The Euro 2008 winners were all smiles as they took the bus top celebration route from the Barajas Airport to Madrid.
Can you imagine being at this party?
images via Euro2008
One of the most creative, yet overlooked players in the game has finally been recognized as the Castrol best player of the 2008 Euros.
Barcelona’s 28 year old midfielder Xavi Hernandez was chosen by the nine-person Uefa technical panel that left off Cristiano Ronaldo due to Portugal’s early exit.
Via Soccernet
UEFA’s squad of the tournament:
Goalkeepers: Buffon (Italy), Casillas (Spain), van der Sar (Holland)
Defenders: Bosingwa (Portugal), Lahm (Germany), Marchena (Spain), Pepe (Portugal), Puyol (Spain), Zhirkov (Russia)
Midfielders: Hamit Altintop (Turkey), Modric (Croatia), Senna (Spain), Xavi (Spain), Zyryanov (Russia), Ballack (Germany), Fabregas (Spain), Iniesta (Spain), Podolski (Germany), Sneijder (Holland)
Striker: Arshavin (Russia), Pavlyuchenko (Russia), Torres (Spain), Villa (Spain).
image via As
The best buy in football last year led Spain to a 1-nil win over Germany in the 2008 Euro Championship Final.
Liverpool’s Fernando Torres ended Spain’s 44 year quest for a major trophy after skipping past Bayern Munich outside back Philipp Lahm in the 33rd minute and cheekily chipping the ball up and over on onrushing Jens Lehmann with the inside of his right foot at the Ernst Happel Stadium.
This after out jumping German centerback Per Mertsacker in the 22nd minute and heading off the post, a header that had looked to beat the slow reacting Lehmann.
During the knockout stages keeper Iker Casillas, along with the back four of Sergio Ramos, Carlos Puyol, Carlos Marchena and Joan Capdevila held the fort tight, not allowing a goal scored against since their 2-1 win over Greece in the last match of Group D play.
FC Uptown & Dunny
images via Sun-Sentinal
UPDATE - According to the US Mens National Team Blog, Spain’s roster for Wednesday’s friendly has been set.
Goalkeepers:
Andrés Palop Cervera(Sevilla F.C. S.A.D.)
José Manuel Reina Páez(Liverpool F.C. )
Iker Casillas Fernández(Real Madrid C.F.)
Defenders:
Raúl Albiol Tortajada(Valencia C.F. S.A.D.)
Joan Capdevila Méndez(Villarreal C.F. S.A.D.)
Carles Puyol Saforcada(F.C. Barcelona)
Sergio Ramos García(Real Madrid C.F.)
Juan Gutiérrez Moreno(Real Betis Balompié S.A.D.)
Carlos López Marchena(Valencia C.F. S.A.D.)
Álvaro Arbeloa Coca(Liverpool C.F.)
Fernando Navarro Corbacho(R.C.D. Mallorca)
Midfielders:
Marcos Antonio Senna Da Silva(Villarreal C.F. S.A.D.)
David Jiménez Silva(Valencia C.F. S.A.D.)
Xavier Hernández Creus(F.C. Barcelona )
Andrés Iniesta Luján(F.C. Barcelona )
Francesc Fabregas Soler(Arsenal F.C.)
Xabier Alonso Olano(Liverpool F.C.)
Rubén de la Red Gutiérrez(Getafe C.F. S.A.D)
Sergio García de la Fuente(Real Zaragoza S.A.D.)
Santiago Cazorla González(Villarreal C.F. S.A.D.)
Forwards:
David Villa Sánchez(Valencia C.F. S.A.D.)
Fernando José Torres Sanz(Liverpool F.C.)
Daniel Gonzalez Güiza(R.C.D Mallorca S.A.D.)
According to the US Mens National Team Blog, the US Roster has been set against Spain.
