Euro 2008 Championships - Review & History
The 2008 UEFA European Football Championship, referred to as Euro 2008, took place in Austria and Switzerland, from 7 June to 29 June 2008. It was the second in a series of three successful joint bids in the competition's history, alongside the 2000 European Football Championship, hosted by Belgium/Holland and now the Euro 2012 competition in Poland and Ukraine.
A total of 16 teams participated in the tournament. Austria and Switzerland qualified as hosts with Austria making their first appearance in the tournament. 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.
Host nations Switzerland and Austria both bowed out in the group stage, but neighbours Germany made themselves at home. Joachim Löw's men started well enough with a 2-0 win against Poland, yet a defeat by Croatia in their subsequent Group B game heralded a tense finale against Austria, they won 1-0. If Germany had struggled to hit top gear, they certainly found their stride against Portugal in the quarter-finals – jumping into a 2-0 lead within 26 minutes before emerging as 3-2 winners. More drama followed in the last four as they outlasted Turkey by the same scoreline.
Fatih Terim's Turkish team had illuminated the tournament with successive last-gasp victories over Switzerland, Czech Republic and Croatia to make the semi-finals. In Basel, however, it was their turn to endure the heartache as Lahm netted in the 90th minute to send Germany through.
After years of under achievement Spain finally delivered their first major tournament success since Euro 1964! Inspired by the likes of Xavi and Iniesta, Luis Aragones's side defeated a resiliant German side thanks to a single Fernando Torres goal in the Euro 2008 final in Vienna. Two years later this Spanish Golden Generation went on to win the 2010 World Cup in South Africa to confirm their place as the number one national team in World Football!
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Euro 2008 Results (Held in Austria & Switzerland)
Semi-finals
Germany 3-2 Turkey
Russia 0-3 Spain
Euro 2008 FINAL
Spain 1-0 Germany - scorer Fernando Torres
TOP SCORER Euro 2008
David Villa (Spain) 4
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