THE FINAL TABLE

Here it is. Gavin Stone wins, although the 21 point gap was closer than expected in the end. Nathan Fox takes a very impressive second and as a result, is owed £25. Nathan, your call: I can send it via paypal, UK cash (if you dare), UK cheque or give it to Jim when he's over in August. The problem there being it will probably be used for beer…

Tim and Daph Stone take third spot and £15 (should buy a bottle of whisky), while Sam Stone makes an impressive debut with a 4^th place finish, meaning an extra £10 can go towards his nappies this week. Another impressive debut comes from Simon Mitchell, who finished fifth and illustrates just how knowledgeable Cromer men are when it comes to football. He shares that spot with Isabella Stone, while Jim Brockman pipped Caspar Billington for eighth place and second in the Macau League.

Well done all of you and many, many thanks for taking part. This tournament has been the biggest one yet and while there will no doubt be another one in 2010, I think it is about time I bowed out and let you all get on with it. I won't be entering a team again. For me, it is a hollow victory and the enjoyment for me comes from all the writing I do around it. Still, if you guys enjoy it, I will carry on for sure. Please let me know your thoughts, ideas and comments – good or bad – and not just about the league. Tell me what you think of the blog that went with it. It's best to email me those: gavstone@gmail.com. I hope some of you will spare a couple of minutes and tell it like it is.

I am starting up a blog on the 2010 WC as we speak and I will let you all know in due course when it is up and running. In the meantime, apart from our Player of the Tournament, I think I am going to put this blog to bed. That is, unless, you want me to drone on about my Team of the Tournament, chuck in a few 'Departure Lounge' features, some reviews of your teams, etc.

Otherwise, cheers chaps.

Gav

1	Gavin Stone	Scally Out	-	*	415
2	Nathan Fox	Amen	-	*	394	21
3	Tim and Daph Stone	Cromer Town	-	*	382	33
4	Sam Stone	Inter Godalming	-	*	373	42
5	Simon Mitchell	1 Louder than 10	-		360	55
5	Isabella Stone	Black and Gold	Up 1	*	360	55
7	Jim Brockman	TBC	Up 2	*	359	56
8	Caspar Billington	Tarka's Boot	Dn 1		358	57
9	David Waites	Hughesyisablue	Dn 2		344	71
10	Ian Finney	Irish Wolfhounds	Up 1	*	337	78
11	Katie Stone	Izsam	Dn 1	*	333	82
12	Toby Griffiths	Deputy Dawgs	-		332	83
13	Pablo Lonza	Pablonchos	-		320	95
14	Class 4S	4S United	-		308	107
15	Ben Moir	Moir's Muppets	-		292	123
16	John Stiven	Forever Young	-	*	291	124
17	James Bennett	Best of Benny's	-	*	270	145
18	Colin Mansell	The Sharks	-	*	264	151
19	Adam Moore	Moore's Maestros	-	*	256	159
20	Yves Revi	Loving Football	-		223	192

Germany v Spain - Line-ups

Germany: Lehmann; Friedrich, Mertesacker, Metzelder, Lahm; Frings, Hitzlsperger; Schweinsteiger, Ballack (c), Podolski; Klose.

Spain: Casillas (c); Ramos, Marchena, Puyol, Capdevila; Senna; Iniesta, Xavi, Fabregas, Silva; Torres.

So as expected - and hoped for - by Germany with Ballack risked after a heavy course of painkillers and icing. He will play the central role of a three-man attacking midfield as Joachim Low goes 4-2-3-1 again, the formation that has seen them get to the final.

Spain go with the expected line-up too, with Marcos Senna playing a defensive midfield role in what is essentially a 4-1-4-1 formation. Fernando Torres will furrow alone up front, but he can expect plentiful support form the likes of Iniesta, Xavi, Fabregas and Silva.

Germany v Spain - FINAL PREVIEW

Sunday 29th June – 1945 UK time (Live on BBC1); Final; At Ernst Happel Stadion, Vienna

Ballack set to start, despite calf injury…Villa definitely out of action…Fabregas set to start in five man midfield…Frings back in starting XI for Germany...

