The football fever is at its peak with the knockout stages of Euro 2008 beginning today. Starting from today either fans and supporters will rejoice or be sad as either the teams will make it to the semis or be knocked out. The tournament so far has thrown up some surprises. Be it the early exit of defending champions Greece or France or be it the last minute qualification of Italy. The coming back of Turkey from a 2-0 defecit to defeat the Czech Republic 3-2. This years tournament has had it all.
The eight teams who have made it so far will now have to play even harder as a loss means end of the dream. Here are the eight teams and their quarter final fixtures
Game 1 Germany Vs. Portugal Basel 20-06-2008 00:15 IST
Portugal Coach:- Luiz Felipe Scolari Captain:-Nuno Gomes
Portugal finished the toppers in Group A. The coach of the Team is Luiz Felipe Scolari, who had coached the Brazillian National team to their world cup title in 2002. Much of Portugal’s hopes rest on the young shoulders of Ronaldo, scorer of eight goals in qualifying and heir to Luís Figo who retired along with Pauleta after the 2006 FIFA World Cup. The team has had a great tournament winning all their league matches convincingly and just conceeding a solitary goal in the process. It defeated turkey 2-0, czech Republic 3-1 and switzerland 2-0. They are one of the strong contenders for the championship
Captains Profile
Full name: Nuno Gomes
Jersey No.: 21
Team: Portugal
Position: Forward
Detailed position: Forward
Date of birth: 05.07.1976
Height: 181 cm
Weight: 72 kg
Club: Benfica
Caps: 71
Goals: 28
EURO 2008™ quick stats
Appearances: 2
Mins. Played: 148
Goals scored: 0
Germany:- Coach Joachim Löw Captain:-Micheal Ballack
From being one of the favourite contenders to lift the cup, to that of underdogs, Germany’s progress in the tournament has been less convincing. Starting of with a 2-0 win over Poland, they were trounced 2-1 by croatia. The match against austria was boring until the ballack 30 yard free kick resulted in a victory for his team 1-0. The team is coached by Joachim Löw who took over from Jürgen Klinsmann after the later stepped down after 2006 fifa world cup. Affectionately known as Jogi, Löw is widely regarded for his innovative training methods and his pride in seeing young players fulfil their potential. Though coach Jürgen Klinsmann gave way to his former assistant Joachim Löw at the start of qualifying, the squad has changed little from the one that finished third at the World Cup. Christoph Metzelder, Per Mertesacker and Philipp Lahm remain first choices in defence, with Lahm likely to replace Arne Friedrich at right-back, allowing Marcell Jansen to show his class on the left.Up front, Miroslav Klose’s impressive international record is sure to earn him a place in Löw’s favoured 4-4-2 formation, and the battle is between Kevin Kuranyi, 2007 German Player of the Year Mario Gómez, and Lukas Podolski for the second striker’s role. Podolski also gave Löw, and Bastian Schweinsteiger, plenty to think about by performing well when deployed on the left side of midfield. Löw’s commitment to 4-4-2 is devout, although with Bernd Schneider injured, he has two possible arrangements for his rejigged system. The experienced Torsten Frings is sure to anchor midfield, either playing alongside a defence-minded Michael Ballack with two attacking wide men, or with two other holding midfielders, allowing Ballack to resume the attacking role he enjoyed at the 2002 FIFA World Cup finals.
Captains profile
Full name: Michael Ballack
Jersey No.: 13
Team: Germany
Position: Midfield
Detailed position: Defensive midfielder, Attacking midfielder, Central midfielder
Date of birth: 26.09.1976
Height: 188 cm
Weight: 85 kg
Club: Chelsea
Caps: 84
Goals: 37
EURO 2008™ quick stats
Appearances: 3
Mins. Played: 282
Goals scored: 1
Game 2 Croatia Vs. Turkey Vienna 21-06-2008 00:15 IST
Croatia:- Coach Slaven Billic Captain:- Niko Kovac
Croatia has had a good tournament so far. They were toppers in Group B where they had Germany and Austria for company. They began by defeating Austria by a solitary goal. Then it was Germany’s turn and they defeated Germany 2-1and finally poland were defeated by a solitary goal. They are known for their attacking style of football. The Coach of the team is Slaven Billic. The former international defender Slaven Bilić has already rewarded the Croatian Football Federation for the faith they showed when hiring him as national team coach in July 2006 at the age of 37.
