The wonderful feast of football that was Euro 2008 ended with an excellent match and a worthy winner from Fernando Torres. As a Liverpool fan, I obviously had a close eye on Spain, and it’s great to see our top man burst through and dink it over Lehmann for the winner. Are you watching, Ronaldo?
Spain thoroughly deserved to win a game which they dominated, and with style, too. They also deserved the title of Champions of Europe, winning every game, starting well and peaking after the quarter finals.
I wonder how football fans in Spain must be feeling right now. 44 years of waiting, living with the “perrenial underachievers” cliched tag, before finally they come good. I just hope this is an omen: 2010 will mark 44 years since the boys in red lifted the famous Jules Rimet trophy, and I just soooo want us to end our own hurt!
At work, we’ve a Spanish office in Madrid, so can’t wait to get an update from them on how the celebrations went. I can’t see them getting much work done this week!
So, how should I sum up Euro 2008? Two words: Exceeded expecations! It went from sheer dread of having to sit through a tournament without England, apathy just before it started, boredom after the first couple of games to sheer delight at most of what followed. Was it better for me that we weren’t in it? As a viewer, yes. No shattered dreams. No ugly after-taste as the tournament continued without us, as I curse the injury gods or blamed a Neville. No loss of excitement as the final gets nearer. Europe – have that one on us. Well done on producing football of the level we simply cannot provide right now. We’ll be back. I still believe…