Tale of the Tape:

GERMANY		SPAIN
Joachim Low	Manager	Luis Aragones
3rd	Power Ranking	1st
5th	FIFA Ranking	4th
7th	ELO Ranking	1st
4th	UEFA co-efficient	12th
Winners (72, 80, 96)	Euro Best Performance	Winners (64)
4-0-1-10-6	Euro 2008 Record (W-D-L-F-A)	4-1-0-11-2
bt Poland 2-0 l Croatia 1-2 bt Austria 1-0 bt Portugal 3-2 bt Turkey 3-2	Euro 2008 Results	bt Russia 4-1 bt Sweden 2-1 bt Greece 2-0 d Italy 0-0 (aet, 4-2 pens) bt Russia 3-0
Podolski (3)	Top scorers	Villa (4)
Podolski 52 Lahm 45 Klose 44 Ballack 43	Top Fantasy performers	Villa 54 Fabregas 45 Casillas 38 Torres 34
12/5	Euro 2008 odds	13/10
-	Suspended	-
Ballack (calf, doubtful)	Injured	Villa (thigh, out)

The lowdown:
This could be a corker. A team who have won their share of major tournaments over the years and are arguably over-performing in Euro 2008, come up against a team who have been the crack side of this competition, as they look to break a 44 year trophy duck. So much at stake, so hard to call, major players out injured. That will be penalties then...

How did we get here?
Spain got here in style, winning all of their matches, including the ‘win’ on penalties over Italy in the quarter-finals. A 3-0 win over Russia in the semi-finals came about despite losing David Villa late in the first half to injury. Germany came out second in their group behind Croatia, looked awesome when beating Portugal in the last eight, before labouring to an unimpressive 3-2 win over Turkey in the semi-finals.

The Germans:
Michael Ballack is on a heavy course of massage, painkillers and ice in a race to be passed fit for this match, following a calf injury that developed after the Turkey game. The captain, who put in his worst performance of Euro 2008 in that Turkey match, would be a big loss and his absence could see a call-up for Werder Bremen midfielder Tim Borowski. It may lead to a reshuffle of midfield, with Bastian Schweinsteiger moving from the right to the centre, in place of Ballack. Torstein Frings looks set to return to central midfield regardless as coach Joachim Low looks set to continue his 4-2-3-1 formation. The defence will have to be a lot better than it was against Turkey, where it was ripped to shreds on many an occasion. The return of Frings should tighten matters up.  

Projected Starting Line-Up:

	Lehmann
Friedrich	Metzelder				Mertesacker			Lahm
		Hitzlsperger		Frings
Podolski			Ballack or Borowski			Schweinsteiger
Klose

The Spaniards:
The big news for Spain is that David Villa is set to miss out on the final due to the thigh injury he picked up against Russia. It means one of two possibilities: Dani Guiza will open in attack alongside Fernando Torres in a 4-4-2 formation, or coach Luis Aragones will run with a 4-5-1, which would mean s tart for Arsenal man Cesc Fabregas. He came on for Villa in the semi-final and made a massive difference, setting up all three goals and pulling the midfield talents of Andres Iniesta and Xavi Hernandez further forward. As a result, they both enjoyed their best matches of the finals. Elsewhere, no changes are expected, especially with the back four in such fine form of late. Carles Puyol in particular looked strong against Russia, but the test offered by the German breaking midfielders will be something completely different.

Projected Starting Line-Up:

	Casillas
Ramos	Puyol		Marchena		Capdevila
Silva	Xavi	Senna		Iniesta	Fabregas
Torres

Who's Hot?
Of those still fit to play, Germany have Podolski in hot form on 52 points, while Philipp Lahm is the highest-scoring defender in the competition with 45 points. Spain can expect Iker Casillas (38 points) to put on a good show, while a starting Cesc Fabregas (45) looks set to add to his tally.

Who's Not?
For someone likely to start, Tim Borowski (4) has not seen much action in this competition. Spain need more from Iniesta (21) and the so-called goalscoring centre-back, Carlos Marchena (23.).

As Cool as Fonz:
Seemingly from out of nowhere, Miroslav Klose (44) has chipped in points on a consistent basis, as has Schweinsteiger (33) when he has featured. Fernando Torres, on 34, has a lot more to offer and tonight could be the night.

These two have history…
Germany have the upper hand when these two meet, winning eight and drawing six out of nineteen previous meetings. The most recent was in February 2003, when the Spaniards won 3-1 in Mallorca. None of the goalscorers on that day are involved in this match. .

Spot-kick shenanigans:
Germany have won their last five penalty shoot-outs and have lost only one in six. Their most recent win by this method was against Argentina in the 2006 World Cup. Spain beat Italy in the last eight on spot-kicks to record their third win in six. It is worth noting that some of their squad lost the Olympic football final in 2000 on penalties to Cameroon.

The Referee:
Roberto Rossetti is from Italy. No, he is not corrupt. He did benefit from the Calciopoli scandal in 2006 though, which saw the likes of Paparesta fall by the wayside. It allowed Rossetti to be the stand-out Italian official and tonight is his night.