U.S. ROSTER BY POSITION
Goalkeepers (3): Dominic Cervi (out of contract), Brad Guzan (Chivas USA), Tim Howard (Everton FC)
Defenders (7): Carlos Bocanegra (out of contract), Dan Califf (FC Midtjylland), Steve Cherundolo (Hannover 96), Jay DeMerit (Watford FC), Frankie Hejduk (Columbus Crew), Oguchi Onyewu (Standard de Liege), Heath Pearce (Hansa Rostock)
Midfielders (6): Freddy Adu (SL Benfica), DaMarcus Beasley (Glasgow Rangers), Michael Bradley (SC Heerenveen), Maurice Edu (Toronto FC), Eddie Lewis (Derby County), Pablo Mastroeni (Colorado Rapids)
Forwards (4): Clint Dempsey (Fulham FC), Nate Jaqua (out of contract), Eddie Johnson (Fulham FC), Josh Wolff (out of contract)
image via Soccerlens
The United States got a good look at their opponent this week as Spain took on Peru in Huelva over the weekend.
Do you see any weaknesses in their starting 11? Yeah, me neither.
Luis Aragones has left Real Madrid striker Raul off the roster for the upcoming 2008 European Championships despite scoring 18 La Liga goals this season, opting instead to take uncapped Zaragoza forward Sergio Garcia. Raul has not played for Spain since 2006 but still leads the country with 44 Goals in 102 International Matches.
Bojan Krkic was left out of the squad as well after informing Aragones that he was suffering from fatigue after he debut season with Barcelona.
David Albelda was not included due to his troubles with La Liga club Valencia.
Spain has friendlies set with Peru May 31st and the United States on June 4th.
They will face Russia on June 10th to start their Euros campaign, Sweden on the 14th and Greece the 18th to end the group phase.
Spain squad for European Championships:
Goalkeepers: Iker Casillas (Real Madrid), Pepe Reina (Liverpool), Andres Palop (Sevilla).
Defenders: Raul Albiol (Valencia), Carlos Marchena (Valencia), Joan Capdevila (Villarreal), Sergio Ramos (Real Madrid), Juanito Gutierrez (Real Betis), Fernando Navarro (Mallorca), Carles Puyol (FC Barcelona), Alvaro Arbeloa (Liverpool).
Midfielders: Xavi Hernandez (FC Barcelona), Andres Iniesta (FC Barcelona), Cesc Fabregas (Arsenal), David Silva (Valencia), Xabi Alonso (Liverpool), Ruben De La Red (Getafe), Marcos Senna (Villarreal), Santi Cazorla (Villarreal).
Forwards: Fernando Torres (Liverpool), David Villa (Valencia), Daniel Guiza (Mallorca), Sergio Garcia (Zaragoza)
Image via ABC
I was watching this game yesterday and Ray Hudson was going mad! The best part of the demolition was the fact that Arjen Robben actually played AND scored AND didn’t fall over every time the camera was on him.
image via SoccerLens
Rafa Benitez’ rotation policy is gonna take a new hit as Fernando Torres was injured on Spanish duty. The impressive forward who’s netted 19 times so far this season for Liverpool limped off against France around the 23rd minute mark in a 1-0 win for Spain. You have to think he’s a doubt for the game against Chelsea and Champions League final 16 against Inter.
He might have a Serbian who played for Red Star Belgrade , but being born in Spain to a Catalan nurse and playing at Barcelona has gotten Bojan Krkic called up to Luis Aragones full squad for next week’s friendly against France. The call up also protects Spain from losing Krkic to Serbia, who have been long in contact with him about representing their country at the highest level even though Krkic represented Spain at the U-17 level. He is the youngest player to feature in a Champions League game at 17 years, 22 days.
Image via Soccerlens
We’ve always been huge fans on Fernando Torres, especially since he killed it at the 2004 Euro’s with Spain. Captaining Athletico Madrid at 19 years old was huge, but the success he’s had at Liverpool has been amazing, with 17 goals so far, averaging 0.65 goals a game. Can you say there was a better buy last summer?
