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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
File:UEFA EURO 2008 New Logo.svg
UEFA Euro 2008 official logo
Tournament details
Host countriesAustria
Switzerland
Dates7 June – 29 June
Teams16
Venue(s)8 (in 8 host cities)

The 2008 UEFA European Football Championship, commonly referred to as Euro 2008, is currently taking place in Austria and Switzerland which started on 7 June 2008 and concludes on 29 June 2008. It 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.

A total of 16 teams will participate in the tournament. Austria and Switzerland automatically qualified as hosts; the remaining 14 teams have been determined through qualifying matches which started in August 2006. Austria and Poland will be making their first appearance in the tournament. The winner of Euro 2008 will represent UEFA at the 2009 FIFA Confederations Cup in South Africa, unless Italy wins the tournament, in which case the runner-up will be entered, as Italy is already entered as the winner of the 2006 FIFA World Cup.

Bid process

The two countries 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 already bid with another country before, which was Hungary for Euro 2004. They had eventually lost 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.

Venues

Switzerland will play all of its group-stage matches at Basel, and Austria will play all of its group-stage matches at Vienna.

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.[1]

Vienna Klagenfurt Salzburg Innsbruck
Ernst Happel Stadion Hypo-Arena Wals Siezenheim Stadion Tivoli Neu
Capacity: 53,008 Capacity: 32,000 Capacity: 30,000 Capacity: 30,000
Basel Berne Geneva Zürich
St. Jakob-Park Stade de Suisse Stade de Genève Letzigrund
Capacity: 42,500 Capacity: 32,000 Capacity: 30,084 Capacity: 30,000

New trophy

File:New Henri Delaunay Trophy.jpg
The new trophy for the UEFA Euro 2008 tournament

A new trophy will be awarded to the winners of the Euro 2008 tournament. The new version of the Henri Delaunay Trophy, created by Asprey London,[2] 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

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 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

Country Qualified as Date qualification was secured Previous appearances in tournament1
 Austria 00Co-hosts 0012 December 2002 01 (debut appearance)
  Switzerland 01Co-hosts 0112 December 2002 21 (1996, 2004)
 Poland 02Group A winner 0917 November 2007 00 (debut appearance)
 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 08Group D winner 0517 October 2007 62 (19602, 19762, 19802, 1996, 2000, 2004)
 Germany 09Group D runner-up 0213 October 2007 9 (19723, 19763, 19803, 19843, 19883, 1992, 1996, 2000, 2004)
 Croatia 10Group E winner 0817 November 2007 20 (1996, 2004)
 Russia 11Group E runner-up 1521 November 2007 8 (19604, 19644, 19684, 19724, 19884, 19925, 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)
Participating countries
1 Bold indicates champion for that year

Spain controversy

FIFA president Sepp Blatter threatened Spain with expulsion from international football had the Spanish government interfered in the election process of the Spanish Football Federation, but no action was deemed necessary.[3]

Seeding

Main article: UEFA Euro 2008 seeding

The draw for the final tournament took place on 2 December 2007 at the Culture and Convention Centre in Lucerne.[4]

In a return to the format used at Euro 92 and Euro 96 the games in each group will be 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.[5][6] The Netherlands were seeded based on their UEFA coefficient in the Euro 2008 finalists ranking.

Pot 1 Pot 2 Pot 3 Pot 4

Match officials

Main article: UEFA Euro 2008 officials

Twelve referees and twenty four assistants were selected for the tournament:[7]

Football
Association 		Referee Assistants
Austria Austria Konrad Plautz Egon Bereuter Markus Mayr
Belgium Belgium Frank de Bleeckere Peter Hermans Alex Verstraeten
England England Howard Webb Darren Cann Mike Mullarkey
Germany Germany Herbert Fandel Carsten Kadach Volker Wezel
Greece Greece Kyros Vassaras Dimitiris Bozartzidis Dimitiris Saraidaris
Italy Italy Roberto Rosetti Alessandro Griselli Paolo Calcagno
Netherlands Netherlands Pieter Vink Adriaan Inia Hans ten Hoove
Norway Norway Tom Henning Øvrebø Geir Åge Holen Jan Petter Randen[8]
Slovakia Slovakia Ľuboš Micheľ Roman Slysko Martin Balko
Spain Spain Manuel Mejuto González Juan Carlos Yuste Jiménez Jesús Calvo Guadamuro
Sweden Sweden Peter Fröjdfeldt Stefan Wittberg Henrik Andren
Switzerland Switzerland Massimo Busacca Matthias Arnet Stephane Cuhat

Squads

Main article: UEFA Euro 2008 squads

Each nation must submit a squad of 23 players, three of which must be goalkeepers, by 28 May 2008. If a player is injured seriously enough to prevent his taking part in the tournament before his team's first match, he may be replaced by another player.[9]

Results

Group stage

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

Euro 2008 wall chart

Group A

Main article: UEFA Euro 2008 Group A
Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts
 Portugal 1 1 0 0 2 0 +2 3
 Czech Republic 1 1 0 0 1 0 +1 3
  Switzerland 1 0 0 1 0 1 −1 0
 Turkey 1 0 0 1 0 2 −2 0
Switzerland 0 – 1 Czech Republic
(Report) Svěrkoš 71'
Attendance: 39,730
Portugal 2 – 0 Turkey
Pepe 61'
R. Meireles 90+3'		 (Report)
Attendance: 29,106
Czech Republic v Portugal
Switzerland v Turkey
Switzerland v Portugal
Turkey v Czech Republic

