Euro 2008 Qualified Teams

// November 29th, 2007

With only few days left before the draw for Euro 2008, let’s make a quick review of all 16 competitors, which will offer us an unforgettable show next year. Here are the 16 teams, divided in 4 pots:

A	B	C	D
Austria	Croatia	Romania	Poland
Switzerland	Italy	Germany	France
Greece	Czech Republic	Portugal	Russia
Netherlands	Sweden	Spain	Turkey

AUSTRIA

Road to Euro 2008

For many years, Austria happens to be into an obvious regression, as a matter of fact, this is is for the whole Austrian football. Solid team of the 70’s, Austria toils now to qualify for a final tournament; the last time when achieving this was World Cup ’98 in France. At Euro 2008 Austria will be one of the two hosts, hoping into the revival of the entire football system through this, at least to thank their devoted fans and repay their trust. In this year’s friendlies they had many disappointing results, as the draw with Malta (1-1) and the home run of defeats: to England (0-1), to Scotland (0-1), to Chile (0-2). The only notable results we can mention are the 3-2 victory against Cote d’Ivoire and the 1-1 draw against the Czech Republic back August.

The Team

Head Coach: Josef Hickersberger
Captain: Andreas Ivanschitz
Key Player: Martin Harnik

Players:

Goalkeepers: Jürgen Macho, Helge Payer, Alexander Manninger

Defenders: Martin Stranzl, Martin Hiden, Franz Schiemer, Sebastian Prödl, Emanuel Pogatetz, Markus Katzer, György Garics, Andreas Ibertsberger

Midfielders: Christoph Leitgeb, Andreas Ivanschitz, Thomas Prager, René Aufhauser,
Yüksel Sariyar, Veli Kavlak, Michael Mörz, Markus Weissenberger

Strikers: Roland Linz, Marc Janko, Martin Harnik, Sanel Kuljic, Erwin Hoffer

SWITZERLAND

Road to Euro 2008

In opposition with the other co-host for the summer tournament, we can tell that Switzerland is having a great come back on football’s first stage, having been qualified for Euro 2004 and the German World Cup too. They had an incredible run there in Germany, wining the group ahead of France and qualifying further in the tournament with 7 points, but they were unlucky defeated on penalty kicks in the second round by Ucraine. This year they managed some strange results like the home defeats with Nigeria (0-1), the USA (0-1) and Japan (3-4) or the victories with the Netherlands (2-1), Austria (3-1) and the draw against Argentina (1-1). Swiss football growth is based on youth enthusiasm especially, with youngsters like Behrami, Djourou, Senderos, Barnetta, but also on the experience of some great players like Patrick Muller, Magnin, Wicky, Yakin or Frei.

The Team

Head Coach: Jakob Kuhn
Captain: Alexander Frei
Key Player: Alexander Frei

Players

Goalkeepers: Pascal Zuberbühler, Diego Benaglio, Fabio Coltorti

Defenders: Valon Behrami, Patrick Muller, Philippe Senderos, Ludovic Magnin, Johan Djourou, Christoph Spycher, Stéphane Grichting, Philipp Degen,

Mario Eggiman, Stephan Lichtsteiner, Boris Smiljanić, Stève von Bergen

Midfielders: Tranquillo Barnetta, Ricardo Cabanas, Fabio Celestini, Daniel Gygax,
Benjamin Huggel, Raphaël Wicky, Hakan Yakin, Xavier Margairaz, Gökhan Inler, Blerim Džemaili, Gelson Fernandes, Reto Ziegler

Strikers: Alexander Frei, Marco Streller, David Degen, Mauro Lustrinelli, Johan Vonlanthen, Alberto Regazzoni, Blaise Nkufo

GREECE

Road To Euro 2008

European Champions in 2004, Greece will have very hard work to do to keep the trophy they won so surprisingly in Portugal even against the host country. Although they failed to reach the World Cup in 2006, the Greeks had an excellent performance in this qualifying stage, winning their group way ahead their main rivals, Turkey and Norway. They had an only syncope, the humiliating defeat by Turkey on home court (1-4). Nevertheless, this October, they managed to take it back, and revenged that defeat with an away win (1-0) bye Amanatidis’ late goal.

