UEFA Euro 2008

UEFA Euro 2008

Fußball-Europameisterschaft 2008 (German) Championnat d'Europe de football 2008 (French) Campionato Europeo di calcio 2008 (Italian) Campiunadis Europeans da ballape 2008 (Romansh)
UEFA Euro 2008 official logo Expect Emotions
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

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 second jointly hosted finals in the competition's history, the tournament was eventually won by Spain, defeating Germany 1–0 in the final; becoming only the second nation to win all their group stage fixtures and win 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, the previous competition. They recorded the worst finish in Euro 2008, collecting the least amount of prize money and gaining no points in their three group fixtures. 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]

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. 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. 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.

Performance of the participating countries during Euro 2008

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.

Bid process

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.

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.^[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
Geneva Basel Bern Zurich		Vienna Klagenfurt Salzburg Innsbruck
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

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

Country	Qualified as	Date qualification was secured	Previous appearances in tournament^1
Austria	Co-hosts	12 December 2002	0 (debut)
Switzerland	Co-hosts	12 December 2002	2 (1996, 2004)
Poland	Group A winner	17 November 2007	0 (debut)
Portugal	Group A runner-up	21 November 2007	4 (1984, 1996, 2000, 2004)
Italy	Group B winner	17 November 2007	6 (1968, 1980, 1988, 1996, 2000, 2004)
France	Group B runner-up	17 November 2007	6 (1960, 1984, 1992, 1996, 2000, 2004)
Greece	Group C winner	17 October 2007	2 (1980, 2004)
Turkey	Group C runner-up	21 November 2007	2 (1996, 2000)
Czech Republic	Group D winner	17 October 2007	6 (1960^3, 1976^3, 1980^3, 1996, 2000, 2004)
Germany	Group D runner-up	13 October 2007	9 (1972^4, 1976^4, 1980^4, 1984^4, 1988^4, 1992, 1996, 2000, 2004)
Croatia	Group E winner	17 November 2007	2 (1996, 2004)
Russia	Group E runner-up	21 November 2007	8 (1960^5, 1964^5, 1968^5, 1972^5, 1988^5, 1992^6, 1996, 2004)
Spain	Group F winner	17 November 2007	7 (1964, 1980, 1984, 1988, 1996, 2000, 2004)
Sweden	Group F runner-up	21 November 2007	3 (1992, 2000, 2004)
Romania	Group G winner	17 October 2007	3 (1984, 1996, 2000)
Netherlands	Group G runner-up	17 November 2007	7 (1976, 1980, 1988, 1992, 1996, 2000, 2004)

¹ Bold indicates champion for that year

² Italic indicates host for that year

³ as Czechoslovakia

⁴ as West Germany

⁵ as Soviet Union

⁶ as CIS

Seeding

The draw for the final tournament took place on 2 December 2007 at the Culture and Convention Centre in Lucerne.^[7]

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.^[8][9] The Netherlands were seeded based on their UEFA coefficient in the Euro 2008 finalists ranking.

Pot 1	Pot 2	Pot 3	Pot 4
Switzerland (co-hosts)  Austria (co-hosts)  Greece  Netherlands	Croatia  Italy  Czech Republic  Sweden	Romania  Germany  Portugal  Spain	Poland  France  Turkey  Russia

Impact of seedings

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

Rank	Team	Coefficient	Recent matches	Average goal difference
1	Switzerland^1	1.800	1.800	+ 1.100
2	Austria^1	1.500	1.500	+ 0.300
3	Greece^2	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

¹ Co-hosts
² Defending champions

Controversy

UEFA came under heavy criticism from Raymond Domenech, manager of France, who was not satisfied with his team's position in the draw^[10] and was also in favour of having 2006 FIFA World Cup winners Italy as top seed.^[11] 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.^[12]

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.^[13]

Match officials

Twelve referees and twenty-four assistants were selected for the tournament:^[14]

