BULLS HAVE BEEN CROWNED

SPAIN CAPTAIN IKER CASILLAS WITH HENERI DELAUNARY TROPHY

Spain finally get rid of their cup drought by winning the final match against Germany in the Euro 2008. When the second half injury time ends lumed spain 1, Germany0. Spanish squad made scintilating performance outrating Germans in both attack and attitude. The acrobatic Torress spearheaded Espana bull fighters who scored the only goal in the match. It is after 44 years Spain wins a major tournament.

HISTORIC WIN AFTER 44 YEARS

In the final Iberians dominated with wonderful short-passing game, superb power play and tactical finesse. Germany put very little together and were visibly struggling. It was a fast-paced, exciting and gripping encounter, despite Spain being in control for almost all the contest. Spain played attractive style of football, in fact they were on a different plane from everyone else in the tournament.

FERNANDO TORES STRIKES WINNING GOAL

XAVI HERNANDEZ-PLAYER OF THE UEFA EURO 2008

Spanish midfielder Xavi Hernandez,28 year old FC Barcelona player has been selected as the Castrol Player of the Tournament for UEFA EURO 2008 .He played five matches at the finals scored one goal against Russia in Semi final.

UEFA technical director Andy Roxburgh said: "We chose him because we think he epitomises the Spanish style of play. He was extremely influential in the whole possession, passing, penetrating kind of game that Spain played."

FERNANDO TORRES-MAN OF THE MATCH

Spanish striker Fernando Torres decleared as Man of the Match in the UEFA Euro Cup 2008. He shoted winning goal in the 33 minute and led tireless attack against Germany.

TALKS AFTER THE FINAL

LUIS ARAGONES, SPAIN COACH......




"We have put together a group that plays well, that keeps the ball and mixes their passes very well and that is difficult to stop. We work hard together, those that play more and those that play slightly less, and we've managed to get there. This is a happy day for Spain – we've won this tournament in style and we're very happy. Now we will start expecting to win on this sort of stage.Many people will look at this Spain team because it has been a model for playing football. I think all football lovers want people to make good combinations, to get into the penalty area and to score goals. At the beginning I said that if we managed this squad well, we would be champions. The team just thought I was trying to give them confidence. I just hope Spain carry on in this way and have many more victories.Fernando Torres is a great player for Liverpool [FC] and for Spain. He can do anything. Why? He has such extraordinary speed and he knows how to dribble at pace. He is so young and could learn to do anything. He could be one of the best players in the world, no doubt. I am delighted. I usually don't show what I feel, but I'm full inside. I don't get very emotional but there were moments out there from some of my players that filled me with emotion. I'm like that – I don't show it but I'm so full of feelings. That's my way of showing it – other people might be more expressive. "

JOACHIM LOW .GERMAN COACH......

"I'd like to congratulate Spain and their coach, because we have to recognise the high quality of their play. They played really well during the whole tournament, and today they were technically excellent and had more chances than us. They deserved to win. We're disappointed that we didn't win but I think we can be satisfied with the tournament as a whole. The team performed very well over the 45 days we've spent together, we had a lot of fun and enjoyed it, but we were very ambitious too. This defeat is going to be an incentive to work hard over the next two years in a number of areas and to improve, so that in qualifying we can reach our target of playing in the [FIFA] World Cup.For some time, our focus has been on playing without the ball, ball possession, fast passes and direct contact. This is important in football, particularly at high speed and under pressure. We're aware that Spain are very good at that. Over the last two years we have shown that we're also fast and good at combinations. Looking at the last few tournaments we're right at the top in Europe and the team in recent years have learned a lot. They have developed well but we know we must not lose energy and strength – we must go on working and improving."

UEFA EURO CUP FINAL 2008- FINAL TALK JUST BEFORE THE MATCH

German Coach Joachim Löw

"It's going to be a very intensive match, Both Spain and Germany have good players and like to go forward so it's going to be very interesting. We tried to make certain corrections after we lost to Croatia [in the group stage], but when we're against a team who play attacking football we can reach that level and keep up. Technically speaking, both teams have strong offensive players. It will be a fast, flexible and variable match."

Luis Aragonés. Spanish coach

"Germany are very strong physically and are dangerous from set-pieces. They are strong on high balls and that's where we might suffer. Perhaps we will need to buy a ladder or something [to deal with the aerial threat]. But I'm sure Germany have some concerns about the football we play. With the ball on the ground we might create some problems for them”

RUSSIANS WASHED AWAY IN SPANISH DRIZZLE

Russians suspended from Euro cup 2008 with the crush of 3-0 against Spain in the Second Semi final. The unbeaten Spain will meet Germany in the final of UEFA Euro cup 2008 on Sunday eve at Ernest Harpel Stadium, Vienna.

