No matter what the outcome you can expect a harsh time for manager Luiz Felipe Scolari if either or both of the players leave. In fact, the manager can expect some tough questions tomorrow as he faces the English media for the first time this year. Scolari has already tried persuading his stars to stay, but so far we haven’t heard anything from the players’ sides.

Lampard currently has a year left on his contract, but according to FIFA rules he can buy out the last year if he wants too. Chelsea is currently denying any request from AC for a transfer for the player, but others are reporting that AC is actively seeking him. There are no reports of any transfer offers for Drogba as of yet, but the interest is certainly there.

Drogba has also drawn interest from Real Madrid and Barcelona. He and Lampard are both high caliber players, so that is really no surprise. For Chelsea it could be bad if they can’t match their competition and pay the stars what they are seeking.

Dunne released a statement concerning the signing on the team’s website shortly after it went through saying that he was happy to stay at City, where he wanted to be all along. He also praised the new manager for making it a priority to get his contract situation ironed out. The skipper said that Now all the leader has to do is concentrate on playing the game and winning. Hughes also told reporters how important Dunne is to the team and how glad he is that this is all through with.

With this move Manchester City continues its pursuit of putting together a good team for the long run. The team has been very active of late, also pursuing a few free agents and recently releasing Paul Dickov, Geovanni, and Emile Mprenza. Roberto Mancini’s son, Flippo was also let go. The attacking trio will be replaced by one who the team hopes will be more effective and hopefully lead the team to more wins next season.

Manchester City has already spent big money this offseason and has shown its fans that it is still committed to the game. If the Ronaldinho deal goes through we may be in for quite a season by City. Hughes told reporters recently that the star wants to join the team and is very positive about the prospect of joining the team. Nothing noteworthy has been said from the player’s side, but talks are going on. There has also been some speculation with a move to Chelsea for Ronaldinho.

Whoever gets him will certainly have a good boost, but teams must remember that this isn’t the same player that was number one not too long ago. There have been many questions about the Brazilians form and fitness of late and whether or not he can get back to his top shape. The teams currently chasing him seem to believe that they can get him to the top again; as City puts it they will be able to provide Ronaldinho with the platform to get him back to where he was a couple of years ago.

Going to Barcelona is one thing, but for such a high amount of money is amazing and Alves is nothing but smiles since he heard the news. He’s mentioned that he understands the contract is huge and he wants to begin playing in action as soon as possible he said so he can prove he’s worth the money. Alves who is only twenty-five years old has a bright future ahead of himself and if he can continue playing like he has then I’m sure he’ll fir right in with Barcelona.

Alves won’t be the only new player for Barcelona and he’ll be playing with other newcomers Seydou Keita, Gerard Pique and Martin Caceres. The talent that Barcelona now has compiled is unreal and they should definitely have the best team of the league on the right side. The question will be the left side, but with so much depth I can see Barcelona making a push this year.

Barcelona finished third in Spain in 07/08 season so they will be beginning their Champions League campaign in the third qualifying round. I see nothing but a stellar season from these guys and the pickup of Alves I’m sure is being talked about frantically in many regions of the world right now.

Now that the Euro2008 Cup is over the committee is already planning their first visit to the two countries co-hosting the next Euros in 2012. The two countries that will be hosting the Euro2012 Cup will be Poland and Ukraine. This was decided back in 2007 though so anyone who stays up to date with their knowledge will already know about the two countries hosting the next Euros.

Both Spain and Germany have already arrived home and both received very nice and welcoming fans. The streets were filled in both countries and although the Germans didn’t bring home gold they still held there heads high for the fans in Berlin.

I must say that I feel the Euros always goes by so quickly and there is never enough of it, but looks like for me and the rest of us we’ll need to wait another four years before the next Euros. At least on the bright side the Beijing Olympics will be beginning next month and that should be very entertaining and I can’t wait for that to get underway.

