A fond farewell to Euro 2008 then. An excellent tournament all round. And very sincere congratulations to Spain, who were brilliant.
But if you’re looking for a further fix of football blogging don’t worry… we’ve got you covered.
For club football, visit us at The Offside where you’ll find a front page blog and active community [...]

You can bet on Spain again.
Tis a wonderful thing to have a country oozing skill and technique capable of being considered a worthy contender without the qualifying phrase “but…but…but…it’s Spain!“. It simply makes tournaments that much more scintillating and victory for the winners (if not Spain) that much more delicious.
Now, if only Lichtenstein would [...]

One thing which will always last from the tournament is the great slew of pictures featuring lovely young ladies. Now that we’re officially in the era where YouTube runs the world, why look at one picture at a time when you can have a bevy presented to you with a questionable soundtrack? Exactly.

When Antonio Puerta collapsed on the pitch and died last year, there were all sorts of memorials from all over the footballing world and beyond. Not to take anything away from any of them, but yesterday’s tribute by Spain right back Sergio Ramos has to be one of the most generous. Ramos not [...]

“Torsten. Dude. I know it helps you feel better about the loss, but the cameras are still rolling.”

Well, this is embarrassing. I did a quick rundown of Euro 2008 Player of the Tournament candidates last night, and there was one name I forgot: Xavi Hernández.
And guess who UEFA has named as player of the tournament this morning? That’s right: Xavi Hernández.
I’m pretty sure UEFA did this just to make me look bad. [...]

Stuff to read while you leave a toilet paper rose as an apology for breaking out of prison:

A final assessment. (Germany Blog)
Top 10 flops of Euro 2008. (Soccerlens)

The rightful victors… (Guardian Unlimited)

….And Jogi Low agrees. (BBC Sport)

More to come from Spain? (Sideline Views)

Babes of the final. (Orlando Sentinel)

Euro 2008 a harsh reminder to England. (Reuters [...]

Looking back, Euro 2008 has been a bit special. Remember Cracking football, quality goals, big drama and a lot of good performances. But there hasn’t really been one player who’s risen above everyone else and dominated proceedings.
Not that that’s a bad thing. It just makes it very hard to choose a player of the tournament. [...]

Players of the Tournament: There are four of them:
Carles Puyol
Carlos Marchena
Sergio Ramos
Joan Capdevila
Knockout stages: 0 goals conceded
Iker gets some credit as well, but the most attack-gifted team in the tournament was riding the coattails of the Fearsome Foursome. Much like Italy in 2006, their defense was the difference between winning and second place.
And though this [...]

Photo credit: FRANCK FIFE/AFP/Getty Images
It’s really happened. Spain are Euro 2008 champions with a well earned 1-0 win over Germany.
Review of the game and video of Fernando Torres’ winning goal below…