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| UEFA Euro 2008 Fußball-Europameisterschaft 2008 (German) Championnat d'Europe de football 2008 (French) Campionato europeo di calcio 2008 (Italian) Campiunadi d'Europa da ballape 2008 (Romansh) |
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| Tournament details | |
| Host countries |  Austria Switzerland |
| Dates | 7 June – 29 June |
| Teams | 16 |
| Venue(s) | 8 (in 8 host cities) |
| Final positions | |
Champions  |
 Spain (2nd title) |
Runners-up  |
 Germany |
| Tournament statistics | |
| Matches played | 31 |
| Goals scored | 77 (2.48 per match) |
| Attendance | 1,140,902 (36,803 per match) |
| Top scorer(s) | David Villa (4 goals) |
| Best player | Xavi |
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Infobox last updated on: 20:42, 29 June 2008 (UTC). |
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The 2008 UEFA European Football Championship, commonly referred to as Euro 2008, was the 13th UEFA European Football Championship, a quadrennial football tournament for European nations. The tournament, which was hosted by Austria and Switzerland, began on 7 June 2008 and concluded with the final at Ernst Happel Stadion in Vienna on 29 June 2008. It was the second jointly-hosted edition in the competition's history. Greece were the defending champions going into the tournament, having won the previous tournament. Spain won the tournament by defeating Germany 1–0 in the final. This was only the second time in the history of the tournament that the winning team won all their matches in the group stage; the other team to do so was France in 1984.
Sixteen teams participated in the tournament. Austria and Switzerland automatically qualified as hosts; the remaining 14 teams were determined through qualifying matches, which began in August 2006. As European champions, Spain earned the right to compete for the 2009 FIFA Confederations Cup in South Africa.[1]
Contents |
Summary
Qualification for Euro 2008 started in August 2006, just over a month after the end of the 2006 FIFA World Cup. The qualifying tournament was contested by national teams from each of UEFA's member associations, with the exceptions of Austria and Switzerland, who had automatically qualified for the finals tournament as hosts, and Montenegro, who came into existence too late to be admitted to UEFA. England was the only seeded team not to qualify for the tournament proper, whereas Russia was the only unseeded one to qualify.
The draw for the finals tournament took place on 2 December 2007, and saw Group C immediately labelled as the "group of death", with Italy, France, Romania and the Netherlands competing for the two qualifying places. In contrast, Germany and Portugal were deemed to have an easy draw, as the tournament structure meant they could not meet Italy, France, the Netherlands or Spain until the final.
In the group stage, Croatia, Spain and the Netherlands all qualified with maximum points. Austria and Switzerland were not expected to progress, despite the advantage of being the hosts. In Group A, the Swiss lost their captain, Alexander Frei, to injury in their first game and became the first team to be eliminated from the tournament, after losing their first two matches. Austria fared slightly better in Group B, managing to set up a decisive final game against Germany, dubbed "Austria's final".citation needed However, they lost by one goal, making Euro 2008 the first European Championship not to have one of the host nations present in the knockout stage. In an exciting final game in Group A, an injury- and suspension-hit Turkey beat the Czech Republic, after an uncharacteristic handling mistake by Petr Čech, in the last few minutes, left Nihat Kahveci with the simplest of finishes. In the same game, goalkeeper Volkan Demirel was shown a red card for pushing Czech striker Jan Koller to the ground. The Turks joined Portugal as the qualifiers from Group A. France were the high-profile victims of Group C, recording just one point from a goalless draw against Romania in their opening game. Italy beat the French, on the final day, to finish on four points and joining the Netherlands in the quarter-finals. Finally, in Group D, Greece failed to reproduce the form of their shock 2004 win, and ended the tournament with no points. Russia qualified at the expense of Sweden, after beating them in a final game decider, joining Spain in the knockout stage.
In the quarter-finals, the Portuguese team was unable to give their coach, Luiz Felipe Scolari, a fitting send-off – following the mid-tournament announcement that Scolari would be leaving to join English club Chelsea – losing in an exciting game against Germany. Turkey continued their streak of last-gasp wins, equalising at the end of extra-time against Croatia and advancing on penalties. Coached by Dutchman Guus Hiddink, Russia eliminated the Netherlands with two extra-time goals. The last quarter-final match saw Spain defeat Italy on penalties, after a goalless draw in regular time.
Turkey's progress was halted by Germany at the semi-final stage. Turkey entered the game with nine of their squad members missing due to injury or suspension, but still scored the first goal. Later, they leveled the score at 2–2, before Germany scored the winning goal in the final minute. The world television feed of the match was intermittently lost during the match, which prevented the broadcast of Germany's second goal. This was due to a thunderstorm at the broadcasting relay station in Austria, despite the game being played in Switzerland. Spain won the second semi-final against Russia by three goals to nil, through second-half goals from Xavi, Dani Güiza and David Silva, earning Spain their first appearance in a major final for 24 years.