Country	Referee	Assistants		Matches refereed
Austria	Konrad Plautz	Egon Bereuter	Markus Mayr	Spain 4–1 Russia, Switzerland 2–0 Portugal
Belgium	Frank De Bleeckere	Peter Hermans	Alex Verstraeten	Croatia 2–1 Germany, Russia 2–0 Sweden, Russia 0–3 Spain (semifinal)
England	Howard Webb	Darren Cann	Mike Mullarkey	Austria 1–1 Poland, Greece 1–2 Spain
Germany	Herbert Fandel	Carsten Kadach	Volker Wezel	Portugal 2–0 Turkey, Netherlands 4–1 France, Spain 0–0 Italy (Quarter-final)
Greece	Kyros Vassaras	Dimitiris Bozartzidis	Dimitiris Saraidaris	Czech Republic 1–3 Portugal, Poland 0–1 Croatia
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	Pieter Vink	Adriaan Inia	Hans ten Hoove	Austria 0–1 Croatia, Sweden 1–2 Spain
Norway	Tom Henning Øvrebø	Geir Åge Holen	Jan Petter Randen[15]	Germany 2–0 Poland, Italy 1–1 Romania
Slovakia	Ľuboš Micheľ	Roman Slyško	Martin Balko	Switzerland 1–2 Turkey, France 0–2 Italy, Netherlands 1–3 Russia (Quarter-final)
Spain	Manuel Mejuto González	Juan Carlos Yuste Jiménez	Jesús Calvo Guadamuro	Romania 0–0 France, Austria 0–1 Germany
Sweden	Peter Fröjdfeldt	Stefan Wittberg	Henrik Andren	Netherlands 3–0 Italy, Turkey 3–2 Czech Republic, Portugal 2–3 Germany (Quarter-final)
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	Ivan Bebek
France	Stéphane Lannoy
Hungary	Viktor Kassai
Iceland	Kristinn Jakobsson
Poland	Grzegorz Gilewski
Portugal	Olegário Benquerença
Scotland	Craig Thomson
Slovenia	Damir Skomina

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 following tie-breaking criteria in the following order:^[16]

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.^[17]

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

7 June 2008
Switzerland	0–1	Czech Republic	St. Jakob-Park, Basel
Portugal	2–0	Turkey	Stade de Genève, Geneva
11 June 2008
Czech Republic	1–3	Portugal	Stade de Genève, Geneva
Switzerland	1–2	Turkey	St. Jakob-Park, Basel
15 June 2008
Switzerland	2–0	Portugal	St. Jakob-Park, Basel
Turkey	3–2	Czech Republic	Stade de Genève, Geneva

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

<noinclude>

8 June 2008
Austria	0–1	Croatia	Ernst-Happel-Stadion, Vienna
Germany	2–0	Poland	Hypo-Arena, Klagenfurt
12 June 2008
Croatia	2–1	Germany	Hypo-Arena, Klagenfurt
Austria	1–1	Poland	Ernst-Happel-Stadion, Vienna
16 June 2008
Poland	0–1	Croatia	Hypo-Arena, Klagenfurt
Austria	0–1	Germany	Ernst-Happel-Stadion, Vienna

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 result was a 1–1 draw.

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

<noinclude>

9 June 2008
Romania	0–0	France	Letzigrund, Zürich
Netherlands	3–0	Italy	Stade de Suisse, Bern
13 June 2008
Italy	1–1	Romania	Letzigrund, Zürich
Netherlands	4–1	France	Stade de Suisse, Bern
17 June 2008
Netherlands	2–0	Romania	Stade de Suisse, Bern
France	0–2	Italy	Letzigrund, Zürich

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
Greece	3	0	0	3	1	5	−4	0

<noinclude>

10 June 2008
Spain	4–1	Russia	Tivoli-Neu, Innsbruck
Greece	0–2	Sweden	Wals-Siezenheim Stadium, Salzburg
14 June 2008
Sweden	1–2	Spain	Tivoli-Neu, Innsbruck
Greece	0–1	Russia	Wals-Siezenheim Stadium, Salzburg
18 June 2008
Greece	1–2	Spain	Wals-Siezenheim Stadium, Salzburg
Russia	2–0	Sweden	Tivoli-Neu, Innsbruck

