euro 1996 in England, and UEFA general secretary David Taylor said Thursday a decision will be made by the end of 2008 about increasing that number to 20 or 24 teams for the 2016 edition.

"These tournaments take a long time in the planing, and we would expect before the end of this calendar year to be issuing invitations and bid documents for the 2016 tournament, so we have to in a position when we're issuing bid documents to say what the tournament is going to consist of — is it going to be 16, 20, 24 teams," said Taylor, who is at Euro 2008 in Austria and Switzerland.

Taylor said UEFA will meet with the national football federations of all 53 European countries eligible to compete before making its decision.

"We'll be making a decision on that in the second half of this year, and we'll be consulting with everybody in the next couple of months," he said.
___

AT THE DOUBLE: Referee Lubos Michel could be in line for a memorable double this season after UEFA put him in charge of Saturday's European Championship quarterfinal match between Russia and the Netherlands.

The Slovakian official has already taken charge of this season's Champions League final and his confirmation for the quarterfinals means he is in contention for the final on June 29. Germany's Herbert Fandel will officiate at Sunday's quarterfinal match between Spain and Italy.

The pair join referees from Sweden, Italy, Switzerland, Belgium, Greece and Spain in staying at the tournament. The teams of officials from Austria, the Netherlands, Norway and England will now leave Euro 2008.
___

COLOR COORDINATED: Swiss railways workers have swapped their orange vests for yellow ones in an attempt to stop sending the wrong signal to Dutch fans.

The decision was taken after fans of the Netherlands followed a rail worker onto the tracks because they thought he was a fellow supporter, Barbara Haeni of the Swiss Federal Railways said Thursday.

Apart from that glitch, the European Championship has been a success for the national rail company, she said. More than 1 million fans have made use of the country's efficient rail network, including the 2,700 special trains put on just for the event. Match ticket holders are entitled to free public travel before and after the game.

About 85 percent of fans used public transport to travel to the games, according to government estimates. This saved about 18,000 tons of carbon dioxide, Swiss rail chief Andreas Meyer said.

One train which won't be traveling on Swiss rails much longer is the special service used by the French team.

The train, with its custom-fitted massage tables and video screens for game analysis, is no longer in use because the team was eliminated from the tournament on Tuesday.
___

NUMBERS GAME: The figures for fan zones, TV ratings and Web site page impressions at Euro 2008 continue to soar.

After 24 games following the completion of the group stage, the fan zones in the eight cities in co-hosts Austria and Switzerland have held more than 2.5 million people, an increase of more than 1,100 percent from Euro 2004 in Portugal at the same stage of the tournament, UEFA said Thursday.

In Vienna, 120,000 people were in the fan zone as Germany beat Austria 1-0 Monday, while a total of 150,000 fans watched from the fan zones in Bern as the Netherlands beat Italy 3-0 on June 9 and then defeated Romania 2-0 Tuesday.

UEFA said that Italy's 2-0 win over France in Zurich on Tuesday had a TV market share of 75 percent in Italy, and the figures in the Netherlands have reached more than 80 percent for games involving the Dutch team.

Meanwhile, the individual page impressions for the official Euro 2008 Web site have hit 792 million.
___

SHOPPING TIME: Women have spent at least €140 million (US$217 million) at the European Championship, according to a study released Thursday that takes into account what females spend on football-related items and such things such as accommodation and transportation.

"This research clearly demonstrates the rising financial significance of females in the football industry," said Professor Simon Chadwick, who conducted the research. "Whether women are committed fans or spending elsewhere around the big games this summer, the fairer sex is making an important economic contribution. The football industry is waking up to the spending power of female supporters and is increasingly adapting their products to suit them."

Well I'm glad you asked Mr. Heise! That is Claudia Jordan. She is Deal or No Deal girl #1. She co-host a couple Sirius Radio talk shows. She is a former Miss Rhode Island.

Well I know Rhode Island's not a big state, but she should definitely be Miss "Something". Nice! As for today's Euro 2008 action:

Russia 3:1 (OT) Netherlands

Russia's Arshavin may be the most exciting player in the tournament! The true definition of a #10! Some big club in Europe is going to be fortunate to pick him up!

Italy vs Spain. I don't have the ability to predict or it's just unpredictable. I pick Spain over Italy but I also picked Holland/Portugal/Crotia.