Croatia finished third at the 1998 FIFA World Cup – failing to replicate such form since – although hopes are high for coach Slaven Bilić’s new generation.
Winning their qualifying group in dramatic style, Bilić made good use of emerging talent, with the likes of Eduardo da Silva, Luka Modrić and Vedran Ćorluka all proving their worth. Along with changes of personnel came a change of tactics, with Bilić abandoning Croatia’s traditional 3-5-2 formation and introducing a sturdy 4-4-2 in its place.
Captain’s Profile
Full name: Niko Kovač
Jersey No.: 10
Team: Croatia
Position: Midfield
Detailed position: Defensive midfielder
Date of birth: 15.10.1971
Height: 176 cm
Weight: 72 kg
Club: Salzburg
Caps: 79
Goals: 13
EURO 2008™ quick stats
Appearances: 2
Mins. Played: 188
Goals scored: 0
Turkey:- Coach Fatih Terim Captain:- Reçber Rüştü
Turkey finished second behind portugal in Group A. They were involved in one of the most dramatic comebacks against the Czech Republic, when after trailing by a 2-0 margin, they came back to win 3-2 with three goals scored in the last 15 minutes of play courtesy Two late Nihat Kahveci strikes. They earlier conceeded defeat to portugal by 2 goals and defeated switzerland by a 2-1 margin. Their coach is Fatih Terim. Appointed as Turkey coach in 2005 following a break from management, Terim – known as ‘Imparator’ (‘The Emperor’) in his home country for his leadership skills.
Captains Profile
Full name: Reçber Rüştü
Jersey No.: 1
Team: Turkey
Position: Goalkeeper
Detailed position: Goalkeeper
Date of birth: 10.05.1973
Height: 187 cm
Weight: 76 kg
Club: Beşiktaş
Caps: 116
Goals: 0
EURO 2008™ quick stats
Appearances: 0
Mins. Played: 0
Game 3 Netherlands Vs. Russia Basel 22-06-2008 00:15 IST
Netherlands:- Coach Marco van Basten Captain:- Edwin van der Sar
Netherlands finished as Group C toppers. The Group C was one of the most toughest group with defending world champions Italy, France and Romania making the other three. They started their campaign with a resounding victory over world champions Italy by a 3-0 margin. They followed it up by a stunning 4-1 victory over France. A second string Netherlands side beat Romania 2-0 to round up a spectacular run in Group C
One of the great strikers of his age, Netherlands coach Marco van Basten seems the ideal choice to bring an exciting new generation of Dutch attacking talent to their peak at UEFA EURO 2008™, after which he will step down to take charge at former club AFC Ajax. Van Basten, who is bidding to become the first person to taste EURO success as a coach and player, was a wild-card choice when he replaced Dick Advocaat as Netherlands coach after UEFA EURO 2004™. The 4-3-3 system synonymous with the Netherlands since Rinus Michels’ team of the 1970s has been overlooked in favour of a more pragmatic 4-4-2, though the fresh approach has paid dividends with the Oranje booking their place in Austria and Switzerland.
Captains Profile
Full name: Edwin van der Sar
Jersey No.: 1
Team: Netherlands
Position: Goalkeeper
Detailed position: Goalkeeper
Date of birth: 29.10.1970
Height: 197 cm
Weight: 84 kg
Club: Man. United
Caps: 127
Goals: 0
EURO 2008™ quick stats
Appearances: 2
Mins. Played: 186
Goals conceded: 1
Russia:- Coach Guus Hiddink Captain:- Sergei Semak
Russians finished up runners up in Group D behind Spain. They have had a mixed tournament so far when they went down to spain 4-1, defeated Greece by a solitary goal and Sweden by 2 -0.
