UEFA Euro 2008

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This article is about the sporting event. For the video game based on this event, see UEFA Euro 2008 (video game).
UEFA Euro 2008
Fußball-Europameisterschaft 2008 (in German)
Championnat d'Europe de football 2008 (in French)
Campionato Europeo di calcio 2008 (in Italian)
Campiunadis Europeans da ballape 2008 (in Romansh)
UEFA EURO 2008 New Logo.svg
UEFA Euro 2008 official logo
Expect Emotions
Tournament details
Host countries Austria
Switzerland
Dates 7 – 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) Spain David Villa (4 goals)
Best player Spain Xavi
← 2004
2012 →

The 2008 UEFA European Football Championship, commonly referred to as UEFA Euro 2008 or simply Euro 2008, was the 13th UEFA European Football Championship, a quadrennial football tournament contested by European nations. It took place in Austria and Switzerland (both hosting the tournament for the first time) from 7 to 29 June 2008.

The tournament was won by Spain, who defeated Germany 1–0 in the final. Spain were only the second nation to win all their group stage fixtures and then the European Championship itself - an accomplishment matched by France in 1984. Spain were also the first team since Germany in 1996 to win the tournament undefeated.

Greece were the defending champions going into the tournament, having won UEFA Euro 2004. They recorded the worst finish in Euro 2008, losing their three group fixtures and collecting the least amount of prize money. Throughout 31 matches, the participating nations totalled 77 goals, the same as the previous 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]

Bid process[edit]

Austria and Switzerland jointly bid to host the games, and faced major competition from Greece/Turkey, Scotland/Republic of 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 following tournament, held in Poland and Ukraine, became the third jointly hosted tournament.

Summary[edit]

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. Switzerland managed to beat the group winner Portugal in their last game.

In Group B, Austria managed to set up a decisive final game against Germany, dubbed "Austria's final".[2] 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 phase. In an exciting final game in Group A, an injury- and suspension-hit Turkey came back from 2–0 down to beat the Czech Republic 3–2, 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 phase.

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.

The Spanish football team touring Madrid as champions

Turkey's progress was halted by Germany in the semi-finals. 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.

Performance of the participating countries during Euro 2008

This was due to a thunderstorm at the broadcasting relay station in Austria, despite the game being played in Switzerland. Swiss Television SRG SSR still had a feed, because of their own broadcasting facilities at the venue. During the lost world feed German and Austrian television ZDF and ORF started to broadcast the feed of German speaking Swiss channel SF 1.

This act ensured that the German goal was actually broadcast in Germany although not in Turkey.[3] Spain won the second semi-final against Russia by three goals to nil, through second-half goals from Xavi, Daniel 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,[4] and Spain were crowned UEFA Euro 2008 champions.

Venues[edit]

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.[5] 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 Zurich 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 organisers stipulated that four venues would be used in each country. The problem was solved when the organisers proposed renovating Letzigrund instead; UEFA approved the revised plan in January 2005. The Letzigrund stadium hosted its first football match on 23 September 2007.[6]

Vienna Klagenfurt Salzburg Innsbruck
Ernst-Happel-Stadion
Capacity: 53,295		 Wörthersee Stadion
Capacity: 31,957		 Wals-Siezenheim-Stadion
Capacity: 31,020		 Tivoli-Neu Stadion
Capacity: 31,600
3 matches in Group B
2 quarter-final,
1 semi-final and
the final		 3 matches in Group B 3 matches in Group D 3 matches in Group D
EM 2008 Elfmeter Kroatien Österreich.jpg Hypo Group Arena - Westansicht.JPG Em stadion salzburg.jpg Spain vs Sweden, Euro 2008 01.jpg
Euro2008 venues en.svg
Geneva Basel Bern Zurich
Stade de Genève
Capacity: 31,228		 St. Jakob-Park
Capacity: 42,000		 Stade de Suisse
Capacity: 31,907		 Letzigrund
Capacity: 30,000
3 matches in Group A 3 matches in Group A
(incl. opening match),
2 quarter-final and
1 semi-final		 3 matches in Group C 3 matches in Group C
CH-AL Geneva 2003-06-11.jpg St Jakob-Park.jpg Stade de Suisse.jpg Letzigrund 2007ii.jpg

