Spain 1-0 Germany

I spent a pleasant afternoon at my boss's house yesterday watching the Euro 2008 final with his family and some of his football-loving buddies.

Spain took the lead off a chip shot from Fernando Torres that came at the end of an amazing display of forced will to beat defender Philipp Lahm to the ball. The score stood and Spain captured it's first major title in 44 years.

As the excitement winds down, be encouraged that there are only three weeks until friendlies start for Watford.

It's Spain-Germany

I missed the match (damn work), but Spain topped Russia 3-0, setting the stage for Sunday's final.

My boss has been nice enough to invite the missus & I over to watch, so I'll be taking it in on the big screen. Kickoff is 1:45 pm St. Louis time.

Cinderella Goes Home

Oh thank goodness for the Euro 2008 tourney! With the Hornets on break, my soccer news would be a choice between the new look of the GloryHorns forum (I suppose I'll get used to it) or 8-0 blowouts of Barbados by the U.S. National Team.

But instead we had a match run right to the final whistle (and still avoid penalty shoot-outs) as a 90th minute goal by Phillipp Lahm ended Turkey's bid for another come-from-behind victory in the their semi-final match.

Turkey, having pulled multiple rabbits out of their collective hat, were down nine men from injury or suspension yet equalized in the final five minutes only to have Hitzlsperger's pass find Lahm open in the final minute of regulation.

It's Spain & Russia tomorrow with the winner facing Germany in the final in Vienna on Sunday afternoon (St. Louis time). ABC will carry the final.

2008 - 2009 Fixtures Announced

The season starts Saturday August 9 with a visit to Crystal Palace and end (with Watford atop the table of course) at Vicarage Road playing host to Derby County. See the link above for the full schedule.

Hornets Draw Bristol Rovers in Round 1 of League Cup

League (Carling) Cup action starts the week of August 11. The Hornets host League One side Bristol Rovers.

Euro 2008

The England-less Euro 2008 Tourney is under way courtesy of co-hosts Austria & Switzerland. ESPN is covering the match on ESPN 2 and www.espn360.com.

Time differences being what they are, I managed to catch Spain's victory over Russia at lunch today and (hopefully) will be able to check in on Greece & Sweden on the net.

Ellington Off to Derby County

Watford has put Nathan Ellington off on a season-long loan (with option to sign at the end) to Derby County. Ellington, a record ₤3.5 million signing for the Hornets has failed to produce at Watford, scoring just four goals last season.

Derby, coming off a one win, eight draw visit to the Premiership last season will pay Ellington's salary as well as a 'significant', yet undisclosed, loan fee to have his services as they attempt to rebound back out of the Championship League next season.

Ellington will be rejoining skipper Paul Jewell, Nathan's coach at Wigan.