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Portugal vs. Germany: 2-3

You could cut the tension with a knife… Germany was up 2-0, but the Portuguese managed to get one in before halftime. All seemed lost when Germany scored another one, but then, at 87 minutes into the game it was Postiga who scored one more for Portugal. At 3:2 and an extra 4 minutes added, the intensity was at its height. But no, the German defense would not fail again under the pressure- it stayed 3:2 till the finish.

Germany in, Portugal out. What a surprising turn of events after the first few rounds! It seemed Portugal was going much stronger than the Germans… but there you have it, the ball is round.

Croatia vs. Turkey: 1-1 (1-3 in penalty shoot outs)

Another exciting game! The match-up was actually fairly equal throughout the game, but the fun came at the end. After being tied at 0-0 for 90 minutes, it was up for extra time. And at minute 29 of that extra time, Klasnic of Croatia who came in instead of Olic scored a goal! Thought it was all over, did you? Turkey scored a goal of their own minutes later from the feet of Senturk, making it a 1-1 game, and up for penalty shoot out.

Croatia misses one. Then Turkey scores. Croatia ties. Turkey scores again, then Croatia comes with another miss. Then Turkey scores. And… that’s it, Croatia misses another one, and lose the game.

Another surprise! Turkey, who barely made it against the Czech Republic, throw in another dramatic twist and win against Croatia. But will they manage to pull off some more magic against the Germans? We’ll have to wait and see…

Netherlands vs. Russia: 1-3 (extra time)

I’m getting tired of surprises. The Russians started the game like they were determined to win, they pushed harder and controlled the ball better than the Dutch, leaving them no room to maneuver. Still, it was 0-0 at halftime. Getting into the second half, the Russians were still getting warmed up, though the Dutch were now finally getting into the game. The Russians were first to score, but the Dutch equalizer was soon to follow. The game remained at 1-1 till the end of normal time.

Extra time began, and while the Dutch were getting tired, Russia still seemed at their best. By the end of the 30 minutes they managed to score two extra goals, winning at 3-1. The better team certainly won that game, it was fun to watch. Russia’s still in, Netherlands out.

Spain vs. Italy: 0-0 (4-2 in penalty shoot outs)

It was a fun game too. The Spanish tried their best to penetrate the Italian defense, and at the same time the Italians tried to push the ball forward for sudden attacks. There were a few good shots, though none hit the net. The game had a good pace, but no scores.

Extra time was called for, and no change in the game structure at all. This game was to be decided with penalty shots. With 2 misses, Italy were the ones to leave the tournaments after the quarter finals, and Spain will face the surprising Russia at the semi finals next week.

Semi Finals: Germany vs. Turkey: 3-2

Another 3-2 victory goes to the Germans at the last minute. The game began with full Turkish control, and they scored the first goal. Germany was quick to respond with an equalizer, but until the end of the first half the Turkish were still looking better. However, they did not manage to put another goal in. The second half began with the Germans waking up, but nothing happened for a while. Then the Germans scored at minute 79, and 9 minutes later the Turkish scored one of their own and it was a tie game again. But then, at the last moment, the Germans scored a final late goal and turned this around to a 3-2 victory. This was one tight game, and this time the twist was against the Turkish… Germany is in the finals.

Like I stated before this tournament keeps getting better and better, I think we are getting spoiled and need to enjoy this…

Russia vs. Spain: 0-3

This was brutal. After Russia’s performance against the Dutch, a 3-nothing loss was just not cool. The first half was slightly more dominated by the Spanish, but they did get one hit- Villa seemed to be injured, and eventually had to be switched out. However, Spain, even without the injured Villa, crashed the Russians during the second half. A first goal from Xavi opened the stream, and Guiza and Silva joined in to the scorers list soon afterwards. Russia will have to join Turkey in a match for third place.

The final, which will be played on Sunday, will feature Germany and Spain. The Germans did not play well in the first stages of the tournament, only barely making it from the second place in group B. However, their games improved immensely when they beat both Portugal and the surprising Turkey 3-2. Spain, on the other hand, won all 3 of their games in the first stage, then played a tough game against Italy and won only at shootouts. Then they showed Russia how it goes with a clean 3-0 victory.

So who’ll take it? It’s hard to say, but like chelseaFC suggested, this is bound to be one exciting game.

Go Spain, it’s your birthday!!! That was too exciting for words. Spain, FTW! I was kind of hoping that Turkey would make it, because they were the underdogs in this tournament, but Spain now has me on their side.

Congrats to Espana for being the best side in Europe! This was one of the best tournaments ever and I hope people watched it because duplicating such will not be easy….

FINALS: Germany vs. Spain: 0-1

This was a great game (both because of the final score and the game itself). Spain showed dominant control of the ball throughout, although towards the second half Germany had some really nice shots going. Only one ball entered the net- Torres’s exquisite goal, which was really tremendous. But it was still a fast paced game with a lot of exciting attempts at a score. Ballack’s attempts to lead Germany to victory didn’t help, especially after he got injured and his face got covered with blood… But at the end of the 90 minutes, Casillas the goalkeeper was the one to hold the Euro Cup.

That’s it- Spain, winning all of their games in the tournament, becomes our new Champion and the best National Team on the continent.

Now all we can do is watch some League Football and wait for 2 years until the next World Cup.

I hear that, its going to be tough to find such fantastic ball. The MLS here in the states needs support and I will spread the word. EPL starts back in August, and so does the Olympics.

We need to sit back and appreciate the tournament that was because it will be hard to duplicate such. IT was that good…