League play may be over

Yes, the game of soccer again. Or Fussball as it's know here. It really is the only important sport in Europe. And while league play may be over for the season, the game goes on. This year is the European Championship, or Euro 2008 and all the qualified teams are well into their training programs.

Just as interesting is the age group tournaments that are going on. All the league level team trainers are currently watching the U21 and U18 tournament just as intently as the rest of us will be watching the senior national teams play. They are looking for the up and coming young talent. Alemannia player Lewis Holtby got his first start with the senior Alemannia team, in their last game of the season and he must have impressed someone because he was called to the U18 team for their training match against Turkey.

Another Alemannia player, Daniel Brinkman, has from time to time been called to the U21 team but he's not expected to appear again anytime soon. I suspect he wants to concentrate on his club play anyway. His transfer to Alemannia late this season was successful, as he was involved in several goals scored, not just his own.

As for the senior International Teams, Germany plays Belarus tonight in a friendly match, and it should be televised. So, you know where I'll be. The national team management invited Belarus because their playing style is similar to that of Poland. Germany will be playing Poland in Group B of this years Euro 2008 tournament, that starts on June 7.

Update: Belarus tied the game late in the second half, much to the surprise of the German team. One of the things I like about International play is the "winner take all" attitude. This isn't league play.