Broadcasting rights[edit]

Main article: UEFA Euro 2008 broadcasting rights

Team base camps[edit]

Each team had access to a "team base camp" for its stay between the matches.[7] The teams trained and resided in these locations during the tournament, and travelled to games that took place away from their bases.[8][9] The 16 teams validated their option with UEFA on 18 December 2007.[7]

Team Arrival Last match Base camp
Austria 2 June 16 June Stegersbach
Croatia 3 June 20 June Bad Tatzmannsdorf
Czech Republic 2 June 15 June Seefeld in Tirol
France 4 June 17 June Mont Pèlerin
Germany 3 June 29 June Ascona
Greece 3 June 18 June Hof bei Salzburg
Italy 2 June 22 June Baden bei Wien
Netherlands 3 June 21 June Lausanne
Poland 2 June 16 June Bad Waltersdorf
Portugal 1 June 19 June Neuchâtel
Romania 2 June 17 June St. Gallen
Russia 4 June 26 June Leogang
Spain 5 June 29 June Neustift im Stubaital
Sweden 4 June 18 June Lugano
Switzerland 2 June 15 June Feusisberg
Turkey 1 June 25 June Bellevue

Qualifying[edit]

Main article: UEFA Euro 2008 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 had no opportunity to qualify. Six of the qualifying groups contained seven teams, and the other, Group A, contained eight.

Qualified teams[edit]

Country Qualified as Date qualification was secured Previous appearances in tournament[A]
 Austria 00Co-hosts 0012 December 2002 01 (debut)
  Switzerland 01Co-hosts 0112 December 2002 21 (1996, 2004)
 Poland 02Group A winner 0917 November 2007 00 (debut)
 Portugal 03Group A runner-up 1421 November 2007 4 (1984, 1996, 2000, 2004)
 Italy 04Group B winner 0617 November 2007 60 (1968, 1980, 1988, 1996, 2000, 2004)
 France 05Group B runner-up 0717 November 2007 61 (1960, 1984, 1992, 1996, 2000, 2004)
 Greece 06Group C winner 0317 October 2007 23 (1980, 2004)
 Turkey 07Group C runner-up 1221 November 2007 22 (1996, 2000)
 Czech Republic[B] 08Group D winner 0517 October 2007 62 (1960, 1976, 1980, 1996, 2000, 2004)
 Germany[C] 09Group D runner-up 0213 October 2007 9 (1972, 1976, 1980, 1984, 1988, 1992, 1996, 2000, 2004)
 Croatia 10Group E winner 0817 November 2007 20 (1996, 2004)
 Russia[D] 11Group E runner-up 1521 November 2007 8 (1960, 1964, 1968 1972, 1988, 1992, 1996, 2004)
 Spain 12Group F winner 1117 November 2007 71 (1964, 1980, 1984, 1988, 1996, 2000, 2004)
 Sweden 13Group F runner-up 1321 November 2007 30 (1992, 2000, 2004)
 Romania 14Group G winner 0417 October 2007 31 (1984, 1996, 2000)
 Netherlands 15Group G runner-up 1017 November 2007 70 (1976, 1980, 1988, 1992, 1996, 2000, 2004)
  1. ^ Bold indicates champion for that year. Italic indicates host for that year.
  2. ^ From 1960 to 1992, the Czech Republic competed as Czechoslovakia.
  3. ^ From 1972 to 1978, Germany competed in the European Championship final tournament as West Germany.
  4. ^ From 1960 to 1988, Russia competed as the Soviet Union, and in 1992 as the Commonwealth of Independent States.

