Euro 2008: The finale

"It is the most important day in Spanish football in many, many years." -- Spain striker Fernando Torres.

Day: Sunday, June 29

Location: Ye Olde King's Head, which charged $10 per person to watch the game. Still, the place was packed and had to turn people away because the venue had already reached capacity.

City: Santa Monica

Game: Germany 0-1 Spain

What I drank: Guinness

What I ate: Banger and hash (hash browns, that is)

Three games, no goals: Germany went into Euro 2008 as the favorites -- and it's not like they disappointed by not winning, given they did come within a goal of total victory -- but it was Spain that put together the most complete tournament. In the three knockout games -- including Sunday's finale -- Spain allowed no goals (in fact, they allowed just five shots on goal in 300 minutes of knockout stage play, including two matches against perennial powerhouses Italy and Germany). In all, Spain outscored its opponents 12-3 over six Euro 2008 matches as it won its first European Championship since 1964 and shook its reputation as a team that caves on the world's biggest stage.

Player(s) of the game: It'd be easy to present a game ball to Fernando Torres, since it was his goal that was the difference in the Euro 2008 finale, but real credit should go to Spain's defensive backline, featuring defenders Joan Capdevila, Carlos Marchena and Carles Puyol (and check out this dude's mug!). They allowed just four German shots, as goalkeeper Iker Casillas barely broke a sweat, and held Die Mannschaft's power triumvirate of Miroslav Klose, Lukas Podolski and Bastian Schweinsteiger completely in check.

Speaking of Klose, Podolski and Schweinsteiger ... How is Bayern Munich not a bigger player in European club football, competing with the likes of AC and Inter Milan, FC Barcelona, Chelsea, Liverpool, Manchester United for Champions League titles every year? Bayern Munich's roster includes Klose, Podolski and Schweinsteiger, as well as German national teamers Marcell Jansen and Philipp Lahm. All those players spent much of Sunday's game on the pitch. Four were major players in Germany's run to the Euro 2008 finale. In addition, you might recognize the names of Luca Toni (Italy), Franck Ribéry (France) and Hamit Altintop (Turkey). Yes, they are also players for Bayern Munich. Yet, all Bayen Munich could muster in competition outside of Germany (they did claim another Bundesliga title, its 21st, which is the most in the Bundesliga) was a run to the semifinals of the UEFA Cup, where it lost to Zenit St Petersburg of Russia (it should be noted that Zenit St Petersburg went on to win the UEFA Cup final, too).

However, Bayern Munich last played in the Champions League final in 2001, when it beat Valenica for the crown (that represents the last time a German Bundesliga squad won the Champions League. Bayer Leverkusen -- which featured Michael Ballack on its roster -- played for the title in 2002, but ultimately lost to Real Madrid). That run of futility on the European stage might explain why German legend Jürgen Klinsmann will open his tenure as Bayern Munich manager on July 1.

It's a wrap: The Euro 2008 finale, which was neatly packaged as a soccer doubleheader with D.C.United's 4-1 win over the Los Angeles Galaxy (as star-studded a game as there can be in Major League Soccer), netted a 3.1 rating on ABC. That's a good number, and it beat Wimbledon (on NBC) and PGA golf (on CBS).

What does that mean? Sports fans tuned into the tournament despite the fact that there was no U.S. team participating. There was no way to compare Euro 2008's numbers to how it performed in 2004, since games were only aired on pay-per-view. This year, ESPN/ABC carried the games for the first time, with announcers calling the games from a broom closet in Bristol, Conn. Next time, maybe ESPN/ABC will foot the bill to send the guys calling the action to the game venues. Until then, soccer fans have World Cup 2010 to look forward to, where Spain and Germany figure to be featured on a short list of tournament favorites and our tour of sports bars will resume.

Euro 2008: Day 15

"If we can beat opponents like (the Netherlands), it really makes no difference who we play." -- Russian leftback Yuri Zhirkov, on the no-fear nature of his team at the European Championships.

Day: Saturday, June 21

Location: Cock N Bull Pub

City: Santa Monica

Game: Netherlands 1-3 (aet) Russia

What I drank: Guinness

What we ate: Bangers and mash

Oranje crushed: To the shocking surprise of nearly everybody on hand at the Cock N Bull (unofficial slogan: All cock, no bull), Russia essentially dominated the Netherlands -- a team that steamrolled both of the 2006 World Cup finalists by a combined score of 7-1 in the group stage -- from start to finish.

That being said, the Cock N Bull presented the best atmosphere thus far for soccer (one can only imagine the hysteria at the place had the Netherlands actually showed up to play and took care of the business everyone expected). The place was packed, mostly with fans sporting orange, thus making the Cock N Bull an ideal place to enjoy a good game of football.

With that in mind, here's an unscientific breakdown of the top five of the places we've visited to watch Euro 2008 games so far ...