In the final, held at Vienna's Ernst-Happel-Stadion, Spain became European champions for the second time after Fernando Torres' first-half goal proved enough to defeat Germany. Though Germany had a strong start, Spain started to look more dangerous after they had settled. After half an hour, Xavi played a pass in behind the Germany back line towards Torres, who outmuscled a hesitant Philipp Lahm and clipped the ball over the diving Jens Lehmann and just inside the far post. That goal proved to be the only goal of the game which Spain dominated, despite Germany having the majority of the possession,[2] and Spain were crowned UEFA Euro 2008 champions.
Bid process
Austria and Switzerland jointly bid to host the games, and faced major competition from Greece/Turkey, Scotland/Ireland, Russia, Hungary, Croatia/Bosnia-Herzegovina and a 4-way Nordic bid from Norway/Sweden/Denmark/Finland. Austria had previously bid to host Euro 2004 with Hungary, but they eventually lost out to Portugal.
Austria/Switzerland, Greece/Turkey, and Hungary were recommended before the final vote. Greece and Turkey were rejected and let Hungary and Austria/Switzerland battle for the win.
The Austria/Switzerland bid is the second successful joint bid in the competition's history, following the UEFA Euro 2000 hosted by Belgium and the Netherlands. The 2012 competition in Poland and Ukraine is scheduled to become the third jointly-hosted tournament.
Venues
The tournament was played at eight venues throughout the two host nations; four in Austria and four in Switzerland. Each venue had a capacity of at least 30,000 for the tournament; the largest stadium was Ernst Happel Stadion in Vienna with a capacity of 53,295.[3] It was for this reason that Ernst Happel Stadion hosted the final. Switzerland played all of their group stage matches at St. Jakob Park in Basel, which also hosted the opening match of the tournament as a compromise for the final being held in Vienna. Austria played all of their group stage matches at Ernst Happel Stadion.
In 2004, the Zürich venue became a problem for the organisers. Originally, the Hardturm stadium was to be renovated and used as the city's venue, but legal challenges delayed the plan to a point that would not have allowed the ground to be used in 2008. This created a problem, as the agreement between UEFA and the organizers stipulated that four venues would be used in each country. The problem was solved when the organizers proposed renovating Letzigrund instead; UEFA approved the revised plan in January 2005. The Letzigrund stadium hosted its first football match on 23 September 2007.[4]
| Vienna | Klagenfurt | Salzburg | Innsbruck |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ernst-Happel-Stadion Capacity: 53,295 |
Hypo-Arena Capacity: 31,957 |
Wals-Siezenheim-Stadion Capacity: 31,020 |
Tivoli Neu Capacity: 31,600 |
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| Basel | Berne | Geneva | Zürich |
| St. Jakob-Park Capacity: 42,000 |
Stade de Suisse Capacity: 31,907 |
Stade de Genève Capacity: 31,228 |
Letzigrund Capacity: 30,000 |
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New trophy
A new trophy was awarded to the winners of the Euro 2008 tournament. The new version of the Henri Delaunay Trophy, created by Asprey London,[5] is almost an exact replica of the original designed by Arthus-Bertrand. A small figure juggling a ball on the back of the original has been removed, as has the marble plinth. The silver base of the trophy also had to be enlarged to make it stable. The names of the winning countries that had appeared on the plinth have now been engraved on the back of the trophy, which is made of sterling silver, weighs 8 kilograms (17.6 lb) and is 60 centimetres (24 in) tall.
Qualifying
The draw for the qualifying round took place in Montreux, Switzerland on 27 January 2006 at 12:00 CET.
The qualifying process commenced a month after the 2006 World Cup. Austria and Switzerland automatically qualified for the tournament finals as host nations.
The qualifying format was changed compared to previous tournaments. The winners and runners-up from seven groups automatically qualified for the Championship, with the hosts filling the other two slots in the 16-team tournament. The change means there were no play-offs between teams finishing in second place in the groups – they qualified directly for the finals. Teams that finished in third place didn't have any further opportunity to qualify. Six of the qualifying groups contained seven teams, and the other, Group A, contained eight.