In the first halves both Russia and Spain failed to clear target but they tried better even in the strong rain . In the second halves Spain showed upper hand in attack as in the 51 minute Savi strikes first goal from the shoot of Andrei Iniesta . The second goal in the 72 nd minute was the result of sharp move of Fabrigas who extended ball to Daniel Guisa he finished well before block the Russian golly . The third goal in the 82nd minute for Spain was the result of a diagonal pass of Fabrigas shooted by David Silva from the left wing.

Russians begin the play with a lot of confidence but tireless rain maid their actions tough and unfortunately Arshavin and Pulocheno failed to connect the ball as they get. Spanish defenders like Carlose Puol and Jovan Kapdevil blocked well the Russian attack.

GERMANS CEASED TURKEY

In the first semifinal of UEFA Euro cup 2008 German’s finish off the young blood Turkey in the last minute by the strike of philipp Lahm as they stride proudly in to the real battle ground of Harper arena, Vienna with the outstanding victory of 3-2. In the thrilling beginning Turkey took lead first by the stunning goal of Uger Boral from the bar beaten shot of Kasim .Germans find an equalizer in the 22the minute of the game by the shot of Bastian Schweinsteiger . In the first half Turkey played action-packed game endows the beauty of both attack and defense but the professional German’s tune the score on 1-1. Germans played a winning mentality in the second half as they find upper hand by the goal of Miroslave Klose in the 79th minute but Turkish squad cancelled his effort by the goal of Semih Senturk after seven minutes. In the nineteenth minute Lahm’s finished Thomas Hitzlsperger’s pass safely by a superb touch which crushed Turkish dreams of Euro cup final. Germans will meet the winners of group b semifinal.

What Philiph Lahm,man of the match talked to media after the match.

"It was a great ball to me, i got a good first touch which allowed me to take it on and hit it really well. It is hard to describe the emotions you feel, but when you see the subs' bunch running towards you, it shows the character and togetherness in the team.I appreciate that I didnt too well with their second equaliser, and I made some mistakes during the 90th minutes, but the goal I scoared was the most important of career. A semifinal is always a special match and is always a fight. We didn't play as well as we'd wanted to , but there are ups and downs in every game and maybe these were moe extreame than susal, particularly with the late goals for either side. "We are delighted to have come through the match, especially after we lost the semi-final [of the FIFA World Cup to Italy] in 2006. You don't reach too many semi-finals or finals at this level, so our goal now is to win the tournament. We are delighted to be through and we'll be playing for the fans. It doesn't matter who we play because we will be ready for it."

SPAIN ON HISTORIC WIN

Italian squad expelled from uefa euro cup 2008 in a penalty shoot out for 2-4, after the goal less 120 minutes powerless game. David Villa, Santi Cazorla, Marcos Senna, Cese Fabregas won goal for Spain and fabio Grosso and Mauro Camoranesi did for Italy.

Luis Aragones ,Spanish Coach

It is first time Spain has reached the semifinal of a major tournament since the European Cahampionship final in 1984. Spanish coach Luis Aragones didnt supressed his happiness. "Like all the Spanish camp I am delighted by this victory. But we have done nothing more than win a small battle .I think Spain just about deserved to win , but we didn't play good football and neither did Italy. The rhythm of was slow and if we had been able to speed it up a bit more may be we would have had more chances . It was not a great game though". In the semifinal birth Spain will meet Russia on the eve of25th june.

RUSSIA IN SEMIFINAL

Guess Hiddink’s Russian squad summed up Netherlands history in UEFA Euro cup 2008 by a tactical victory of 3-1 fixed the Semifinal birth for the first time in the history of European championship.

In the first half both posts left maiden but in the 56th minute Roman Pavlyuchenko's break Vanda sar's block by connecting the diagonal pass of Arshav. Ruud van Nistelrooy's headder in the 86th minute extended match to extra time. In the 112 th minute substitute Torbinski's close range brought Russians up and just after 4 minutes stripped the orange squad completly. In the semifinal Russia will meet Spain or Italy on Thursday at basel park. Torbinski and Denis Kolodin of Spain will miss the match due to suspension.


Match statistics: Holland vs Russia
Goal Scored : Holland-1 ---Russia-3
Yellow Card: 3-------------3
Read Card: 0----------------0
Shot on goal: 8--------------11
Shots wide: 15---------------13
Fouls Committed: 23---------27
Corners:4--------------------11
Offsides: 6-------------------4
Ball Poss.(time):39.17-------34.14
Ball Poss.(%): 53%----------47%

CROETIA KNOCKED OUT IN SHOOT OUT

The invinsible Croatia finally ruled out of Euro 2008.In nail biting finish of the second quarter final of Euro 2008 Turkey squad defeated men in blue .Turkey siezed the victory from the Croatian team as there were no goals in the first to halves and the match extended to extra time.