So here is my prediction, Italy 2 Spain 2 Italy in pks 4-3. I think the game is just gonna be nuts. Toni will be the man.

Players's wives and fans at Euro 2008-
Which player outkicked his coverage?

http://nbcsports.msnbc.com/id/25022547?pg=5#spt_Euro2008_fans

YES!!! Spain 0-0 Italy (PKs, S 4-2 I).

SEMIFINALS
Wednesday - Germany vs. Turkey
Thursday - Spain vs. Russia

VIA SE ESPANIA

Miss Jordan!!!

She make my eyes bulge

Kudos to commentator Andy Gray for spending his day blasting the center ref, for the full 120 minutes!

The poorest officiated game of the tournament that I've seen.

Very nice job by Gray from a 10x12 room in Bristol, CT.

I agree about the ref...

Herbert Fandel is the same ref that was involved with the match-fixing scandal with Juventus back in 2005-06. He got fired by Serie A, and was hired by UEFA, where he refereed the Champions League final the next year between AC Milan and Liverpool, which was very questionably called like yesterday's match. I know, I know...UEFA hired a ref that was just fired for match-fixing, and then put him in the CL final. And now he is doing Euro matches.

This is extremely mysterious to me, considering Italy was obviously favored by Fandel yesterday. Anyways, refs can't control a shootout.

My kind of woman.........

Much agreed. Sadly couldn't find one for myself when I was in Europe two years ago. I think the real beauties like that are kept hidden from the annoying American travellers.

Talk about out kicking ones coverage!!!

FIFA World Rankings

SEMIFINALS
#5 Germany vs. #20 Turkey
#4 Spain vs. #24 Russia

I picked Spain on a "Futures Bet" during the spring, so I'm pulling for Luis Aragones to win EURO 2008. A Germany/Spain Final would be fantastic!

Turks are unbelievable!

Great first half!

Some excellent articles about Russia/Spain game. Should be a good one.
Can anyone give a brief assessment of Turkey/Germany? Could not see that one.

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/sport/columnists/martin_samuel/article4207826.ece?openComment=true

http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2008-06/25/content_8436351.htm

http://www.goal.com/en/articolo.aspx?contenutoid=751270

http://www.iht.com/articles/2008/06/25/sports/soccer.php

Try this one on...

http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2008/jun/25/euro2008.germanyfootballteam

Thanks Coach. The Brits and the Guardian specifically, always put the best spin on the ball. Very direct, honest, yet witty report on the games.

6/26/08

Dodgy international team? Get a Brazilian!
Duleep Allirajah, Spiked-Online.com

With Poles playing for Germany and a London boy playing for Turkey, national identities are blurred at Euro 2008.

‘I want to be the traitor of the year in Holland’, quipped Guus Hiddink before his Russian team defeated his native Holland in the Euro 2008 quarter-finals.

Hiddink’s tongue-in-cheek treachery illustrates the extent to which national identities have become blurred as the football market has gone global. ‘I don’t know the words to the Russian national anthem’, admitted Hiddink. ‘But I like the melody, so I will mime along.’ He wasn’t alone. Watch the players stand in line for the national anthems before each game and you’ll always see someone faking it or else a couple of refuseniks who simply don’t join in. Perhaps they’re closet republicans. Perhaps they’re too ‘in the zone’ to sing. Or maybe, like Brazilian-born Roger Guerreiro, they only received their fast-tracked Polish citizenship in April so haven’t had time to learn the words. Colin Kazim-Richards (or Kazim Kazim as he’s known in Istanbul) doesn’t sing the Turkish anthem either but then the 21-year old Londoner, who qualifies to play for Turkey through his Turkish Cypriot mother, admits he ‘could barely speak a word of the language’ when he signed for Istanbul giants Fenerbahce.

Sometimes entire teams keep schtum during their anthem. Before last Sunday’s quarter-final, most of the Italian players sang along to their anthem – pity they didn’t turn up for the match itself – but the Spanish players largely stood in silence. In that particular case, it was not so much treachery as an expression of the historical weakness of Spanish national identity. In actual fact the Spanish national anthem has not had lyrics since the Francoist words were excised in 1978. The German players mumble the words to their anthem rather than bellow with gusto as, for example, the Croatian players do. Why is that? Maybe they’re uncomfortable with overt expressions of German patriotism. Maybe some are, ahem, German traditionalists who prefer the original opening lines, ‘Deutschland, Deutschland über alles’, which were excised after a certain embarrassing episode in the nation’s history (and I don’t mean the penalty shoot-out defeat to Czechoslovakia in the 1976 European Championship Final). Another explanation might be that a fair number of Germany’s players are immigrants like the Polish-born strike partnership, Miroslav Klose and Lukas Podolski, or mixed nationality like David Odonkor, Kevin Kuranyi, Mario Gomez and Oliver Neuville.

