An Intriguing Final

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.