The Team

Head Coach: Otto Rehhagel
Captain: Angelos Basinas
Key Player: Giorgos Karagounis

Players

Goalkeepers: Antonios Nikopolidis, Konstantinos Chalkias, Michalis Sifakis

Defenders: Giourkas Seitaridis, Christos Patsatzoglu, Traianos Dellas, Yannis Goumas, Michalis Kapsis, Vasilis Torosidis, Paraskevas Antzas, Loukas Vyntra, Sotiris Kyrgiakos, Nikos Spiropoulos

Midfielders: Angelos Basinas, Giorgos Karagounis, Stelios Giannakopoulos, Pantelis Kafes, Kostas Katsouranis, Panagiotis Lagos, Alexandros Tziolis

Strikers: Georgios Samaras, Angelos Charisteas, Dimitrios Papadopoulos, Theofanis Gekas, Ioannis Amanatidis, Dimitrios Salpigidis, Nikolas Lyberopoulos, Vangelis Mantzios, Labros Choutos

NETHERLANDS

Road To Euro 2008

The ‘Oranje’, as the Netherlands were nicknamed after the brilliant team of the 70’s, doesn’t manage that well on Van Basten’s command. Although they have lots of excellent players, some exclusive talents, who amaze every weekend at their clubs, the Dutch don’t get it very well at national teams’ level. After a disappointing World Cup in 2006, when they left the tournament in the second round, defeated by Portugal, the Netherlands had serious problems in these qualifiers. Unable to beat Romania in two matches, after a draw home and a 0-1 defeat away, they even got beat up by the humble Belarus on their last match (1-2). On these circumstances they finished the group in second place, but the high country coefficient granted them a place in the first pot for the draws.

The Team

Head Coach: Marco van Basten
Captain: Edwin van der Sar
Key Player: Wesley Sneijder

Players

Goalkeepers: Edwin van der Sar, Maarten Stekelenburg, Henk Timmer

Defenders: Wilfred Bouma, John Heitinga, Andre Ooijer, Kew Jaliens, Tim de Cler, Mario Melchiot, Khalid Boulahrouz, Joris Mathijsen, Urby Emanuelson

Midfielders: Giovanni van Bronckhorst, Nigel de Jong, Rafael van der Vaart, Wesley Sneijder, Clarence Seedorf, Demy de Zeeuw, Hedwiges Maduro, Orlando Engelaar, Denny Landzaat, Arjen Robben,

Strikers: Ruud van Nistelrooy, Dirk Kuyt, Robin van Persie, Klaas-Jan Huntelaar, Ryan Babel, Danny Koevermans, Romeo Castelen, Jan Vennegoor of Hesselink

CROATIA

Road To Euro 2008

England’s executioners, is the first thing that crosses our mind when we look at Croatia’s qualification at Euro 2008. After many dramatic turns in Group E, in the last match of the qualifiers, England needed only a draw at Wembley against the Croats, who were already qualified for the summer tournament, but they were humiliated by the young determined ex-Yugoslavs. ‘Vatreni’ (the Blazers) as they are known, nevertheless, clearly lead the group from the beginning to the end and won it by far, so they hope in repeating that great performances from the last decade, when finished third the World Cup in France 98.

