Football.

Football is not only a game. It became over the years much more important than religion or one could say that it became a religion itself.

This series of videos, promoted by Carlsberg (because beer is the Holy Water of this religion), show different aspects that make this sport the most incredible in the world.

VIDEO 1 is pure ADRENALINE. It shows the emotions that we feel during a football match. It's going from crying to celebrating, from deep frustration to anxiety to intense bliss and words are just not necessary in this one.

CLICK HERE TO WATCH IT IN THE OLEOLE VIDEO SECTION

But so many emotions can only bring the worst in us. And that's PURE PASSION. Fans forget social rules and politeness in a desperate attempt to control thing on and off the pitch. They go to extremes to show their disgust, their dissatisfaction. Frequently we see acts of violence and racism which are stains in the beautiful game and serve as a reminder of the things we still need to improve as a society.

VIDEO 2 tells you about this EXTREME (sometimes evil) PASSION

CLICK HERE TO WATCH IT IN THE OLEOLE VIDEO SECTION

90' (+2): It's over SPAIN WON!!! THE NEW EUROPEAN CHAMPIONS!!! There won't be enough sangria in the streets of Madrid, Barcelona, Sevilla, etc... tonight!!!! CELEBRATION!!!!

90': And after that horrible cross it can be Auf Wiedersehen!!!

89': Another kerfufle inside Spain's box. The ref called a foul on Schweinsteiger and the German didn't like it...

89': You can hear the Spanish crowd singing happily now: España, España!!!

84': But Germany can still save this match. Lots of goals have been scored in this Euro. Can Germany do just like Turkey did a couple of times?

82': Spain is 8 minutes away from their first International title in 44 years. It's about time.

80': Right in time to catch this amazing play by Spain. Marcos Senna started the play an almost finished it in great style!!!!

66': Great set piece by Spain. The ball is crossed and Sergio Ramos with a splendid header forces Lehmann to make another good save.

62': Germany NOW is trying to put pressure on Spain's defense ... There's still time... This match is far from over

59': Ballack!!!!!! Almost, almost, almost!!!!

58': Here comes Kevin Kuranyi. Two Brazilian-born are on his pitch right now. Marcos Senna for Spain and Kevin Kuranyi for Gemrany

54': David Silva shooooootssss after the corner and Sergio Ramos tried a heel flick. If he scored that one he could've gone home and just chilled

51': Germany is in trouble. They are not creating. They're nervous and Spain seems more and more comfortable and dangerous.

47': So Lahm, the man who could follow the 12-year-old-girl-looking Fernando Torres, is out and replaced by Jansen.

45' (+1): Half time whistle. Spain 1, Germany 0. A first 45 with lots of ups and downs.

41': Another corner for Germany.

37': The ref is not happy with Ballack's blood. He's out again. I'm telling ... staple him, staple him!!!

36': Ballack headed Senna's head. Staple him and he'll be fine!

25': The match gained some speed finally. Both teams are now attempting offensive plays

22': Spain had a great chance with Torres. El Niño jumped so high to head that ball it looks like he had  coils on his boots. The ball hits the bar. Lucky Germans

19': Look at Torres punching the grass... hahahahaha... Metzelder who looks like a psycho with that beard got him. Free kick for Spain

15': Easy for Lehmann

14': Lehmannnnnnn!!!! Great save!!!! The shot was deflected by Mezelder and Lehmann found time to come back and make an amazing save!

12': I haven't seen Cesc Fabregas touch the ball yet. Did he go to the pooper and didn't come back???

10': The intelligence of the German strategy is admirable. Podolski and Ballack will explore the left side to force Sergio Ramos to stay in defense

7': Ballack just left Puyol eating dust with a sweet move on the far left but his cross was wayyyy far

6': Through ball to Capdevila on the left side of the attack but he was caught offside.

4': Sergio Ramos and all the Spanish defense has been flaky this tournament and the Real Madrid guy gave a present to Schweiney butthe German didn't take full advantage of it.

