FINAL MATCH 'EURO2008'



Coaches anticipate Vienna thriller
by Andrew Haslam from Vienna

Germany coach Joachim Löw and his Spain counterpart Luis Aragonés are both hoping UEFA EURO 2008™ will come to a suitably exciting conclusion as their sides prepare to meet in the final this evening.

'Intensive match'
The first 30 games of the tournament have yielded 76 goals, and the coaches are optimistic that pattern will continue at the Ernst-Happel-Stadion. Germany's Joachim Löw – whose side won 3-2 in both the quarter- and semi-finals against Portugal and Turkey respectively and are looking for their fourth European title – is anticipating an open encounter. "It's going to be a very intensive match," he said. "Both Spain and Germany have good players and like to go forward so it's going to be very interesting. We tried to make certain corrections after we lost to Croatia [in the group stage], but when we're against a team who play attacking football we can reach that level and keep up. Technically speaking, both teams have strong offensive players. It will be a fast, flexible and variable match."

'Long hard road'
German hopes would be damaged by the absence of Michael Ballack, who has missed training for the last two days due to a calf problem, while Thorsten Frings should replace Simon Rolfes in midfield. Despite the doubts surrounding the participation of his captain, Löw is in bullish mood, confidently proclaiming: "I expect to win, of course. We have a long, hard road behind us over the past few weeks. This tournament was tough for all players and all teams, it took up a lot of strength but now we're in the final and we're going to gather all our efforts to win and take the cup back to Germany."

Contrasting fortunes
While Germany are familiar faces at this level – this is their sixth European showpiece and four of Löw's squad appeared in the 2002 FIFA World Cup final – for Spain this is unchartered territory. La Furia Roja's last appearance in a major final was 24 years ago, a 2-0 EURO defeat by France, and their sole silverware came in the 1964 UEFA European Championship, yet if their coach is feeling weighed down by history he was not inclined to admit as much. "I'm fine, the players are fine," said Aragonés. "My greatest concern is my team. Germany are very strong, and their set-pieces are very dangerous. We know they don't have such a flowing game as us but they counterattack with speed and we need to learn how to stop that. It might be of concern to me, but I'm sure Germany are concerned the football we play with the ball on the ground could cause them problems."

Winning farewell
In the absence of the tournament's four-goal top scorer David Villa due to a thigh injury, Aragonés – who will step down after the match – is expected to stick with the five-man midfield that functioned so effectively in Thursday's 3-0 semi-final win, against Russia, deploying Cesc Fàbregas behind lone striker Fernando Torres. "We'll be able to get into the area less but will be stronger in midfield," he explained. "I haven't decided anything yet, perhaps we'll have two forwards. Every team needs a good atmosphere. I've seen great teams with great players and if you don't have a good atmosphere you can't win. This is what's brought us to the final. Let's just hope we play well and win."

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Unique stage for medal ceremony
by Mark Chaplin from Vienna

The presentation of the medals and the Henri Delaunay trophy at Sunday's UEFA EURO 2008™ final at the Ernst-Happel-Stadion in Vienna will take place in the VIP tribune – in line with the tradition UEFA has reinstated in the past year.

Unique stage
The unusual proximity of the heart of the VIP section to the pitch allows for an original and unique set-up: a stage reaching out from the tribune. Painted in the Swiss and Austrian national colours of red and white, it will be reminiscent of a viewing platform in the mountains and can be accessed from both sides via a double staircase. The designers were inspired by the Strudlhofstiege, an outdoor double staircase in the Vienna suburb of Alsergrund, built to a design by Johann Theodor Jaeger.

Sensational pyrotechnics
The trophy will sit in a jewellery-like box that can be raised and lowered like a lift in the centre of the upper part of the stage – at all times through the match visible to fans, TV viewers, journalists and players from all directions. The whole ceremony will be accompanied by light effects and music. The climax of the event, when UEFA President Michel Platini hands over the trophy to the captain of the winning team, will be crowned by sensational pyrotechnic effects.