The match remained un fair since both teams played with a defensive caution which ended in a tedious draw, 0-0 through the statutory 90 minutes war.An over defensive Turkish squad defeated the Croatian players getting in to their penalty area in the first half and they restricted their assault in the midfield.


In the second half a lot of close ranges were missed by Croatian strikers.The Croatian strikers and Turkish defenders were challenging for the ball to the 90nth minute , but the score card remained empty.Ivan Klasnic headed Croatia in front with seconds left - only for Turkey's Semih Senturk to volley the equaliser with the last kick of the game in the half an hour extra time.Croatia almost won the match as Klasnic moved the net in the 29nth minute of tge extra time . Turkey's was a quick reflex as Senturk hit the goal in the very next and last minute of the allted time.

Arda Turan, Semih and Hamit Altintop scored in the shoot-out for Turkey. Luca Modric, Ivan Rakitic missed for Croatia and Turkey keeper Rustu saved the deciding kick from Mladen Petric. Croatia won all their league matches.

GERMAN’S HEAD HEIGHT BEAT PORTUGAL

Germany pushed out tournament favorites Portugal from UEFA Euro cup 2008 in Basel secured Semfinal birth via 3-2 victory. Bastian Schweinsteiger, Miroslav Klose and Michael Ballack are the scorers of Germany. In Portugal side star shooter Christiano Ronaldo failed to click but Nuno Gomes and Hélder Postiga did. In the Semifinal Germans’will meet second quarter final winners in the Euro cup 2008 on 25th June.

In the tough match European giants picked up energetic game but Germans won upper hand in both attacking and defense. In the 22 minute Bastian Schweinsteiger kicked first goal for Germany through a diagonal cross of Podolsky from the left corner. The second goal was the result of Bastian’s free kick in the 27th minute; it was connected Mirosove Klose by a header. But Scolaries children never took rest and find first goal in the 40th minute by Nuno Gomes. In the First half Germans were lead for 2-1.

Fast and incessant attacks towards both post brought up powerful game in the second half as a result in the 60th minute Bastian Schweinsteiger’s free kick headed by Ballack after pushing Pulo Ferrere. But Portugal await till 83 minute to clear second goal , was the result of a lob of Bosinga that headed in to a goal by Hélder Postiga.

QUARTER FINAL SQUADS

The real knockout battle begins from today in UEFA Euro cup 2008. Top eight football squads in the tournament will play in the quarter final matchs. Portugal and Turkey from Group A , Croatia and Germany from Group B, Holland and Italy from Group C , Russia and Spain from Group D are the qualifiers for the Quarter final birth.

In the First quarter final match Group A topper Portugal will meet Group B runner up Germany on 19th friday at St Jakob-Park Basle,SUI. In the second quarter final Group B top scorer Croatia will meet Group A runner up Turkey on 20th saterday at Ernst Happel Stadium Vienna, Austria,AT.

In the Third quarter final match Group C top scorer Holland will meet Group D runner up Russia on 21st sunday at St Jakob-Park Basle,SUI. In the last quarter final Group D top scorer Spain will meet Group C runner up Italy on 22nd Monday at Ernst Happel Stadium Vienna,Austria,AT.

The UEFA General Secretary praised the main protagonists – the players and coaches – for the way that they have approached UEFA EURO 2008™ so far, with just three red cards in the 24 games. "UEFA is heavily promoting the motto of 'respect'; in high-level competition the stakes are high, but the players have a good respect for each other, for the game and for the referees," he said. "You're always going to get individual incidents, but I think we've noticed that this tournament is marked by a much better attitude all round.

THE GREEK TRAGEDY

Daniel guiza celebrates his goal

Existing European champion is ruled out from Euro cup 2008 with out listing in top 8 squads in Europe. In the last match Greek squad has been beaten by second string Spain team for 2-1. Anyway the catastrophe was already written just after loosing of first two matches against Russia and Sweeden. Greek squad’s statistics in the euro cup 2008 is utterly below except the only one moment in the match that was the goal of Angelos Charisteas in the 45th minute, tragically it was the opening goal of Greece in the UEFA Euro cup 2008.

Spain crowds wished-for just a tie against European champions but the squad celebrated their last match with the first international goal of Ruben de la Red and Daniel Guiza. Spain will meet Italy on Sunday in the Euro cup 2008 quarter final match at St Jakob-Park Basle,SUI.

Russia ahead by Hiddink's Magic

Russians drowned Sweeden for 2-0 in a crucial match enter into the list of top eight squad in UEFA Euro Cup 2008. Previously suspended Andrei Arshavin played well according to the gambling of Guus Hiddink and open a spectacular goal in the 50th minute in his account and catch the man of the match cap by all round perfomance . The very first goal of Russian was a collective effort in the 24 th minute Arshavin passed ball to Zyryanov on the right then Aleksander Anyukov rolled a pass to Pavlyucheno and he calmly finished his second goal of the tournment.

