The EURO 08 final is history and with a small review we also want to officially conclude fanline08.at.

In total 356 articles were published: the first one (in german) on November 22, 2007, the last one on July 10, 2008. In 231 days a total of 90,246 people visited our website with more than 241,600 accesses. Most of them (31,724 accesses or 13.21%) accounted for www.fanline08.at/de, followed by the page http://www.fanline08.at/de/?page_id=316 reserved for a number of prize-winning competitions (the last one was a flight to a European destination of the winner’s choice, see here. The third rank was occupied by the English version of www.fanline08.at/en/.

As most likely the only information portal on EURO 08 we published our stories not only in German but also in professionally translated English. The basic information of the initial content of our website (e.g. on public transportation, sights, nightlife or accommodation) was translated into six other foreign languages as well. All the people who speak Russian, Greek, Polish, French, Spanish or Italian were thus able to obtain information on the Austrian Host Cities.

The individual articles accessed the most were by far Euro 08: Public Viewing Update and Update: Public Viewing in Vienna. This was primarily due to our good position in search engine Google. Google accounts for a respectable amount of 10,500 results due to excellent networking activities within the Internet and Blog communities. Another feature that attracted many new users was the listing in Google News. And here is the interesting breakdown according to how users accessed our website: 20.38% entered www.fanline08.at directly in their browser’s address bar; 38.93% reached us via links on websites and the remaining 40.69% found us via other search engines.

The prize-winning competitions have always had a particular significance. Among others, the prizes included much sought-after tickets for sold-out international matches, various mobile phones, digital picture frames, MP3 and video players by our partner Samsung, a total of 11 tickets for the musical We Will Rock You, tickets for the EURO specials at the Museum of Fine Art, the Life Ball and the Vienna Festival one-man piece “Das Wunder von Córdoba”. Four of our young users were happy to Meet and Greet Christina Stürmer; another ten winners received a 4-CD package with football songs by EMI. The flights to European destinations of the winners’ choice made available by Austrian Airlines were remarkable prizes as well. The highlight, however, was the Fan Flight on an Airbus A320 in fanline08.at design over the Austrian EURO stadiums. Some 10,000 accesses associated with our prize-winning competitions speak for themselves.

But we also gave our best in terms of our content to fulfil our curious readers’ demands. From November to June we shortened the waiting period for the great tournament by providing ample information on the Austrian Host Cities Vienna, Innsbruck, Klagenfurt and Salzburg as well as on their stadiums. We uploaded videos and photo galleries, adverted events, reported on oddities, informed on the EURO history so far and introduced the participants in EURO 08. The many tips and gimmicks we provided (for instance on Panini stickers, EURO visa or car banners) cannot be mentioned in our review, unfortunately, due to shortage of space. After the European Championship had started we mainly concentrated on football aspects; ample reports on matches from the opening game to the final were accompanied by eyewitness accounts from the stadiums and fan zones.

A lot has been going on in the course of the last seven months. We, the fanline08.at team, want to thank all people who have been with us on a regular or not so regular basis. Take care, goodbye, and farewell!

Congratulations Andreas Fleidl! Austrian Airlines welcomes you and a person of your trust onboard a flight to a European destination of your choice - business class, of course!

The question that made you win was the following: With which European team did Ernst Happel advance to the 1978 World Cup final? It was not too difficult, apparently, to find the right answer. Ernst Happel was the national coach of the Dutch team in the 1978 World Cup final. And while he became much more famous for the Córdoba myth - he was Austria’s national coach then - Happel was the Austrian with the biggest success in the 1978 World Cup. Only in the final the Dutch team lost against host Argentina (1-3 in extra time). Happel, who was only Vice World Champion actually, was all the same often called Wödmasta (World Champion) in his home country Austria from that time onwards.

Our winner Andreas Fleidl also knew the right answer and will fly to a European destination of his choice onboard of Austrian Airlines.