Qualified teams
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1 Bold indicates champion for that year
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2 as Czechoslovakia
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3 as West Germany
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4 as Soviet Union
Seeding
The draw for the final tournament took place on 2 December 2007 at the Culture and Convention Centre in Lucerne.[6]
In a return to the format used at Euro 92 and Euro 96 the games in each group were held at just two stadia, with the seeded team remaining in the same city for all three matches. As was the case at the 2000 and 2004 finals, the finalists were divided into four seeding pots, based on average points per game in the qualifying phases of the 2006 FIFA World Cup and Euro 2008, with each group having one team from each pot. Switzerland and Austria, as co-hosts, and Greece, as defending champions, were seeded first automatically.[7][8] The Netherlands were seeded based on their UEFA coefficient in the Euro 2008 finalists ranking.
| Pot 1 | Pot 2 | Pot 3 | Pot 4 |
|---|---|---|---|
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Match officials
Twelve referees and twenty four assistants were selected for the tournament:[9]
| Football Association |
Referee | Assistants | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Austria |
Konrad Plautz | Egon Bereuter | Markus Mayr |
 Belgium |
Frank de Bleeckere | Peter Hermans | Alex Verstraeten |
 England |
Howard Webb | Darren Cann | Mike Mullarkey |
| Germany |
Herbert Fandel | Carsten Kadach | Volker Wezel |
 Greece |
Kyros Vassaras | Dimitiris Bozartzidis | Dimitiris Saraidaris |
 Italy |
Roberto Rosetti | Alessandro Griselli | Paolo Calcagno |
 Netherlands |
Pieter Vink | Adriaan Inia | Hans ten Hoove |
 Norway |
Tom Henning Øvrebø | Geir Åge Holen | Jan Petter Randen[10] |
 Slovakia |
Ľuboš Micheľ | Roman Slysko | Martin Balko |
| Spain |
Manuel Mejuto González | Juan Carlos Yuste Jiménez | Jesús Calvo Guadamuro |
 Sweden |
Peter Fröjdfeldt | Stefan Wittberg | Henrik Andren |
| Switzerland |
Massimo Busacca | Matthias Arnet | Stephane Cuhat |
Squads
Each nation had to submit a squad of 23 players, three of which had to be goalkeepers, by 28 May 2008. If a player was injured seriously enough to prevent him from taking part in the tournament before his team's first match, he could be replaced by another player.[11]
Results
Group stage
Tie-breaking criteria
For the three game group stage of this tournament, where two or more teams in a group tied on an equal number of points, the finishing positions were determined by the record of the tied teams in the games they played against each other in the first instance, then the goals scored and goal difference in all group matches. There was a facility for positions to be determined by a penalty shoot-out if their records were identical and their last match was a draw against each other, but this situation did not arise. Pre-tournament records, disciplinary history and the drawing of lots were also available, but unused, grounds for determining positions.[12]
Group A
| Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Portugal |
3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 5 | 3 | +2 | 6 |
 Turkey |
3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 5 | 5 | 0 | 6 |
 Czech Republic |
3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 4 | 6 | −2 | 3 |
| Switzerland |
3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 3 |
| 2008-06-07 | ||
| Switzerland |
0 – 1 | Czech Republic |
| Portugal |
2 – 0 | Turkey |
| 2008-06-11 | ||
| Czech Republic |
1 – 3 | Portugal |
| Switzerland |
1 – 2 | Turkey |
| 2008-06-15 | ||
| Switzerland |
2 – 0 | Portugal |
| Turkey |
3 – 2 | Czech Republic |
- Notes on the tie-breaking situation
- Portugal and Turkey are ranked by their head-to-head records
- Czech Republic and Switzerland are ranked by their head-to-head records
Group B
| Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Croatia |
3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 1 | +3 | 9 |
| Germany |
3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 2 | +2 | 6 |
| Austria |
3 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 3 | −2 | 1 |
 Poland |
3 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 4 | −3 | 1 |
| 2008-06-08 | ||
| Austria |
0 – 1 | Croatia |
| Germany |
2 – 0 | Poland |
| 2008-06-12 | ||
| Croatia |
2 – 1 | Germany |
| Austria |
1 – 1 | Poland |
| 2008-06-16 | ||
| Poland |
0 – 1 | Croatia |
| Austria |
0 – 1 | Germany |
- Notes on the tie-breaking situation
- Austria and Poland are ranked by goal difference in all of their group games as their head-to-head records are identical.
Group C
| Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Netherlands |
3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 9 | 1 | +8 | 9 |
| Italy |
3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 4 | −1 | 4 |
 Romania |
3 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 3 | −2 | 2 |
 France |
3 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 6 | −5 | 1 |
| 2008-06-09 | ||
| Romania |
0 – 0 | France |
| Netherlands |
3 – 0 | Italy |
| 2008-06-13 | ||
| Italy |
1 – 1 | Romania |
| Netherlands |
4 – 1 | France |
| 2008-06-17 | ||
| Netherlands |
2 – 0 | Romania |
| France |
0 – 2 | Italy |
Group D
| Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Spain |
3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 8 | 3 | +5 | 9 |
 Russia |
3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 4 | 0 | 6 |
| Sweden |
3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 3 | 4 | −1 | 3 |