The battle with youth Russia was not at all good for Sweeden. Sweedish squard exactly failed to defend Arshavin and Pavlyucheno and could not finished the rare chances they get in the first half.

Here is what Guus Hiddink, Russia coach, said after the match.

"I am especially proud of my team for their achievements and for the progress we have made in a few days. I told them to fight or go home – they had to make that choice and they chose to fight and play with their hearts and I am proud of them. If you saw the performance tonight and how they tried to get the first goal as soon as possible, it was incredible. The only criticism I can make is that we didn't score enough – we should have punished them with a second goal at the end of the first half and in the second half we had a chance to make it 3-0. Andrei Arshavin is a player who makes quick decisions and who can create danger. He can turn left or right and knows immediately where the opponent is. He lacked match fitness but the reason I brought him here was that he could make a difference and we were aiming for him to make that difference in this, our last [Group D] game. The Swedes like it when you play with two strikers with their backs to defenders, but they don't like it when you attack their defensive midfield area and we tried to exploit that. [The Netherlands quarter-final] will be a special one because I know the players and their coach [Marco van Basten]. They have the big advantage of five days' rest."

ITALY ON CHARGE

French squard failed to stand up against World champions again as Assurians enters into Quarter Final from Group C of UEFA Euro cup 2008 . French's disaster arrived just after fouling Luca Toni in the 24th minute as Eric Abidal was sent off by Red Card and Andrea Pirlo lead Italy through penalty. In the 62 minute of second-half Daniele De Rossi's added one more goal for Italy.If Luca Toni could finished all his chances Italians may be win by about half dozen goals.

In the rough match Four French players and Three Assurians get yellow card. Only by yellow cards for Pirlo and Gennaro Gattuso will miss the quarter-final against Spain on 22 June in Vienna.

HOLLAND IN QUARTERS

Klaas-Jan Huntelar and Robin van Persie busted the quarter final dreams of Rumania in Berne , as Holland stands top in Group C with third successive victory.

Rumanian defenders did well in the first half of the match but after loose them to defend the traitors. Especially Adrianne muttu played alone as he can in the Rumanian camp but the destiny was against them. Goals of Klaas-Jan Huntelaar and Robin van Persie inthe second half bring up impressive win for Holland.

Holland coach Marco van Basten maid some experiments in team line up as Klaas-Jan Huntelaar and Robin van Persie played as strikers instead of Nisterl roi and Kuit. Martin Stocklenberge guard the goal post instead of Edwin wandarsar

CROETIA STILL UNBEATEN

Croetia beaten Poland for 1-0 in Klagenfurt to finish on maximum points in Group B and confirm their seat in quarter final of Euro cup 2008.

Klasnić was the man who triggerd on the 53 minute of the match set Croetia to happy ending.

"I'm happy just to be playing football again," said the Werder Bremen man. "I said before this game that I felt as though I have been give a new lease of footballing life, a second life, so what happened today feels like a dream to me. He continues "Some journalists said that we are the reserve team and that we just fool around in training but I think we have shown that even after not playing in the other two games we can do well".......

The Croatian coach was also praised him: "What can I say? We all prayed for him [during his health problems] but he had very strong faith throughout. Now he's not only healthy but he is a top player. He was Werder Bremen's top scorer [last season] in one of the strongest leagues in the world. It's the perfect success story."

BALLACK GUIDES GERMANY INTO QUARTERS

GERMANS ENTERED YET ANOTHER QUARTERS THROUGH BALLACK'S 49TH MINUTE FREE KICK. CO-HOSTS AUSTRIA ARE THE LOOSING SIDE. SCORES 1-0. GERMANY MAINTAINED THEIR BIG TOURNAMENT QUARTER SLOT RECORD WHILE AUSTRIA FOLLOWED SWIZTERLAND TO THE FENCE.


It was Ballack's 37 th international goal,he admitted his team have not been at their best in the last two matches but he is now looking forward to the next challenge. "Obviously we're happy to have made it to the quarter-finals, particularly after the difficult match against Croatia,"he added. "We had everything to lose when we were certainly favourites to win. You could tell that the team were not as agile because they had tensed up. I'm looking forward to playing Portugal again – we met them in the third-place play-off at the [2006 FIFA] World Cup and I'm looking forward to squaring off against them again. We didn't play as well as we wanted but I'm convinced this victory will give us the push to play even better against Portugal."

TURKEY TOLLS STUNNING WIN OVER CZECH

Turkey gain historic win over Czech Republic for 3-2 as enters in to quarter finals of UEFA Euro Cup 2008. Two goals in the 87 and 89 minute by Captain Nihat absolutely devastated Czech dreams after 75 minutes trail of 2-0. It was the second time Turkey had come from behind in the tournament – and after 18 matches they are the only team to have done so.
Yan Coller, Yarislave Placil gain goals for Czech in 34 and 62 minutes. Arden Turan opens account for Turkey in 75 minute of the match and it finished by the captain's effort in 87 and 89 minutes.