Concept
The overall concept was put together by Uniplan Switzerland AG after being commissioned by UEFA. The Basel-based live communication agency turned to Carlo Angelini from Angelini Design. He is a well-known Italian television set and production designer based in Zurich, who has already produced a number of stage designs in the sporting field, including the setting for five UEFA Champions League draw ceremonies in Monaco, and the set of the draw for UEFA EURO 2008™ Lucerne last December.
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VoIP Solutions: A Means To Expand Business
By: Kristen Kiya

The VoIP solution has grown in a way that business as well as residential customers recognise the importance of its high speed internet connectivity. This form of telephony provides low cost, high speed and long distance internet telephony. The reliability and call quality also have improved considerably with the introduction of VoIP telephony.

The IP phones transport data packets over voice over networks. The VoIP solutions provide voice over services to PBX systems and other IP based telephony systems. The user just need high speed internet connection. On availing the services one has to comply with some basic formalities that include: Fixed monthly fee and commitment of at least 3 months. The benefits of this service include: No extra charges for receiving calls and same number can be used to receive two simultaneous calls at the same time.

The VoIP is, nowadays, changing the concept of telephony. Compared to the traditional PBX system, the VoIP telephone is a cutting edge telephony system. It brings immediate benefits of cost saving, savings on monthly phone bills, seamless connectivity and an easy to use system. This has indispensably made the system suitable for business purposes. The Voice Over IP has thus grown to become business VoIP solutions provider.

The VoIP business solution is scalable and so it leaves time and opportunity for a business to expand or contract. The PBX is also configurable and that allows a person to add and modify features of it through an internet site that has security. The system is used for high productivity purposes and can be utilised for a lot of functionalities. It is used for listening to Voice mails, call forwarding and is equipped with individual fax numbers. These facilities allow a business to sustain and grow under it. In fact, it is seen that VoIP solution is cost effective for a medium sized business establishment where one finds 5 to 100 employees. In large establishments, it is generally a norm to find VoIP deployed to meet the business needs.

The VoIP solution provider has enabled businesses to grow with telephony. It has made business expand from single location to multi-locations. The business communication has improved with the option of voice-mail and Queue systems. An online VoIP portal gives the full detail of Queue Reporting Statistics. The Voice over IP solution make it possible to terminate calls within its own telephone networks 'free of cost'. For others, it is low call costs at suitably priced rate.

The VoIP Solutions are the means to achieve high end connectivity. The callers can make calls at an extremely cheap price rate. It is also possible for the users to undertake video conferencing and talk to many people at the same time. So, it helps to meet the communication needs of business establishments.

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The Mobile Game Play Revolution: How Mobile Devices Are Changing the Game Industry
By: R.l. Fielding

Playing games has always been a favorite pastime for kids and adults alike, and online games are right up there with the best of America's passions. With the advent of mobile gaming, we are no longer tied to the computer, but are free to roam and play at will. Simple pre-programmed games used to be the standard, but with more sophisticated devices on the market like Windows Mobile, Blackberry, and the Apple iPhone, the window of opportunity for online mobile gaming has been flung wide open.

Mobile gaming is big business for the game industry and big fun for mobile device users. The freedom to play games when and where we want makes mobile game downloads highly popular with consumers and the market reflects this as sales are expected to grow to 11.1 billion by 2010, up from 1.5 billion in 2007. As demand grows, so will mobile game titles and mobile device abilities.

Who plays games on their phone?

The ability to play games while riding in the car, standing in line, and between activities makes mobile games highly enticing to both teens and adults. Although stereotypes maintain that men have the greatest interest in digital entertainment, the convenience of playing online games via mobile devices may open up an even broader game playing audience.

Research has shown that more than half of the 117-million active game players in the US play online games and nearly 64% of these online game players are women. As online games already appeal strongly to women of all ages, it is likely that mobile game play will find a strong foothold with this demographic in addition to reaching adult men and teens of both genders. By enhancing games with social networking technologies, developers also have the ability to appeal to audiences who enjoy the more social and challenging aspects of online game play.

Mobile Game Design

So what qualities make a mobile game a hit?
The most popular mobile games in the US are puzzle, strategy and trivia games because their simple design makes them easiest to play on hand-held devices. However, game creators are working to change that. As mobile devices become more sophisticated, the door will open for more advanced game play.

The push for open platforms, such as Google's Android, and unlimited access to the real power of the Internet has created quite a stir in the mobile device and entertainment industry. Wireless providers must make the choice to create their own games or open their networks to a variety of mobile applications. With more than 13.5 million mobile subscribers downloading games, a shift to a different wireless provider because of game availability could be devastating.