Final draw[edit]

The draw for the final tournament took place on 2 December 2007 at the Culture and Convention Centre in Lucerne.[10][11]

In a return to the format used at Euro 1992 and Euro 1996 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.[12][13] The Netherlands were seeded based on their UEFA coefficient in the Euro 2008 finalists ranking. The other teams were seeded according to the UEFA national team coefficients, which were updated after the conclusion of the qualifying group stage. The list was released by UEFA on 20 May 2008.[14]

Pot 1[a]
Team Coeff Rank
 Greece[b] 33,749 9
 Netherlands 34,573 6
Pot 2
Team Coeff Rank
 Italy 36,986 1
 Czech Republic 36,025 3
 Sweden 33,075 10
 Croatia 32,825 11
Pot 3
Team Coeff Rank
 Germany 35,655 4
 Portugal 35,370 5
 Spain 34,000 8
 Romania 32,135 12
Pot 4
Team Coeff Rank
 France 36,219 2
 Poland 30,581 13
 Turkey 30,557 14
 Russia 29,912 15
  1. ^ Co-hosts Switzerland (coefficient 29,674; rank 16 and Austria (coefficient 23,810; rank 29) were automatically assigned to positions A1 and B1.
  2. ^ Defending champions Greece (coefficient 33,749; rank 9) were automatically assigned to Pot 1.
Group A
Pos Team
A1   Switzerland
A2  Czech Republic
A3  Portugal
A4  Turkey
Group B
Pos Team
B1  Austria
B2  Croatia
B3  Germany
B4  Poland
Group C
Pos Team
C1  Netherlands
C2  Italy
C3  Romania
C4  France
Group D
Pos Team
D1  Greece
D2  Sweden
D3  Spain
D4  Russia

Impact of seedings[edit]

This seeding affects the teams that countries will face in the tournament proper i.e. teams with high coefficients are put in the draw in separate pots and will avoid equally matched teams until the latter stages. Switzerland and Austria (as hosts) and Greece (as defending champions) had the three highest coefficients, followed by the Netherlands.

Ranking table[edit]

Rank Team Coefficient Recent matches Average goal difference
1   Switzerland 1.800 1.800 + 1.100
2  Austria 1.500 1.500 + 0.300
3  Greece 2.167 2.583 + 0.875
4  Netherlands 2.417 2.167 + 1.417
5  Croatia 2.409 2.417 + 1.636
6  Italy 2.364 2.417 + 1.000
7  Czech Republic 2.333 2.417 + 1.875
8  Sweden 2.273 2.167 + 1.818
9  Romania 2.250 2.417 + 1.208
10  Germany 2.250 2.250 + 2.333
11  Portugal 2.192 1.929 + 1.692
12  Spain 2.182 2.333 + 1.409
13  Poland 2.167 2.000 + 1.250
14  France 2.091 2.167 + 1.455
15  Turkey 1.958 2.000 + 1.167
16  Russia 1.958 2.000 + 0.917

Controversy[edit]

UEFA came under heavy criticism from Raymond Domenech, manager of France, who was not satisfied with his team's position in the draw[15] and was also in favour of having 2006 FIFA World Cup winners Italy as top seed.[16] On 22 November 2007, Giorgio Marchetti, UEFA's professional football director, announced that a review of the coefficient ranking system was under way for future European Championships.[10]

Squads[edit]

Main article: UEFA Euro 2008 squads

Teams were required to select a squad of 23 players, three of whom had to be goalkeepers, with the final squad to be submitted to UEFA by 28 May 2008. If a member of the final squad suffered an injury prior to his team's first game that would keep him out of the entire tournament, another player could be called up to replace him.[17]

Match officials[edit]

Twelve referees and twenty-four assistants were selected for the tournament:[18]

