UEFA Euro 2008 Group C
Group C of the 2008 UEFA European Championships is one of four groups of competing nations at UEFA Euro 2008. The first of three rounds of matches took place on 9 June, and finished on 17 June. All six group matches were played at venues in Switzerland, in Zürich and Berne. The group is composed of 2006 FIFA World Cup finalists Italy and France, as well as the Netherlands and Romania. At the time of the draw, these countries' respective Elo rankings among European teams were 1st, 2nd, 4th and 8th, and as such the group has been dubbed the competition's "group of death".[1][2] Nevertheless, despite the strength of the four teams, Group C was the only group at Euro 2008 from which no team made it past the quarter-finals; Italy went out in the penalty shoot-out against Spain and the Netherlands lost against Russia.
The Netherlands became the first team to qualify for the quarter-finals from Group C. In their first match, they beat the world champions, Italy, 3–0 in a display of counter-attacking football. Then, in their second game, they also beat the 2006 World Cup runners-up, France, 4–1. This left the French in a difficult position, having already played out a scoreless draw against Romania in the group's opening match. Romania also played out a draw against Italy in their second match, leaving them in second place going into the final round of group matches.
Italy finished as the second quarter-finalists, after they beat France 2–0 in their final game. French defender Éric Abidal was sent off just over a quarter of the way through the game for a foul on Luca Toni in the area; Andrea Pirlo converted the resulting penalty. Daniele De Rossi added the second goal from a deflected free kick just after the hour mark. Because of the Italian win, Romania had to beat the Netherlands to qualify for the quarters, but they were undone by a Klaas-Jan Huntelaar goal just after half-time, before Robin van Persie scored his second of the tournament three minutes from the end.[3]
Standings
| Key to colours in group tables |
|---|
| Team progressed to the quarter-finals |
| 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 |
All times local (UTC+2)
Romania vs France
          Romania[5]
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     France[5]
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Man of the Match:
Assistant referees:
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Netherlands vs Italy
 Netherlands[7]
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   Italy[7]
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Man of the Match:
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Italy vs Romania
Italy[9]
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Romania[9]
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Man of the Match:
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Netherlands vs France
13 June 2008 20:45 |
| Netherlands |
4–1 | France |
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Kuyt  9'Van Persie 59'Robben 72'Sneijder 90+2' |
Report | Henry 71' |
Netherlands[11]
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France[11]
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Man of the Match:
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Netherlands vs Romania
Netherlands[13]
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 Romania[13]
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Man of the Match:
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France vs Italy
France[15]
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 Italy[15]
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Man of the Match:
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References
- ↑ Harrold, Michael (2 December 2007). "Group of Death draws mixed reaction". Euro 2008 official website (Union of European Football Associations). Archived from the original on 5 February 2008. Retrieved 3 March 2008.
- ↑ "Italy and France in Euro 2008 'group of death'". ESPN Soccernet (ESPN). 2 December 2007. Retrieved 3 March 2008.
- ↑ Chowdhury, Saj (11 June 2008). "France 0–2 Italy & Netherlands 2–0 Romania". BBC Sport (British Broadcasting Corporation). Retrieved 17 June 2011.
- 1 2 "Full-time report Romania-France" (PDF). Union of European Football Associations. 9 June 2008. Retrieved 9 June 2012.
- 1 2 "Team Line-ups – Group C – Romania-France" (PDF). Union of European Football Associations. 9 June 2008. Retrieved 11 June 2012.
- 1 2 "Full-time report Netherlands-Italy" (PDF). Union of European Football Associations. 9 June 2008. Retrieved 9 June 2012.
- 1 2 "Team Line-ups – Group C – Netherlands-Italy" (PDF). Union of European Football Associations. 9 June 2008. Retrieved 11 June 2012.
- 1 2 "Full-time report Italy-Romania" (PDF). Union of European Football Associations. 13 June 2008. Retrieved 9 June 2012.
- 1 2 "Team Line-ups – Group C – Italy-Romania" (PDF). Union of European Football Associations. 13 June 2008. Retrieved 11 June 2012.
- 1 2 "Full-time Netherlands-France" (PDF). Union of European Football Associations. 13 June 2008. Retrieved 9 June 2012.
- 1 2 "Team Line-ups – Group C – Netherlands-France" (PDF). Union of European Football Associations. 13 June 2008. Retrieved 11 June 2012.
- 1 2 "Full-time report Netherlands-Romania" (PDF). Union of European Football Associations. 17 June 2008. Retrieved 9 June 2012.
- 1 2 "Team Line-ups – Group C – Netherlands-Romania" (PDF). Union of European Football Associations. 17 June 2008. Retrieved 11 June 2012.
- 1 2 "Full-time report France-Italy" (PDF). Union of European Football Associations. 17 June 2008. Retrieved 9 June 2012.
- 1 2 "Team Line-ups – Group C – France-Italy" (PDF). Union of European Football Associations. 17 June 2008. Retrieved 11 June 2012.
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