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.^[18]

	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 (aet)	3
					Russia	0
	22 June – Vienna
					Spain	3
	Spain (p)	0 (4)
	Italy	0 (2)

All times are Central European Summer Time (UTC+2)

Quarter-finals

Portugal  v  Germany

19 June 2008 20:45

Portugal	2–3	Germany
Nuno Gomes  40' Postiga  87'	Report	Schweinsteiger  22' Klose  26' Ballack  61'

St. Jakob-Park, Basel Attendance: 39,374 Referee: Peter Fröjdfeldt (Sweden)

---

Croatia  v  Turkey

20 June 2008 20:45

Croatia	1–1 (a.e.t.)	Turkey
Klasnić  119'	Report	Semih  120+2'
	Penalties
Modrić Srna Rakitić Petrić	1–3	Arda Semih Hamit Altıntop

Ernst-Happel-Stadion, Vienna Attendance: 51,428 Referee: Roberto Rosetti (Italy)

---

Netherlands  v  Russia

21 June 2008 20:45

Netherlands	1–3 (a.e.t.)	Russia
Van Nistelrooy  86'	Report	Pavlyuchenko  56' Torbinski  112' Arshavin  116'

St. Jakob-Park, Basel Attendance: 38,374 Referee: Ľuboš Micheľ (Slovakia)

---

Spain  v  Italy

22 June 2008 20:45

Spain	0–0 (a.e.t.)	Italy
	Report
	Penalties
Villa Cazorla Senna Güiza Fàbregas	4–2	Grosso De Rossi Camoranesi Di Natale

Ernst-Happel-Stadion, Vienna Attendance: 48,000 Referee: Herbert Fandel (Germany)

Semi-finals

Germany  v  Turkey

25 June 2008 20:45

Germany	3–2	Turkey
Schweinsteiger  26' Klose  79' Lahm  90'	Report	Uğur  22' Semih  86'

St. Jakob-Park, Basel Attendance: 39,374 Referee: Massimo Busacca (Switzerland)

---

Russia  v  Spain

26 June 2008 20:45

Russia	0–3	Spain
	Report	Xavi  50' Güiza  73' Silva  82'

Ernst-Happel-Stadion, Vienna Attendance: 51,428 Referee: Frank De Bleeckere (Belgium)

Final

Germany  v  Spain

29 June 2008 20:45

Germany	0–1	Spain
	Report	Torres  33'

Ernst-Happel-Stadion, Vienna Attendance: 51,428[19] Referee: Roberto Rosetti (Italy)

Statistics

Goalscorers

4 goals

• David Villa

3 goals

Lukas Podolski Roman Pavlyuchenko

Hakan Yakin

Semih Şentürk

2 goals

Ivan Klasnić Michael Ballack Bastian Schweinsteiger Miroslav Klose Ruud van Nistelrooy

Robin van Persie Wesley Sneijder Andrey Arshavin Daniel Güiza Fernando Torres

Zlatan Ibrahimović Arda Turan Nihat Kahveci

1 goal

Ivica Vastić Luka Modrić Ivica Olić Darijo Srna Jan Koller Jaroslav Plašil Libor Sionko Václav Svěrkoš Thierry Henry Philipp Lahm Angelos Charisteas Daniele De Rossi

Christian Panucci Andrea Pirlo Klaas-Jan Huntelaar Dirk Kuyt Arjen Robben Giovanni van Bronckhorst Roger Guerreiro Deco Raul Meireles Nuno Gomes Pepe Hélder Postiga

Ricardo Quaresma Cristiano Ronaldo Adrian Mutu Dmitri Torbinski Konstantin Zyryanov Rubén de la Red Cesc Fàbregas David Silva Xavi Petter Hansson Uğur Boral