2': The match starts slow as I expected. Nobody wants to risk a crazy move in the beginning.

1': Here we go. Spain kicks it off.

Before Kick Off:

The National Anthems. Spain's players look a little nervous. I guess no matter how professional you are when it comes a decisive moment and the responsibility of proving you are really the best in the continent the tension takes over. All the German players (and the bench and crowd as well) are singing their anthem. A very beautiful moment

Before Kick Off: So here it is my fellow football lovers. The big Euro 2008 Final. Maybe not the final some expected but both teams got there with merits. Spain by playing an extremely offensive football and Germany with the well known organization and discipline.

90' (+1): GGGGOOOOOOAAAAAAAALLLLLL GERMANY!!!! DEUSCHLAND!!!!! Lahm

82': The brilliant Semih Senturk gives Turkey another miracle. He got to the ball before Lehmann and put it in for another equalizer.... 2-2 now...  Turkey is not dead yet!

76': Oh fuck... not again!!!! Can I have another beer then?

74':

If Germany win the Euro Metzelder will receive a life supply of Gilette Mach 3 to get rid of that awful beard he's been carrying

70': I believe this match is still up for grabs. Either team can score a second goal and win the whole thing but the closer it gets to the end of the match the more dangerous Turkey is... We've all seen that movie right?

68': And after a second cross German'y's defense finally cleared the ball from the box

67': Cleared partially

67': Boral gets a corner for Tukey...

65': Friedrich tried a cross from the right.... Too hard. it crossed the box and nobody got a touch of it

64': Apparently nothing changed ... the score is st\ill 1-1

58': The explanation is: The power went down in Basel... Well... Let's wait...

57': And fucking ESPN just lost its satelite signal... so I'm not watching anything anymore

57': Bad kick by Ballack... it hit the bottom of the wall... What a wasted opportunity...

56': Lame

56': Danger Danger Danger for the Turkish goalkeeper

56': Foul from behind on Ballack. There should be  YELLOW  for Altintop

54': The second half started just as if it's a Formula 1 race. These players are running 300km per hour at least

54': Here comes German in counter attack... no... it was cleared... they got the ball back... and Hitzpelger (or whatever his name is spelled) shot over the bar...

52': Now a yellow card for Semih Senturk

51': Oh yeah... The replay shows it WAS a penalty...

51': Huge kerfufle around me. The German fans go wild with the s0-non-called penalty for them. Was it? Wasn't it? I couldn't tell for sure

49': So Frings is in for Rolfes. They will try a better method to staple his head I guess

Half Time: The Free Beer was excellent... I even got a picture with a pretty girl to prove but it's on my phone. I'll upload it later

45' (+2): There we go... let me run now!!! Free Beer Free Beer Free Beer Free Beer Free Beer

45': C'mon ref... Blow the whistle... I want my free beer

44':

Frings is coming in for Germany...  who left?

39': Rolfes used his eyebrow to open a cut in Akman's head... they'are both bleeding... And Akman;s got his head stappled in the pitch... hahahaha... Look at the size of that stappler... That's for big heads

39': Blood Blood Blood.... show me the blood!!!!

37': Boral with a powerful shot when everyone expected a cross... Lehmann's couldn't hold it and bounces it back to the middle of the box... nobody got a good touch on it... Germany is saved for now

37':

Free kick for turkey ...

35': Free

35': Oh yeah, you heard me right: FREE BEER + BEAUTIFUL WOMEN ...

35': I'm only cheering for Germany because there will be free beer here at the Goethe Institut during half time. And there a lot of pretty German women here.

33': Oh Lukas!!!!! Where did you shoot that one... Crazy Polski

32':

Turkey's impetuosity has to be admired. I really respect them much more now. They didn't step on the pitch tonight to play defensevly

30':

Cleared

29': A header for Turkey ends in Lehmann's hands... a now a corner for Gemrany

26': After showin his white arse to the world Schweinsteiger scores the equalizer and I didn't even finished explaining Turkey's goal...  Oh, what the hell!!!!! It's 1-1. That's all you need to know

26':

Ok, let me explain better the whole kerfuffle!!! (while I look away from Schweineys white butt)

A guy from Turkey set the ball with his chest: then Altintop crossed the ball and Kazim-Kazim hit the crossbar again...