Country Referee Assistants Matches refereed
Austria Austria Konrad Plautz Egon Bereuter Markus Mayr Spain 4–1 Russia, Switzerland 2–0 Portugal
Belgium Belgium Frank De Bleeckere Peter Hermans Alex Verstraeten Croatia 2–1 Germany, Russia 2–0 Sweden, Russia 0–3 Spain (semifinal)
England England Howard Webb Darren Cann Mike Mullarkey Austria 1–1 Poland, Greece 1–2 Spain
Germany Germany Herbert Fandel Carsten Kadach Volker Wezel Portugal 2–0 Turkey, Netherlands 4–1 France, Spain 0–0 Italy (Quarter-final)
Greece Greece Kyros Vassaras Dimitiris Bozartzidis Dimitiris Saraidaris Czech Republic 1–3 Portugal, Poland 0–1 Croatia
Italy Italy Roberto Rosetti Alessandro Griselli Paolo Calcagno Switzerland 0–1 Czech Republic, Greece 0–1 Russia, Croatia 1–1 Turkey (Quarter-final), Germany 0–1 Spain (Final)
Netherlands Netherlands Pieter Vink Adriaan Inia Hans ten Hoove Austria 0–1 Croatia, Sweden 1–2 Spain
Norway Norway Tom Henning Øvrebø Geir Åge Holen Jan Petter Randen[19] Germany 2–0 Poland, Italy 1–1 Romania
Slovakia Slovakia Ľuboš Micheľ Roman Slyško Martin Balko Switzerland 1–2 Turkey, France 0–2 Italy, Netherlands 1–3 Russia (Quarter-final)
Spain Spain Manuel Mejuto González Juan Carlos Yuste Jiménez Jesús Calvo Guadamuro Romania 0–0 France, Austria 0–1 Germany
Sweden Sweden Peter Fröjdfeldt Stefan Wittberg Henrik Andren Netherlands 3–0 Italy, Turkey 3–2 Czech Republic, Portugal 2–3 Germany (Quarter-final)
Switzerland Switzerland Massimo Busacca Matthias Arnet Stephane Cuhat Greece 0–2 Sweden, Netherlands 2–0 Romania, Germany 3–2 Turkey (Semi-final)
Fourth officials
Country Fourth officials
Croatia Croatia Ivan Bebek
France France Stéphane Lannoy
Hungary Hungary Viktor Kassai
Iceland Iceland Kristinn Jakobsson
Poland Poland Grzegorz Gilewski
Portugal Portugal Olegário Benquerença
Scotland Scotland Craig Thomson
Slovenia Slovenia Damir Skomina

Match summary[edit]

Group stage[edit]

The teams finishing in the top two positions in each of the four groups progressed to the quarter-finals, while the bottom two teams were eliminated from the tournament.

All times are local, CEST (UTC+2).

Tiebreakers[edit]

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 following tie-breaking criteria in the following order:[20]

  1. number of points obtained in the matches among the teams in question
  2. goal difference in the matches among the teams in question (if more than two teams finish equal on points)
  3. number of goals scored in the matches among the teams in question (if more than two teams finish equal on points)
  4. goal difference in all the group matches
  5. number of goals scored in all the group matches
  6. coefficient from the qualifying competitions for the 2006 FIFA World Cup and 2006/08 UEFA European Football Championship (points obtained divided by the number of matches played)
  7. fair play conduct of the teams (final tournament)
  8. drawing of lots

However, these criteria would not apply if two teams tied on points and goals scored played against each other in their final group match and no other team in group finishes with same points; in that case, the tie would be broken by a penalty shootout.[21]

Group A[edit]

Main article: UEFA Euro 2008 Group A
Pos Team
Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification
1  Portugal 3 2 0 1 5 3 +2 6 Advance to knockout phase
2  Turkey 3 2 0 1 5 5 0 6
3  Czech Republic 3 1 0 2 4 6 −2 3
4   Switzerland (H) 3 1 0 2 3 3 0 3
Source: UEFA
(H) Host.

7 June 2008 (2008-06-07)
18:00
Switzerland   0–1  Czech Republic
Report Svěrkoš Goal 71'
St. Jakob-Park, Basel
Attendance: 39,730[22]
Referee: Roberto Rosetti (Italy)

7 June 2008 (2008-06-07)
20:45
Portugal  2–0  Turkey
Report
Stade de Genève, Geneva
Attendance: 29,106[23]
Referee: Herbert Fandel (Germany)

11 June 2008 (2008-06-11)
18:00
Czech Republic  1–3  Portugal
Sionko Goal 17' Report
Stade de Genève, Geneva
Attendance: 29,016[24]
Referee: Kyros Vassaras (Greece)

11 June 2008 (2008-06-11)
20:45
Switzerland   1–2  Turkey
Yakin Goal 32' Report
St. Jakob-Park, Basel
Attendance: 39,730[25]
Referee: Ľuboš Micheľ (Slovakia)