The Verdict:
A rock and a hard place. On the one hand, the Germans have had this knack of getting further than the sum parts suggest they should. On the other there is Spain, usually so weak in the core that they bomb out of a tournament when they should walk it. This time though, they have got to the final and are looking awesome in every way. The loss of Villa is not as big as it could be, what with the way Fabregas played in Xavi and Iniesta against Russia. In Marcos Senna, they have a good shield for the back four and ideally, he should contain Schweinsteiger and/or Ballack. But Germany…they will not lie down, they have been here before and they have match winners too. The key area will be midfield and who wins control here. Frings is where this match will be won and lost and if he can keep a check on the likes of Xavi, then we could be in for an unexpected result.

Prediction:
Big-match mentality and all that, it counts for something. 2-1 to Germany in ninety minutes.

Player of the Tournament - Vote Now!

There's no point on relying on UEFA to choose a Player of the Tournament, as it is either decided by teeny fans choosing their favourite player, or officials with a vested interest. No, we need to decide on the player who has set this tournament alight.Below is an entry form, listing the twenty players I feel have look the most impressive during Euro 2008. I would like you to choose one carefully as your nomination: take into account form in this competition ONLY. Consider the effect they have had on their team and if and how they have influenced matches. Don't just consider the goalscorers either: there are a number of players who have influenced matches and played superbly from further back.When you have decided, fill in the online entry form under this. Don't worry, it is all safe and secure. If you are in need of inspiration, please refer to the blurb at the bottom of this post. I look forward to your entries, the closing date for which is Sunday 29th June, at 2300 UK time.Andrei Arshavin (Russia)For two matches, Arshavin made Russia look invincible. After returning from his suspension, he came into the side and prompted and cajouled everyone of his team-mates, turning the Russians into an awesome attacking machine. Arda Turan (Turkey)One of the reasons for the wonderful success of Turkey in this competition. Got forward well and sprayed the ball about midfield with class and confidence. His suspension for the semi-final certainly hampered Turkish chances. Bastian Schweinsteiger (Germany)Suffered the ignominy of a red card against Croatia but came back with a vengeance, scoring against Portugal and Turkey and driving the Germans into the final. Cristiano Ronaldo (Portugal)An influential part of the Portuguese team and played some of his clever passes too. Deco (Portugal)In awesome form for Portugal throughout the tournament, spraying passes over all distances and all angles. Made life hard for any team his came up against. Fernando Torres (Spain)Played his part in the Spanish run to the final, creating, scoring and making a nuisance of himself in equal measure. Gianluigi Buffon (Italy)Single-handedly saved the azzurri from going out in the group stages with that fine penalty save against Romania and continued with a series of top stops against France and Spain.Giorgio Chiellini (Italy)Normally a full-back but from the Italians second game he played in the centre, quashing any thoughts of Fabio Cannavaro with some assured performances. Hamit Altintop (Turkey)Spent the tournament at right-back when midfield is more his domain. But boy, did he look good. And when he came forward, other teams struggled to contain him. Iker Casillas (Spain)Plenty of good stops in the matches, but Casillas cemented a reputation as being the best keeper in the world with his penalty shoot-out saves against Italy in the quarter-finals. Ivan Rakitic (Croatia)Looked in fine fettle playing out of his position on numerous occasions, yet still played a part in the rise of Croatia in this competition. Luka Modric (Croatia)The midfield creativity hub of the Croatian side, who had a hand in many of the forward moves of his side, as well as their goals. Lukas Podolski (Germany)Has looked back to his best in the competition, scoring many goals, playing a hand in others and even getting back for some quality defending when called upon. He has been vital to Germany. Michael Ballack (Germany)Never under-estimate the contribution of the Chelsea man. His words and performance in the Austria match pulled the collective socks of the German team up again. Now look where they are. Nihat Kahveci (Turkey)Scorer of that fine goal that won the match against the Czech Republic and although he missed the latter stages due to injury, his influence was great. Philipp Lahm (Germany)The marauding full-back has been one of the class defenders of this competition, with his goal winner in the semi-final against Turkey proof positive of that. Robin van Persie (Netherlands)Used as an impact substitute by the Dutch, but his introduction saw some inspired Dutch play on more than one occasion. Sergio Ramos (Spain)Full-back who has looked very assured in defence, giving away very little indeed. He has also made more of a habit going forward, playing his part in some fine team moves. Wesley Sneijder (Netherlands)The influential midfielder was the driving force for the Dutch and was in awesome form in the group stages. Has never played better. Yuri Zhirkov (Russia)Another forward-thinking full-back, who played his part in a great deal of moves and never gave his opponents a second of respite.