The Team

Head Coach: Slaven Bilić
Captain: Niko Kovač
Key Player: Niko Kranjčar

Players

Goalkeepers: Stipe Pletikosa, Mario Galinović, Vedran Runje

Defenders: Dario Šimić, Josip Šimunić, Robert Kovač, Vedran Ćorluka, Hrvoje Vejić, Dario Knežević, Dino Drpić

Midefielders: Ivan Rakitić, Marko Babić, Niko Kovač, Darijo Srna, Luka Modrić, Jurica Vranješ, Jerko Leko, Niko Kranjčar, Danijel Pranjić, Ognjen Vukojević

Strikers: Boško Balaban, Eduardo, Ivica Olić, Igor Budan, Mladen Petrić, Mario Mandžukić

ITALY

Road To Euro 2008

The World Champions will try to revenge the next year the disappointment from the last Euros when they were sent home even from the group stage after a friendly draw between Sweden and Denmark. Although they had an awful start in this campaign, with a 1-1 draw home with Lithuania and a shameful defeat in France (1-3), the Italians fought back and had an excellent way, winning the group ahead of France and leaving the surprisingly Scotland home after a 2-1 away victory. Crumbled by the internal corruption rows for some years, they hope to regain their credibility, if haven’t done so yet until now, after the World Cup.

The Team

Head Coach: Roberto Donadoni
Captain: Fabio Cannavaro
Key Player: Francesco Totti

Players

Goalkeepers: Gianluigi Buffon, Christian Abbiati, Gianluca Curci, Marco Amelia

Defenders: Christian Panucci, Fabio Grosso, Giorgio Chielinni, Fabio Cannavaro, Alessandro Nesta, Daniele Bonera, Andrea Barzagli, Gianluca Zambrotta, Massimo Oddo, Marco Materazzi, Cristian Zaccardo

Midfielders: Gennaro Gattuso, Andrea Pirlo, Mauro Camoranesi, Simone Perotta, Massimo Ambrosini, Alberto Aquilani, Daniele de Rossi, Angelo Palombo, Ricardo Montolivo, Franco Semioli

Strikers: Luca Toni, Antonio di Natale, Alberto Gilardino, Vincenzo Iaquinta, Raffaele Palladino, Fabio Quagliarella, Cristiano Lucarelli, Alessandro Del Piero, Filippo Inzaghi

CZECH REPUBLIC

Road To Euro 2008

The Czechs still remain the same solid team we used to in the past time. European Champions in 1977, runners-up in 1996 and semifinalists back in Portugal, three years ago, they have big plans this time too. Karel Bruckner’s side doesn’t rely anymore on Pavel Nedved, his tireless midfielder, but still has at his order big names like Rosicky, Cech or Jankulovsky. In this qualifiers they proved their class by finishing first ahead of Germany and Ireland Republic, with a clear win just in Germany (3-1).

The Team

Head Coach: Karel Bruckner
Captain: Tomáš Rosický
Key Plyer: Tomáš Rosický

Players

Goalkeepers: Petr Cech, Jaromír Blažek, Daniel Zitka

Defenders: Zdeněk Grygera, Radoslav Kováč, David Rozehnal, Marek Jankulovski, Tomáš Ujfaluši, Martin Jiránek, Tomáš Zápotočný, Michal Kadlec

Midfielders: Jan Polák, Tomáš Galásek, Tomáš Rosický, Libor Sionko, Jaroslav Plašil, Daniel Pudil, David Jarolím, Tomáš Sivok

Strikers: Jan Koller, Milan Baroš, Marek Kulič, Karel Piták, Stanislav Vlček, Martin Fenin

SWEDEN

Road To Euro 2008

Since that third place at the World Cup back in 94 in the USA, Sweden didn’t get any other true performances, but they were present almost always at the final tournaments. Lead by first class players as Ljungberg, Ibrahimovic, Kallstrom or Elmander, the Scandinavian side will try to confirm each one’s of their players’ individual value by a very good performance in June. Qualified from the second spot, behind Spain, but in front of Denmark and Northern Ireland, the Swedish distinguished themselves through the 2-0 victory against Spain and a 3-3 away draw in Denmark, in a memorable match that we all remember after the referee stopped the game in the 88’th minute when a local fan, angry for Poulsen’s earlier sent off , entered the field and hit the referee.