The Future of the Mobile Gaming Market

With the introduction of the iPhone and other mobile devices with easy-to-use interfaces, game developers are getting even more creative in how they address current drawbacks such as pay-before-play, limited functionality, soundless system browsers and accuracy issues. More and more companies are getting around these issues by building games specifically for mobile devices

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Scolari’s future hurting Portugal’s present
By Martin Rogers,

BASEL, Switzerland – In his final days in charge of the Portugal national team, Luiz Felipe Scolari is failing to uphold one of the key facets of his coaching blueprint.

Scolari has always dedicated himself to relieving the pressure from his players by actively seeking it himself, and he has carefully and cleverly sidestepped potential off-field distractions. A well-timed joke, a funny face and a dose of verbal nonsense that asks as many questions as it answers are all aspects of Scolari’s modus operandi when handling tricky issues.

Yet by burrowing himself away and refusing to comment on landing the Chelsea manager’s job, one of the biggest positions in the game, for 72 hours after its announcement, he has destabilized a camp that was previously buoyant, settled and loving its chances of winning Euro 2008.

Portugal’s players are not as slick as Scolari when it comes to handling situations that capture international attention, and they have been seriously rattled. Even a teary-eyed explanation from Scolari as to why he was leaving at a team lunch was unable to quell rumors of severe discontent in the squad.

After a perfect start to Portugal’s bid to win a major tournament for the first time in its history, things are running far from smoothly now, even with qualification for the quarterfinals as Group A winners already secure. The Portuguese players may have suspected their coach would be on his way after Euro 2008, but they believed his assertion that he would not broach the topic during the tournament.

That decision was deemed utterly unworkable from the moment Chelsea released a brief statement on Wednesday night, just minutes after the Brazilian had left his postmatch conference following Portugal’s 3-1 victory over the Czech Republic. That was the point when Scolari should have cleared the air and allowed his men to refocus on the task that lies ahead of them. Instead, he let the matter stew for the next few days, fanning the flames and the ire of the Portuguese public desperate for an explanation.

So much for protecting his players.

Goalkeeper Ricardo and defender Fernando Meira were thrown to the wolves on Friday as both were bombarded with questions that should only have been answered by their coach. Scolari only spoke when he was required by the rules of the tournament to do so at his official media briefing 24 hours before Portugal’s final Group A match against Switzerland. He insisted the timing of the announcement did not show disrespect to his players or Portugal and admitted that the sheer financial strength of the Chelsea offer had played a pivotal role.

“What we will be going through will be the same, independent of any other situation,” Scolari said. “We want this subject to be forgotten because nothing

more will change.

“I have said it before many times that sometimes these opportunities only come around once.”

While he was reluctant to give expansive answers, often responding with a nod or shake of the head and a grunt that passed for “yes” or “no,” it was enough. But why couldn’t it have been said on Wednesday night, or Thursday or Friday?

Sunday’s game will represent a return to something approaching normality for Portugal’s players, the field of play being their refuge from the external factors looming large over their campaign.

The next week will show whether damage has already been done – whether Scolari has, after all, played his final hand to perfection, or whether he allowed his future to interfere with his present.


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Spain scores late for 2-1 win over Sweden
By PAUL LOGOTHETIS, AP Sports Writer

INNSBRUCK, Austria (AP)—One goal in the closing moments meant more to David Villa than his hat trick earlier in the European Championship.

With a stunning burst in injury time, Villa put Spain into the European Cup quarterfinals Saturday. He outraced two Sweden defenders to a long pass and sent it into the net for a 2-1 victory. It was his fourth goal in two games and put Spain at six points in Group D, three more than Sweden.

Spain won the group when Russia beat Greece 1-0 in a night game.

“I’m prouder of this goal than I was of the three that I scored the other day (against Russia),” Villa said. “It’s good for me to be able to be there and bring three points for Spain. Today we suffered a little bit more.”

Villa beat defender Petter Hansson to the 40-yard pass from Joan Capdevila. Hansson could not make a play as Villa poked the ball to the left of charging goalkeeper Andreas Isaksson for the victory.

