By Sean Connolly

Depending on the health of David Villa, Spain will have the three most effective strikers in the game this Sunday in the UEFA Euro Final against Germany. They were also good enough to get past the bad luck of the yellow jerseys.

Germany’s defense has squandered silly goals throughout these Euro Finals, and behind that defense is, how should I put this, inept keeper in Jens Lehmann. He made two crucial errors that resulted in goals in the game against Turkey, so don’t be surprised if Fernando Torres, David Villa, and Cesc Fabregas make him look just as awful.

If you’re a Germany fan, you have to admit that the Germans haven’t been convincing. If not for the foot of Lucas Podolski, Germany wouldn’t have even made it out of the group stage. Other than his header against Turkey yesterday (which thanks to a lightning strike that ruined the video feed for ESPN, I did not get to see live on television), Miroslav Klose has yet to be as effective as he was in the 2006 World Cup. Michael Ballack has looked sluggish at times and Podolski seems unable to play 100% for 90 minutes. Germany is limping into this final and they will need much more to win over Spain who comes into the final in stride.

For the second time in the tournament today Spain picked apart Gus Hiddink’s Russia. They looked unstoppable on offense, and their one minor weakness in their defense played brilliantly. Puyol and company shut down Russia giving them little to no chance of putting the ball passed Iker Casillas. The most impressive part of Spain’s dismantle of Russia, was on their third and final goal. After a turnover by Russia, Spain played keep away from Russia’s Andrei Arshavin (who, with his tremendous performance throughout these Euro Finals, may find himself in the English Premiership, more specifically Chelsea, with a lot of money), forming a perfect triangle and passing around him. In what looked like a set drill in a practice session in which you have to pass the ball a certain amount of times before you moved forward, the ball was dumped forward to a wide open Cesc Fabregas who had room to roam. He broke away down the pitch with David Silva trailing down the middle and Fabregas placed it perfectly on Silva’s foot and he buried the ball past Igor Akinfeev and ended any chances of Russia coming back.

Fabregas’ performance off the bench was by far the most impressive in Euro this year. He came on for the leading scorer in these Euro Finals and put on a scintillating performance. As soon as he graced the field he brought enthusiasm, excitement, and ultimately goals to the Spanish side. Fabregas ended up with two remarkable assists. With Torres creating chances but not finishing them, expect Fabregas to start in the final against Germany.

Throughout this tournament Spain has been the most convincing team. Of the four powerhouse teams, Portugal, Germany, Italy, and Spain, Spain has been the only team play to their potential. They come into this game at their best with Cesc Fabregas at the start of becoming the most successful Spanish player in the past 25 years. Sunday’s match will have little competition, my prediction…3-1 Spain. Their first Euro title since 1964.

By Sean Connolly

Bastian Schweinsteiger showed his immaturity today when he pushed Croatian Jerko Leko stopping the last minute run by Germany. After a blast from Podolski in the 79th minute Germany looked like they might steal a tie from Croatia.

After a mild challenge from Jerko Leko, Schweinsteiger who came in for Gomez in the game, erupted pushing Leko to the ground. Referee Frank De Bleeckre immediately issued Scweinsteiger a red card, dismissing him from the game, ruining any chance to come back and possibly ending their Euro 2008 run.

This immature move by Schweinsteiger will be looked back as the reason Germany will not make it out of the group stage. Schweinsteiger was an immediate spark to the German squad, creating chances and ultimately setting up Podolski’s strike for the first goal.

Germany will play Austria next sans Schweinsteiger because of his red card. It seemed as if with the way Schweinsteiger was playing that he could possibly get the start against Austria. This was a poor move on so many levels as it affected both this game and the next game.

Schweinsteiger’s push of Leko was certainly dumb, but let’s not discount the great play of the Croatians. After a mediocre performance against Austria in which they won 1-0, the Croatian squad came out and straight up outplayed Germany for about the first 80 minutes. In the final 13 minutes or so Germany took momentum, but it simply wasn’t enough.

What set up this victory was the sound, tactical play of the Croatian side. They picked apart the sluggish Ballack who looked horrible today, and took total control. On the first goal by Srna, Croatia completed 15 consecutive passes before the goal. It looked as if they were doing a set play in practice as they slowly took apart the German defense. They made their way up the field, used one switch to get the German squad off balance. Pranjic put a ball across the box and Srna buried the ball in the back of the net. This set the tone for the game.

Another reason for Croatia’s victory was Germany’s fool in goal, Jens Lehman. On the second, and ultimately deciding goal, Lehman was beat near post from about 20 yards out, as the ball hit the post which directed straight to Olic who was in the middle just waiting for a goal. Lehman looked nervous and unsure about every move he made throughout the game and cost his side the match.

Germany have to be upset with this game for several reasons. Jens Lehman looked horrible in goal. Michael Ballack looked slow and could not complete passes. And finally, Germany’s one spark off the bench Bastian Schweinsteiger showed how dumb he is by getting a red card with only minutes left in the game. Keep your hands to yourself, Schweinsteiger.