With this, also the last of the fanline08.at prize-winning competitions has come to an end. We thank all the persons who have participated.

Because they usually are the ones who score the goals strikers are highly appreciated players in a football team. Also in the fanline08.at EURO team there are some players who hit the headlines for their extraordinary offensive performance.

And there is one top scorer, of course: Already during group stage David Villa scored four goals for Spain (three of them in the opening game against Russia). From the knock-out stage onwards, however, he did not succeed in scoring another goal. Due to an injury Villa was not able to play in the final but his striker colleague Fernando Torres was a skilful substitute whose second goal in the tournament made Spain European Champion. This most important goal of the Liverpool striker alone justifies his being elected one of the best players of EURO 08.

Russia’s offensive power was felt the latest when Andrei Arshavin - who had been disqualified in the first two group games - made his appearance. In the last preliminary game both Arshavin and Roman Pavlyuchenko cheered one goal each securing Russia’s advancement into the quarter finals. In that game against the Netherlands both men were considerably contributing to Russia’s success: Arshavin, who had also been dubbed “Man of the Game”, scored the 1-0, while Pavlyuchenko was responsible for the 3-1 final score for Russia in extra time.

For Lukas Podolski, who was one of the most important players in the German team, we had already secured a position in the midfield. But in the course of the tournament Polish-born Podolski proved that he has great talent for a striker’s position, too. In the end, Podolski ranks second on the top scoring list. Two assists also proved his qualities as dangerous scoring aid.

As the man of important goals Semih Sentürk was appointed into the fanline08.at EURO team. In the second group game against Switzerland Turkey was close to dropping out of the tournament when Sentürk scored the most significant equalizer. But his 1-1 score against Croatia in the quarter final was even more decisive. The score came so late that the referee ended the game right after it, abstaining from another kick-off. Sentürk showed strong nerves during the penalty shootout as well, exploiting his penalty with calmness. Thanks to his penalty Turkey advanced into the semi-final, where Sentürk scored an important equalizer once again. His 2-2 against Germany was finally of no avail though because Philipp Lahm scored another goal.

With this we conclude the nomination of top players in EURO 08. In the following we present our fanline08.at EURO team in alphabetical order:

Keepers:
Gianluigi Buffon (Italy)
Iker Casillas (Spain)
Edwin van der Sar (Netherlands)

Defence:
Giorgio Chiellini (Italy)
Philipp Lahm (Germany)
Pepe (Portugal)
Carles Puyol (Spain)
Sergio Ramon (Spain)
Jury Shirkov (Russia)

Midfield:
Hamit Altintop (Turkey)
Michael Ballack (Germany)
Cesc Fabregas (Spain)
Xavi Hernandez (Spain)
Andreas Iniesta (Spain)
Luka Modric (Croatia)
Bastian Schweinsteiger (Germany)
Marcos Senna (Spain)
David Silva (Spain)
Wesley Sneijder (the Netherlands)

Strikers:
Andrei Arshavin (Russia)
Roman Pavlyuchenko (Russia)
Lukas Podolski (Germany)
Semih Sentürk (Turkey)
Fernando Torres (Spain)
David Villa (Spain)

Little surprising the midfield of the fanline08.at EURO team is mainly made up of the Spanish Champions.

The best defence men of EURO 08 demonstrated that modern defenders also want to have a say in the front. Therefore, they cooperated closely with the midfielders. And European Champion Spain implemented this concept in an extraordinary way. Xavi Hernandez certainly was one of the top men to do so; UEFA has also appointed him best player of the tournament. The reason: “The 28-year-old player of FC Barcelona participated in five of the six Spanish games and guaranteed that Spain won its first great title since 1964. His skills in getting the game going were the main reason for the UEFA Technical Study Group to appoint him best player of the tournament.” But also his team colleague Marcos Senna performed incredibly. Many attacks by the opposing teams were not impeded by the defence but already by midfielder Senna, a born Brazilian.

