Nicolae Sfetcu

UEFA Euro 2008 Fußball-Europameisterschaft 2008
Tournament details
Host countries	Austria / Switzerland
Dates	7 June – 29 June
Teams	16
Venue(s)	8 (in 8 host cities)

The 2008 UEFA European Football Championship, commonly referred to as Euro 2008, will take place in Austria and Switzerland, from 7 June to 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 are already entered as winners 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.

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: 32,000	Capacity: 30,000

New trophy

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

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 tournament
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 (1960, 1976, 1980, 1996, 2000, 2004)
Germany	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	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)

Participating countries

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.

Seeding

The draw for the final tournament took place on 2 December 2007, beginning at 12:00 CET. The draw, which was held at Culture and Convention Centre in Lucerne, was conducted by the following people.

• Gianni Infantino, hosting the draw.
• Peter Schmeichel, conducting Pot 1 draw.
• Jürgen Klinsmann, conducting Pot 2 draw.
• Didier Deschamps, conducting Pot 3 draw.
• Theodoros Zagorakis, conducting Pot 4 draw.
• Bernard Dietz, conducting Group A draw.
• Anton Ondruš, conducting Group B draw.
• Franz Beckenbauer, conducting Group C draw.
• Dino Zoff, conducting Group D draw.

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
Switzerland (assigned to A1) Austria (assigned to B1) Greece Netherlands	Croatia Italy Czech Republic Sweden	Romania Germany Portugal Spain	Poland France Turkey Russia

Match officials

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

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

Squads

Each nation 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.

Results

Group stage

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

Group A

Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts
Switzerland	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Czech Republic	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Portugal	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Turkey	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0

2008-06-07 18:00	Switzerland	v	Czech Republic	St. Jakob-Park, Basel

---

2008-06-07 20:45	Portugal	v	Turkey	Stade de Genève, Geneva

---

2008-06-11 18:00	Czech Republic	v	Portugal	Stade de Genève, Geneva

---

2008-06-11 20:45	Switzerland	v	Turkey	St. Jakob-Park, Basel

---

2008-06-15 20:45	Switzerland	v	Portugal	St. Jakob-Park, Basel

---

2008-06-15 20:45	Turkey	v	Czech Republic	Stade de Genève, Geneva

Group B

Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts
Austria	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Croatia	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Germany	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Poland	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0

2008-06-08 18:00	Austria	v	Croatia	Ernst Happel Stadion, Vienna

---

2008-06-08 20:45	Germany	v	Poland	Wörthersee Stadion, Klagenfurt

---

2008-06-12 18:00	Croatia	v	Germany	Wörthersee Stadion, Klagenfurt

---

2008-06-12 20:45	Austria	v	Poland	Ernst Happel Stadion, Vienna

---

2008-06-16 20:45	Poland	v	Croatia	Wörthersee Stadion, Klagenfurt

---

2008-06-16 20:45	Austria	v	Germany	Ernst Happel Stadion, Vienna

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

2008-06-09 18:00	Romania	v	France	Letzigrund Stadion, Zürich

---

2008-06-09 20:45	Netherlands	v	Italy	Stade de Suisse, Wankdorf, Berne

---

2008-06-13 18:00	Italy	v	Romania	Letzigrund Stadion, Zürich

---

2008-06-13 20:45	Netherlands	v	France	Stade de Suisse, Wankdorf, Berne

---

2008-06-17 20:45	Netherlands	v	Romania	Stade de Suisse, Wankdorf, Berne

---

2008-06-17 20:45	France	v	Italy	Letzigrund Stadion, Zürich

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

2008-06-10 18:00	Spain	v	Russia	Tivoli-Neu Stadion, Innsbruck

---

2008-06-10 20:45	Greece	v	Sweden	Wals Siezenheim Stadium, Salzburg

---

2008-06-14 18:00	Sweden	v	Spain	Tivoli-Neu Stadion, Innsbruck

---

2008-06-14 20:45	Greece	v	Russia	Wals Siezenheim Stadium, Salzburg

---

2008-06-18 20:45	Greece	v	Spain	Wals Siezenheim Stadium, Salzburg

---

2008-06-18 20:45	Russia	v	Sweden	Tivoli-Neu Stadion, Innsbruck

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. This means that the final cannot be between any two teams from the same group, or even between any two teams from the same half of the tournament.

	Quarter finals				Semi finals				Final
	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

2008-06-19 20:45	Winner of Group A	v	Runner-up of Group B	St. Jakob-Park, Basel

---

2008-06-20 20:45	Winner of Group B	v	Runner-up of Group A	Ernst Happel Stadion, Vienna

---

2008-06-21 20:45	Winner of Group C	v	Runner-up of Group D	St. Jakob-Park, Basel

---

2008-06-22 20:45	Winner of Group D	v	Runner-up of Group C	Ernst Happel Stadion, Vienna

Semi-finals

2008-06-25 20:45	Winner of Quarter-final 1	v	Winner of Quarter-final 2	St. Jakob-Park, Basel

---

2008-06-26 20:45	Winner of Quarter-final 3	v	Winner of Quarter-final 4	Ernst Happel Stadion, Vienna

Final

2008-06-29 20:45	Winner of Semi-final 1	v	Winner of Semi-final 2	Ernst Happel Stadion, Vienna

4Match ball

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. A version named the Europass Gloria will be used in the final.

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."

Mascots

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:

• Zagi and Zigi
• 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.

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:

• Participating fee: €7.5 million

Extra payment based on teams performances:

• Group stage (per match):
  • Win: €1 million
  • Draw: €500,000
• Quarterfinals: €2 million
• Semifinals: €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

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

This guide is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia.

• Printer-friendly version
• Add new comment
• Send to friend
• PDF version