Europe has new football champions: Spain beat Germany 1-0 to win their first major championship since 1964 with a goal from Liverpool's Fernando Torres with 12 minutes left in the first half.
They thoroughly deserved it too, being by far the better team on the night.
Ballack played the entire game BTW.
Arguably the biggest story of the weekend was the return of one of my favourite British TV super villains...but more of than another day.
David Villa of Spain is definitely out of tonight's final, whereas Michael Ballack is what would best be described as 'doubtful', according to the BBC story here:
'Chelsea midfielder Ballack suffered the injury in training on Friday and will be desperate to play, having missed out on the 2002 World Cup final because of suspension.
"On Friday he had problems with his right calf, the muscle has hardened and he couldn't possibly participate in the training, so we will have to wait and see how things develop," said Germany coach Joachim Low. "Our medical people are working round the clock, but we have to think seriously about what's going to happen if Michael Ballack cannot play.' So nobody should be too surprised if Ballack starts. This type of mind game is what I had in mind when I mentioned yesterday when I referred to the possibility of Spain starting the game like a rabbit in the headlights: they may not know until shortly before kick off which team Germany will field and they'll have to make the appropriate adjustments either way. I know that preparing for the other team is vital, but if you're not 100% sure about who you're going to be up against it can create confusion and uncertainty, which leads me to believe that this is a stone cold bluff by the German management.
Spain are still the favourites.
Yesterday's baseball tips were a mixed bag with Detroit and the White Sox winning close games, but the Brewers were soundly beaten by the Minnesota Twins. I need to remember not to chase streaks as this is not the first time that I've done that this season: when the Atlanta Braves were woeful away from home earlier in the season I did exactly the same thing and paid for it. I've got some idea of my picks today but I've got to check a few things out before posting them.
Euro 2008 ends tomorrow night with a clash between pre-tournament favourites Germany and perennial under achievers Spain, the latter being the actual favourites with the bookies.
You might ask why a team that hasn't won a major tournament for over 40 years is favoured over one that has one of the best tournament records in the world, but the answer is simple. Spain have played some exciting football, have scored lots of goals and have a number of outstanding individuals. On the other hand, Germany have occasionally looked clueless, have already lost to Croatia and narrowly avoided making complete fools of themselves against Turkey in the semi finals.
Having said all that about the Germans, they're in the final and you cannot be absolutely sure that they won't win it - especially if the Spanish turn into the proverbial rabbits in the headlights.
Not surprisingly, I've got some action on this game. I laid Germany on Betfair at 5.1 at the beginning of the month - before the tournament even started - because I really didn't think they'd win it. The lay odds as I write this are currently 2.46.
Then I got Germany in the work sweepstake...getting past Turkey meant a guaranteed £22 which could increase to £50 if they win. It's something of a no-lose situation because I've had a small punt on Spain; talk about hedging my bets!
Madame Zaza predicts Spain. Because they're better.
City brought a new player yesterday, Gavin Williams from Ipswich. His Wikipedia entry is here, his overall stats are here and here's a goal he scored against Leeds United.
There'll probably be some more player movement over the next week but I'll report that when it happens rather than indulging in the type of idle speculation that's been occurring on certain forums.
More sporting excitement: I got an e-mail from the ever helpful Liam Doyle at Word Of Sport telling me that they were about to send me the college football previews I ordered...including the amazing Phil Steele. Can't wait!
Todays baseball picks: Detroit Tigers over Colorado Rockies, Minnesota Twins over Milwaukee Brewers, Chicago White Sox over Chicago Cubs. The Twins have a ten game undefeated streak, the best in baseball right now.
Back tomorrow, possibly after the Euro 2008 final.
Still in: Germany (the favourites), Spain (about time), Russia (a tournament too early?) and - somehow - Turkey, despite only being ahead in all their games for a grand total of two minutes.
Suffice to say, I lost on some of these games. Pah.
Well, seeing as it's been three months since I wrote anything here and a month since the Championship playoff final, I think it's worth an update.
City lost 1-0 to Hull City at Wembley and that was that. I'm still occasionally very annoyed about it and it all came back to me last night while I was watching the amazing end of the Croatia v Turkey game in Euro 2008. More of that nearer the start of the football season I think.