The Team

Head Coach: Lars Lagerbäck
Captain: Fredrik Ljungberg
Key Player: Zlatan Ibrahimovic

Players

Goalkeepers: Andreas Isaksson, Rami Shaaban, Johan Wiland

Defenders: Olof Mellberg, Erik Edman, Mikael Nilsson, Peter Hansson, Daniel Majstorovic, Mikael Dorsin, Matias Concha, Andreas Granqvist, Per Nilsson, Daniel Mobaeck, Niklas Sandberg

Midfielders: Niclas Alexandersson, Anders Svensson, Fredrik Ljungberg, Daniel Andersson, Kim Kallstrom, Christian Wilhelmsson, Andreas Johansson, Kennedy Bakircioglu, Tobias Linderoth, Stefan Ishizaki, Martin Ericsson, Dusan Djuric, Samuel Holmen

Strikers: Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Markus Rosenberg, Marcus Allback, Johan Elmander, Rade Prica, Daniel Nannskog, Olof Guterstam

ROMANIA

Road to Euro 2008

After a long 8 years absence, the Romanian side finally succeeded to qualify for a final tournament. With the gradual retirement of each player of the ‘gold generation’, as it was named the 90’s famous team, the new side, with key players like Mutu and Chivu, failed to show their talent by qualifying for a big tournament. In the Qualifying round they easily won a group in which they left behind the Dutch and their rival neighbors, Bulgaria. Therefore, after the promising results against Holland (0-0 and 1-0 at home ground), Mutu’s side hopes for a good behavior at Euro 2008.

The Team

Head Coach: Victor Piturca
Captain: Crisian Chivu
Key Player: Adrian Mutu

Players

Goalkeepers: Bogdan Lobont, Danut Coman, Marius Popa

Defenders: Cristian Chivu, Razvan Rat, Gabriel Tamas, Dorin Goian, George Ogararu, Marius Constantin, Stefan Radu, Petre Marin, Cosmin Contra

Midfielders: : Paul Codrea, Razvan Cocis, Ovidiu Petre, Banel Nicolita, Florentin Petre, Andrei Margaritescu, Nicolae Dica, Eugen Trica, Adrian Cristea, Costin Lazar

Strikers: Adrian Mutu, Ciprian Marica, Daniel Niculae, Ionut Mazilu, Gheorghe Bucur, Florin Bratu

Germany

Road to Euro 2008

The last host of the World Cup, the Germans hope to wipe the bad memories of the last two European final tournaments, being among the favorites in 2008 for the final victory. With a very solid team they have all the chances to believe in it. In this qualifiers Germany was the first team to advance for the European Championship, but since then they relaxed and finished second, behind the Czechz, after the home defeat(1-3).

The Team

Head Coach: Joachim Low
Captain: Michael Ballack
Key Player: Michael Ballack

Players

Goalkeepers: Jens Lehmann, Timo Hildebrand, Robert Enke

Defenders: Arne Friedrich, Philipp Lahm, Marcel Jansen, Per Mertesacker, Christoph Metzelder, Manuel Friedrich, Clemens Fritz, Robert Huth, Christian Schulz, Alexander Madlung, Christian Pander

Midfielders: Michael Ballack, Bastian Schweinsteiger, Thomas Hitzlsperger, Tim Borowski, Piotr Trochowski, Roberto Hilbert, Gonzalo Castro, Simon Rolfes, Sebestian Kehl, Torsten Frings, Bernd Schneider, David Odonkor, Paul Freier

Strikers: Miroslav Klose, Lukas Podolski, Kevin Kuranyi, Mario Gomez, Oliver Neuville, Mike Hanke, Gerald Asamoah, Patrick Helmes

PORTUGAL

Road to Euro 2008

This will be the last final tournament for the bad-tempered Portuguese coach, Felipe Scolari, ahead of the national team. After a successful mandate in which he achieved the Euro 2004 final and the 4th place in the last World Cup, the brazilian coach will try to exploit the huge talent of some world class players like Cristiano Ronaldo, Quaresma, Postiga, Deco and Maniche. In this qualifiers they had some problems on the way, in a difficult group with Poland, Serbia, Finland and Belgium. Finally they came off second, behind Poland.