15 June 2008 (2008-06-15)
20:45
Switzerland   2–0  Portugal
Yakin Goal 71', 83' (pen.) Report
St. Jakob-Park, Basel
Attendance: 39,730[26]
Referee: Konrad Plautz (Austria)

15 June 2008 (2008-06-15)
20:45
Turkey  3–2  Czech Republic
Report
Stade de Genève, Geneva
Attendance: 29,016[27]
Referee: Peter Fröjdfeldt (Sweden)

Group B[edit]

Main article: UEFA Euro 2008 Group B
Pos Team
Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification
1  Croatia 3 3 0 0 4 1 +3 9 Advance to knockout phase
2  Germany 3 2 0 1 4 2 +2 6
3  Austria (H) 3 0 1 2 1 3 −2 1
4  Poland 3 0 1 2 1 4 −3 1
Source: UEFA
(H) Host.

8 June 2008 (2008-06-08)
18:00
Austria  0–1  Croatia
Report Modrić Goal 4' (pen.)

8 June 2008 (2008-06-08)
20:45
Germany  2–0  Poland
Podolski Goal 20', 72' Report

12 June 2008 (2008-06-12)
18:00
Croatia  2–1  Germany
Report Podolski Goal 79'

12 June 2008 (2008-06-12)
20:45
Austria  1–1  Poland
Vastić Goal 90+3' (pen.) Report Guerreiro Goal 30'
Ernst-Happel-Stadion, Vienna
Attendance: 51,428[31]
Referee: Howard Webb (England)

16 June 2008 (2008-06-16)
20:45
Poland  0–1  Croatia
Report Klasnić Goal 53'

16 June 2008 (2008-06-16)
20:45
Austria  0–1  Germany
Report Ballack Goal 49'

Group C[edit]

Main article: UEFA Euro 2008 Group C
Pos Team
Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification
1  Netherlands 3 3 0 0 9 1 +8 9 Advance to knockout phase
2  Italy 3 1 1 1 3 4 −1 4
3  Romania 3 0 2 1 1 3 −2 2
4  France 3 0 1 2 1 6 −5 1
Source: UEFA

9 June 2008 (2008-06-09)
18:00
Romania  0–0  France
Report
Letzigrund, Zürich
Attendance: 30,585[34]
Referee: Manuel Mejuto González (Spain)

9 June 2008 (2008-06-09)
20:45
Netherlands  3–0  Italy
Report
Stade de Suisse, Bern
Attendance: 30,777[35]
Referee: Peter Fröjdfeldt (Sweden)

13 June 2008 (2008-06-13)
18:00
Italy  1–1  Romania
Panucci Goal 56' Report Mutu Goal 55'
Letzigrund, Zürich
Attendance: 30,585[36]
Referee: Tom Henning Øvrebø (Norway)

13 June 2008 (2008-06-13)
20:45
Netherlands  4–1  France
Report Henry Goal 71'
Stade de Suisse, Bern
Attendance: 30,777[37]
Referee: Herbert Fandel (Germany)

17 June 2008 (2008-06-17)
20:45
Netherlands  2–0  Romania
Report
Stade de Suisse, Bern
Attendance: 30,777[38]
Referee: Massimo Busacca (Switzerland)

17 June 2008 (2008-06-17)
20:45
France  0–2  Italy
Report
Letzigrund, Zürich
Attendance: 30,585[39]
Referee: Ľuboš Micheľ (Slovakia)

Group D[edit]

Main article: UEFA Euro 2008 Group D
Pos Team
Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification
1  Spain 3 3 0 0 8 3 +5 9 Advance to knockout phase
2  Russia 3 2 0 1 4 4 0 6
3  Sweden 3 1 0 2 3 4 −1 3
4  Greece 3 0 0 3 1 5 −4 0
Source: UEFA

10 June 2008 (2008-06-10)
18:00
Spain  4–1  Russia
Report Pavlyuchenko Goal 86'
Tivoli-Neu, Innsbruck
Attendance: 30,772[40]
Referee: Konrad Plautz (Austria)

10 June 2008 (2008-06-10)
20:45
Greece  0–2  Sweden
Report

14 June 2008 (2008-06-14)
18:00
Sweden  1–2  Spain
Ibrahimović Goal 34' Report
Tivoli-Neu, Innsbruck
Attendance: 30,772[42]
Referee: Pieter Vink (Netherlands)