Wesley Sneijder could have outperformed Xavi as best player. But that would only have been possible if the Dutch had not been forced to go home already in the quarter-final phase. During the group phase the 24-year-old was considerably contributing to the Dutch team’s excellent performance. While he pushed forward in the offensive, he always had a good overview. Not least because of his two top scores in the matches against France and Italy he secured himself the Man of the Match award in the two games. Also Lukas Podolski deserves a regular position in the midfield. In the first two group matches Podolski, who was born in Poland, scored all the three goals of the German national team. In the quarter final against Portugal and in the semi final against Turkey he prepared one score each. If he continues to be top scorer in his home club Bayern München as well, he might even outperform Miroslav Klose and Luca Toni as striker one day - the latter had, after all, been rather disappointing during the EURO.

Podolski’s team colleagues will not earn themselves a position in the start formation of our fanline08.at EURO team. But Michael Ballack and Bastian Schweinsteiger contributed considerably in pushing their team into the final. Ballack is also mentioned in the UEFA All Star Team, and Chairman Andi Roxburgh founded his decision in the following: “Ballack was one of the decisive figures on Germany’s way towards the final. And he has scored the European Championship’s most excellent free-kick goal.” After his red card against Croatia and the resulting absence in the game against Austria, Schweinsteiger was soon in top shape again. In the quarter and in the semi final he scored a goal each, in the match against Portugal he assisted the scores. Compared with the extraordinary performances of their team colleagues Xavi and Senna, the good performances shown by Andres Iniesta, David Silva and Cesc Fabregas suffered a bit. But their contribution to the Spanish victory must not be underestimated. Two further excellent key figures are Luka Modric from Croatia and Hamit Altintop from Turkey. Both players showed hardly any mistake, organising their teams’ midfields in a great way.

The defence of the fanline08.at EURO team hardly includes players that had been expected there before the European Championship.

The Spanish team of eleven, thanks to their superb combination football, knew how to fill spectators with enthusiasm. Not only were the precise short passes very valuable for bridging the midfield, the Spanish attacks also were often based in their own defence. Carles Puyol, at a height of 1.78 metres, was able to even defend headers by tall strikers from the opposite team. We also give him credit for the excellent overview he showed. Sergio Ramos proved to be a permanent danger in the right back. As a nominal right back he sprinted so often alongside the opposition’s penalty area shooting dangerous crosses from there that his position in the tournament would deserve a denomination of its own.

The exciting Russian offensive football was praised a lot during this year’s EURO. However, the team would not have advanced to the semi-final without an excellent defence as well. As a defence representative of the Sbornaja Yury Shirkov would be part of our EURO selection. In line with Puyol, Shirkov, as a strong left back, enhanced the strikers in the front and thus pushed the dynamics of his team colleagues.

How much the world of football enthusiasts looked forward to the opening game of the Portuguese on June 7! A magnitude of scores by Cristiano Ronaldo was predicted, and the committed offensive duo Deco and Nuno Gomes in fact won 2-0 over Turkey without problems. But it was defence man Pepe who took everybody’s breath away. The born Brazilian scored one goal, another one was denied because of offside. While Portugal had to go home during the quarter finals, Pepe was one of the great performers who, just like many of his European team members, co-directed the games actively.

Above all in the game against Turkey 24-year-old Philipp Lahm was the main responsible for Germany’s advancement to the final. While he caused the 2-2 equalizer, he showed strong nerves in the 90^th minute, initiated a great attack and, after a double pass with Hitzlsperger, shot his team into the final. But also in the other games defender Lahm, at a height of only 1.70 metres, was one of the steadiest players within the German team.