The Team

Head Coach: Luiz Felipe Scolari
Captain: Cristiano Ronaldo
Key Player: Cristiano Ronaldo

Players

Goalkeepers: Ricardo, Quim, Daniel Fernandes

Defenders: Paulo Ferreira, Rcardo Carvalho, Fernando Meira, Miguel, Bruno Alves, Jose Bosingwa, Ricardo Rocha, Pepe, Tonel, Nelson, Marco Caneira, Nuno Valente, Antunes, Jorge Andrade

Midfielders: Maniche, Deco, Joao Moutinho, Duda, Miguel Veloso, Hugo Viana, Petit, Costinha, Carlos Martins, Tiago, Simao

Strikers: Ricardo Quaresma, Cristiano Ronaldo, Helder Postiga, Hugo Almeida, Nuno Gomes, Nani, Ariza Makukula, Luis Boa Morte, Joao Tomas

SPAIN

Road to Euro 2008

Despite always having an incredible team, Spain never managed to achieve great performance at the final tournaments, excepting the european title in 1964. Besides this, at the world cup they never managed more than 3 quarter finals. After a disappointing tournament in 2004, when they left the competition in the first stage, the Spaniards will try to change this fact. In the preliminary round they have too few problems and won it ahead of Sweden, Northern Ireland and Denmark. Raul and his side won’t forget however the humiliating defeat by Northern Ireland, when Healy scored 3.

The Team

Head Coach: Luis Aragones
Captain: Iker Casillas
Key Player: Fernando Torres

Players

Goalkeepers: Iker Casillas, Jose Reyna, Victor Valdes

Defenders: : Raul Albiol, Mariano Pernia, Carlos Marchena, Carles Puyol, Joan Capdevila, Sergio Ramos, Pablo Ibanez, Javier Navarro, Antonio Lopez, Angel Lopez

Midfielders: : David Albelda, Xavi Hernandez, Andres Iniesta, Joaquin Sanchez, Cesc Fabregas, Marcos Senna, Albert Riera, David Silva, Xabi Alonso

Strikers: David Villa, Fernando Torres, Daniel Gonzalez Guiza, Raul Tamudo, Fernando Morientes, Jose Reyes, Raul Gonzalez

POLAND

Road to Euro 2008

Beenhakker’s side is trying for some while to regain their credibility between the major European national teams, after many years in the last decade when they were absent from all big competitions. We’ll see the matter in which they’ll manage a good behaviour at Euro 2008, as they failed to pass the groups at the last World Cups, although they were favourites. In the last qualifiers, Poland won a tough group ahead of Portugal, Serbia, Finland and Belgium.

The Team

Head Coach: Leo Beenhakker
Captain: Michal Zewlakow
Key Player: Euzebiusz Smolarek

Players

Goalkeepers: Artur Boruc, Lukasz Fabianski, Tomasz Kuszczak

Defenders: Mariusz Jop, Grzegorz Bronowicki, Marcin Baszczynski, Marcin Wasilewski, Michal Zewlakov, Jakub Wawrzyniak, Tomasz Kielbowicz, Arkadiusz Glowacki, Jacek Bak

Midfielders: Kamil Kosowski, Euzebiusz Smolarek, Jacek Krzynowek, Wojcieh Lobodzinski, Jakub Blaszczykowski, Radoslav, Sobolewski, Mariusz Lewandowski, Lukasz Gargula, Rafal Murawski, Arkadius Radmoski

Strikers: : Maciej Zurawski, Marek Saganowski, Grzegorz Rasiak, Radoslaw Matusiak, Tomasz Zahorski, Ireneusz Jelen, Tomasz Frankowski

FRANCE

Road to Euro 2008

Runners-up at the last World Cup, France wants revenge for losing that final at penalties. Like in the past years, the French have a huge potential, having by their side big names like Ribery, Henry, Trezeguet, Gallas, Vieira, Anelka or talented youngsters like Benzema, Ben Arfa or Nasri. In the preliminary round, they got a slight revenge against Italy, by beating them at home (3-1), but because of those two humiliating defeats by Scotland, France finished the group second, behind their rivals, the Italians.