14 June 2008 (2008-06-14)
20:45
Greece  0–1  Russia
Report Zyryanov Goal 33'

18 June 2008 (2008-06-18)
20:45
Greece  1–2  Spain
Charisteas Goal 42' Report

18 June 2008 (2008-06-18)
20:45
Russia  2–0  Sweden
Report
Tivoli-Neu, Innsbruck
Attendance: 30,772[45]
Referee: Frank De Bleeckere (Belgium)

Knockout phase[edit]

Main article: UEFA Euro 2008 knockout phase
Cesc Fàbregas celebrating Spain's Euro 2008 title

The knockout phase was different from that of past tournaments. Teams in groups A and B were separated from teams in groups C and D until the final. This increased the chance of a group fixture being replayed in the knockout phase, and rendered impossible a final between two teams drawn in the same half of the tournament. Also, in another major change, for the first time in a European Championship, only two venues (St. Jakob-Park, Basel and Ernst-Happel-Stadion, Vienna—the two largest of the eight stadiums used) were used for the seven matches in the knockout phase of the tournament.[46]

All times are local, CEST (UTC+2).

Bracket[edit]

 
 Quarter-finals Semi-finals Final
 
                    
 
 19 June – Basel
 
 
  Portugal 2
 
 25 June – Basel
 
  Germany 3
 
  Germany 3
 
 20 June – Vienna
 
  Turkey 2
 
  Croatia 1 (1)
 
 29 June – Vienna
 
  Turkey (p) 1 (3)
 
  Germany 0
 
 21 June – Basel
 
  Spain 1
 
  Netherlands 1
 
 26 June – Vienna
 
  Russia (a.e.t.) 3
 
  Russia 0
 
 22 June – Vienna
 
  Spain 3
 
  Spain (p) 0 (4)
 
 
  Italy 0 (2)
 

Quarter-finals[edit]

19 June 2008 (2008-06-19)
20:45
Portugal  2–3  Germany
Report
St. Jakob-Park, Basel
Attendance: 39,374[47]
Referee: Peter Fröjdfeldt (Sweden)

20 June 2008 (2008-06-20)
20:45
Croatia  1–1 (a.e.t.)  Turkey
Klasnić Goal 119' Report Semih Goal 120+2'
  Penalties  
1–3
Ernst-Happel-Stadion, Vienna
Attendance: 51,428[48]
Referee: Roberto Rosetti (Italy)

21 June 2008 (2008-06-21)
20:45
Netherlands  1–3 (a.e.t.)  Russia
Van Nistelrooy Goal 86' Report
St. Jakob-Park, Basel
Attendance: 38,374[49]
Referee: Ľuboš Micheľ (Slovakia)

22 June 2008 (2008-06-22)
20:45
Spain  0–0 (a.e.t.)  Italy
Report
  Penalties  
4–2
Ernst-Happel-Stadion, Vienna
Attendance: 48,000[50]
Referee: Herbert Fandel (Germany)

Semi-finals[edit]

25 June 2008 (2008-06-25)
20:45
Germany  3–2  Turkey
Report
St. Jakob-Park, Basel
Attendance: 39,374[51]
Referee: Massimo Busacca (Switzerland)

26 June 2008 (2008-06-26)
20:45
Russia  0–3  Spain
Report

Final[edit]

Main article: UEFA Euro 2008 Final

29 June 2008 (2008-06-29)
20:45
Germany  0–1  Spain
Report Torres Goal 33'
Ernst-Happel-Stadion, Vienna
Attendance: 51,428[53]
Referee: Roberto Rosetti (Italy)

Statistics[edit]

Main article: UEFA Euro 2008 statistics

Goalscorers[edit]

4 goals
3 goals
2 goals
1 goal

Awards[edit]

Spain midfielder Xavi was selected as the Player of the Tournament.