Leaderboard – Day 18

As we approach the end, with one match left, the title looks to have found a home. Gavin Stone has it in the can, barring any disaster. Nathan Fox is the only man who can catch him and a close look at their respective players suggests this is unlikely to happen:

Gavin: Casillas, Lahm, Ballack, Villa, Torres.

Nathan: Lahm, Ballack, Xavi, Sergio Ramos, Torres.

With Villa out injured and both managers having Lahm, Ballack and Torres, it means it is between Sergio Ramos and Iker Casillas. Ramos, who was getting forward for fun against Russia, would need two goals and the Man of the Match award, with Casillas getting a yellow card, for Nathan to be crowned king. Hell freezing over might be a better bet.

Elsewhere things are still tight, with Tim and Daph Stone riding high in 3^rd. Their key players tomorrow will be Sergio Ramos, Cesc Fabregas and Miroslav Klose. They could yet do some damage, while 4^th placed Sam Stone has many players in common with those above him. Worth noting is Jim Brockman, still lying low in ninth but with SEVEN players left in his side – easily the highest of any team. Good games for Lehmann, Metzelder, Klose and Fabregas could see a late charge from Brockman.

1	Gavin Stone	Scally Out	-	*	388
2	Nathan Fox	Amen	-	*	361	27
3	Tim and Daph Stone	Cromer Town	-	*	344	44
4	Sam Stone	Inter Godalming	Up 6	*	332	56
5	Simon Mitchell	1 Louder than 10	Dn 1		330	58
6	Isabella Stone	Black and Gold	-	*	326	62
7	Caspar Billington	Tarka's Boot	Up 1		324	64
8	David Waites	Hughesyisablue	Dn 1		322	66
9	Jim Brockman	TBC	Up 2	*	322	66
10	Katie Stone	Izsam	Dn 5	*	313	75
11	Ian Finney	Irish Wolfhounds	Up 2	*	312	76
12	Toby Griffiths	Deputy Dawgs	Dn 3		305	83
13	Pablo Lonza	Pablonchos	Dn 1		288	100
14	Class 4S	4S United	Up 1		274	114
15	Ben Moir	Moir's Muppets	Dn 1		273	115
16	John Stiven	Forever Young	-	*	261	127
17	James Bennett	Best of Benny's	-	*	245	143
18	Colin Mansell	The Sharks	Up 2	*	234	154
19	Adam Moore	Moore's Maestros	-	*	228	160
20	Yves Revi	Loving Football	Dn 2		220	168

Russia 0-3 Spain - Match Report

Russia 0-3 Spain

Most pundits in the know predicted a Spanish victory in this semi-final, but not to this extent. Despite a first-half injury to David Villa, which rules him out of the competition, Spain looked the better side throughout, despite Roman Pavlyuchenko going closest of all in the first half. Cesc Fabregas made the difference as a substitute, when he took over from Villa in a move that saw Spain convert to a 4-5-1 formation. He set up all three second half goals, with Xavi Hernandez bagging one of them and looking in finer fettle than at any other point of the competition. Some bloke called Andrei Arshavin was marked out of the game by the combined likes of Carles Puyol and Carlos Marchena, with the Russian attacka ghost of the one that sent the Dutch packing. Towards the end this was a horribly one-sided match, making Spain clear favourites now to win Euro 2008.

Man of the Match: Cesc Fabregas (Spain)

Top scorers: RUS– Saenko, Arshavin, Semak, Zyryanov, Pavlyuchenko and Semshov all 4.

SPA– Fabregas 20, Iniesta 14, Silva 12 and Xavi both 12.

Russia v Spain – Semi-Final Preview

Thursday 26th June – 1945 UK time (Live on ITV); Semi-Final; At Ernst Happel Stadion, Vienna

Tale of the Tape:

RUSSIA		SPAIN
Guus Hiddink	Manager	Luis Aragones
2nd	Power Ranking	1st
24th	FIFA Ranking	4th
10th	ELO Ranking	1st
15th	UEFA co-efficient	12th
Winners (60)	Euro Best Performance	Winners (64)
3-0-1-7-5	Euro 2008 Record (W-D-L-F-A)	3-1-0-8-2
l Spain 1-4 bt Greece 1-0 bt Sweden 2-0 bt Netherlands 3-1 (aet)	Euro 2008 Results	bt Russia 4-1 bt Sweden 2-1 bt Greece 2-0 d Italy 0-0 (aet, 4-2 pens)
Pavlyuchenko (3)	Top scorers	Villa (4)
Pavlyuchenko 40, Arshavin 37, Anyukov 33	Top Fantasy performers	Villa 50, Torres 30, Casillas 28
10/3	Euro 2008 odds	7/4
Kolodin, Torbinskiy	Suspended	-
Bilyaletdinov, Saenko, Anyukov (all probable)	Injured	-

The lowdown:

The first rematch of Euro 2008. These two sides met in the first Group D match and now they are reunited. Spain have continued juggernaut-like through the competition, although there are a few concerns in a few places. Russia are the darlings of everyone. They wowed the world by beating the Netherlands in the quarter-finals and are looking for another scalp.