Group B

Main article: UEFA Euro 2008 Group B
Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts
 Croatia 1 1 0 0 1 0 +1 3
 Germany 1 0 0 0 1 0 +1 0
 Austria 1 0 0 1 0 1 -1 0
 Poland 1 0 0 0 0 1 -1 0


Austria 0 – 1 Croatia
Modrić 4' (pen.)
Germany 1 – 0 Poland
Podolski 20'
Croatia v Germany
Austria v Poland
Referee: Howard Webb (England)
Poland v Croatia
Austria v Germany

Group C

Main article: UEFA Euro 2008 Group C
Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts
 Netherlands 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
 Italy 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
 Romania 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
 France 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Romania v France
Netherlands v Italy
Italy v Romania
Netherlands v France
Netherlands v Romania
France v Italy

Group D

Main article: UEFA Euro 2008 Group D
Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts
 Greece 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
 Sweden 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
 Spain 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
 Russia 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Spain v Russia
Greece v Sweden
Sweden v Spain
Greece v Russia
Greece v Spain
Russia v Sweden

Knockout stage

Main article: UEFA Euro 2008 knockout stage

The knockout stage is different from that of past tournaments. Teams in groups A and B will be separated from teams in groups C and D until the final. The reason for the format change is to equalise the rest periods during the knockout stage. However, this compromises the unpredictability of the competition, as there is, firstly, a greater chance of a group fixture being replayed in the knockout stage; and secondly, the impossibility of 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) will be used for the seven matches in the knockout stage of the tournament.[10]

 
Quarter-finalsSemi-finalsFinal
 
          
 
19 June - Basel
 
 
Winner Group A
 
25 June - Basel
 
Runner-up Group B
 
Winner of QF1
 
20 June - Vienna
 
Winner of QF2
 
Winner Group B
 
29 June - Vienna
 
Runner-up Group A
 
Winner of SF1
 
21 June - Basel
 
Winner of SF2
 
Winner Group C
 
26 June - Vienna
 
Runner-up Group D
 
Winner of QF3
 
22 June - Vienna
 
Winner of QF4
 
Winner Group D
 
 
Runner-up Group C
 

Quarter-finals

Winner of Group AvRunner-up of Group B
Winner of Group BvRunner-up of Group A
Winner of Group CvRunner-up of Group D
Winner of Group DvRunner-up of Group C

Semi-finals

Winner of Quarter-final 1vWinner of Quarter-final 2
Winner of Quarter-final 3vWinner of Quarter-final 4

Final

Main article: UEFA Euro 2008 Final
Winner of Semi-final 1vWinner of Semi-final 2

Statistics

Goalscorers

1 goal

Fastest goal scored: 4 minutes – penalty – Luka Modrić for Croatia against Austria
(also the fastest penalty goal in the European Championships)
Latest goal scored: 90+3 minutes – Raul Meireles for Portugal against Turkey

Injuries

Switzerland Alexander Frei (vs Czech Republic)

Match ball

File:Europass - EM 2008 Ball.JPG
The official ball for the UEFA Euro 2008 matches

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.[11] A version named the Europass Gloria will be used in the final.[12]

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."[13]

Mascots

File:Trix and Flix.jpg
Trix and Flix, the official mascots for the UEFA Euro 2008 competition

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

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

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, who is the tournament director for Switzerland.[14]

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:[15]

  • Participating fee: €7.5 million

Extra payment based on teams performances:

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

If the winner of the tournament wins all three matches in the group stage, they will receive a total prize of €23 million.

Broadcasting rights

Main article: UEFA Euro 2008 broadcasting rights

Many of the world's national broadcasters have secured broadcasting rights of the tournament, as of 16 January 2008.[16]

References

  1. ^ "Zurich - Letzigrund Stadion".
  2. ^ "New trophy announced at UEFA site".
  3. ^ "Fifa warns Spain of possible ban". BBC Sport. 2008-02-18. Retrieved 2008-02-25. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  4. ^ "Draw sets up heavyweight contests". uefa.com. 2007-12-02. Retrieved 2007-12-02. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  5. ^ "Format from UEFA Website".
  6. ^ "UEFA Euro 2008 Information" (PDF).
  7. ^ "UEFA Euro 2008 referees".
  8. ^ "Hundredeler for treig til EM-plass".
  9. ^ "Regulations of the UEFA European Football Championship 2006/08" (PDF).
  10. ^ "Euro-Format means group rivals cannot meet again in final". Yahoo! Sports. 2008-06-03. Retrieved 2008-06-03. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  11. ^ "adidas "EUROPASS" – the match ball with "goose bumps" for UEFA EURO 2008". Lucerne/Herzogenaurach: adidas. 2007-12-02. Retrieved 2007-12-04. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  12. ^ "Final ball rolled out in Vienna". euro2008.uefa.com. 2008-04-30. Retrieved 2008-05-30. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  13. ^ "Expect Emotions at Euro 2008".
  14. ^ "Official Mascot Naming".
  15. ^ "UEFA raises 2008 prize money".
  16. ^ "UEFA Euro 2008 Broadcasting Rights" (PDF).
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