In a bid to avoid an outbreak of Academy Awards syndrome (where I thank everyone for their support before breaking down in floods of tears and dedicating my good fortune to "the Man upstairs")I'll get straight to the point...
The continued support of the Alpine Kicks readership has led to the decision being made to follow the upcoming Bundesliga season (and the most important action from the European leagues and cup competitions) in an all new blog pencilled in for the start of August.

Getting to the final of a major tournament is a huge achievement and even the achievement of getting to one and then losing it should be celebrated. Even for Germany, where expectations used to be incredibly high due to the team's enviable record, the fact that they battled to the final of Euro 2008 without really playing that well is reason enough to be proud.

In my own personal opinion, this has been one of the most enjoyable European Championship tournaments for many years. The quality of the soccer played and the excitement generated by many games has really kept Euro 2008 buzzing until the end.
As I prepare to sign off from Alpine Kicks, I'd like to take this opportunity to look back and record the five things I loved about Euro 2008 and five things that I disliked.

While it isn't the first time that Spain have won the European Championship, it is the first time that I have actually got a prediction right. Spain were my tip for the title from the off but saying that, it was a prediction made not entirely by the head and more than a bit from the heart.
Despite not having a national team of my own in Euro 2008, I must say that I was not devoid of the angst which goes along with following your team through a tournament.

It couldn't have ended any better, could it? I'm not talking about the final, which was both sporadic in true quality and brimming with nastiness, I'm referring to where I watched it and the people around me.
Perched precariously on the curb outside an Italian bar, in the Dutch city of Amsterdam, with a couple of American guys on one side, a Spanish family on the other and a host of other assorted nationalities milling around, I found myself in the middle of a great international event.

Hi again all. Been down in Vienna for a couplle of days now and am loving it, but have not been too wired-up. (Thanks for the place to stay Georg, even if it doesn't have internet.)
Am now sitting in a lovely little Kaffehaus, which is over a century old, and which also happens to have WiFi.

It seems that Spain is the favorite with most nationalities outside of Germany. With Michael Ballack looking doubtful - and Jogi Loew talking about playing Tim Borowski (ugh!) then it looks as though the balance of power may have swung to the Spanish.
This will not bother the Germans at all.

It's final day and the Dutch are continuing to party as if their team was still in the tournament. Maybe it's just their mentality that while there is football on, there is fun to be had - regardless of whether the Oranje are involved or not.
Amsterdam is still decked out in the national colors and people dressed head to toe in tangerine out-number the sun burnt Brits looking for sinful entertainment by about ten to one.

It would have proved to have been an inspired idea had the Dutch maintained their devastating form. Long before Euro 2008, an old friend of mine decided to tie the knot with his long-betrothed beloved. Not only fearing the sad farewell to his status as a single man, he was also facing up to the fact that his perceived time as a rock'n'roll rebel was coming to an end (he actually works in PR).

Even though I tipped Spain to win Euro 2008 before the tournament began, I have to admit the manner in which they overcame Russia surprised me. The Russians were a team riding a wave, reaching their peak and other performance-related clichés. They were gathering so much winning momentum and confidence that there was a good chance that Guus Hiddink's youngsters would sweep Spain aside and provide Germany with a few restless nights before they met in the final.

Euro 2008 is, of course, the European Championship but that doesn't mean anyone outside of Europe is excluded from the party. After my esteemed colleague Jefferson Chase reported on the US Embassy in Berlin's safety warning to American citizens to stay vigilant around Germany's fan zones (the article was also picked up by the Drudge Report), a host of Stateside comments flooded in.

The "Save Jogi" Campaign would like to take this opportunity to thank Philipp Lahm for his last minute goal which eased the pressure on the Germany coach.
Before the goal which sent Germany into the final, Jogi was looking like he was about to explode - which would have made the DFB's job a lot easier had Turkey struck a winner of their own.

Gary Lineker's now famous quote about Germany is getting plenty of air time today after last night's semi-final. "Soccer is a game for 22 people that run around, play the ball... and in the end, Germany always wins".
It really seemed that against Turkey, despite the nail-biting finale and the indominatble spirit of the Turks, Germany could have done anything and still won that game.

There's a strange woman in my house. She's been here for about three days now. Usually there are 22 blokes hanging out in the living room but since Sunday, they've been missing and this woman has replaced them. I wonder what she did with them and what she wants. She asks me if I've paid the electricity bill.

Wednesday's Germany-Turkey game is big -- you know this. Bigger still is the wave of worry that has swept Germany about how well the many fans of both national teams will be able to get along on the streets of Germany at about 10:30pm local time (11:30 in case of extra time and PK's). Somebody's got to lose, and how are they going to take it?