One month ago today, Spain secured the 2008 UEFA European Football Championship by beating Germany 1-0 in the final. Today's post highlights some of the things I did during the 2008 UEFA Football Tournament.

Prior to leaving for Europe, I was watching every single match of the tournament in June (I am a fan of international football more than club football). While traveling in Europe, I was also paying attention to the tournament and watched as many matches as I could. Notable in my memory were the matches I watched while on a cruise from June 20 to June 27.

I was traveling on an Italian cruise ship, and I would say that the vast majority (more than 80%) of those on board were Italians. However, since the cruise ship stopped in Barcelona and Palma de Mallorca, there was a sizable number of Spanish tourists as well. The night of June 22, the cruise director canceled the evening show in favor of setting up a giant TV to watch the quarterfinal match between Spain and Italy. Most of those in attendance were Italians, and boy, are they into football! Every time there was a foul against Spain, the Italians would whistle and go wild. The Italian supporters also don't like the striker for Spain, David Villa (any time he touched the ball, the crowd went wild by whistling, shaking tables, and flailing their arms). The match was very exciting to watch, as after ninety minutes of regulation and two fifteen minute overtimes, it was still tied 0-0. Thus, the game would have to go penalty kicks, which is always a spectacle when you have two world class teams who want to advance to the next round. At any rate, every time Italy scored a goal, the crowd went ballistic. When Buffon, the Italian goalie, made a stop, Italians cheered even louder. However, Francesc 'Cesc' Fàbregas would spoil the Italian party as he would knock in the winning penalty kick for Spain. In the end, Spain defeated Italy by a count of 4-2 in the penalty shootout. The Italians marched out of the theater with their heads down, while at the same time a few Spanish supporters danced with glee. What's really interesting is that the management on the cruise ship asked the chefs to create these lavish desserts in anticipation of the Italian victory (which they would then sell at the bars and other locations throughout the ship). However, when Italy lost, no Italian supporter wanted to spend any money on desserts. As a result, waiters started giving out these scrumptious sweets for free in order to console the Italians.

In the semifinals, Spain took care of Russia in a 3-0 victory (it was Spain's second win over Russia in the tournament, as Spain took down Russia with a score of 4-1 in the group D stage match). Where was I when Spain beat Russia 3-0? I'm glad you asked. I was on a full day tour (on my own) in Palma, the largest city on the island of Majorca and capital city of the autonomous community of the Balearic Islands in Spain. As I was walking back from the center of the city (4.5 kilometers away), I heard these very loud horns coming from all over the port. I thought to myself and wondered why the boats were synchronous in sounding their horns. Then I remembered that Spain was playing Russia in the semifinals, and I guessed that Spain must have scored a goal. By the time I reached the cruise ship (about an hour after setting off from downtown Palma de Mallorca), I heard three instances of horns going off, so I guessed that Spain had scored three goals (though I couldn't guess how many goals Russia had scored). As I approached the cruise ship, I passed a security guard who was holding a sign notifying tourists that Spain was up three goals to none on Russia. Spain would hold on to that lead.

The day before, on June 25, Germany beat Turkey in the semifinals; thus, Germany would match up against Spain in the 2008 European Championship final.

That final was one month ago today, and I was at the Holiday Inn in Madrid at the time. That day I woke up early for a tour around Madrid. As we were driving around the city, we saw supporters draped with flags over their bodies heading over to the Plaza de Colón to secure a valuable spot in the area, where there would be a live telecast of the championship game later that day. Meanwhile, I walked around Madrid, visited the Prado Museum, and then had an excursion to the Escorial (an image of which I posted on this photoblog on June 29th; you can see that entry if you click here) in the afternoon. By the time I came back, I was exhausted and decided to take a nap. I woke up in time to watch the game downstairs in the hotel lobby (which was packed!). At halftime (with Spain up 1-0 on Germany with a goal by Fernando Torres in the 33rd minute) I walked outside, and saw that there were very few cars on the road - mostly everyone was either at home, at a bar, or in some plaza watching the game. Even the hotel staff weren't keen on doing anything productive during the match: most of them crowded around the TV, and people who were trying to check in during the match hours were out of luck.

Spain held on to beat Germany by one goal to nil. With their victory, Spain became only the second team in the history of the tournament to win every single game in the tournament (Spain was 3-0 in the group stage; the other team with a perfect record was France in 1984). When the final whistle sounded, everyone in the hotel lobby was cheering, hotel staff were giving each other high fives, and there was much excitement all around. I went outside to see what was happening. Cars with ecstatic Spanish supporters started flooding the streets. Most of these cars were draped with Spanish flags, and most of the drivers were tooting the car horns in celebration. The frenetic activity would go on late into the night (at least until two in the morning, which is approximately when I went to bed that night).

The next morning we departed Madrid and headed to Toledo (see a picture of Toledo by clicking here). Of course, the most important news of the day throughout Spain was Spain's victory over Germany in the 2008 European Championship. Thus, the image in today's entry: a man reading the newspaper whose full page spread reads '¡Campeones!' So, Spain are 2008 UEFA European Football Champions. I had a very thrilling time in Europe seeing supporters cheer for their home team. Of course, it's also pretty cool that I was in Spain to experience all the excitement while Spain advanced through the tournament and ultimately secured the 2008 UEFA European Football Championship!
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