The actual candidates of the Italian defence for a place in the All Star Team will go home empty-handed. Fabio Cannavaro, who in 2006 was appointed World Football Player of the Year as first centre back, and Marco Materazzi (defender of the year 2007) will miss out: Cannavaro was out of the game due to an injury already during the preliminary stage and Materazzi was taken out by national coach Donadoni already in the first game, because he had had severe troubles with the Dutch offensive. In the following games he was not allowed to play again - Giorgio Chiellini had taken over the role of the Italian defence director. Other than many of his team colleagues Chiellini was in good shape. It was due to him that the Italians, who had to accept three scores by the opposing team in the opening game, had to put up with only one score in the remaining tournament.

This is the first round of our fanline08.at EURO team nomination and we will obviously start with the keepers: While some goalies demonstrated astonishing reflexes, others made it too easy for opposing strikers to score due to over-motivated excursions.

One reason for European Champion Spain’s easygoing play was Iker Casillas, the best keeper in the tournament. Having just turned 27 last May, he has played in 82 international matches already during the last eight years. This is a surprise indeed as national team keepers are often selected according to their routine and often don’t reach the peak of their talent before their 30^th year. The Madrid-born, who has already played in 309 matches for his home club Real Madrid, is also team captain of the Selección. The trust his co-players have in him is justified: During the seven EURO games Casillas had a firm and reliable grip on the ball. And even in the penalty shootout against Italy he saved two of the four Italian penalties. Accordingly, Casillas’ fans want to honour his masterstrokes by claiming a new name for the street in Madrid’s suburban Móstoles, where he grew up: Calle de la madre que parió a Casillas (Mother-who-gave-birth-to-Casillas Street).

Gianluigi Buffon’s transfer as a keeper is to this day the most expensive ever. When in 2000/01 he changed from AC Parma to Juventus, Turin paid EUR 54.1 millions. The investment paid off for the Northern Italians: Buffon was awarded “World Keeper of the Year” four times in a row (2003, 2004, 2006, and 2007) as the only goalie so far. Since that time he has also been an integral part of the Italian national team. Also EURO 08 saw Buffon in the goal during all the games. Four times, however, he was defeated, suffering three scores already in the opening game against the Netherlands. It was Buffon though who saved his partially perplexed team from even higher scores by the opponents. And in the second group match, by saving a penalty by Romania’s Adrian Mutu, he secured Italy’s advancement into the quarter finals. While he was able to counter an attempt by Daniel Guiza in the quarter final’s penalty shootout against Spain, he was denied advancement into the semi-final due to the better man Casillas. 

The Dutch were the biggest surprise in the preliminary round. In the incredible Group C they won all the three games. But for their exceptional goal ratio of 9-1 not only the offensive force was responsible but also keeper Edwin van der Sar. And while the 1.97 metres high top national team player of the Elftal also performed excellently in the quarter final against Russia, he eventually was not able to prevent the Dutch drop-out.

But not only these three guys showed extraordinary skills. Also Jürgen Macho in the Austrian goal performed well sometimes but had to accept three scores by the opposing team. Some keepers, however, also stood out because of their incapacity. Greek Antonius Nikopolidis, for instance, was responsible for his team’s early drop-out due to his excursion along the side line. Russian Semak reached the ball before him and scored the goal.

Due to a similar mistake by keeper Rüstü Recber also Turkey had lagged behind in the quarter final against Croatia. Only because Semih Sentürk corrected the mistake of his goalie by scoring 1-1 in the last minute Recber was offered a second chance. And he took advantage of it by saving Mladen Petrics’ final penalty, thus securing Turkey’s advancement into the semi-final.

Spain had to wait 44 years for becoming European Champion again. Today, the whole country is celebrating Fernando “El Niño” Torres’ sole score of the game. Germany, on the other hand, was defeated for the third time in a EURO final.

