Charanjit Chana

I was lucky enough to be in Spain for the European Championship Final, in which the Spanish faced Germany. I made it to a bar where I joined in the celebrations and festivities surrounding the showpiece of the tournament which ended in Vienna.

There weren't really any festivities, and few celebrations, but I got to witness a final contested by the country I was in. Spain is currently an almost bi-annual second home, so coupled with the fact that 4 Liverpool players had made it into the squad, it was clear where my allegiances would lie.



The game was even for all of 20 minutes, but the Spanish soon took control and looked comfortable. For the remaining 80 minutes, Germany made a few adventures forward, but nothing that really tested Casillas.

David Silva was lucky not to have been sent off, but had he been, Spain would have been well equipped to hold on to their lead rather than attack as they continued to do.

Torres scored the winner and it was a sublime finish. The only goal of the game and a fitting end to a tournament where he has clearly not been the favourite the first choice striker, but he proved his class and his worth by taking his goal perfectly. I was annoyed that he was dragged off considering how hard he has worked for the team, but the as I'm sure he has said (I am in still Spain and haven't seen any media coverage!) he will listen to the manager and do what is best for the team.

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Both semi finals proved to be good football matches, but Germany vs Turkey provided the most entertainment. Both teams wanted to win and it was very end to end throughout. The goals were a mixture of great and fortunate, but the German's won't care or mind after they made it through to their 3rd international final in 12 years, or 4th in 18. Some record, when you consider the company they're in.

I mean, in the past 5 world cups, we've seen Germany (2), Brazil (3), France (2), Italy (2) and Argentina (1) contest all 5 finals between themselves.

Germany deserved their win, but Turkey gave as good as they got. Russia were unlucky with Spain managing to find three goals from not much. They had plenty of drive to go forward, but no real cutting edge until, somewhat ironically, their top scorer went of injured just before half time. They began to find more room.

As a Liverpool fan, it's been frustrating watching Torres play second fiddle to Villa. As good as Villa is, Torres is better. The same can be said for the competition between Xavi and Xabi Alonso.

Alonso has performed better, but Xavi is guaranteed a place. The fact he got Spain of the mark against the Russians won't help Alonso's case, but he should be considered a little harder after his displays in the tournament and towards the end of the last season.

So we have Germany vs Turkey and Russia vs Spain and both look to be exciting matches. Turkey will not be pushovers, but we'll have to see which Germany side turns up. Against the Portuguese they were almost unstoppable, really taking it to their opponents. I see the Germans making it through, but not without a lot of hard work and luck.

Spain will also need to make sure the right version turns up. They weren't able to break the Italians down, but fully deserved their victory, albeit on penalties.

I'm sure the Russians will prove to be a harder test this time round, especially since they will surel want to put the record straight after their 4-1 thrashing at the hands of the Spanish in the opening game of their group.

I hope Spain make it through and win the tournament, but the fitness and ability of the Russian side is nothing to be laughed at. With Gus Hiddink at the helm, anything is possible.

And they're out. The Dutch had shown so much class, so much adventure and so much style, just decimating everyone in their path. France and Italy suffered at their hands, both loosing by a two goal margin, while the plucky Romanian's were put to bed by their second string.

From what I saw, Russia were better. Their chances clearer and their intent was clear to see. Not that the Dutch were bad.

Thanks to their performance in their first match of the tournament, Holland became many people's favourites to win and there was plenty to backup their optimism. They had great strength in depth, a sense of unity that had been lacking for many years and a set of players playing their best football.

For me, this is the second shock of the round. Germany, I wanted to go through just to get rid of Ronaldo, while I expected to Dutch to find their way past the Russians. I didn't think it would be easy, but definitely possible. The other surprise for me was Croatia's loss against Turkey.

The Croats had found themselves in a similar position to the Dutch, only their unity was real and had been for a long time. Thinking back to their wonderful run during the '98 World Cup and you would be hard pressed to find a group of players that work so hard for each other. Their manager has become a respected figure and a player I once admired, despite his stint on the blue half of Merseyside.

Spain and Italy find themselves in the last game of the round, with a trip to face the Russian's on offer. This was a fixture no-one was talking about and one that they'll be approaching a lot differently. I am an avid a long time Italy fan, but I really believe Spain have more about them. I may watch this game as a nutreal, but if I had to choose, I'd love to see Torres and Alonso finish the season with some silverware and would want them to gently pass the Italians in a close fought match.

I for one am glad that Portugal are out of Euro 2008. They were poor last night. Ronaldo was ineffective and fluffed an easy chance that a player of his 'caliber' should have buried. I'm not a huge fan of the German national team, but their performance against the Portuguese was impressive and bought a little more credibility to their title as favourites. It's not one I agree with, but they will certainly give the Croatians or Russians a bigger test than they may have been expecting.



The quarter final should be a good game, and I am really looking forward to it.

Hopefully Ronaldo will sort his future out soon and we won't hear from 'Big Phil' too much before the season begins.

Every team has made it through their group stage fixtures and we're now facing the knockout faze.

I've been really happy with the tournament so far, thanks in no small part to England's inability to qualify. Pre and post match nonsense is kept to a minimum and I don't have to trawl through article after article on the England team's breakfast menu in the morning papers to see how other teams have been performing and the latest summer transfer gossip.

I wanted Spain to win, but I think Holland and Croatia have been the two most convincing. Spain's last two matches ended with lucky second goals, but a win is a win and you often need a bit of luck to make it to the winners podium. The group stages haven't produced any real surprises, but that means that we've got some great fixtures to look forward too:

• Portugal vs Germany
• Croatia vs Turkey
• Holland vs Russia
• Spain vs Italy

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Euro 2008 began with a great opening game between Switzerland and the Czech Republic and for me it's been a very good tournament so far. I've seen 5 of the opening 6 games and it will be 6 1/2 out of 8 by tonight. I'm not going to comment much on Italy's game, but the Dutch really took it to them and deserved their win. I personally interpreted the first goal as offside, but the referees have been 'proved' to be right, so there's not much anyone can do about that.

The other two goals were lovely bits of team play. Dirk Kuyt did what he does best, working hard for the team, while those around him played their socks off.

I'm really looking forward to the Spain result tonight, I say result because I won't see much of the game, but I am hoping Torres starts where he left off at the end of the season. God knows my fantasy football team needs it

The Spain game was extremely enjoyable from what I saw and I hope their final group game is as good because it might the only one I see in full during the group stages.

My history kind of dictates that I support the Czechs. From '96 I've been a fan and with Patrick Berger and Milan Baros both gracing the Anfield turf, it was a no brainer who I was going to support going into the game.

However, I've always been a fan of Stéphan Henchoz, and Liverpool have recently signed a Swizz international, Phillip Degen, so I had a small amount of hope that Switzerland would perform well and really give the Czechs a good game. They did not disappointed. For an opening game, it was very good and it's set a standard in my opinion

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Well, the English season came to an end a couple of weeks ago, but we're just a week away from seeing the start of Euro 2008.

I am really looking forward to it, even more so because England won't be taking part. I'm sure the media in each participating country are as one sighted as the English, but it does get a bit much with all the unnecessary talk and highlights.

I'm sure we'll have the 'If England were playing...' mentioned again and again, but I don't care. The commentary and support will be far less biased and the pre and post match talk will be focused rather than interrupted with what high-heels David Beckham bought himself on a rare excursion from the team hotel.

I'm personally supporting Italy and Spain. I've always been a huge Italy fan and was pleased as punch to see Zidane sent off and then the mighty Azzuri go on to win, but that fact that Liverpool have so many players in the Spain squad has made it a little harder for me to ignore them

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