Spain football team named Infostrada Sports’ Team of the Year for 2008

The National Football Team of Spain has been voted Infostrada Sports’ Team of the Year for 2008. In June, Spain won the European Championship for the second time after beating Germany 1-0 in the final.

It was the second European Championship trophy for Spain after they lifted the trophy for the first time in 1964. It was Spain’s third appearance in the European Championship final. In 1984, they lost 2-0 against France in the final.

David Villa became top scorer at Euro 2008 with four goals. That is the fewest goals for a European Championship top scorer since 1992, when Dennis Bergkamp, Tomas Brolin, Henrik Larsen and Karl-Heinz Riedle all scored three goals.

At the age of 69 years and 337 days, winning coach Luis Aragonés became the oldest coach ever to appear in the final of the European Championship.

Infostrada Sports’ Team of the Year 2000–2008
Year Winners

2008 Spain (Football)
2007 South Africa (Rugby)
2006 FC Barcelona (Football)
2005 Liverpool (Football)
2004 Greece Men's Team (Football)
2003 England Men's Team (Rugby Union)
2002 South Korea Men's Team (Football)
2001 Bayern München (Football)
2000 France Men's Team (Football)

Most European Championship titles
# Nation Editions

3 Germany 1972, 1980, 1996
2 France 1984, 2000
2 Spain 1964, 2008
1 Soviet Union 1960
1 Italy 1968
1 Czechoslovakia 1976
1 Netherlands 1988
1 Denmark 1992
1 Greece 2004

Oldest head coaches in European Championship finals
Age (y-d) Name Team Match

69-337 Luis Aragonés Spain Spain - Germany (29 Jun 2008) 1-0
65-330 Otto Rehhagel Greece Portugal - Greece (04 Jul 2004) 0-1
62-160 Miguel Muñoz Spain France - Spain (27 Jun 1984) 2-0
60-279 Helmut Schön West Germany Czechoslovakia - West Germany (20 Jun 1976) 2-2
60-137 Rinus Michels Netherlands Netherlands - Soviet Union (25 Jun 1988) 2-0
59-014 Roger Lemerre France France - Italy (02 Jul 2000) 2-1
58-125 Dino Zoff Italy France - Italy (02 Jul 2000) 2-1
57-199 Guy Thys Belgium West Germany - Belgium (22 Jun 1980) 2-1
55-238 Luiz Felipe Scolari Portugal Portugal - Greece (04 Jul 2004) 0-1
55-191 Ferruccio Valcareggi Italy Italy - Yugoslavia (10 Jun 1968) 2-0

Top scorers at European Championship
Year Name Nation Goals Matches G/M

2008 David Villa ESP 4 4 1.00
2004 Milan Baroš CZE 5 5 1.00
2000 Savo Milosevic YUG 5 4 1.25
Patrick Kluivert NED 5 5 1.00
1996 Alan Shearer ENG 5 5 1.00
1992 Dennis Bergkamp NED 3 4 0.75
Tomas Brolin SWE 3 4 0.75
Henrik Larsen DEN 3 4 0.75
Karl-Heinz Riedle GER 3 5 0.60
1988 Marco van Basten NED 5 5 1.00
1984 Michel Platini FRA 9 5 1.80
1980 Klaus Allofs FRG 3 3 1.00
1976 Dieter Müller FRG 4 2 2.00
1972 Gerd Müller FRG 4 2 2.00
1968 Dragan Dzajic YUG 2 3 0.67
1964 Deszõ Novák HUN 2 1 2.00
Pereda ESP 2 2 1.00
Ferenc Bene HUN 2 2 1.00
1960 Milan Galic YUG 2 2 1.00
Viktor Ponedelnik URS 2 2 1.00
Valentin Ivanov URS 2 2 1.00
Drazan Jerkovic YUG 2 2 1.00
Francois Heutte FRA 2 2 1.00