But it’s more complicated then that. Lukas Podolski has the words ‘Unity, justice and freedom’, taken from the German anthem, inscribed on his boots but wouldn’t sing the anthem before the group game against Poland because, as he put it, ‘I have not quite lost my Polish heart’. He also conspicuously refused to celebrate his goal against his country of birth. Switzerland striker Hakan Yakin was another who didn’t openly celebrate after scoring against Turkey, his country of origin. ‘It’s to do with fair play and having respect for a country which is still part of me’, he explained.

The muted goal celebration is something we’re used to seeing in club football: a player scoring against his old team but refusing to celebrate as a mark of respect to the fans who once chanted his name. However, it’s a relatively new phenomenon in international football. And, as with all indicators of national allegiance, there are some turncoats who confound the rules. Guus Hiddink might be Dutch but he is also a professional coach who is fully committed to ‘his’ Russian team. Consequently, Hiddink showed no Sven-like reserve when celebrating Russia’s victory over Holland. He punched the air like a true vodka-swilling son of the steppes.

One of the striking things about the Euros this year is the number of naturalised Brazilians in the tournament. As well as Poland’s Roger Guerreiro, there’s Portugal’s Deco and Pepe, Spain’s Marcos Senna, and Turkey’s Mehmet Aurelio. If Arsenal and Croatia striker Eduardo hadn’t broken his leg, there would have been six naturalised Brazilians at the Euros (and Croatia would been in the semi-finals). These days it seems positively de rigeur to have a naturalised Brazilian in your squad. Maybe it should be a FIFA rule. Just as Olympic under-23 teams are allowed three over-age players, so every national team could be allowed a quota of Brazilians. There’s a surfeit of skilful Brazilians who can’t get in their national side, so why not let them play for another country? The Brazilian players get to grace the international stage while other national teams acquire a bit of samba style. It’s a win-win situation, isn’t it?

Well, not according to FIFA president Sepp Blatter. ‘If we don’t take care about the invaders from Brazil, not only toward Europe but toward Asia and Africa, then the next World Cups in 2014 and 2018, out of the 32 teams — you will still have national teams — but we will have 16 full of Brazilian players’, Blatter said in November 2007. ‘It is a danger, a real, real danger.’ But what exactly is the danger? That the World Cup might become a festival of stepovers? That we might see some better quality football? I can live with that. I can’t see the problem with greater cosmopolitanism in international football. At Euro 2008 we’ve seen players and coaches with divided national allegiances but that hasn’t affected their passion or commitment to their team. Big Phil Scolari might be Brazilian but that didn’t stop him going bonkers in the Portugal dugout when his team scored. He even threw a punch at a Serbian opponent during the Euro qualifiers that sure beats badge-kissing as act of commitment.

Blatter wants to curb the number of overseas players at club level in order to ‘protect the national identity of the football clubs’. I prefer the attitude of Arsenal fans who chant ‘You need more foreigners’ at their lumbering rivals. If losing our traditional English identity means we shed our technical deficiencies, tactical illiteracy and residual route-one tendencies, then I’m all for it. Our plumbers are Polish, our doctors are Asian, so why not import our footballers too?

And, if they’re living in this country and playing for an English club, why not dish out some passports as well? Eyebrows were raised when it was suggested that Arsenal keeper Manuel Almunia should be called up by England. But what’s the problem? The England cricket team does it. The England rugby union team co-opted Tongan Lesley Vainikolo. So, why shouldn’t football follow suit? Admittedly, the prospect of Almunia between the sticks for England isn’t particularly mouth-watering, but we wouldn’t complain if it was a surplus-to-requirements Brazilian like Deco or Eduardo. If Fabio Capello can’t teach our natural-born Englishmen the art of ball retention, then let’s bring in the Brazilians.

