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.

Fernando Torres outran a pair of German defenders to a speeding pass just in time to chip the ball over the head of German goaltender Jens Lehmann at the 33rd minute.

The lone goal was all Spain needed to take the Euro 2008 crown for the first time in 44 years.

Torres, who many feel was not at the top of his game for much of the tournament turned on right when his team needed it.

Torres teamed with David Villa, Euro 2008's leading goal scorer and the rest of an impressive Spanish attack to lead the tournament in team goals.

Germany was looking for their Europe-leading fourth European Championship but it was not to be as Spain picked up their second.

Fresh off conquering Italy in the semifinals the Spanish national team will take on a tough German team. Germany slayed Cinderella Turkey in the semifinal to earn their spot in the championship match.

This afternoon Spain will turn to goal-leader David Villa to lead the way, though it appears as though Cesc Fabregas will get the start in his position. If we've learned anything from Euro 2008 it's that timely substitutions can lead to critical goals.

Villa put in four goals in the opening round including a hat-trick in Spain's opening match against Russia.

Leading Germany in goals scored thus far is Lucas Podolski with three.

For all your Euro 2008 betting needs check out the Bodog Sportsbook.

Turkey's Ugur Boral scored in the 22nd minute only to see Germany's Bastian Schweinsteiger score five minutes later. Germany's Miroslav Klose scored in the 79th minute only to see Turkey tie it up in the 86th.

Then Germany's Philip Lahm scored in the 90th minute to seal the win and Germany's place in the final.

A lot of odd things went down during this match:

• Late in the match, a protester carrying a banner with the word “Tibet” on it ran onto the field and was stopped by security officers.
• Two of Germany's players needed their foreheads stapled.
• And the feed blacked out during the game.

Germany faces the winner of the Spain-Russia semifinal.

Get your Euro 2008 odds in the Bodog Sportsbook!

In Basel, Switzerland, on Wednesday, Germany, a three-time World Cup winner and three-time European champion, takes on Turkey, which finished third in the 2002 World Cup but hasn't done much else on the international stage. Oddsmakers are pretty certain that the Germans will advance, making Joachim Low's side a big -750 favorite to play in Sunday's final.

That said, if you believe in things like teams of destiny (remember Greece in 2004), you might just consider a longshot wager on the Turks. Everyone knows about their miracle win over Croatia in the quarterfinals, but Turkey also staged a comeback for the ages over the Czech Republic in the group stages. Down 2-0 with two-thirds of the game in the books, the Turks bulged the old onion bag three times before the fulltime whistle went.

"I said that people would remember this team in years to come and I still believe that now," Turkish coach Fatih Terim said at the time, looking even more the sage after the Croatia affair.

For bettors looking for a different way to wager on the semifinal games, consider the alternative lines being offered in the Bodog Sportsbook. For example, if you think Germany will beat Turkey by more than two goals, you'll get paid +180 if it happens.

Moving on to Thursday's semifinal in Vienna, Austria, Spain is also a fairly significant -225 favorite to beat upstart Russia. Spain is the fourth-ranked team in the world by FIFA, the highest still alive in the tournament. While the Spaniards have historically failed to deliver despite a rich pedigree (they've won just one big tournament, the 1964 European Championship), Sunday's victory over the defending World Cup champion Italians showed that they can play with and beat the best on the planet. In fact, Spain is now considered the favorite to win the tournament. Oddsmakers doing the numbers for the Euro 2008 futures board have Spain at 11/8, followed by Germany (13/8), Russia (7/2) and Turkey (14/1), but don't be surprised if those odds jostle around a bit in the early part of the week. Germany was the pretournament favorite in many sportsbooks and surely has the easier match to make the finals.

Read the rest of "Place Your Bets: Davids vs. Goliaths" in Bodog Nation today!

Spanish goalkeeper Iker Cassilas is the man of the hour after turning away three of five shootout attempts, including several tremendously intense Italian offerings.

Striking first for Spain was Euro 2008 goal-leader David Villa, followed by Santi Cazorla, Marcos Senna and Cesc Fabregas.

For the Italy it was Fabio Grosso and Mauro German Camoranesi scoring in the shootout.

Towards the end of regulation Spain put pressure on the Italian defense coming close on several attempts.

With ten minutes left in the game, a Spanish free kick was denied by Gianluigi Buffon but nearly rolled across the line as it escaped his grasp.

With the victory Spain will go on to match up with Russia in the Euro 2008 semifinals.

Be sure to check out Bodog's sports book for all your soccer odds.

A Ruud van Nistelroy goal as time wound down gave the Dutch hope but it would not be enough as Dmitri Torbinsky netted another Russian goal at the 112th minute in extra time and Andrei Arshavin drove the proverbial stake in their opponents' hearts before time expired.

With the win the Russians advance to the Euro 2008 semifinals where they will match up against the winner of Sunday's Spain vs. Italy tilt.

Striking first for the eventual victors was Roman Pavluchenkov at the 56 minute mark.

Interested in putting some money down on tomorrow's quarter-final? Check out Bodgog's Soccer odds for all your betting needs.

Italy, who got off to a disastrous Euro 2008 start with a 3-0 loss to Holland, rebounded nicely in a must-win game against France, emerging as 2-0 victors while sending Les Bleus crashing out of contention.

In the 24th minute, France's Eric Adibal took down Italian striker Luca Toni in the box, resulting in Adibal's expulsion from the match and a penalty for Italy. Andrea Pirlo converted for what would be the game-winner, while Daniele De Rossi added the insurance marker.

If you're looking for more European soccer betting, check out the Bodog Sportsbook for all your UEFA Euro 2008 odds!

Thanks to a trio of goals in the final 15 minutes, including two from Nihat Kahveci at the 87th and 89th minutes, the Team Turkey will advance.

For the Czechs it looked as though moving on was all but guaranteed with a Jaroslav Plasil goal at the 62 minute mark put the team up 2-0.

Striking first in the game was Jan Koller on the 34th minute, while Arda Turan became the first Turk on the scoreboard at 62 minutes.

Elsewhere in Euro 2008 action, co-host Switzerland finished on a high note, despite their fate having been sealed with a pair of losses over the course of the two games prior.

Hakan Yakin will go home a hero after scoring the first goal of the game at the 71 minute mark, he would put in his second just over ten minutes after.

Cristiano Ronaldo's Portugal will advance as the leader of Group A, alongside second-place Turkey.

The goal, coming at the 34 minute mark, paved the way for the Russian team's first win of the tournament after getting destroyed by Spain in their first game, 4-1.

With the loss, Greece is officially eliminated from qualifying for the quarter-finals, while Russia can earn a berth with a victory over Sweden on Wednesday.

The Greek loss also means that Spain has officially clinched a spot in the quarter-finals, though it was never really in much doubt.

Tied at three points each, the victor of Russia and Sweden can theoretically steal the number one spot in Group D away from Spain, provided they score a whole lot of goals and the Spanish team falls to Greece.