SHIT!!! GOOOOAAAAALLLLL for Germany!!!! Schweiney....

21': Boral scores for Turkey after the great set up play by the attack

20': They just showed Joachim Low and he looked like a little kid who lost his parents in a shopping mall. I think he can't believe what's been going on.

17': And nothing came out from that corner... Rustu punched the ball out

17': Germany movesup and gets a corner after the Turkish guy kicks the ball to the last row of the stands

16': Harsh tackle by Boral on Klose. Free kick for Germany... That was easy for Rustu

14': The German fans here at the Goethe Institut are screaming, kicking and almost having a heart attack. Just to let them know I'll only perform CPR in beautiful German women

14':

HIT THE CROSSBAR!!!!! What the Fuck!!!! Turkey is playing very aggressive. Very solid and much better than Germany 

10': Turkey is not shy at all. The 5 men in the middle rotate well and confuse the German defense.

8':

Lahm almost made Turkey job easier now.

6': Rustu's uniform is also very bright yellow. Both goalkeepers look like gigantic lemons

5': The first dangerous play comes from Turkey. the cross from the left was cleared by Schweiney

4': Lehmann's shirt is incredibly blinding. That might help distract the Turks

2': Turkey is playing with 5 men in midfield trying to avoid Ballack's passes.

1': Ballack wanted the throw in but Turkey already won this first dispute

Before Kick Off:

Lineups Confirmed:

GERMANY: Lehmann; Friedrich, Mertesacker, Metzelder, Lahm; Rolfes, Schweinsteiger, Hitzlsperger, Ballack; Klose and Podolski

TURKEY: Rustu; Sabri, Mehmet Topal, Gokhan Zan, Hakan Balta; Mehmet Aurelio, Kazim Kazim, Hamit Altintop, Ayham Akman, Ugur Boral; and Semith Senturk

Before Kick Off: I'm watching the match at the Goethe Institut in Los Angeles with a lot of German fans (including some beautiful girls) so I guess I'll have to cheer for them (I mean the girls...) hahaha

Before Kick Off:

I don't know what kind of miracle the Turkish coach is going to try this time but he's going to need a big if they want to beat the balanced and motivated German side.

Here are the probable Lineups:

Germany vs. Turkey

Tomorrow Germany and Turkey will play the first Euro 2008 Semi-Final. Both teams got to this point with merit but in totally different scenarios.

Germany came from a unexpected second place in Group B behind Croatia but the team used its force, discipline and tradition to beat Portugal - one of the favourites - in the quarterfinals.

Turkey struggled to finish in second place in Group A scoring last-minute goals and having passion as the main ingredient for the success. The "never give up" motto was also essential to give the team a goal in the stoppage time of extra time to allow Turkey to beat Croatia in the penalty shootout and secure a spot in the semis.

With that being said, both teams should have equal possibilities to moving to the final but everything changes if we analise each team's roster at this point.

From the 23 players on the squad Turkish coach Fatih Terim can only count on 14. He has 4 players suspended and 4 players who are injured. Important names included in this absence list are: Nihat and Emre (injured) and Arda Turan and Tuncay (suspended).

On the other hand, Germany has no injuries or suspension problems. All 23 players are available for the head coach Joachim Löw. And after the victory over Portugal the motivation level is high.

The responsibility now lies on Germany's back. They have all the favourable conditions to get to another Eurocup Final.

As for Turkey, they have ahead them another "mission impossible" but we've all seen this movie before during this tournament and we know that so far the Turks are playing award-winning roles.