The Russian press had dubbed Guus Hiddink a coaching wizard long before a magical sequence of results conspired to send his side to UEFA EURO 2008™. Hired in April 2006 after winning another Dutch title with PSV Eindhoven and before taking unfancied Australia to the knockout stages of the FIFA World Cup, the Dutchman – who signed a new two-and-a-half year deal in March – had previously steered the Netherlands and Korea Republic to World Cup semi-finals in 1998 and 2002 respectively.
Captains Profile
Full name: Sergei Semak
Jersey No.: 11
Team: Russia
Position: Midfield
Detailed position: Defensive midfielder, Attacking midfielder, Central midfielder
Date of birth: 27.02.1976
Height: 178 cm
Weight: 73 kg
Club: Rubin
Caps: 49
Goals: 4
EURO 2008™ quick stats
Appearances: 3
Mins. Played: 281
Goals scored: 0
Game 4 Spain Vs Italy Vienna 23-06-2008 00:15 IST
Spain:- Coach Luis Aragones Captain:- Iker Casillas
Spain are the toppers of Group D. They have had an excellent tournament with convincing victories over Russia (4-1), Sweden (2-1) and Greece (2-1). They are one of the favourites to the title.
Born in 1938 in Hortaleza, Madrid, Aragonés represented Real Betis Balompié, Real Oviedo and RC Recreativo de Huelva as a player but made his biggest impact in a decade at Club Atlético de Madrid from 1964 where his scoring touch and set-piece expertise earned him the nickname ‘Zapatones’ (Big boots).
Moving straight into coaching after retiring in 1974, the no-nonsense coach with a notoriously short temper has not always had it easy. Indeed he briefly retired from football in 1986 due to mental illness before leading Atlético to the Copa del Rey in 1992.
Captains Profile
Full name: Iker Casillas
Jersey No.: 1
Team: Spain
Position: Goalkeeper
Detailed position: Goalkeeper
Date of birth: 20.05.1981
Height: 185 cm
Weight: 79 kg
Club: Real Madrid
Caps: 79
Goals: 0
EURO 2008™ quick stats
Appearances: 2
Mins. Played: 188
Goals conceded: 2
Italy:- Coach Roberto Donadoni Captain:- Alessandro Del Piero
World Champions Italy had a very dismal Euro 2008 and are into the second round courtesy Netherlands. Eventhough they finished second in Group C, they were facing a first round exit. They were first drubbed 3-0 by netherlands and held to a 1-1 draw by Romania. Their only victory came against France which they won 2-0. That was still not enough for them. The Netherlands Vs Romania match assumed much importance. If romania had defeated the second string netherlands side who had already made it to the quarters, then it would have been curtains for Italy in Euro 2008. Appointed in the wake of Italy’s 2006 FIFA World Cup success, Roberto Donadoni inherited a huge burden of expectation when he succeeded Marcello Lippi. As a player, Donadoni served Italy with distinction on 63 occasions. He suffered penalty heartache at two World Cups, missing in the semi-final shoot-out defeat by Argentina in 1990 and then watching as Brazil won on spot-kicks in the final four years later.
Captains Profile
Full name: Alessandro Del Piero
Jersey No.: 7
Team: Italy
Position: Forward
Detailed position: Left midfielder, Attacking midfielder, Forward
Date of birth: 09.11.1974
Height: 175 cm
Weight: 73 kg
Club: Juventus
Caps: 88
Goals: 27
EURO 2008™ quick stats
Appearances: 2
Mins. Played: 106
Goals scored: 0
All the stats and images in this post have been taken from the official euro 2008 site. All Trademarks and copyrights acknowledged
Filed under: Euro 2008, Euro 2008 - Knockout Stages -- Quarter Final Line Ups, Sports , croatia, euro2008, euro2008 quarter final line up, germany, italy, netherlands, portugal, quarter finals, russia, spain, turkey
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