The contract details have not been released, but estimates show that Deco’s contract is probably worth around 8 million pounds a year for two years. If those predictions are correct, Chelsea may have got themselves a steal as several sources valued Deco’s services at about 11 million annually. The only thing that he has going against him is really his age (30.)

Inter Milan had interested in signing the midfielder, but reports said that they were put off by the price, which they believed would be around 11 million. Someone at Chelsea seems to have done a fantastic job in bringing over the star. The new coach will certainly be happy about the addition and the team and its fans hope that this season’s changes will allow them to top Manchester United.

Scolari officially starts work with the team tomorrow morning and although he has a good roster to work with everything isn’t set in stone just yet. Defender Ricardo Carvalho and Lampard are both thinking about leaving the team and Scolari will certainly try to convince them not to. If the new manager is successful, this could be quite a year for the even-more stacked Chelsea team.

The Manchester United star has lots to think about during his Italian vacation. First of all, let us not forget that he was unable to lead his Portugal team to the top of the European Championships this month having failed in this task twice in a row now. Second, there are a million rumors that he will be moving from Manchester United to Real Madrid next month. It is unbelievable how one team says that he is not for sale and the other team says that we will certainly be buying him in a week or two. In the meantime, Ronaldo also has to worry about someone stealing his girlfriend who is a desirable female to say the least (Okay, so she is a babe with all the silicon in the right places but I want to keep this blog PG13.)

At any rate, I wanted to say that Ronaldo’s behavior is actually very uncool. He is not just some guy anymore. He is the idol for many kids who will see this photo of him making this rather universal and inappropriate gesture. Sure, I bet that the paparazzi are making his life difficult but he should expect that now that he is a big star. Have you ever seen Beckham act like this?And don’t tell me that he is not followed by photographers every waking minute of his life. Ronaldo has a lot of learning and growing up to do. I just hope that he grows up sooner than later or he will go from being the next major brand to a had been that had lots of potential but blew it.

The final score was 1-0. Fernando Torres scored the lone goal late in the first half after outrunning Lahm and beating Lehmann in the 33rd minute. Germany never looked capable of being a major threat for Casillas who only had to react a couple of times during a few minutes of German pressure around the 60th minute of the game. Spain had several chances to widen the score but after the final whistle was hear made little difference since the one goal signified that after 44 years, Spain were once more the European Champions.

For the record, below is the video of the deciding goal by Torres.

Congratulations to both teams bust especially Spain for the beautiful soccer they played making the tournament fun for all of us to watch. Teams will now have to focus on qualifying for the 2010 World Cup in South Africa; games for this should start in September and we will be here to provide you with the best coverage we can. We are also going to continue bring you the most important news and commentary from the major European leagues and competitions such as Champions League. Thank you for reading our articles the last 3 weeks and we hope to see you back again.

First, let me point out that Germany have won the Euro 3 times in the past 1972, 1980, and 1996; Germany also played in the final games in 1976 and 1992 but didn’t win. Interestingly, in 1992 Germany lost to underdogs Denmark who were called back from their vacation to replace Yugoslavia barred from playing in the Euro due to the ongoing war taking place in the region. Spain have won it once in 1964 and also made an appearance at the 1984 final game losing to France in Paris.

The story so far this year paints Spain the favorite to win the final match. The Spaniards have cruised to the final not just undefeated so far in the tournament but only counting victories on their behalf. They managed to beat Russia twice with an aggregate 7-1 score while they also crashed defending champions Greece while using their reserves! Germany, on the other hand, have made it to the final in a less convincing manner. They barely defeated co-hosts Austria with the poor 1-0 score from a Ballack free kick and also had to score in injury time to beat Turkey in the semi-final game a few days ago. Germany allowed 2 goals in their game against Turkey who could barely field a competitive team due to player injuries and suspensions. The German team will have to raise their game considerably if they want to have a chance against the speedy and talented Spanish squad.

So, who do I think will win the 2008 Euro? It is hard to make a prediction and so I will simply quote Ken Bates who once said,

“I never make forecasts, but whoever wins that game will win the final.”

That said, I placed a $10 bet on Spain.