EURO O8: SPAIN IS THE CHAMPION (This article is available in English and Español)

Spain fulfilled our forecasts about the Final of the European Championship and the Spanish team got the European title after a solvent and brilliant game against Germany.

This victory was the final climax to a brilliant tournament, since Spain since the first match of the competition against Russia has played excellent in all the lines, becoming a team virtually unbeatable when the Spanish midfielders played comfortable. It is difficult to emphasize a Spanish player in particular, because this victory was the triumph of the collective, since all the players have played very coordinated, fulfilling each of them the Luis Aragonés´s orders. Anyway, we want to remark the play of Iker Casillas-excellent and safe during all the championship, with important saves, as in the game against Italy (the Camoranesi´s shot)-, the central defenders Carles Puyol and Carlos Marchena-it was incredible the level of Marchena during the championship, he was an impassable wall- the superb Marcos Senna-he was the best player in the team with an incredible job both in the defensive role and as playmaker-, the offensive midfielders Xavi –he was named the best player of the Euro-and David Silva- these two Spanish midfielders were possibly the 2 Spanish players, who showed more regularity during all the tournament- and of course the two strikers David Villa-the top scorer of the tournament-and Fernando Torres, who after a long season with Liverpool FC, arrived to this Euros without his best physical level, but he appeared in the important moment, in the Final, scoring the decisive goal and being a constant trouble for the rival defence, specially for the slow German defence. The German team was lucky with the good level of the goalkeeper Jens Lehmann, because in other case it had suffered a serious corrective, since if we exclude the first 20 minutes, it was only one team in the final, the team of Luis Aragones, who has finished his career as the national coach and he will be the next Fenerbaçe´s coach-although anything is possible with Luis Aragones-.We hope that he does not continue as the Spanish Coach, because there is not enough this title to be the Coach, since it is necessary other things for this job, as for example respect and education, which are qualities that Luis Aragones does not have many times. We admit that in this Euros he has been quiet without polemics-although he had a problem with Sergio Ramos- and with good players in the squad-although I still think that Raul should have been in the call-but we will not change our idea about Aragones and he must leave the Spanish National team and Vicente del Bosque should be the new Spanish National coach and it is sure that Del Bosque will make a good job, because he has a big experience, common sense and besides he wants good and offensive players in his team(these are three essential points to be successful, although of course it is necessary something more, fortune in important moments, as in a penalties´series-for example the Spanish team lost many important games as the 4th the final of the World Cup of Mexico 86 or of the Euro 96 in England or World Cup 2002 in Korea) .

Finally, we hope that this successful serve to value more the Spanish players, because it is incomprehensible the conduct of some Spanish club, since there are a lot of Spanish quality players-they are Youth European or even World Champion in many cases- , who need only one thing, an opportunity to demonstrate. It is a pity that the Spanish clubs prefer to spend a lot of million in players who play abroad and when they arrive to Spain, they do not show anything remarkable, but they play and the Spanish players, who do not cost anything to the team, are in the bench.
Cheers,
J&F