.
Turkey’s recovered from defeat in their first game against portugal is amazing . Here is the words from Nihat. "Now we're in the quarter-finals. After the Portugal match only a few people really believed that we could make it, but we continue to make football history," Nihat said. "We know that we have to do some things better. But if we can win a match even if we play badly, then we can beat any team if we play well. This victory is a gift to our nation. These were the most important goals I have ever scored. We played a little bit slowly in the first half but then recovered from that situation after the interval. Now it is time to have fun. We are not afraid of anyone, we can beat Croatia in the quarter-finals."

SWIZ OUT WITH SUCCESS

SWIZ OUT WITH SUCCESS
Co- host Switzerland walked out with outstanding win over the Portugal for 2-0 in the uefa euro cup 2008. Two goals in the second half of the match from Hakan Yakin illuminate passing out of swiss and blame the second string team of Portugal. Swiss were already eliminated after losing their opening two group matches.


Match summery

Ball possession: Swiss 47% Portugal 53%
Goals:---------------- 2-------------0
Offsides:------------- 1 -------------6
Corners:------------- 5------------ -2
Shots on goal:-------- 8------------- 5
Fouls committed:--- 26------------- 27
Shots wide:---------- 5------------- 2
Yellow card:--------- 4------------- 4


Sent off to Swiz Coach Köbi Kuhn

Swiss paid send off to Kobi Kuhn with winning touch

“Of course I am extremely pleased [with the win] but there is also nostalgia because in the first two matches we deserved at least one point and, the way it looks now, we might have qualified for the quarter-finals. We are out but the team were able to make a gift to the fans who have always believed in them. We were excellent and I think this team will remain in their hearts. I didn't know anything about the banner but was touched to receive this expression of gratitude. During my time in charge we have been through some dire straits but, all in all, it has been a wonderful period. The legacy that [new coach] Ottmar Hitzfeld will find is a respectable one. We have a very young team but also some experienced players. There is room for improvement and once they have more experience, they will be even better. I wish Hitzfeld all the best. Now I will just be a fan of Switzerland and I would like to receive the kind of gift the players gave to the crowd tonight…..”

GREECE FACES CATASTROPHE

After both sides had lost their opening matches in UEFA EURO 2008™ Group D, the stakes were high at the Stadion Wals-Siezenheim, but Russia emerged victorious and knocked defending champions Greece out of the tournament.

SPAIN WON AT LAST MINUTE

David Villa scored in 92nd minite as Spain defeated a stubborn Sweden 2-1 at the Stadion Tivoli Neu in Innsbruck to sure their space in the UEFA EURO 2008™ quarter-finals as Group D winners.

In the tough match they maintained equal share about 60 minutes with the goals of Torres(15min.) and Ibramovic(34min).

orange, orange,orange and snieder orange

Holland thrashed world cup finalist france by 4-1. kuyt, van percy, robben, and snieder are the scorers for holland. second half substitute robben banged one and behind other two. henry left footed the lonely one for france. now the oranges are placed in quarters. they demolished both world cup winner and runner-up.

Italy in danger

Romania hold italy on 1-1 draw. adriyan mutu is the scorer for romania and he also missed a last minites penalty. italy's quarter hope is now depent upon the last match against france.

Portugal's Fans Club

see video

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wNv1hfG5IMY

Austria holds there with 90th minite penalty

contraversial last minite penalty results over polland's 2 point. score-polland-1 austria-1.

croasia bagged a big win over germany

Croasia stuns Germany on euro 2008. Croasia injured twice over Lucas Podolski's consolidative lonely one. now Germany's chances are on questable trouble.

PORTUGAL IN QUARTERS

Portugal won in UEFA euro cup against Czech republic for 3-1 as qualified for the quarter final. Deco had given Portugal an eighth-minute lead with the support of Ronaldo.




9 minutes later, Sionko equalized for the Czechs with a powerful header.
In the second half,Ronaldo provide a sublime finish from the edge of the area in the 63rd minute.
Portugal scored one more goal by Quaresma from the gifted pass of Ronaldo in the 90th minute.

see the route of gole

Team Portugal's victory on Euro Cup 2008

http://youtube.com/watch?v=BFu23VcckOU

POLISH SQUAD FOR UEFA EURO CUP 2008

The provisional team of Poland for the UEFA Euro Cup 2008 is follows as Poland's coach Leo Beenhakker announced.

Forwards : Euzebiusz Smolarek (Real Racing Club Santander, Spain), Maciej Żurawski (Larissa FC, Greece), Tomasz Zahorski (Górnik Zabrze, Poland), Radosław Matusiak (Wisła Kraków, Poland), Marek Saganowski (Southampton FC, Poland).