46 million Spaniards celebrated the 1-0 victory over Germany and scorer Fernando Torres. However, the favourite had started the game rather subdued. Already in the third minute Ballack, who had started despite a calf injury, catches an unlucky return pass by Sergio Ramos, but the ball is too far away from his feet to be dangerous for Spanish keeper Casillas. In the minutes to follow the Germans press their opponents into an ever increasing defence. However, the first Spanish opportunity dampens the German readiness to attack. Iniesta tries his luck from quite a distance, the ball, however, which would never have reached the goal, is deflected by Metzelder in such a way that Lehmann has to save the goal in world-class manner (12).

From now on the Spaniards take over and that will hardly change during the rest of the game. A sharp header by Torres – he is the only nominal striker due to David Villa’s absence – only hits the post and bounces off into the direction of the penalty spot, where Schweinsteiger is able to save (23). On the opposite side the Italian referee Rosetti, who doesn’t seem to be at his best, misses a purposeful handball by Capdevila in his own penalty area. The Spaniards press forward and in the 33rd minute the goal, which had been expected, is finally scored. Fernando Torres outflanks the German offside trap, sprints into an ideal pass by Xavi Hernandez and outruns his opponent Philipp Lahm. Lehmann, who sprints out of the goal, is one moment too late for Torres who shoots the ball past the German keeper – 1-0 for Spain.
A few minutes later David Silva almost scores the 2-0. Standing alone before the German goal he shoots a cross accepted from Iniesta far past the goal. The game gets more aggressive now. Michael Ballack suffers a laceration after a collision with Senna and has to have it mended. Lahm is even worse off. Joachim Löw needs to substitute him by Jansen after the break.

After side-switch the Spaniards continue to be the better team. Xavi (53), Silva (54) and Torres (55) have greater opportunities by the minute. Löw feels forced to substitute. Instead of midfielder Hitzlsperger he sends in Kevin Kuranyi as second striker to support Klose. This substitution in fact helps the Germans to free themselves a bit from the German defence belt. Ballack, however, only hits the outer net (60) and Klose unpurposefully deflects a shot by Schweinsteiger (63). The German drive soon wears off again. Aragones also reacts, sending in the defence force Xabi Alonso and Cazorla for Fabregas and Silva. It was the right decision because the Selección soon is the stronger team again, but narrowly fails to score after a header by Ramos (67), a shot by Iniesta (68) and a sprint by Senna (81). Until the final whistle the Germans have no clue how to break the tight Spanish defence and even less how to score an equalizer.

Spain deserves to be the new European Champion. As the only team of the tournament the Spaniards have not lost a single match. They convinced by their offensive football worth seeing, with their perfect short passes in the midfield (“Tiqui Taca”) as foundation. Luis Aragones, the oldest coach in the entire tournament, is also the oldest coach ever to become European Champion. While often sneered at in his home country, the 69-year-old genius of tactics has now become a national hero.

There will not be national hero in Germany this year. Michael Ballack has not been able to overcome his “finals curse”. After he had missed his Champions League title and the master title in the English Premier League in the very last moment, he has to content himself with the vice title also in the national team. Sorry Germany – viva España!

Apart from Turkey, the Russians were no doubt the surprise team of this tournament. After a rather hesitant start they got better and better, even kicking out the Dutch in the quarter finals, who had also played superbly so far. After each game the scouts of the European top clubs were full of praise for the offensive duo Andrei Arshavin and Roman Pavlyuchenko. If thanks to their goals the Russians had advanced to the final, the Russians’ joy would have been perfect.

But the Spaniards knew how to prevent this, above all Xavi Hernandez, Daniel Güiza and David Silva, who scored the goals of the evening. Also the tireless Senna in the defence and the superb Sergio Ramos in the offensive and defensive were responsible for the Spanish fiesta. While the strikers Torres and Villa did not score goals themselves, their attacks as early as in the 5th and 11th minute gave Akinfeyev a hard time. While the Belgian referee did not grant a penalty after a foul on Torres committed by Ignashevich, Pavlyuchenko called attention for the first time only a minute later by his 28-metres free kick (16).

