MADRID (AFP) — Exuberant Spanish football fans massed in front of giant outdoor TV screens, piled into bars or rushed home on Sunday as normal life came to a halt across the country for the Euro 2008 final against Germany.
"Spain has a date with history," said the sports daily AS, hoping La Roja (The Reds) can end four decades of disappointment in international competitions with victory in Vienna.
"Now, we must do it," headlined the Catalan daily El Publico, against a background of the red team shirt across the front and back pages.
"Spain has rid itself of its ghosts and comes to this match at the height of its game," said the Marca sports daily, which also had a red front page and devoted over 50 pages to Euro 2008 coverage.
A win against Italy last week ended what was seen as a "curse", in which Spain had lost three times on penalties in the quarter-finals of major competitions, and on the same date, June 22. In Thursday's semi-final, they demolished Russia 3-0.
Few doubted that Germany would be a far more dangerous opponent.
"The Germans are not a subtle team, but they're not a bunch of robots either," warned Marca.
Across the country, local authorities set up giant television screens in public squares to allow fans to watch the match.
In central Madrid, thousands of supporters partied in the vast Plaza Colon, many wrapped in the Spanish flag or wearing red wigs and the team shirts or with their faces painted in the red and gold national colours, as the sounds of klaxons and drum beats blared out.
And the high spirits were matched by high temperatures, which soared to 35 degrees Celsius (95 Fahrenheit).
Hundreds of police were deployed in the capital, where the celebrations on Thursday paralyzed traffic in the city centre.
Others crammed into bars or gathered at home, with the television audience predicted to surpass the record of 17 million, or an 84 percent market share, set during the semi-final against Russia.
The country's major department store, El Corte Ingles, many branches of which are normally open until 10:00 pm even on a Sunday, planned to close early, fearing a dearth of customers and to allow its staff to watch the match, Marca said.
Between 15,000 and 20,000 Spaniards were expected in Vienna for the match, including King Juan Carlos, Queen Sofia and Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero.
"I hope we can all celebrate together a huge victory for Spain," Zapatero told private Spanish television Cuatro just before the match started.
Spain last lifted the European Cup in 1964 with victory over the former USSR in what was its only triumph at a major tournament to date. The country last reached the Euro final in 1984 when it lost to France.
While Germany were given the better odds of winning the tournament before it began, Spain's style of play - with lots of short, one-touch passes, almost always on the ground - produced a clean sweep of wins in the group stage.
Germany lost 1-2 to Croatia in the group stage, and squeezed past Turkey 3-2 in the semi-final.
Spain has been made an 8/13 favourite by William Hill bookmakers to win the title while Germany is 5/4.
Copyright © 2009 AFP. All rights reserved. More »