The UEFA Technical Team was charged with naming a squad composed of the 23 best players over the course of the tournament. The group of nine analysts watched every game at the tournament before making their decision after the final. Nine players from the winning Spanish team were named in the team of the tournament, while no players knocked out in the group stage were included.[54] The UEFA Technical Team also had to pick a Player of the Tournament, taking fans' votes into account. The player chosen was Spain midfielder Xavi.[55] The Golden Boot was awarded to yet another Spaniard, David Villa, who scored four goals, three of which came in his side's 4–1 win over Russia (the only hat-trick scored in the tournament).[56]

UEFA Team of the Tournament
Goalkeepers Defenders Midfielders Forwards
Italy Gianluigi Buffon Portugal José Bosingwa Turkey Hamit Altıntop Russia Andrey Arshavin
Spain Iker Casillas Germany Philipp Lahm Germany Michael Ballack Russia Roman Pavlyuchenko
Netherlands Edwin van der Sar Spain Carlos Marchena Spain Cesc Fàbregas Spain Fernando Torres
Portugal Pepe Spain Andrés Iniesta Spain David Villa
Spain Carles Puyol Croatia Luka Modrić
Russia Yuri Zhirkov Germany Lukas Podolski
Spain Marcos Senna
Netherlands Wesley Sneijder
Spain Xavi
Russia Konstantin Zyryanov
Golden Boot
UEFA Player of the Tournament

Prize money[edit]

UEFA announced that total of €184 million has been offered to the 16 teams competing in this tournament, increasing from €129 million in the previous tournament. The distributions as below:[57]

  • Prize for participating: €7.5 million

Extra payment based on teams performances:

  • Winner: €7.5 million
  • Runner-up: €4.5 million
  • Semi-finals: €3 million
  • Quarter-finals: €2 million
  • Group stage (per match):
    • Win: €1 million
    • Draw: €500,000

Spain, as winners of the tournament and winners of all three of their group stage matches, received a total prize of €23 million, the maximum possible prize money. Greece on the other hand, being the only team to lose all three of their group matches, were the only team to receive nothing more than the €7.5 million participation prize.

Discipline[edit]

Main article: UEFA Euro 2008 disciplinary record

At UEFA Euro 2008, players may be suspended from playing in subsequent matches upon the collection of a certain number of yellow or red cards. If a player is shown a red card – whether as a result of two bookable offences or a straight red – that player is suspended from playing in his team's next match. If his team is eliminated from the competition before the end of his suspension, the games carry over to the 2010 FIFA World Cup qualification matches. A player is also suspended for one match for picking up two yellow cards in separate matches. However, any yellow cards accumulated are annulled once a team is eliminated from the tournament or reaches the semi-finals.[58]

In extreme cases of ill-discipline, UEFA may choose to have a disciplinary panel examine the incident in order to determine whether or not further suspension is required. One case of this at Euro 2008 was the suspension of Turkey goalkeeper Volkan Demirel for two matches for pushing Czech striker Jan Koller.[59]

The following players were suspended for one or more games as a result of red cards or yellow card accumulation:

Player Offence(s) Suspension(s) Notes
Russia Andrey Arshavin Red card.svg in Euro qualifying v Andorra Group D v Spain
Group D v Greece		 Suspension due to red card in
last game of qualifying Group E
Germany Bastian Schweinsteiger Red card.svg in Group B v Croatia Group B v Austria
Austria Sebastian Prödl Yellow card.svg in Group B v Croatia
Yellow card.svg in Group B v Poland		 Group B v Germany
Romania Dorin Goian Yellow card.svg in Group C v France
Yellow card.svg in Group C v Italy		 Group C v Netherlands
Turkey Mehmet Aurélio Yellow card.svg in Group A v Switzerland
Yellow card.svg in Group A v Czech Republic		 Quarter-final v Croatia
Turkey Volkan Demirel Red card.svg in Group A v Czech Republic Quarter-final v Croatia
Semi-final v Germany		 Suspension increased to two
games for serious violent conduct
France Éric Abidal Red card.svg in Group C v Italy World Cup qualifying v Austria Suspension served in World Cup
qualifying Group 7
Italy Andrea Pirlo Yellow card.svg in Group C v Romania
Yellow card.svg in Group C v France		 Quarter-final v Spain
Italy Gennaro Gattuso Yellow card.svg in Group C v Netherlands
Yellow card.svg in Group C v France		 Quarter-final v Spain
Turkey Tuncay Şanlı Yellow card.svg in Group A v Switzerland
Yellow card.svg in Quarter-final v Croatia		 Semi-final v Germany
Turkey Arda Turan Yellow card.svg in Group A v Czech Republic
Yellow card.svg in Quarter-final v Croatia		 Semi-final v Germany
Turkey Emre Aşık Yellow card.svg in Group A v Czech Republic
Yellow card.svg in Quarter-final v Croatia		 Semi-final v Germany
Russia Denis Kolodin Yellow card.svg in Group D v Sweden
Yellow card.svg in Quarter-final v Netherlands		 Semi-final v Spain
Russia Dmitri Torbinski Yellow card.svg in Group D v Greece
Yellow card.svg in Quarter-final v Netherlands		 Semi-final v Spain