The Team

Head Coach: Raymond Domenech
Captain: Patrick Vieira
Key Player: Franck Ribery

Players

Goalkeepers: Mickael Landreau, Sebastien Frey, Ulrich Rame, Gregory Coupet

Defenders: Patrice Evra, Eric Abidal, William Gallas, Francois Clerc, Bakary Sagna, Lilian Thuram, Sebastian Squillaci, Anthony Reveillere, Julien Escude, Philippe Mexes, Gael Givet, Jean-Alain Boumsong, Mikael Silvestre, Willy Sagnol

Midfielders: Patrick Vieira, Claude Makelele, Florent Malouda, Franck Ribery, Jeremy Toulalan, Samir Nasri, Jerome Rothen, Hatem Ben Arfa, Mathieu Flamini, Lassana Diarra, Alou Diarra, Abou Diaby, Rio Mavuba

Strikers: Karim Benzema, Sidney Govou, Thiery Henry, Nicolas Anelka, David Trezeguet, Louis Saha, Djibril Cisse

RUSSIA

Road to Euro 2008

Probably the most spectacular qualification at this final tournament, Russia gained by their side lots of fans but also enemies, especially the English. Guus Hiddink’s team left home England after a sinuous campaign for both sides, in which at its end, Russia defeated their rivals at home (2-1), but then lost so surprisingly at Israel. However, when nobody least expected, Croatia overcame England at London, in the last match, giving a dramatic night to all football fans. Relying on Hiddink’s great international experiens, the Russians will try to force the surprise in the summer.

The Team

Head Coach: Guus Hiddink
Captain: Andrei Arshavin
Key Player: Dmitriy Sychev

Players

Goalkeepers: Igor Akinfeev, Vyacheslav Malafeev, Vladimir Gaboulov

Defenders: Sergey Ignashevich, Aleksei Berezutskiy, Aleksandr Anyukov, Vasili Berezutskiy, Denis Kolodin

Midfielders: Igor Semshov, Diniyar Bilyaledtinov, Yuri Zhirkov, Konstantin Zyryanov, Dmitry Torbinsky, Viktor Budyansky, Roman Shirokov, Yevgeny Aldonin

Strikers: Aleksandr Kerzhakov, Dmitriy Sychev, Andrei Arshavin, Roman Pavlyuchenko, Ivan Saenko, Pavel Pogrebnyak

TURKEY

Road to Euro 2008

After a series of failings in reaching the final tournaments in last years, the Turks finished second this time thei qualifying group, gaining the participation in the summer for the Euro 2008. Although they started the campaign with a tremendous victory, 4-1 away at their historical rivals, Greece, they had lots of bad results which finally could cost Fatih Terim’s side. The qualification took place in november in the direct match between Norway and Turkey, when they won 2-1 in Oslo.

The Team

Head Coach: Fatih Terim
Captain: Hakan Sukur
Key Player: Nihat Kahveci

Players

Goalkeepers: Rustu Recber, Volkan Demirel, Hakan Arikan

Defenders: Ibrahim Toraman, Gokhan Zan, Servet Cetin, Volkan Yaman, Sabri Sarioglu, Deniz Baris, Ibrahim Uzulmez, Umit Ozat, Can Arat, Tolga Seyhan

Midfielders: : Yildiray Basturk, Hamit Altintop, Emre Belozoglu, Tuncay Sanli, Nuri Sahin, Gokdeniz Karadeniz, Huseyin Cimsir, Tumer Metin, Arda Turan, Selcuk Sahin, Hasan Sas

Strikers: Serhat Akin, Hasan Kabze, Umit Bulut, Ilhan Parlak, Hakan Sukur, Gokhan Unal, Halil Altintop, Nihat Kahveci, Fatih Tekke, Umit Karan, Necati Ates

Category: Euro 2008 Teams
Teams in this article: Austria, Croatia, Czech Republic, France, Germany, Greece, Italy, Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Russia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey.