Spain got by Russia 3-0 and will meet Germany in the EURO 2008 Final, at the Ernst Happel Stadium in Vienna. Germany and Spain have met 19 times with Germany winning eight games to Spain’s five. Oddsmakers at SBGglobal.com have Spain as +135 moneyline favorites over Germany who are listed as +210 underdogs to win EURO 2008. Get your Spain vs Germany EURO 2008 Final Prediction in now at SBGglobal.com
Spain beat Russia 3-0 thanks to second-half goals from Xavi Hernández, Daniel Güiza and David Silva. Russia looked like the team to beat after they got by the Netherlands 3-1, but after Spain’s first goal in the 5th minute of the second half the Russians never looked they were going to recover. Güiza added another with 17 minutes remaining before Silva completed the morale-boosting win for Spain. Now Spain looks ahead to the daunting task of beating the Germans. There’s one player who will not be in the lineup for the Spanish side and that’s top scorer David Villa, who was injured in the game against Russia. He leads his teammates with four goals and he can still win the Golden Boot Award. Spain are still confident they can still win without Villa, “You can cope with anything and we've got great players in all positions and whoever plays will do their job well and we hope it won't affect us” fellow midfielder Santi Cazorla stated. Good thing for Spain is that Fernando Torres has stepped up his game; he had multiple chances to score against Russia after he was barely noticed throughout Group stages. Liverpool midfielder Alonso is confident they can give them what they crave. “The best is yet to come and we need to finish off what we have done so far. We are hungry for success, we want to lift the cup on Sunday.”
Germany are brimming with confidence heading into the final. They’ve played on the big stage in every tourney they’ve played over the past ten years. Germany has won the European Championship three times, most recently in 1996, and they came close to winning their fourth World Cup in 2002 when they lost the final to Brazil. Compared to Spain who has won just one major title, the 1964 European Championship, and their only other appearance in the final came in 1984 when they lost to France. Key to Germany's game plan on Sunday will be to take away Spain's skilful midfielders by not giving them space and time on the ball. They have to contain the Spanish players, close them down and play a pressing game. They must play better than they did against Turkey as they had free range at the Germans net. Germany have all ready had two pressure filled knockout rounds and they feel that the pressure is off them going into the final. Coach Joachim Loew is likely to stick with the 4-5-1 formation that served them so well against Portugal and, in the end, saw them sneak home against Turkey. The one difference in the side is likely to be the return of Torsten Frings, who missed the Portugal game after cracking a rib in the team's final Group B game against Austria and had to be content with a substitute's role against Turkey. Frings did well when coming on for the second half against the Turks. Lukas Podolsk leads his teammates with three goals.
Head to Head: 19 matches played
- Germany leads 8 matches
- Spain won 5 matches
- 6 matches ended in draw
- Germany scored 26 goals
- Spain scored 21 goals
EURO 2008 Final: Germany vs Spain
When: Sunday, June 29, 2008 2:45 PM ET
Line: SBGglobal.com
Pick: Germany +210
Point-Spreads.com Spain vs Germany EURO 2008 Final Prediction – Germany +210
The Bottom Line: Both teams have stepped up their game, but Spain’s win over the Russian’s weak defense was not convincing for me. Germany has great defense as well as offense. Not to mention the Germans great goalie. Get your Spain vs Germany EURO 2008 Final Prediction in now at SBGglobal.com and receive a 30% sign-up bonus on your initial deposit!