Penalty kicks[edit]

Not counting penalty shoot-outs, there were five penalty kicks awarded during the tournament. For the first time since tournament expansion for Euro 96, no penalties were awarded during the knockout phase. Romanian Adrian Mutu provided the sole penalty miss, late in the match against world champions Italy; had he scored and Romania held on for the win, the Italians would have been knocked out.

Scored
Missed

Marketing[edit]

New trophy[edit]

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,[60] 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.

Match ball[edit]

A large model of the adidas Europass prior to the final between Germany and Spain

The match ball for the finals was unveiled at the draw ceremony. Produced by Adidas and named the Europass, it is a 14-panel ball in the same construction as the Teamgeist, but with a modified surface design.[61] A version named the Europass Gloria was used in the final.[62]

There were concerns raised about the match ball, which was claimed to deviate unpredictably in flight, making it difficult to judge for goalkeepers. Notable players to criticise were Germany's Jens Lehmann and the Czech Republic's Petr Čech.[63] These claims were disputed by the ball's designer, Oliver Kahn.

Music[edit]

The official melody was composed by Rollo Armstrong of Faithless on behalf of UEFA.[64] The official Euro 2008 song was "Can You Hear Me" by Enrique Iglesias, which was performed live during the official closing ceremony prior to the final in Ernst Happel Stadion in Vienna on 29 June.[65]

Two soundtracks, "Like a Superstar" and "Feel the Rush," were recorded by Jamaican reggae artist Shaggy as mascot songs for Euro 2008. They formed a musical background to video clips featuring the twin mascots Trix and Flix.[64]

The official Swiss song for the tournament was a new version of "Bring en hei" (Bring him Home) by Baschi.[66] Christina Stürmer sang the official tournament song of Austrian ÖFB, "Fieber" (Fever).[67] Croatia manager Slaven Bilić recorded his country's official Euro 2008 song, "Vatreno ludilo" ("Fiery Madness"), with his rock group, Rawbau.

"Seven Nation Army" by The White Stripes was played when players walked out before kick-off,[68] and a remix of "Samba de Janeiro" by German dance group Bellini was played after each goal scored in the competition.[69][70]

Mascots[edit]

See also: UEFA European Football Championship mascot

The two official mascots for UEFA Euro 2008, were named after a vote from the public of the two host nations from the following options:

  • Zigi and Zagi
  • Flitz and Bitz
  • Trix and Flix

In April 2007, after receiving 36.3% of the vote, Trix and Flix were chosen. "I am sure the mascots and their names will become a vital part of the understanding of the whole event," said Christian Mutschler, the tournament director for Switzerland.[71] The mascots were unveiled on 27 September 2006, in Vienna, Austria. Their official début was on 11 October 2006, at the Austria vs. Switzerland friendly, which ended 2–1.[72]

Slogan[edit]

The slogan for UEFA Euro 2008 was chosen on 24 January 2007: Expect Emotions.

The UEFA President Michel Platini stated "It describes in a nutshell what the UEFA Euro 2008 has to offer: all kinds of emotions – joy, disappointment, relief or high tension – right up to the final whistle."[73]

Sponsorship[edit]

UEFA announced eight global sponsors for the tournament.[74]

References[edit]

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  67. ^ Christina Stürmers offizieller EM-Song heißt "Fieber" on orf.at
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External links[edit]

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