Germany - Spain final: do you have tickets?

Hey! Do you have a ticket for the EURO Cup final? What are you waiting for?

Germany – Spain: what a final!

As you know, On Sunday 29 June, Germany and Spain will contest the final of Euro 2008.

Germany have qualified for the European Championship final for a record sixth time and for the first time in 12 years. Spain has reached their third European Championship final and their first one in 24 years.

The Soviet Union is the only other country to have reached a European Championship final more than three times.

Spain can become only the third country to win this competition at least twice, following Germany (3) and France (2).

European Championship final berth per nation

Finals Victories (defeats)
6 Germany 3 (2)
4 Soviet Union 1 (3)
3 Spain 1 (1)
2 France 2 (0)
2 Italy 1 (1)
2 Czech Republic 1 (1)
2 Yugoslavia 0 (2)
1 Denmark 1 (0)
1 Greece 1 (0)
1 Netherlands 1 (0)
1 Belgium 0 (1)
1 Portugal 0 (1)

Thanks to Infostrada

Xavi Hernandez goal was the 500th in the EURO Cup history

Xavi’s opening goal in the Euro 2008 semifinal between Spain and Russia (3-0) was the 500th goal in the history of the European Championships.

Here we have the detail, according to Infostrada:

1 Milan Galic YUG France - Yugoslavia (06 Jul 1960) 4-5 Semifinal (0-1)
100 Alain Giresse FRA France - Belgium (16 Jun 1984) 5-0 Group stage (2-0)
200 Kim Vilfort DEN Denmark - Germany (26 Jun 1992) 2-0 Final (2-0)
300 Zlatko Zahovic SVN Slovenia - Spain (18 Jun 2000) 1-2 Group stage (1-1)
400 Thierry Henry FRA Switzerland - France (21 Jun 2004) 1-3 Group stage (1-3)
500 Xavi ESP Russia – Spain (26 Jun 2008) 0-3 Semifinal (0-1)

Marcello Lippi is the Italy coach again

Marcello Romeo Lippi will return to the Italian National Team. In spite of FIGC had confirmed that Donadoni will be the coach until 2010, Italian elimination during the EURO 2008 Cup was enough for the azzurri.

But I think that it is a disappointment for non-italian football fans, because Italy played very well during this EURO, especially against Romania and France. Donadoni tried to play better football than catenaccio.

The best player of EURO 2008

Who is / was the best player of EURO 2008? I am not sure, really. I think that UEFA will choose Michael Ballack or David Villa or Iker Casillas depending on the champion. I don´t remember an excellent performance during an important final since Zinedine Zidane vs Brazil on 1998.

What do you think? Do you have candidates or you will wait until sunday match?

Russia and Turkey "won" EURO 2008 third place

Russia and Turkey! UEFA had decided before the tournament that both squads will receive medals and both teams are part of EURO 2008 "podium". There was no match to determine third place since 1980 tournament, when Czech Republic defeated Italy.

Here we have the Official Regulations (See on page 3).

Germany – Spain: final preview

Spain vs Germany, Germany vs Spain. The last match of this EURO Cup will be played at Stadion Tivoli NEU, in Innsbruck, Austria.

Talking about history, Germany doesn’t “lose” any historical head-to-head. In that case, the stats says that The Mannschaft have won eight matches against Spain and tied six times. Spain won five meetings.

The Iberians won the first one, held in Köln. Germany have won four of last 10 matches, while Spain won two.