Midfielders : Dariusz Dudka (Wisła Kraków, Poland), Wojciech Łobodziński (Wisła Kraków, Poland), Jakub Błaszczykowski (BV Borussia Dortmund, Germany), Mariusz Lewandowski (FC Shakhtar Donetsk, Ukraine), Rafał Murawski (Lech Poznań, Poland), Łukasz Garguła (GKS Bełchatów, Poland), Jacek Krzynówek (VfL Wolfsburg, Germany), Radosław Majewski (Groclin Grodzisk Wielkopolski, Poland), Michał Pazdan (Górnik Zabrze, Poland), Roger Guerreiro (Legia Warszawa, Poland).

Defenders : Jacek Bąk (FK Austria Wien, Austria), Marcin Wasilewski (RSC Anderlecht, Belgium), Paweł Golański (FC Steaua Bucureşti, Romania), Mariusz Jop (FC Moskva, Russia), Adam Kokoszka (Wisła Kraków, Poland), Jakub Wawrzyniak (Legia Warszawa, Poland), Michał Żewłakow (Olympiacos CFP, Greece), Grzegorz Bronowicki (FK Crvena Zvezda, Serbia).

Goalkeepers : Artur Boruc (Celtic FC, Scotland), Tomasz Kuszczak (Manchester United FC, England), Łukasz Fabiański (Arsenal FC, England).

Poland's first match will be on June, the 8th, against Germany, in Klagenfurt in Austria, at 20:45.

Poland and Ukraine will be hosting the next UEFA Euro Cup in 2012.

JOACHIM LOW ANNOUNCED GERMAN SUAD FOR EURO CUP 2008

 GermanyJoachim Löw announced recently a provisional list of German football players for the Uefa Euro cup 2008.

The Squad of Germany for the UEFA Euro Cup 2008 is as follows:

Forwards: Miroslav Klose (FC Bayern München, Germany), Lukas Podolski (FC Bayern München, Germany), Mario Gómez (VfB Stuttgart, Germany), Kevin Kuranyi (FC Schalke 04, Germany), Oliver Neuville (VfL Borussia Mönchengladbach, Germany), Patrick Helmes (1. FC Köln, Germany).

Midfielders : Michael Ballack (Chelsea FC, England), Thomas Hitzlsperger (VfB Stuttgart, Germany), Simon Rolfes (Bayer 04 Leverkusen, Germany), Torsten Frings (Werder Bremen, Germany), Bastian Schweinsteiger (FC Bayern München, Germany), Piotr Trochowski (Hamburger SV, Germany), Tim Borowski (Werder Bremen, Germany), Jermaine Jones (FC Schalke 04, Germany), David Odonkor (Real Betis Balompié, Spain), Marko Marin (VfL Borussia Mönchengladbach, Germany).

Defenders : Christoph Metzelder (Real Madrid CF, Spain), Per Mertesacker (Werder Bremen, Germany), Philipp Lahm (FC Bayern München, Germany), Arne Friedrich (Hertha BSC Berlin, Germany), Marcell Jansen (FC Bayern München, Germany), Clemens Fritz (Werder Bremen, Germany), Heiko Westermann (FC Schalke 04, Germany).

Goalkeepers : Jens Lehmann (Arsenal FC, England), Robert Enke (Hannover 96, Germany), René Adler (Bayer 04 Leverkusen, Germany).


Germany is in the Group B of the UEFA Euro Cup 2008 along Poland, Croatia and Austria. Thefirst game will be against Poland on June the 8th at 20:45 in Klagenfurt, at the stadium Wörthersee, in Austria.

TURKEY SQUAD FOR UEFA EURO CUP 2008

The coach of Turkey has announced the squad / team for the UEFA Euro Cup 2008 in Austria and Switzerland.

The initial squad / team of Turkey for the UEFA Euro Cup 2008 is as follows:
Forwards: Nihat Kahveci (Villarreal CF, Spain), Halil Altıntop (FC Schalke 04, Germany), Semih Şentürk (Fenerbahçe SK, Turkey), Mevlüt Erding (FC Sochaux-Montbéliard, France).

Midfielders : Mehmet Aurélio (Fenerbahçe SK, Turkey), Mehmet Topal (Galatasaray AŞ, Turkey), Emre Belözoğlu (Newcastle United FC, England), Tümer Metin (Larissa FC, Greece), Yıldıray Baştürk (VfB Stuttgart, Germany), Hamit Altıntop (FC Bayern München, Germany), Ayhan Akman (Galatasaray AŞ, Turkey), Arda Turan (Galatasaray AŞ, Turkey), Tuncay Şanlı (Middlesbrough FC, England), Kazım Kazım (Fenerbahçe SK, Turkey), Gökdeniz Karadeniz (FC Rubin Kazan, Russia).

