There can be no complaints from anyone. The best team of Euro 2008 was Spain and they deservedly become Champions. It's been a great tournament with many positive signs for the sport of football. Next up South Africa in 2010.
Thanks for joining me and posting your comments over the last three weeks. I'll hopefully have some cool pix of Spanish fans celebrating late into the night.
The temperature is rising...it's almost 85 degrees in the shade! The fan zone at the Rathaus is starting to fill out and there are more Germans than Spanish but in the streets it's another story. I think the Spanish fans have figured out UEFA's little racket and decided to boycot $10 beers and snarlers. All the same there is no other place to be on this planet if you're a football fan than Vienna. The place is alive with electricity - you can feel the buzz on your skin, it's in your ears, you can taste it in your mouth.
The buzz around Stephanplatz is fantastic and incredibly friendly. It's almost 8 hours until kick-off and the party is really getting going. There is a 50/50 split between Spanish and German supporters with the word being that the Austrians are for the Spanish!
I had a chance to take in the sights of Vienna today and I must say it is a beautiful city. I won’t bore you with my snaps because this guy does it much better. I will show you a picture of a #### Schnitzel though. You haven’t been to Vienna unless you’ve had one of these bad boys – it was as big as my outstretched hand and absolutely delicious. No doubt it’s a carb buster being that it’s fried but hey, I’m married!
In the area around Stephanplatz the scalpers are going crazy trying to get hold of tickets for clients. No one, I mean no one seems to be selling and the asking price is as much as 1000 Euros for a 150 Euro face ticket, Cat 3.
The fans are starting to stream in and no surprise, the Germans are taking over. The atmosphere is superb and I’ll post some video shortly.
Oh – and check out this snap of Petr Cech. This is the biggest wheel in Europe, possibly the world. It was built in the 1800’s and is a Viennese landmark. I bet Cech wishes he had these arms versus Turkey.
They did some warm up stuff with the kids and this one youngsters nutmegs Adebayor. It was Team Adebayor versus Team Diego - they played about 12 minutes each way in quite an entertaining game. Adebayor was trying a lot harder than Diego and looked shagged at the end which his team won 12-11.
The two of them then stayed on for 30 odd minutes to sign autographs and pose for some pix. All in all, good stuff from Adidas and both players.
Earlier at the press conference, Adebayor, pulled a Ronaldo when asked about the AC Milan interest saying that he has a contract at Arsenal but we all know they're not even worth the paper they're written on these days. My feeling is that he's going to see if he can squeeze a few more 'bob' out of the Gunners before deciding.
Adidas have put together a really cool fan park for the supporters. Of course the store is there to fleece you with wildly overpriced tat but there are loads of free things for the kids to do. England did make it to Vienna courtesy of a poster featuring Steven Gerrard!
In 15 minutes, 2pm supposedly Arsenal's and soon to be Milan's, Adebayor along with Werder Bremmen's, Brazilian star Diego are showing up to do some demos and play a little five-a-side. I'm not holding my breath as they were meant to be there at 1pm and I got soaked waitng for them - ah well, all in a days work. I'll head back there from the cool environs of the press area and see if I can snag some video which I'll post later.
It's all very strange here in Vienna and I think it's something to do with the weather. We just had a powerful storm roll through with plenty of lightning, thunder and rain - you can still kind of feel the electricity in the air.
At the fan zone down by the Rathaus, the crowd is a lot thinner than I expected. It seems as though there are more Austrians present than Spaniards or Russians - hence the atmosphere is non-existent.
The metro ride to the stadium was a different matter. Two sets of opposing fans had a tremendous 'sing off' and in the cramped, steamy carriage it was brilliant however as we got off the metro and stepped outside the station the atmosphere was weird again.
If you're a scalper at this match...good luck, you're going to lose your shirt. I've no idea where all these tickets are coming from but so many people were selling it was a ticket bazaar. The prices...FACE VALUE! A European semi-final and face value which means they'll drop from this point.
Inside the stadium the Russian support is ace as they all have flags and their end of the stadium just shimmers - the Spanish will do well to out sing them tonight...btw the acoustics in the Earnst-Happel are tremendous. ..Wow the rain is thundering down - can you imagine these two teams playing in the puddles like Turkey/Switzerland!
Sorry for the delay in pictures. The Internet connection in the stadium was down because of the storm. So it'll be Spain/Germany on Sunday. Make sure to catch my preview tomorrow where I'll break it all down.
It's just a short hop, skip and a jump by plane to Vienna from Zurich - One hour and fifteen minutes. Some other journos I met last night couldn't get any planes and woill have to suffer 12 hours by train...brutal.
From the airport to the media zone in the Fan Fest took 45 minutes thanks to a cabbie impersonating Lewis Hamilton and I must say this is quite the Fan Fest.
Located smack in the middle of the city on Rathausplatz, UEFA have really outdone themselves. It is incredibly impressive and from the looks of things incredibly efficient in separating fans and their hard earned!
Yes, admission is free and so are the drinking fountains and thankfully the portable loos but there is where it ends. Oh well, I guess that's the world we live in.
Between 50,000 & 70,000 people are expected here tonight - more than will be in the Ernst-Happel Stadion. At the moment hardly anyone is here but check out this LIVE camera later in the day and you'll get a real taste of European football - it would never fly in the States.
I'll be back shortly from the Stadium once I can figure out the metro.
..I went back down to town for another couple of hours and the atmosphere is markedly better. The Germans and the Turks are mixing freely and taking on each other in 'sing-offs'. If they are any guage as to what the result will be...watch out Turkey you're going to get stuffed.
The last time I was in Basel, the city was completely orange and in the process of going mental. With 80,000+ Dutch fans the city had even stopped trams going into the center of town, it was just too jammed. Today I arrived at 2pm and to be honest I didn't even think there was a game going on, let alone a semi-final of the European Championships - the place was dead.
By 3.30pm things had brightened somewhat and this is what it looks like 5 hours to kick-off although after the Dutch its a huge disappointment. They'll be no shortage of beer though according to this story and check out these German's at a local tavern, they're having a great time.
It's hard to imagine a day without football but the rest days had to happen sometime. On Monday I rented a bike for 20 francs and rode around Lake Zurich. There are some sweet spots to go swimming with or without a bathing suit - of course I did the Swiss thing! I also got sunburned real bad - what a complete plonker!
And today, Tuesday, a trip to Luzern and Mt. Pilatus. The scenery was stunning until we got to the top - just my luck - a huge cloud formation came in and blanketed everything. Usually you can see the surrounding Alps and all the way back to Luzern. The cog railway is completely amazing as are the gondola rides down the mountain. You can also take in a dry toboggan run that's the longest in Switzerland - loads of fun as long as you're not stuck behind a chubby lady who is terrified of speeds.
And of course we can't forget the nightlife. Zurich is plentiful and varied. So if you ever get the chance give these places the once over don't be shy - my colleague Max Bretos is supposedly a regular!
Tomorrow it's back with the footy. I'll be off to Basel for the 1st semi-final between Germany and Turkey - it promises to be a corker.
..would've have been far more enjoyable than that 130 minutes of pain - but at least these fans enjoyed it - the ones in the middle of the scrum! The punters in the front feel like I do but for all the wrong reasons.
..after the tense and explosive Turkey/Croatia match at the Zurich Fan Zone, peace and love seemed to have returned for the Italy/Spain clash. It's a real family scene so far...
Who will break into the 'B4' and who will avoid the drop. So many questions will be answered over the next nine months because it's back - the greatest show on earth - The Barclays Premier League.