Awards

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.^[20] 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.^[21] 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).^[22]

UEFA Team of the Tournament

Goalkeepers	Defenders	Midfielders	Forwards
Gianluigi Buffon	José Bosingwa	Hamit Altıntop	Andrey Arshavin
Iker Casillas	Philipp Lahm	Michael Ballack	Roman Pavlyuchenko
Edwin van der Sar	Carlos Marchena	Cesc Fàbregas	Fernando Torres
	Pepe	Andrés Iniesta	David Villa
	Carles Puyol	Luka Modrić
	Yuri Zhirkov	Lukas Podolski
		Marcos Senna
		Wesley Sneijder
		Xavi
		Konstantin Zyryanov

Golden Boot

• David Villa (4 goals)

UEFA Player of the Tournament

• Xavi

Discipline

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.^[23]

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.^[24]

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
Andrey Arshavin	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
Bastian Schweinsteiger	in Group B v Croatia	Group B v Austria
Sebastian Prödl	in Group B v Croatia in Group B v Poland	Group B v Germany
Dorin Goian	in Group C v France in Group C v Italy	Group C v Netherlands
Mehmet Aurélio	in Group A v Switzerland in Group A v Czech Republic	Quarter-final v Croatia
Volkan Demirel	in Group A v Czech Republic	Quarter-final v Croatia Semi-final v Germany	Suspension increased to two games for serious violent conduct
Éric Abidal	in Group C v Italy	World Cup qualifying v Austria	Suspension served in World Cup qualifying Group 7
Andrea Pirlo	in Group C v Romania in Group C v France	Quarter-final v Spain
Gennaro Gattuso	in Group C v Netherlands in Group C v France	Quarter-final v Spain
Tuncay Şanlı	in Group A v Switzerland in Quarter-final v Croatia	Semi-final v Germany
Arda Turan	in Group A v Czech Republic in Quarter-final v Croatia	Semi-final v Germany
Emre Aşık	in Group A v Czech Republic in Quarter-final v Croatia	Semi-final v Germany
Denis Kolodin	in Group D v Sweden in Quarter-final v Netherlands	Semi-final v Spain
Dmitri Torbinski	in Group D v Greece in Quarter-final v Netherlands	Semi-final v Spain

Penalty kicks

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

• Luka Modrić for  Croatia v  Austria
• Ivica Vastić for  Austria v  Poland
• Andrea Pirlo for  Italy v  France
• Hakan Yakin for   Switzerland v  Portugal

Missed

• Adrian Mutu for  Romania v  Italy, saved by Gianluigi Buffon

Miscellany

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,^[25] 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

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.^[26] A version named the Europass Gloria was used in the final.^[27]

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.^[28] These claims were disputed by the ball's designer, Oliver Kahn.

Music

The official melody was composed by Rollo Armstrong of Faithless on behalf of UEFA.^[29] 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.^[30]

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.^[29]

The official Swiss song for the tournament was a new version of "Bring en hei" (Bring him Home) by Baschi.^[31] Christina Stürmer sang the official tournament song of Austrian ÖFB, "Fieber" (Fever).^[32] 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,^[33] and a remix of "Samba de Janeiro" by German dance group Bellini was played after each goal scored in the competition.^[34]

Mascots

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.^[35] 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.^[36]

Slogan

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."^[37]

Prize money

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:^[38]

• 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.

