Felicitaciones España, Auf Wiedersehen Deutschland

Spain beat Germany 1-0 on a lone goal from Fernando Torres in the first half. Spain looked dominant and had most of the chances on goal and the game could have easily seen 2 or 3 more goals. It was well deserved. They played the best and most consistent soccer throughout the tournament so a true champion has been crowned. Congratulations! It was exciting to watch the young Arsenal player Cesc Fabregas conjure up some passing magic in the semifinal against Russia. He's definitely my favorite player right now.

At the same time I was happy for Spain, I felt bad for Germany. I know their fans (especially Sander, Christine, Michael, Tinae) truly love and support their team; to have them come so close and not win must be disheartening. But, maybe World Cup 2010.. or maybe not since there are those South American teams involved.

I am also bummed that the tournament is over because I have to wait every two years for a major soccer tournament. I love how countries gather so much support and show their passion for the world game. In many ways, I am jealous of how passionate other coutries are for their national team. It's something that we lack - either through apathy or from being naive.

The next is World Cup 2010 in South Africa. Let's see if the US National Soccer team can make us proud of our emerging soccer ability this time around.