Football Dispatch

The EURO 2008 final will be played at Vienna's Ernst-Happel Stadion

Sunday Football Special

by Jerrad Peters

29 June 2008

It is the final which was always supposed to happen. On more than one occasion throughout the competition, however, it was very nearly derailed. An early, decisive loss to Croatia left no shortage of doubts surrounding Germany’s prospects. Spain, meanwhile, were pushed to the limit by Italy in the quarterfinals before advancing on penalties. But here they are. Three weeks after EURO 2008 kicked off in Austria and Switzerland, Europe gets exactly what it wanted.

From here, the script goes out the window. Spain come into the match as slight favorites – although the loss of striker David Villa could yet prove devastating. And Germany, yet to play to their potential in any of their previous five outings, will have spent the night praying that captain Michael Ballack would wake up on Sunday morning without the nagging pain in his calf. The 31-year-old Chelsea midfielder missed training on Friday and Saturday and remains a doubt for today’s centrepiece in Vienna.

“On Friday he had problems with his right calf,” commented Germany manager Joachim Low. “The muscle has hardened and he couldn’t possibly participate in training, so we will have to wait and see how things develop.”

Thankfully for Low, Torsten Frings will return to the lineup after recovering from a broken rib. The Werder Bremen enforcer will replace Simon Rolfes and slot it beside Stuttgart’s Thomas Hitzlsperger. Still, the good news will surely be overshadowed by the possibility of Ballack’s absence.

“Our medical people are working around the clock,” said Low. “But we have to think seriously about what’s going to happen if Michael Ballack cannot play.”

Should he pull out of the squad, Ballack’s position would be assumed by one of Tim Borowski and Bastien Schweinsteiger. Borowski, at the moment, would seem the liklier option. Schweinsteiger has been most effective in a right-midfield role throughout the competition and has created countless opportunities with his counterpart on the left, Lukas Podolski. And with Low reluctant to parter Miroslav Klose with another striker, the Borowski option would appear to make the most sense.

On the other side of the ball, Luis Aragones faces a similar conundrum. David Villa was officially ruled out of the final, yesterday. A statement released by the national team read, “Valencia striker David Villa, the top scorer at EURO 2008, is definitely out of Sunday’s final.”

The 26-year-old, having scored four goals in the tournament, was replaced by Cesc Fabregas in the 34th minute of Spain’s semifinal against Russia, Thursday, after pulling up with a thigh injury.

“I’m a little sad that I won’t be there to take part,” he told reporters on Saturday. “But it’s better that a teammate who is fit plays instead of me, particularly as my injury has left me limping quite badly.” He continued, “Now I have to enjoy the show from outside. To play on Sunday would be a lottery.”

For his part, Fabregas was nothing short of superb after making an unexpected appearance in the semifinal. Although his inclusion left Fernando Torres as the lone striker, his passing abilities, and those of Xavi Hernandes and Andres Iniesta, made consistent opportunities for Torres and David Silva. Needless to say, Aragones will have laid awake pondering his inclusion.

“We might have less attacking punch,” offered the Spain manager in reference to naming Fabregas to the starting XI. “But we will have more control in the midfield. I have decided anything yet though and I might still opt to play two strikers.”

The second striker would be Mallorca’s David Guiza. The 27-year-old has been capped just seven times for his country but rose to prominence after leading La Liga with 27 goals last season. He scored the match-winner against Greece on June 18th and notched Spain’s second goal in the 3-0 win over Russia on Thursday.

No matter what Low and Aragones decide, this much is certain. With Villa’s absence and the doubts surrounding Ballack’s ability to make a contribution, all previous predictions and prognostications can be scrapped. It is highly unusual that questions over lineups and formations linger into the hours preceding a major final. And with both sides in the same boat, it wouldn’t be at all surprising to see a far more cagey encounter than might have been previously anticipated.

Have a question about football? Email your query to jerradpeters@gmail.com.

Jerrad Peters covers football for the Winnipeg Free Press, Soccer Three-Sixty magazine, ESPN Soccernet, and Soccer365.com. His work has also appeared on TheMirror.co.uk, Canadian-soccer.com, Footy247.co.uk, Foot2ball.com, and Squadinfo.com.

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