Coach Fatih Terim's mission just gets tougher and tougher

Captain Michael Ballack knows that the Final is just one step away 

90' (+3): Now the referee calling one foul after the other. Good for Croatia

90' (+2): Scweini just saw a red card. A stupid one. He won the ball, he suffered the tackle and then he gets up and pushes the Croatian. Red! Early shower!

90': Three more minutes of added time. And Croatia got close to their 3 goal

87': Croatia controls the ball, controls Germany attempts. With three minutes to go this one might be over for Germany already.

82': The goal set the German team on fire. They just need to be careful with the counter attack

80': GOOOAAALLLL!!!! Another blaster by Lukas Podolski!!! The ball came from a bad clearance by the defender and Podolski with a lot of anger hits the ball as hard as he could to bring more excitement to the last 10 minutes of the match

76': I believe this one is over for Germany. And Croatia really proved they are a solid team even without Eduardo.

74': Lahm crosses and the referee blows the whistle calling a foul  on Ballack

73': Schweini had a great opportunity on the left. The shot was good but it went wide.

70': Srna on the ball again a Pranjic almost buries the Germans with another goal... Almost

69': The ball goes .... and Lehmann pushes it outside for another corner

69': Corner kick for Croatia and Srna is not in a hurry to take it.

68': Germany is desperate. The plays are not happening. The team is lost. And Croatia is using the counter attack very well

66': Another counter attack for Croatia. And a free kick them. Srna takes it and hits the wall

62': Lehman should have saved the first ball. Even tough it was deflected he had time to recover and save it. Well, now it's late. Germany trails by two

62': The shot from the top right side of the box is deflected and Lehman's doesn't react in time. The ball hits the post and Olic is at the right spot just to touch it into the net

61': GGGGOOOAAAALLLLL for Croatia!!!!

59': Srna went down after the tackle by Frings. The Croatian defender asks for medical help and limps out of the pitch

57': Lahm delivers the cross. Kloses heads to the center of the box but it didn't get to Gomez.

50': Germany has more possession now but it's not going to be easy to break through the Croatian defense. In counter attack modric shoots and Lehmann saves it.

49': Free kick for German after Simunic tackled Klose

48': Pletikosa punches the ball to the front. That's not a clearance that a goalkeeper should do. Ballanck tries to shoot. Too high

46': The second half starts with Odonkor replacing Jansen for Germany

45': And we're back!

45' (+1): And the first half is over. In the last play we could see that the Croatians will not make it easier for Germany, 5 Croatian forwards moving up!

44': Super Mario Gomez is caught offside again but this time the linesman called it wrongly in my opinion

43': The ball in inside the Croatian net. But the referee called a foul on the goalkeeper. The referee saw it. I didn't

42': Lehmann!!! Amazing save! Croatia attacking with 4 players .. But Lehmann saves Germany

39': Metzelder heads it. It flies over the bar

38': Corner for Germany on the left side

34': Jansen falls in the box. nothing but a clumsy play.

32': He shoots and Pletikosa had trouble holding it. Germany pressuring now!

32': Free kick for Germany. It's far but we all know Ballack.

30': Kranjcar had a great chance to put this match away. He misses the ball ... But the Croatians are looking very dangerous in counter attack now

27': Frings shoot the ball straight on the wall and it goes out of bounds for a throw in.

26': Nasty sliding tackle by Dario Srna on Podolski. Free kick and yellow card for the goal scorer

23': Great cross from the left side. Great set up and Srna streches his foot to reach the ball before Jansen. With the tip of his boot he puts Croatia ahead, 1-0.

22': Good set up by Podolski but the ball is recovered by the Croatians

21': Gomez receives a long ball in the box and.... Oh no the flag is up. He's offside

18': The referee didn't call a foul on Jansen. Kovac gets a foul for the Croatians and sends the long pass. The ball is perfectly cut by the defense

16': Corner for Croatia. The balls crosses the whole extension of the box but nobody was able to head it in.