Defenders : Gökhan Gönül (Fenerbahçe SK, Turkey), Sabri Sarıoğlu (Galatasaray AŞ, Turkey), Gökhan Zan (Beşiktaş JK, Turkey), İbrahim Kaş (Beşiktaş JK, Turkey), Emre Aşık (Galatasaray AŞ, Turkey), Servet Çetin (Galatasaray AŞ, Turkey), Hakan Balta (Galatasaray AŞ, Turkey), Uğur Boral (Fenerbahçe SK, Turkey).

Goalkeepers : Volkan Demirel (Fenerbahçe SK, Turkey), Rüştü Reçber (Beşiktaş JK, Turkey), Tolga Zengin (Trabzonspor, Turkey).

The first game of Turkey in the UEFA Euro Cup 2008 will be against Portugal in Geneve at the stadium Stade de Geneve.

PORTUGAL SQUAD FOR UEFA EURO CUP 2008

Luiz Felipe Scolari, coach of Portuagal national footabll has announced the final list of players in Portugal squad for the UEFA Euro Cup 2008 in Austria and Switzerland. Portugal will be played in the Group A along Turkey the Czech Republic and Switzerland.
Here is the detailed list of Portugal National Team for UEFA Euro Cup 2008.

Forwards : Nuno Gomes (SL Benfica, Portugal), Simão Sabrosa (Club Atlético de Madrid, Spain), Cristiano Ronaldo (Manchester United FC, England), Nani (Manchester United FC, England), Hugo Almeida (Werder Bremen, Germany), Ricardo Quaresma (FC Porto, Portugal), Hélder Postiga (Panathinaikos FC, Greece).

Midfielders : Petit (SL Benfica, Portugal), Deco (FC Barcelona, Spain), Raul Meireles (FC Porto, Portugal), Miguel Veloso (Sporting Clube de Portugal, Portugal), João Moutinho (Sporting Clube de Portugal, Portugal).

Defenders : Paulo Ferreira (Chelsea FC, England), Ricardo Carvalho (Chelsea FC, England), Bosingwa (FC Porto, Portugal), Bruno Alves (FC Porto, Portugal), Jorge Ribeiro (Boavista FC, Portugal), Miguel (Valencia CF, Spain), Fernando Meira (VfB Stuttgart, Germany), Pepe (Real Madrid CF, Spain).

Goalkeepers : Ricardo (Real Betis Balompié, Spain), Quim (SL Benfica, Portugal), Rui Patrício (Sporting Clube de Portugal, Portugal).

Portugal's first game will be against Turkey on the same day of the inauguration of the Euro Cup 2008, June the 7th at 20:45 in Geneve, in the stadium Stade de Geneve. Portugal also gain outstanding victory against Georgia (Portugal-3 Georgia-0) in a friendly match before the Euro cup 2008, last week.

Euro Cup Trophy

Euro cup Trophy
The Henri Delaunay Trophy, awarded to the winner of the European Football Championship, is named in honor of Henri Delaunay, the first General Secretary of UEFA, who came up with the idea of a European championship but died five years prior to the first tournament in 1960. His son Pierre Delaunay was the person in charge of making the trophy. Since the first tournament it has been awarded for the winning team to keep for four years, until the next tournament.
For the 2008 tournament, the trophy was slightly remodeled making it larger.

The trophy, which is made of sterling silver, now weighs 8 kilograms and is 60 centimeters tall. A small figure juggling a ball on the back of the original was removed, as was the marble plinth. The silver base of the trophy 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

History of Euro Cup

The European Championship were first held in 1960 and were originally called the Uefa European Nations Cup. Initially it was hard to get many teams to compete, but by 1968 the tournament when it changed its name to the European Football Championship.Until 1976 only four teams entered the final tournament.

Euro 1960Highlights:
Spain was eliminated from the tournament when Gen. Francisco Franco's government refused to let the Spanish team travel to Moscow.Winner: USSR

Euro 1964Highlights:
Largest crowd in championship history -- 125,000 at Santiago BernabeuWinner: Spain

Euro 1968Highlights:
Name was changed from the Nations Cup to the European ChampionshipWinner: Italy

Euro 1972Highlights:
Muller, netted a remarkable 68 goals in 62 appearances for West Germany. Winner: Germany

Euro 1976Highlights:
Czechoslovakia won on penaltiesWinner: Czechoslovakia

Euro 1980Highlights:
The final field was increased to eight teams from fourWinner: Germany

Euro 1984Highlights:
Spanish 'keeper Luis Arconada knocked the first goal over his own line. Winner: France

Euro 1988Highlights:
Only three of the eight finalists from '84 qualified, including France. Winner: Netherlands

Euro 1992Highlights:
U.N. sanctions forced out war-torn YugoslaviaWinner: Denmark
Euro 1996Highlights: First Golden Goal in a major international championshipWinner: Germany

Euro 2000Highlights:
Sylvain Wiltord shocked Italy by scoring the game 3 1/2 minutes into injury time when the Italians were leading the whole match with David Trezeguet scoring the Golden Goal winner 13 minutes to win France their 2nd euro championship Winner: France

FRENCH TEAM FOR EURO CUP 2008 ANNOUNCED

Raymond Domenech, the coach for France for the UEFA Euro 2008 Cup has introduced the provisional list of 30 fooball players for the European Championship in Austria and Switzerland.