How did we get here?

Both of these sides comfortably beat Sweden and Greece in their group following their opening match, although the Spaniards did labour against the Swedes, relying on a last minute winner. It took penalties for the Spanish side to get past Italy in the last eight after a dour game, while Russia were taken to extra-time by the Dutch, only to put them to the sword. And with style.

The Russians:

There are minor injury concerns over midfielders Diniya Bilyaletdinov and Ivan Saenko, while attacking full-back Alexander Anyukov has also been struggling since the Netherlands match. However, coach Guus Hiddink is expected to have all three on call for this match. Definitely out, albeit through suspension, are attacking midfielder (and regular substitute) Dmitry Torbinskiy and defender Denis Kolodin. It means that Vasiliy Berezutsky looks likely to line up in central defence, while Sergei Semak might play a more defensive role in midfield to thwart the moves of Torres and Villa. Oh, and there is Andrei Arshavin, but enough has been said about him so far recently. Suffice to say that the onus is likely to be on him again to make the difference but with him likely to be more heavily marked (he's world-famous now) than ever, the likes of Zyryanov and Saenko from midfield will have to pull forward more.

Projected Starting Line-Up:

	Akinfeev
Anyukov	Berezutsky				Ignashevich			Zhirkov
	Semak
Saenko			Zyryanov			Semshov
		Arshavin		Pavlyuchenko

The Spaniards:


Spain will be looking to get more from their midfield in this match after a series of disappointing matches and early substitutions for a number of them. Chief under-performers have been Andres Iniesta and Xavi Hernandez, both of whom see their places under threat from Cesc Fabregas, who has looked useful every time he has come on during Euro 2008 thus far. Sources indicate Xavi's place is more at threat, but other than that expect no changes. David Villa and Fernando Torres will continue to link together in attack, Marcos Senna will sit in front of the back four and stifle the passes and moves of Arshavin (something he is good at), while Carles Puyol will be hoping for a better show today. The back line could be tested here and with this area seen as the biggest chink in the Spanish armour, the pressure will be on Puyol to turn in a quality display.

Projected Starting Line-Up:

	Casillas
Ramos	Puyol				Marchena		Capdevila
			Senna
		Iniesta		Fabregas		Silva
Villa					Torres

Who's Hot?


Villa is the top Fantasy League scorer with 50 points, while a healthy 30 from Torres is impressive. Casillas (28) scored the majority of his points thanks to the penalty shoot-out against Italy. Russian reliance on Arshavin (37) and Pavlyuchenko (40) is evident from their totals.

Who's Not?

Xavi (12) and Marcos Senna (12) have given poor returns for Spain, while Ivan Saenko (5) has been a liability for the Russians.

As Cool as Fonz:

Andres Iniesta must surely come good here. 16 points for a player of his quality is a travesty. As for Russia, Diniya Bilyaletdinov (14) has looked dangerous at times when on the pitch. A breakthrough is needed tonight.

These two have history…

Spain easily have the upper hand ion Russia, with 3 wins and a draw from their four meetings. Interestingly, apart from the 4-1 from earlier, the other two Spanish wins have been by 1-0 scorelines.

Spot-kick shenanigans:

Russia have never suffered any form of penalty shoot-out torture, while Spain have won three from six, including the one over Italy last Sunday night.

The Referee:

Frank de Bleeckere of Belgium is your man in the middle tonight. He's alright, he is.

The Verdict:

The teams will be a lot better matched than they were in their first meeting in this competition. The Russians – still vulnerable at the back, especially when they push the full-backs up so far – have tightened things as a unit, but are still susceptible to a decent set-piece. Yet they go forward with such verve. Spain have conceded just two goals, yet question marks still hang over their back line. The pace of Arshavin and the height of Pavlyuchenko will certainly test them and could well make the difference. If Russia get the forward pressure from the full-backs just right, tonight could see more messy vodka parties in Moscow.

Prediction:

2-1 to Russia. In normal time.