Broadcasting rights

References

1. Spain was not obliged to participate in the Confederations Cup, but chose to do so. Prior to 2004, the European and South American champions were obliged to participate in the Confederations Cup, but a FIFA ruling changed this in 2004.
   "2005/2006 season: final worldwide matchday to be 14 May 2006". FIFA.com. 19 December 2004. Retrieved 14 June 2008.
2. "Germany Advances to Euro 2008 Quarterfinals". WSN. 16 June 2008. Retrieved 17 March 2009.
3. "TV-Signal weg". spiegel.de. 25 June 2008. Retrieved 26 May 2013.
4. "Match statistics". euro2008.uefa.com. 29 June 2008. Retrieved 30 June 2008.
5. "UEFA EURO 2008". fussballtempel.net. Retrieved 8 June 2008.
6. "Zurich – Letzigrund Stadion".
7. "Draw sets up heavyweight contests". uefa.com. 2 December 2007. Archived from the original on 3 December 2007. Retrieved 2 December 2007.
8. "Format from UEFA Website".
9. "UEFA Euro 2008 Information" (PDF).
10. "Strange seeding make for interesting Euro 2008 draw". International Herald Tribune. November 30, 2007. Retrieved 2007-11-30.
11. "Domenech Blasts UEFA, Supports Italy!". Goal.com. 20 November 2007. Retrieved 2007-11-30.
12. UEFA reveals finals draw seedings
13. "Regulations of the UEFA European Football Championship 2006/08" (PDF). UEFA.com. Union of European Football Associations. Retrieved 29 July 2014.
14. "UEFA Euro 2008 referees".
15. "Hundredeler for treig til EM-plass". dagbladet.no.
16. Paragraph 7.07 (Section V) of Regulations of the UEFA European Football Championship, 2006/08
17. Paragraph 7.08 (Section V) of Regulations of the UEFA European Football Championship, 2006/08
18. "Euro-Format means group rivals cannot meet again in final". Yahoo! Sports. 3 June 2008. Retrieved 3 June 2008.
19. "Full-time report Germany-Spain" (PDF). UEFA.com. Union of European Football Associations. 29 June 2008. Retrieved 9 June 2012.
20. "Spain dominate Team of the Tournament". Union of European Football Associations. 30 June 2008. Archived from the original on 2 September 2008. Retrieved 30 June 2008.
21. "Xavi emerges as EURO's top man". Union of European Football Associations. 30 June 2008. Archived from the original on 22 September 2008. Retrieved 30 June 2008.
22. "Absent Villa takes scoring prize". Union of European Football Associations. 29 June 2008. Archived from the original on 13 October 2008. Retrieved 1 July 2008.
23. "Directives on yellow cards in the EURO 2008 competition" (PDF). UEFA. 11 July 2006. Retrieved 20 June 2008.
24. "Volkan Demirel banned". euro2008.uefa.com. 19 June 2008. Retrieved 20 June 2008.
25. "The Henri Delaunay Cup". UEFA.com. Union of European Football Associations. Retrieved 29 July 2014.
26. "adidas "EUROPASS" – the match ball with "goose bumps" for UEFA EURO 2008". Lucerne/Herzogenaurach: adidas. 2 December 2007. Retrieved 4 December 2007.
27. "Final ball rolled out in Vienna". euro2008.uefa.com. 30 April 2008. Retrieved 30 May 2008.
28. "Cech concerned by Euro 2008 ball". BBC Sport. 6 June 2008. Retrieved 6 June 2008.
29. "The official UEFA EURO 2008 music" (PDF). UEFA. 28 February 2008.
30. "Official UEFA EURO 2008 Song: "Can You Hear Me" by Enrique Iglesias" (PDF). UEFA. 20 May 2008. Retrieved 20 June 2008.
31. Official UEFA EURO 2008 Song: "Can You Hear Me" by Enrique Iglesias
32. Christina Stürmers offizieller EM-Song heißt "Fieber" on orf.at
33. Seven Nation Army: the indiest football anthem ever?, The Guardian, 18 June 2008
34. What's That Song They Play After the Euro Goals?, Euro 2008 Championships on World Cup Blog
35. "Official Mascot Naming".
36. "Uefa unveils official mascot for Euro 2008 championship". 28 September 2006. Retrieved 30 June 2015.
37. "Expect Emotions at Euro 2008".
38. "UEFA raises 2008 prize money".

External links

• Official website at the Wayback Machine (archived September 28, 2008)
• UEFA Euro 2008 at UEFA.com