“We’re happy. We had many chances in the second half and we managed (to score),” Spain coach Luis Aragones said. “In the second half, we went out looking for the goal and things worked out.

“We were the boss of the ball in the second half. I think definitely think that Spain played better from that point.”

Fernando Torres put Spain in front when he lunged at a pass by David Silva with his right foot outstretched and touched it past Isaksson in the 15th minute. Sweden’s Zlatan Ibrahimovic tied it in the 34th when Fredrik Stoor curled a pass to Ibrahimovic in the area. The striker turned away from marker Sergio Ramos and hit a low shot that just made it under goalkeeper Iker Casillas.

Ibrahimovic left at halftime because of a swollen knee that assistant coach Roland Andersson said was “not so serious.”

“I don’t know if we’re too dependent on him, but he’s a top class player,” Sweden coach Lars Lagerback said. “Of course I think we have better chances with Zlatan Ibrahimovic on the field than without.”

Torres, rumored to be unhappy with his early substitution in Spain’s 4-1 opening win over Russia, touched a diagonal pass into the area intended for Capdevila and Isaksson couldn’t stop the deflection.

On his goal, Ibrahimovic initially tried to volley Stoor’s cross from the right side. He regained control, swerved and scored with a low right-footed shot that Casillas got a hand on.

“It’s of course bitter to lose like this in the final seconds,” Lagerback said

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Free Movie Downloads Sites Reviewed
By: Neil Gerstein

There have been too many times when I have seen cool looking previews for a movie that was going to be released for sale to the public. As soon as the movie hit the store I would run out and buy it only to be totally disappointed after watching the movie at home. Well, once again I wasted good money on a horrible movie. The movie was nothing like the movie trailer portrayed it to be. As usual, the only good parts of the movie were the few minutes of footage that were put in the movie trailer. I'm not saying all movie trailers are misleading, but how can the consumer tell which movie preview is a true sample of what the movie is going to be like and which is nothing but a few minutes of hype to get you to spend your money? I don't think we will ever find an answer for that question, but I did find a way so it doesn't affect me monetarily anymore. I joined an Unlimited Free Movie Downloads Site a few weeks ago. Now all of my movie downloads are completely free.

With unlimited free movie downloads it does not matter if the movie trailer is just a bunch of hype or not. If I download the movie and it stinks, no big deal because the only thing that I have lost is time and not much of that because the movie downloaded while I was sleeping. I don't even have to waste a DVD on a film that I don't like. I can download free movies until the cows come home and watch them on my PC. The movies that I do not care for get deleted while the movies that I want to keep get burned to DVD. The Unlimited Free Movie Downloads Site that I use even provides me with all of the software I need to burn movies to DVD. If you do not have a burner, no big deal, because they have software that copies movies to DVD.

Okay, I bet you are wondering how I get all of these free movie downloads for free. After I tell you how it all works I'm going to tell you something else you won't believe. I joined an Unlimited Free Movie Downloads membership site. For a small onetime fee of between $35 - $50, you get a lifetime membership to download free movies from their database of thousands and thousands of films. They have films from every era and every genre, including drama, action, adventure, love, comedy, documentary, sports, religion, science fiction, fantasy, horror and more. The membership fee pays for the members area which is full of very informative instruction tutorials and manuals that helps you download all of those free movies plus use any of the free software that is available to all members. The fee also pays for the team of 24/7 technical support folks that are there for you when needed. Lastly, the onetime fee keeps the databases full of the latest movie titles that come out. Now for the part you won't believe!

As part of my Unlimited Free Movie Downloads membership, not only do I get to download free movies all day and all night long, but I also get unlimited free TV show downloads, unlimited free music and music video downloads, unlimited free game downloads, unlimited software downloads and much, much more, including free wallpaper, free ring tones, game cheats and music lyrics. And like the free movie downloads, you get titles from every era and every genre or category. I know this sounds fantastic, but I would like to give you a word of warning. Whenever anything becomes popular on the Internet, scam artists come out of the woodwork like termites, and that is exactly what happened when unlimited free downloads sites became popular. The best way to combat this and to protect yourself is to use a reputable unlimited free movie downloads review site. They review the best free downloads sites on the Internet so you don't have to take needless chances. I hope this information has helped and that you will soon be enjoying all of your own free movie downloads like I do. Take Care.

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