Heavy rain in Vienna deflated the game a bit. The highlights were Casillas’ parade in the 31st minute countering a shot by Pavlyuchenko and the substitution of David Villa after an injury. Villa, who had so far headed the top scoring list, will most likely not play in the final. The second half showed that the Russians should have taken advantage of their chances in the first half already as the Spaniards pressed forward now. After a cross by Iniesta breaking the Russian defence Xavi Hernandez was the fastest at the ball hitting home right through Akinfeyev’s legs (50). From now on the inspired Aragones men saw ever increasing opportunities but Torres (52, 63) and Fabregas (70) still missed the chances.

In the 73rd minute Daniel Güiza fulfilled his goal: The top scorer of the Primera División’s last season stopped a light kick by Fabregas with his chest and the ball went past Akinfyev right into the goal. In the following the Russians did not manage hardly any serious combination. But on the opposite side Fabregas, with a cross to Silva, committed himself to the preliminary work once again. Silva, alone before Akinfeyev, chose the left corner and scored the final 3-0 (82).

It took 24 years for Spain to advance to the final of a European Championship again. In the final on Sunday the team of the furia roja will encounter Germany and put their whole hearts in it to win the championship a second time after 1964.

Right from the start Germany has a hard time competing against a Turkish team weakened by lack of substitutes. In the end the decisive goal scored by Philipp Lahm brings about a 3-2 victory over the Turks.

There are easier tasks than making heads and tails of an unsteady German team. After a remarkable start of the tournament with a 2-0 victory over Poland, Löw’s eleven were only playing supporting roles against Croatia, but won their second victory in the acceptable contest against Austria. While in the quarter final against Portugal the Germans picked up again, their poor performance in the semi-final anticipates an exciting final.

The Turks, totally unimpressed about their four bans (Volkan, Emre Asik, Arda and Tuncay) and the long list of injured players, pressed forward against the German team right from the start. Kazim Kazim had hit the post already in the 13^th minute, nine minutes later he repeated his feat, but this time Ugur manages to shoot the ball past the line. As efficient as the Germans are they master an equalizer right on their first chance. In the 26^th minute, with a left pass from Podolski to Schweinsteiger, the latter hits home, leaving Rüstü no chance for a save. The Turks, having been in the lead for 13 minutes now, are not disillusioned yet. This is also proven by the shooting balance of 9-1 in favour of the men from the Bosporus in the first 45 minutes.

Shortly after the break the Germans reclaim a penalty when Lahm is pushed down by Sabri. However, Swiss referee Busacca’s whistle remains silent when Lahm takes revenge on the Turks and pulls down Kazim in the penalty area (71). The Turks continue to keep their opponents at bay, but the Germans have the better chances (Hitzlsperger, 55 and 73). Right when the match reached its decisive phase, a blackout in the international broadcasting center in [Vienna] was responsible for sound and vision failures all over the world. This was due to a heavy thunderstorm over Vienna, which also had fans flee from the Fan Zone. However, also the emergency power supply did not work and that didn’t cast a positive light on signal transmitter UEFA.

The players in Basel were not aware of technical problems though and delivered the most exciting football in this phase of the game. In the 79^th minute a high cross by Lahm reaches the penalty area. Rüstü is not sure what to do but then decides to approach the ball. He is of course too far away from the goal and Klose, unimpeded, can score by a header. The Turkish games so far have shown that they are able to score goals also in the very last minutes. And indeed they seem to live up to this image. In the 86^th minute Sentürk deflects a cross from Sabri into the German goal, initiating extra time for the 22 players. However, also the Germans prove to be able to score goals shortly before the end of a game. In the 90^th minute Philipp Lahm scores by a fierce shot into the net.

Germany wins 3-2 over Turkey and will be participating in the final of a major tournament for the first time since 2002. In the final, which will take place in Vienna, Germany will encounter the winner of the second semi-final between Russia and Spain.