Gotta be great fun. Need to plan a trip to next Euro Cup-
http://flickr.com/photos/mbiker/2585614276/

You would Stroker!

Sammy-
I did not know you had a sex change. Not bad.....but I can still tell it is you.

The best team during Euro 2008 rightfully captured the title today as Spain edged Germany 1-0 in Vienna, Austria. A good final to watch, but definitely the best team won. My player of the tournament is Marcos Senna of Villareal. What an underrated player -- defensive center midfielder who does a ton of dirty work during the match and is up-and-down the pitch the entire game.

FINALS - Spain 1-0 Germany
SEMIFINALS - Spain 3-0 Russia
QUARTERFINALS - Spain 0-0 (4-2 PK) Italy
GROUP PLAY - 3-0 record: Spain 2-1 Greece; Spain 2-1 Sweden; Spain 4-1 Russia

Thanks to the Spaniards for lining my wallet this month! 11-2 odds were the betting line back in May and I will be happy to collect those winnings on Monday!

Congrats to Tim Saleeby and his "Team of Carraghers" on the Euro 2008 Fantasy Challenge Title!

#, Team, Manager, Matchday, Total
------------------------------------------------------
1, Team of Carraghers, Tim Saleeby, 46, 304
2, FC COW HARBOR, jim staehlin, 47, 263
3, Whittle's Winners, John Whittle, 34, 258
4, Los Panchos, cesar robles, 39, 255
5, Doms_Munchers, Dom Wren, 34, 246
------------------------------------------------------
6, StaphInfectionUnited, David Schroer, 41, 245
7, MetzAtlantaFC, ben clarke, 40, 231
8, Ellas, Alex Koutrakos, 43, 228
9, FCNY Kaisers, Kevin Staehlin, 22, 228
10, Flat Rock Noles, Ozzie Ahl, 44, 226
------------------------------------------------------
11, old_trafford_united, Matt Smith, 42, 220
12, Capital City FC, Kyle Heise, 36, 217
13, Old Stags, tim shiner, 24, 215
14, Jordan Blue Jays, Jayson Jordan, 38, 214
15, RonaldoLuvsATurk, Ashley Abood, 22, 209
------------------------------------------------------
16, EuroSelect, Rick Fielden, 49, 208
17, DownSouthSumterBoyz, Marcus Hunter, 34, 207
18, Congaree River Rat, Kevin Heise, 32, 198
19, Loddda in Love, Matthias Wiechert, 40, 197
20, ChampionReds, John Martin, 17, 183
------------------------------------------------------
21, whee fc, Jordan Burkett, 8, 155
------------------------------------------------------

6/29/08



Euro final marks the end of BBC's voice of football

LONDON (AFP) — The Euro 2008 final between Germany and Spain later on Sunday will bring down the curtain on the BBC's world renowned football commentator John Motson in terms of live commentaries.

The 62-year-old - renowned for his sheepskin coats and football trivia knowledge - will carry on commentating but has already said that the 2010 World Cup finals are beyond him because of his age.

"I am coming to the end of my career, I know that," Motson told the BBC.

"I'd been thinking about it at the start of the season, but now I've decided I don't want to be tearing around South Africa for the 2010 World Cup at the age of 65. It's physically and mentally challenging."

Motson has covered nine European Championships, nine World Cups and 34 FA Cup finals and whilst some preferred the more witty and cultivated Barry Davies, Motson traditionally got the big games ahead of him.

He began his broadcasting career on BBC Radio Two, but his Match of the Day commentary career was launched when he was detailed to cover the FA Cup replay between Hereford and Newcastle in 1972.

The BBC thought the match would warrant a five-minute segment following their two main games, but Hereford's shock 2-1 win - aided by Ronnie Radford's famous 30-yard strike that sparked a mini pitch invasion - saw the match promoted to the main game, and Motson never looked back.

"That was the breakthrough game for me," he tells BBC Sport. "It showed people I could cope with the big game."

Motson, son of a Methodist Minister and whose favourite match was the 1982 World Cup match between eventual champions Italy and Brazil which saw Paolo Rossi score a hat-trick as the Italians won 3-2, has had more great moments than lows but sometimes his enthusiasm overflowed as was evidenced at this year's FA Cup.

"Portsmouth think they've scored," yelled 'Motty', to which his expert pundit Mark Lawrenson replied diplomatically: "Er, well, that was probably because they had, John."

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