14': Both teams are actually playing pretty pffensive football... to my surprise honestly

11': Free kick for Croatia on the right side. The ball is sent to the box good ball but immediately cleared by the German defense

10': After Germany attempt to attack Modric is fouled in the midfield when he was trying to start the counter-attack

9':

Sorry folks... I had to pee! I hate when I have to leave the room during the match!

4':
Nice running by Klose on the right side. Gomez receives the pass and tries to serve Podolski. The defense clears it

1': I'm betting on a 1-1. It would be a satisfactory result for both teams

0': The Game is on

VS

Podolski is not really the nicest of the players. I have German friends who actually hate the kid. But at age 23 he has definitely gained the respect of the world of football with 49 caps and 27 goals for the National Team since 2004 when he had his debut.

He rarely misses a chance to score and even though he doesn't have the dribbling ability of a Cristiano Ronaldo or the drama factor of a Zlatan Ibrahimovic the Germans can always count on the young striker to decide matches.

Germany also has other great players to work the ball with the typical discipline and efficiency that already gave the country three titles in the competition, the last one in 1996. Ballack, Lehmann, Frings, Klose, Neuville; represent the experience and Mertesacker, Schweinsteiger and Mario Gomez join Lukas Podolski on the young and talented side of this well balanced team.

As for Croatia, the team once known by playing a style closer to the South American football in times of the defunct Yugoslavia, qualified for the final stage of this Euro as one of the possible surprises but the injury of their Brazilian-born striker Eduardo came as an enormous bucket of icy cold water on the Croatian squad. The team is still dangerous with the brothers and long-time team leaders Robert and Niko Kovac. On the youth side the most dangerous player is Tottenham midfielder Luka Modric.

Both teams won their opening matches. Croatia beat co-hosts Austria by the minimum score on a penalty executed by Modric and the Germans beat Poland by 2-0 with Podolski scoring twice and showing respect to his Polish descent and refraining from celebrating.

Whoever wins this one will have their ticket to the quarterfinals almost guaranteed but I'm predicting a 1-1 score for this one.

The first weekend of the Euro 2008 can be summarize like this: Great Saturday, Boring Sunday.

The opening match between Switzerland and Czech Republic had tears, strategic battles - Switzerland playing offensively and Czech Rep. all the way back in defense - and an undeserved Czech goal scored by a substitute player. It was great.

Then we had Portugal vs. Turkey. A very interesting match. Portugal hit the Turkish post three times, Cristiano Ronaldo made his traditional funny/frustrated faces and defender Pepe scored his first goal with the National shirt after an excellent one-two play. Turkey has a good team but not good enough to beat one of the favourites to win the title and at 93rd minute Raul Meirelles sealed Portugal's triumph.

Then on Sunday Croatia and Austria played one very boring match. The goal scored by Croatia on a penalty kick on the 5th minute set the final score and for the other 85 minutes I had to force myself no to fall sleep.

The so expected clash between Germany and Poland was a little better (or less worse). Podolski respect for Poland (he was born there) and for his Polish family was admirable. He didn't celebrate the two goals that seal Germany's victory and what a beautiful goal was that second one. But besides that none of the teams really impressed me.

But monday has finally arrived (football is the only reason to make me happy on a Monday morning) and right now I'm here at OleOle's HQ sitting next to my friend Frenchi just waiting for the (hopefully) two great matches of the day...

Here we are my friends.

The Euro 2008 starts this Thursday and we will begin to find out who rules football in Europe.

Italy are the World Cup title holders, Greece won the last edition of the tournament, France and Spain are bringing lots of new talents, Portugal is counting on Champions League Champions Cristiano Ronaldo and Nani, Germany is always one of the main favourites, Holland is always a dangerous mystery, and then we got Romania, Russia, Czech Republic, Turkey and Croatia who might be more surprising than people give them credit for.

I personally still believe France is the team to bet on, followed by Germany, Spain and Italy.

So get warmed up because this Euro will be incredible....

And don't forget to follow all the action here on Samba Soccer Club