Bodog Beat

The Bodog Beat crew went to McFadden's Irish Pub to watch the Euro 2008 Finals between Spain and Germany. (Image Courtesy fifa.com)

We're gettin' a little busy round these parts what with the 2008 WSOP Main Event coming up pretty soon, but we definitely had to take some time out on a Sunday morning to get in some church time. And by "church time" we mean sitting in an Irish pub, drinking beer and watching soccer. Well, football, which is how we will refer to this sport since it was European competition.

Sunday morning was the final of the Euro 2008 competition and featured two talented teams clashing for national bragging rights, Spain and Germany. The Germans fielded a veteran squad with captain Michael Ballack leading the way, while Spain had a younger, more impassioned team looking for their country's first European title in 44 years. We fielded three bloggers, two British magazine editors and Europe's premier poker writer all fully willing to pour themselves into the game and the pints, which were themselves being poured.

The site for the final match between these two football powerhouses was Ernst Happel Stadium in Vienna, Austria, which was packed to the brim with screaming fans all desperate to see their country achieve football glory. We were situated in McFadden's Irish Pub at the Rio in Las Vegas, packed to the brim with Fat Tire (keep in mind this is 11:30am) and desperate to see something other than poker. What we got was a brilliant match that was exciting to watch and nail-biting to the end, if you had money on Germany.

Spain went up 1-0 late in the first half thanks to a brilliant run and flick shot courtesy of Fernando Torres and went into halftime with that advantage. Germany attempted to make a calm, calculated comeback in the second half, but the speed and brilliant ball control of the passionate Spanish proved too much for them. The game would have ended with a final score of 3-0 but for some very, very near misses by the Spanish, especially since the Germans looked like they had all but given up at the end.

Once the game wrapped up, and we had sobered up a bit, it was back to the pool craps tables bed poker room for us, to continue bringing you live updates from the 2008 WSOP.