Europe have won the 2008 PartyPoker.com Mosconi Cup.

They clinched a 11-5 victory - the second biggest winning margin in the event's 15-year history.

In 2006, Immonen missed a glorious opportunity to win the cup for Europe, before the event ended as a tie.

But Immonen went from villain to hero in 2008 as he won all four of his singles matches, clinched the Most Valuable Player award and potted the decisive 9-ball.

"It seems I'm burying a few ghosts," said Immonen. "I had played out what happened in 2006 over and over again in my mind. Even last year when the guys won it I was thinking that I'd got kicked out of the team for a good reason and had deserved it.

"I needed to redeem myself and wanted to prove it - and I did, the right way. Just to be able to pot the winning 9-ball in the Mosconi Cup has been one of my dreams.

"Going from the bottom to the top of the mountain feels even better than just crossing mid-summit. I started way below and I've worked hard physically with hard running on the treadmill, even today I was on the treadmill for 25 minutes.

"I've been training hard for this and this was definitely the highlight of the year and the highlight of my career to finally get rid of all the ghosts.

"I think Ralf deserved the MVP just as much as I did but the fact that I came back from the haunted memories makes it even more special.

"I'm really honoured to get the Most Valuable Player and it's really a dream come true."

Immonen's team mate Tony Drago was delighted to be on the winning team in front of his home crowd. "First of all a few weeks ago I lost a dear friend so this goes to him, said an emotional Drago. "Secondly I tried to play my best. I played a great match against Strickland but he beat me 5-4. Shane (Van Boening) did the same.

"I would like to thank Matchroom Sport for such a great event. The Americans are great players. We don't see eye-to-eye because that's what it means. I always wanted to lift the trophy in front of my mother."

European captain Alex Lely was thrilled with the effort from his team throughout the four-day event, which was staged at the Hilton Hotel in Portomaso, Malta.

"I played myself in 1995 and 2005 and we got spanked," said Lely. "We have got spanked quite often in this event. But I was made captain this year and I was very proud to be captain.

"I knew my team were already champions and they had my respect, we all had each other's respect. We played with so much pride, discipline and focus on the task. They're a machine, all I had to do was push the button, make the sandwiches and rack the balls."

This was the third time Nick Varner had been the captain of the American side, although this was the first time he had tasted defeat.

"We didn't get the result we wanted but I would like to thank my team," said  Varner. "You guys are champions and it has been my pleasure being your team captain, thanks for turning up.

"I would like to thank Matchroom Sport, Sky Sports and all the sponsors. This is really a great event and I still had a great time.

"The scoreline was reversed to what I wanted to see but I have to congratulate Team Europe - they played great."

Team America needed to fight for their lives on the fourth day of the 2008 PartyPoker.com Mosconi Cup.

Europe had lead 9-5 and were only two points away from the winning total of 11 to successfully defend their title for the first time.

Lely opted to put his big guns out first in an attempt to cross the finish line first. Niels Feijen and Ralf Souquet had won all three of their doubles matches and were first up on Sunday as they played Rodney Morris and Jeremy Jones. Feijen and Souquet maintained their record with a 5-2 win.

Next up was Mika Immonen, who maintained his 100 percent record in singles with a 5-3 success over America's Shane Van Boening to lift the cup for the Europeans.

The final score was 11-5 to Europe and the winning margin was the second biggest in the tournament's 15-year history.