Although I was born in the U.S., I live in the U.S. and I am a U.S. citizen, I lived most of my childhood (up to the age of 17) in Spain, where my mother is from. My favorite sport is football (or, in the Spanish, "fútbol", not American football), and my favorite sports team by far is Real Madrid C.F.. Naturally, I am also a diehard supporter of Spain's national team in the sport. For those of you who know about international football, you know that Spain has for a long time, been regarded as "underachievers" (a euphemism for chokers). Their talented teams always seemed to do so well in the qualifying rounds of tournaments and in the group stages, but they seemed to always fall short when the stakes were high in the knockout rounds.
I vividly remember watching Spain play the last Euro final they played (1984) in which they lost to the hosts, France 2-0 in Paris. I remember the heartbreaks of the '86 and '90 World Cups. I was there at Foxboro Stadium for the World Cup quarterfinal between Spain and Italy in '94 and witnessed my team outplay the Italians for most of the 90 minutes, but fall victim to the ref missing the infamous bloody nose foul that should've been a penalty kick for Spain and the last-minute heroics of Italy's Roberto Baggio. Again Spain doesn't get through the quarterfinals. And it was pretty much the same story every time for Spain in the World Cups and Eurocups --- high expectations at the start and disappointment and heartbreak at the end.
Well, today Spain went a long way to put all those demons to rest. With a thrilling 1-0 win over the always-dangerous Germans, they captured the Euro 2008 Championship. (For those who don't know, the UEFA European Nations Cup, or "Euro" is played every 4 years and is the most important international football tournament aside from the World Cup). This was their first title in 44 years and their first in my lifetime. Not only was it an awesome feeling to watch my team finally win it all, it was also the manner in which they did it. They were consistently the best team of the tournament from start to finish. They scored the most goals, had the least goals against, had the tournaments leading goal scorer in David Villa (even though he missed the final with an injury), and they did it all playing a very technical, attractive, attacking style. So this victory was also a victory for football being played the way it was meant to be over the "cynical" style that teams sometimes get drawn into in these major tournaments. All in all it was a great tournament with many awesome moments and, for those of us with Spanish blood, the best ending imaginable. ¡VIVA ESPAÑA!
Jun 30, 2008 at 7:08 AM It was a great match to watch and I too was happy to see Spain get a win that they deserved so much. The 1-0 scoreline kept me on the edge of my seat for the duration of the match, but Spain were applying so much pressure it could have been 2-0 or 3-0 with just a tiny bit of luck - the Torres header that came off the post was sooo close! 1 goal is all it takes though :) Go Spain!
Jun 30, 2008 at 7:20 AM Spain completely dominated Germany. Germany had no answer for Torres speed and they were really lucky Spain didn't score more goals on them. By about the 75 minute mark, Germany looked like they had just given up--they looked totally defeated. Spain just kept applying the pressure. Congrats to Spain, they've been playing traffic ball.
Jun 30, 2008 at 7:45 AM @Justin,
Yeah that would've been sweet if he had scored on that header! I was really happy for Torres -- I had a feeling that he was going to have a big game and he ended up scoring the biggest goal of his career.
Jul 5, 2008 at 12:23 PM Great to see another Spain fan celebrating! My mother is Valenciana and with all my family there I've been talking with them since the game. They are all quite surprised but not me. I knew Spain was going to win. I said they would make it to the final and win.
I was in Austria for Euro 2008 but only for 2 weeks. Was there for the start but the not ending sadly. I love how the Spanish news always throw that out about the team's stats. They were the dominant team no doubt. They are so proud. :) But thats how Spaniards are! Viva Espana!
David Villa is always been a favorite of mine. I've really enjoyed watching Torres for Liverpool especially since their coach was one of the best Valencia had. Shame Benitez left. I'm glad though Villa will stay.
Jul 6, 2008 at 8:17 AM Hola Javier,
My mother's from Pamplona, but I grew up right outside Madrid, which is why I'm a Real Madrid fan. My parents and two of my brothers live in Spain and I called them right after the game and you could FEEL the pandemonium going on around them on the phone!
Villa is definitely a special player. Hopefully for Valencia, having Villa, Silva, Marchena, and Albiol come back after winning the Euro will energize them to bounce back from a disappointing season. Although I wouldn't mind seeing Villa in another white jersey! ;-)