1. Cock N Bull: Fold-out tables and chairs were set up in front of a giant projection screen. Folks who showed up early got a glimpse of ABC's Euro 2008 "pregame show," Power Rangers (Oh, the memories!).

2. Ye Olde Kings Head: Hoping for a strong German contingent on Sunday (Oh, the memories!).

3. The Field: Would be ranked higher if another visit didn't require a long trip down the 405/5 to San Diego (Oh, the memories!).

4. O'Brien's Irish Pub: Wonder if the atmosphere would be different had we not gone on a Monday afternoon that also featured Tiger Woods' remarkable playoff hole win at the U.S. Open(Oh, the memories!).

5. South: Has a plethora of high-definition televisions placed strategically about the place, but still had to ask the bartender to put the Euro game on. It was clearly baseball season at South, making it a great place to go if you want to watch the Red Sox play on NESN (Oh, the memories!).

Player of the day: Even the most dedicated soccer enthusiast would be hard-pressed to find a familiar name on the Euro 2008 roster of Russia, but remember the name of Andrei Arshavin, at least for one more game -- Thursday's semifinal showdown with Spain. Arshavin scored the nail-in-the-'ol-coffin goal against the Netherlands, a strike that put Russia up 3-1 in extra time and had the orange-clad patrons at the Cock N Bull scrambling to close out their tabs. Arshavin, it should be noted, earned Man of the Match honors when he led his club team, Zenit St. Petersburg, to victory in the UEFA Cup finale.

It's fun to look forward to something: Would it be a nightmare at ABC to have Russia and Turkey both advance to the European Championship finale (live from Vienna's Ernst Happel Stadion at 11:30 a.m. PT, Sunday)?

Germany v Spain sits there as the gold pot at the end of the rainbow, so to speak, for soccer fans. What a way to continue to promote the game by having as marquee a matchup as possible on major network television? You get the team with the most European championships of any nation versus a potent Spain squad looking to erase the demons of recent failures in major international tournaments.

But, then there's Turkey -- the never-say-die, play-until-the-last-final-moment miracle workers -- and Russia -- advancing to stages not seen since the days of the old CCCP -- who could play the role of spoilers. It wouldn't be a shock at all to see either team playing in Vienna on Sunday.

Euro 2008: Day 10

"There was nothing finesse about that," ESPN color commentator Andy Gray, on Michael Ballack's set-piece strike in the 49th minute.

Day: Monday, June 16

Location: O'Brien's Irish Pub

City: Santa Monica

Game(s): Austria 0-1 Germany

What I drank: Guinness

What I ate: Went with the blackened chicken salad over the O'Brien's staple, bangers and mash, which was a bit less shocking a selection than German coach Joachim Löw sticking with Mario Gómez at forward. Five minutes into Monday's game in Wien, Gómez whiffed on a sure goal-scoring opportunity. It was awkward to watch, and had to be even more painful for Gómez.

Player of the day: Ballack's missile of a shot proved to be the deciding goal in Germany's 1-0 win over Austria. Ballack had been largely quiet during the group stage of Euro 2008, but his thunderous strike into the back corner of the 'ol onion bag was an emphatic, "yes, I'm Michael Ballack and I'm good at this football thing."

"Constant bickering": Löw and his Austrian counterpart, Josef Hickersberger, were sent to the stands just before the end of the first half of play. Löw was later seen celebrating Ballack's gargantuan goal with Bastian Schweinsteiger -- who was forced to be a spectator on Monday after receiving a red card in Germany's 2-1 loss to Croatia -- and tennis legend Boris Becker. It was difficult to understand why both coaches were sent off the field.

What lies ahead for Germany: The methodical winning machine that is the Deutscher Fussball-Bund returns to the pitch Thursday for a delightfully delicious quarterfinal match against Portugal, which -- if it weren't for the unstoppable force that has been the Netherlands -- would be the team of the tournament thus far. Cristiano Ronaldo has lived up to his billing as the "world's greatest footballer," as Portugal rolled -- a 2-0 loss to Switzerland in an inconsequential match on Sunday notwithstanding -- to win Group A. This should be one of the most anticipated matches of the quarterfinal round of this Euro tournament. It's a shame I will have to go to work.

Euro 2008: Day 2

"When he is in perpetual motion like that, he is a constant threat." -- Germany coach Joachim Löw, on Lukas Podolski.


Day: Sunday, June 8

Location: Ye Olde King's Head

City: Santa Monica

Game(s): Croatia 1-0 Austria, Deutscher Fussball-Bund 2-0 Polska

What I drank: Guinness, which helped me put the five-pint rating I gave the Germany-Poland match to the test.

What I ate: Eggs with banger. Yup, just one banger. Nope, I couldn't substitute the banger for bratwurst, despite the fact that we were on hand to watch Germany play a game of football

Player of the day: Germany is loaded with talented goalscorers, but none may be more dangerous in this year's European Championships than Lukas Podolski, who scored both of Germany's goals against Poland. Podolski was born in Poland, which makes those two strikes even more devastating for the Polish.