All matches since 1935

12.02.2003 Palma de Mallorca (SPA) Spain - Germany 3:1 (1:1)
16.08.2000 Hannover Germany - Spain 4:1 (1:0)
22.02.1995 Jerez de la Frontera (SPA) Spain - Germany 0:0 (0:0)
World Cup 21.06.1994 Chicago (USA) Germany - Spain 1:1 (0:1)
EURO 17.06.1988 München (GER) Germany - Spain 2:0 (1:0)
15.10.1986 Hannover (GER) Germany - Spain 2:2 (0:1)
EURO 20.06.1984 Paris (FRA) Germany - Spain 0:1 (0:0)
World Cup 02.07.1982 Madrid (SPA) Germany - Spain 2:1 (0:0)
EURO 22.05.1976 München (GER) Germany - Spain 2:0 (2:0)
EURO 24.04.1976 Madrid (ESP) Spain - Germany 1:1 (1:0)
23.02.1974 Barcelona (SPA) Spain - Germany 1:0 (1:0)
24.11.1973 Stuttgart (GER) Germany - Spain 2:1 (2:0)
11.02.1970 Sevilla (SPA) Spain - Germany 2:0 (2:0)
World Cup 20.07.1966 Birmingham (ENG) Germany - Spain 2:1 (1:1)
19.03.1958 Frankfurt (GER) Germany - Spain 2:0 (1:0)
28.12.1952 Madrid (SPA) Spain - Germany 2:2 (1:2)
12.04.1942 Berlin (GER) Germany - Spain 1:1 (0:0)
23.02.1936 Barcelona (SPA) Spain - Germany 1:2 (1:1)
12.05.1935 Köln (GER) Germany - Spain 1:2 (1:2)

Spain 3 – Russia 0 semifinal: goals and precision

Xavi Hernandez, Daniel Guiza and David Silva scored to give the Spaniards a place in the final, road to their second European title, when they play Germany on Sunday at the Ernst Happel Stadium in Vienna.

Lineups:
Spain: Iker Casillas, Sergio Ramos, Carles Puyol, Carlos Marchena, Joan Capdevila, Andres Iniesta, Xavi Hernandez (Xabi Alonso, 68), Marcos Senna, David Silva, David Villa (Cesc Fabregas, 34), Fernando Torres (Daniel Guiza, 68).

Russia: Igor Akinfeyev, Alexander Anyukov, Sergei Ignashevich, Vasily Berezutsky, Yuri Zhirkov, Sergei Semak, Konstantin Zyryanov, Igor Semshov (Diniyar Belyaletdinov, 56), Ivan Sayenko, Andrei Arshavin, Roman Pavlyuchenko.

Germany - Turkey without TV? EURO problems

Where were you? Could you watch the whole Germany - Turkey match? Did you have problems? What do you think about the official broadcasting?

Update: see what have happened according to BBC.

Germany is in the final! Germany 3 – Turkey 2

Germany reached the sixth final at EURO history. They will face Spain or Russia on Sunday.

Picture: www.bild.de

Turkey Squad: Nihat Kahveci is at home!

Fatih Terim could choose only seventeen players for the EURO 2008 semifinal against Germany.

Nihat Kahveci and Emre Gungor have been ruled out through injury. Nihat is already at home in Spain! Emre Asik, Arda Turan, Volkan Demireal and Tuncay Sanli are suspended but could return only if Turkey arrive to the final.

Please take a look at the blog designed by our friend Ahmet Turgut who explain very well the situation.

Russia - Spain: the revenge

Spain and Russia played the first match of the EURO 2008 (LINK) in front each other. Spain defeated without problems 4-1 in the best day of David Villa. When Arshavin returned at the fields Russia improved, they qualified at quarterfinals and made history beating Netherlands.

During the football history, Spain defeated Russia or Soviet Union five times, while Russia only defeated Spain once.

Here we have the head to head:

EURO Q 22/05/1960 Spain 0:3 Soviet Union Forfeit
EURO 21/06/1964 Spain 2:1 (1:1) Soviet Union Madrid
EURO Q 30/05/1971 Soviet Union 2:1 (0:0) Spain Moscow
EURO Q 27/10/1971 Spain 0:0 Soviet Union Seville
Friendly 22/01/1986 Spain 2:0 (1:0) Soviet Union Las Palmas
Friendly 19/02/1992 Spain 1:1 (0:0) Cis Las Palmas
Friendly 23/09/1998 Spain 1:0 (1:0) Russia Granada
EURO 12/06/2004 Spain 1:0 (0:0) Russia Faro-Loule
Friendly 27/05/2006 Spain 0:0 Russia Albacete
EURO 10/06/2008 Spain 4:1 (2:0) Russia Innsbruck

Germany vs Turkey: only one will be in the final

Many people says that Germany is in the final, that Turkey is only the surprise of this EURO, and they can’t beat Germany. But in the EURO 2008 you never can be sure. If you are in front of Turkey, be careful. They are ready to write more history!!!