Here is the squad of French team announced by Raymond Domenech.

Goalkeepers : Grégory Coupet (Olympique Lyonnais, France), Mickaël Landreau (Paris Saint-Germain FC, France), Sébastien Frey (ACF Fiorentina, Italy), Steve Mandanda (Olympique de Marseille, France)
Strikers : Franck Ribéry (FC Bayern München, Germany), Florent Malouda (Chelsea FC, England), Sidney Govou (Olympique Lyonnais, France), Samir Nasri (Olympique de Marseille, France), Hatem Ben Arfa (Olympique Lyonnais, France), Nicolas Anelka (Chelsea FC, England), Thierry Henry (FC Barcelona, Spain), Karim Benzema (Olympique Lyonnais, France), Djibril Cissé (Olympique de Marseille, France), Bafétimbi Gomis (AS Saint-Etienne, France).
Midfielders : Alou Diarra (FC Girondins de Bordeaux, , France), Mathieu Flamini (Arsenal FC, England), Patrick Vieira (FC Internazionale Milano, Italy), Claude Makelele (Chelsea FC, England), Jérémy Toulalan (Olympique Lyonnais, France), Lassana Diarra (Portsmouth FC, England).
Defenders : Willy Sagnol (FC Bayern München, Germany), Lilian Thuram (FC Barcelona, Spain), William Gallas (Arsenal FC, England), Eric Abidal (FC Barcelona, Spain), Patrice Evra (FC Manchester United, England), Jean-Alain Boumsong (Olympique Lyonnais, France), François Clerc (Olympique Lyonnais, France), Julien Escudé (Sevilla FC, Spain), Philippe Mexès (AS Roma, Italy), Sébastien Squillaci (Olympique Lyonnais, France).

Italy, Netharlands and Romenia will play in the C group along with France. The First game of France will be against Romania on June 9th at 18:00 in the Letzigrund Stadium, in Zurich, Switzerland. French coach Raymond Domenech said that he has enough belief in his team to win the Euro cup, if so it should be another honour for France. His team also played final of World Cup 2008 in Germany this year.

Euro Cup -result of friendly matchs

Results of the latest friendly matches before the begining of the UEFA Euro Cup 2008:
Netherlands 2 - Wales 0
Greece 0 - Armenia 0
Poland 1 - Denmark 1
Sweden 0 - Ukraine 1
France 0 - Paraguay 0
Germany 2 - Serbia 1
Spain 2 - Peru 1
Croatia 0 - Hungary 0
Portugal 2- Georgia 0
Romania 4 - Montenegro 0
Italy 3 - Belgium 0
Austria 5 - Malta 1
Switzerland 3 - Lichtentstein 0
Czech Republic 3 - Scotland 1

AUSTRIA DIVIDES ITS BORDER CROSSINGS DURING THE EURO CUP

Austrian Ministry of Foreign Affairs’ decided to divide its border crossings into three categories during the Euro 2008 soccer tournament.

The first border crossing will be permanently checked, the second will be mobile border crossings which will direct the traffic into single lane and make random checks of individual vehicles, the third category will be tourist friendly crossings without any gearshift, the ministry said. Switzerland, the co-host of Austria too decided to reintroduce international boarder checks during selected matches of Euro 2000.

ITALIAN SQUAD FOR EURO 2008 ANNOUNCED

ROME, May 20 (Xinhua) - Provisional 24-man squad of Italy for Euro 2008 unveiled by coach Roberto Donadoni on lastweek
Goalkeepers: Gianluigi Buffon (Juventus), Marco Amelia(Livorno), Morgan De Sanctis (Sevilla)
Defenders: Fabio Cannavaro (Real Madrid), Marco Materazzi(Inter Milan), Christian Panucci (AS Roma), Andrea Barzagli(Palermo), Gianluca Zambrotta (Barcelona), Giorgio Chiellini(Juventus), Fabio Grosso (Lyon)
Midfielders: Andrea Pirlo (AC Milan), Gennaro Gattuso (ACMilan), Massimo Ambrosini (AC Milan), Daniele De Rossi (ASRoma), Simone Perrotta (AS Roma), Alberto Aquilani (AS Roma),Mauro Camoranesi (Juventus), Riccardo Montolivo (Fiorentina) Forwards: Luca Toni (Bayern Munich), Alessandro Del Piero(Juventus), Antonio Di Natale (Udinese), Marco Borriello(Genoa), Fabio Quagliarella (Udinese), Antonio Cassano(Sampdoria, on loan from Real Madrid)