Germany has never lost to the Poles, now having won 12 of 16 all-time meetings (with four draws). Pregame tensions were high, especially after a Polish tabloid published an illustration with Polska coach Leo Beenhakker holding the severed heads of Michael Ballack and Löw. This was a bit out of line, even by tabloid standards.

The scene: Unfortunately, the ESPN2 feed for Podolski's second goal was lost, thus creating quite a groan from those on hand at one of Santa Monica's most unique establishments. Fortunately, the ESPN2 feed came back in time to see Podolski celebrating his score with his happy teammates. High fives ensued for those on hand rooting for the Deutscher Fussball-Bund. Sorry, it's just fun to say "Deutscher Fussball-Bund." Deutscher Fussball-Bund. Fun. It really is ... really, fun.

For the first time ever, I witnessed a grown man sporting a Colorado Rapids jersey. Out and about in L.A., you might run into the occasional fan wearing Galaxy gear, especially since they brought on that Beckham guy, but not so much with the jerseys of other MLS teams. It was strange.

Why am I doing this? As is my custom during major international soccer tournaments, I will attempt to view as many Euro 2008 games as possible -- without jeopardizing employment -- from various places, namely sports bars. This is simply a breakdown of the fun for your reading pleasure.

The top five Champions League finals I've seen

"We were sitting in the dressing room and we could clearly hear thousands of fans singing You'll Never Walk Alone. Can you imagine how that felt? We were 3-0 down in the Champions League final and all we could hear were 45,000 people letting us know they still believed in us. We knew they had endured a long journey and made so many sacrifices to be there. It was at that point we started to believe too." -- Liverpool's Luis Garcia, on what inspired his team's amazing comeback in the 2005 Champions League final in Istanbul.

While England won't be participating in this year's Euro 2008 festivities in Austria and Switzerland, at least it gets an all-English Champions League final to cheer for when Chelsea FC and Manchester United FC take to the pitch at Moscow's Luzhniki Stadium on May 21.

For the stat fan in all of us, this will only be the third time in the Champions League's 50 or so year history (it was previously known as the European Champion Clubs' Cup, which was often abbreviated to European Cup) that clubs from the same country have met in the finale. The other two times? Well, those happened ever so recently ... twice in the last eight years, in fact. In 2003, AC Milan beat Juventus FC in an all-Italian finale, and three years before that Real Madrid CF bested Valencia CF in an all-Spanish finale.

In honor (honour?), of this momentous occasion, here are the top five Champions League finals I've seen (going all the way back to 2002ish) ...

5. AC Milan 2-1 over Liverpool, 2007 -- AC Milan got a measure of revenge for that epic collapse in the 2005 Champions League final.

4. Real Madrid 2-1 over Bayer Leverkusen Fußball-bund, 2002 -- I remember this game only because it was played about a month before the first World Cup I can remember actually being excited to watch. It also marked the last time a German Bundesliga team played in the UEFA Champions League finale.

3. Barcelona 2-1 over Arsenal, 2006 -- Barca won, despite getting no goals from Ronaldinho, a precursor of things to come for the Brazilian in that year's World Cup.

2. AC Milan 0-0 (3-2 pen.) over Juventus, 2003 -- Watched this game from the Cock N Bull Pub in beautiful Santa Monica, Calif. Just happened to have off of work that day. It was cool drinking Guinness at 11 a.m.

1. Liverpool 3-3 (3-2 pen.) over AC Milan, 2005 -- Greatest Champions League final ever ... and to argue with a guy who's only seen a few of the 50 or so Champions League finals would be foolhardy.

America needs you

"When I die I want to decompose in a barrel of porter and have it served in all the pubs in Ireland." -- some fella named J.P. Dunleavy

We interrupt 24-hour coverage of the legendary Brett Favre's untimely and unfortunate retirement to bring you a very important public service announcement.

Guinness is attempting to make St. Patrick's Day a national holiday here in the U.S. of A.

Yes, the sort of national holiday that could secure you a day off for this day-long drinking binge.

This is the sort of public initiative we can all can agree on, get behind, rally support for, get approved, then celebrate at the local pub with a beautiful pint of a certain dry stout with a thick, creamy head brewed at St. James's Gate Brewery in a little happy place known as Dublin, Ireland.

At time of publication, the brewers of Guinness had secured 132,727 of the one million signatures it needs by March 16 to formally present a petition to Congress to get this thing done.

Yes, Guinness needs your help. St. Patrick needs your help. Little leprechauns need your help. Your favorite local watering hole needs your help. Go here to join the cause. It's for the good of America.

Some little-known fun facts about St. Patrick's Day ...

St. Patrick's Day is celebrated worldwide by Irish people, and increasingly by non-Irish people.

Americans like to celebrate the holiday by wearing green clothing.

Alcohol is the center of many St. Patrick's Day celebrations.