Meanwhile, let’s see what the numbers says about Turkey and Germany. According to the stats, Germany won 11 matches, they drew 3 and Turkey won 3.

Please pay attention how many matches they played during Euro Qualifyings!!!

Here we have all the meetings:

08.10.2005 Istanbul (TUR) Turkey - Germany 2:1
EURO Q 09.10.1999 Munich Germany - Turkey 0:0
EURO Q 10.10.1998 Bursa (TUR) Turkey - Germany 1:0
30.05.1992 Gelsenkirchen Germany - Turkey 1:0
EURO Q 26.10.1983 Berlin Germany - Turkey 5:1
EURO Q 23.04.1983 Izmir (TUR) Turkey - Germany 0:3
EURO Q 22.12.1979 Gelsenkirchen Germany - Turkey 2:0
EURO Q 01.04.1979 Izmir (TUR) Turkey - Germany 0:0
20.12.1975 Istanbul (TUR) Turkey - Germany 0:5
EURO Q 25.04.1971 Istanbul (TUR) Turkey - Germany 0:3
EURO Q 17.10.1970 Köln Germany - Turkey 1:1
12.10.1966 Ankara (TUR) Turkey - Germany 0:2
28.09.1963 Frankfurt/M. Germany - Turkey 3:0
World Cup 23.06.1954 Zürich (SUI) Germany - Turkey 7:2
World Cup 17.06.1954 Berne (SUI) Germany - Turkey 4:1
21.11.1951 Istanbul (TUR) Turkey - Germany 0:2
17.06.1951 Berlin Germany - Turkey 1:2

Italy – Spain: could the history be important again?

The EURO 2008 is giving some interesting results: all runners-up in groups are winning. But the numbers between Italy and Spain are very particular and they are playing each other since 1920. In the previous matches Italy won 9, while Spain won 8. But during important tournaments, Spain only won in 1920 during the Olympic Games.

Let’s see if Spain can change the history to reach the semifinals.

Here we have all Spain- Italy matches:

Olympic Games 2- 9-1920 Antwerp Spain 2-0 Italy
9- 3-1924 Milan Italy 0-0 SpainOlympic Games
25- 5-1924 Paris Italy 1-0 Spain
14- 6-1925 Valencia Spain 1-0 Italy
29- 5-1927 Bologna Italy 2-0 Spain
22- 4-1928 Gijon Spain 1-1 Italy
Olympic Games 1- 6-1928 Amsterdam Italy 1-1 Spain
Olympic Games 4- 6-1928 Amsterdam Italy 7-1 Spain
22- 6-1930 Bologna Italy 2-3 Spain
19- 4-1931 Bilbao Spain 0-0 Italy
World Cup 31- 5-1934 Firenze Italy 1-1 Spain
World Cup 1- 6-1934 Firenze Italy 1-0 Spain
19- 4-1942 Milan Italy 4-0 Spain
27- 3-1949 Madrid Spain 1-3 Italy
28- 2-1959 Rome Italy 1-1 Spain
13- 3-1960 Barcelona Spain 3-1 Italy
21- 2-1970 Madrid Spain 2-2 Italy
20- 2-1971 Cagliari Italy 1-2 Spain
25- 1-1978 Madrid Spain 2-1 Italy
21-12-1978 Rome Italy 1-0 Spain
Euro 12- 6-1980 Milan Italy 0-0 Spain
Euro 14- 6-1988 Frankfurt Italy 1-0 Spain
World Cup 9- 7-1994 Boston Italy 2-1 Spain
18-11-1998 Salerno Italy 2-2 Spain
29- 3-2000 Barcelona Spain 2-0 Italy
28- 4-2004 Genova Italy 1-1 Spain
26- 3-2008 Elche Spain 1-0 Italy