Euro 2008 winner: Spain

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Spain have clinched the Euro 2008 title with a deserved 1-nil victory over Germany at the Ernst-Happel Stadium in Vienna. Due to an injury to the tournament's top scorer David Villa, Spain played with 5 across the midfield and dominated the match with their fluent passing. Moments after hitting the post with a header, lone striker Fernando Torres scored the game's only goal in the 33rd minute, outpacing Philip Lahm and clipping the ball over German keeper Jens Lehmann. A lacklustre German side rarely threatened and only had four attempts at goal to Spain's 13. It's Spain's second European Championship win and their first major title for 44 years.

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Spain won the Euro 2008 title after beating Germany 1-0 in Ernst-Happel Stadion on Sunday. Striker Fernando Torres' strike at the 33rd minute proved the winner of the match. The Spanish team, without leading scorer David Villa due to injury, fielded a five-player midfield and thus took an upper handover their German opponents which adopted the same formation. The Spanish team dominated the midfield through fluent passing and Torres was a constant threat to the German goal. Torres could have broken the deadlock at the 20th minute but his header was denied by the post. Cesc Fabregas, who made his first start in the tournament, seemed not used to his new role and was substituted out in the second half.

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German coach made three substitutions in the second half, trying to turn the tide over. But his team just could not take over the initiative from the Spanish midfield led by Andres Iniesta. The Spanish team kept the ball on the group and penetrated the German defence with neat short passes. They could have scored more goals if not for poor finishing. The Spanish team had 13 attempts at the goal while Germany only had 4. German captain Michael Ballack came close for Germany, shooting narrowly wide after the break. It is the second time Spain win the European championship. Their only other European title was won 44 years ago.

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Germany coach Joachim Loew committed that Spain have been the better team to win the Euro championship after his side lost 1-0 to the Spaniard here on Sunday. "I think we have to recognize the high quality of the Spanish team. They have been technically excellent and have more chances tonight than those we have," said the trainer who won respect after leading the German side to a better result in the 2008 tournament than Jurgen Klinsmann did. "At this moment, we are disappointed that we didn't win, but we could be satisfied with the tournament as a whole," he added. "We have a lot of fun and really enjoyed everything." "We'll work hard into the coming years and to reach our target of qualifying for the 2010 World Cup finals."

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Spain coach Luis Aragones has underlined the improvement his team achieved in last two years for Sunday evening's title winning run against Germany here at the Euro 2008 final. The 69-year-old praised the style his players presented at the tournament, especially the way they went through the group stage. "We have been composed in the group, which's very difficult to stand out. We've managed to got here and been in the brilliant way," said Aragones. "I'm satisfied with everything. The players played well and the technique's good for Spain." He compared the Euro 2008 campaign to that of two years ago in the 2006 World Cup, where the Spanish team suffered a quarterfinal exit after losing to France.

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"Our football was very good then, but the players there were not as mature as now they did," he said. "It's basic to know how to play well with a control of the ball and we improved a lot on that in the following one and a half years." "It was only the beginning, the best is about to come," Spain's Prime Minister Jose Luiz Rodriguez Zapatero said on Sunday after the Euro 2008 soccer final, according to information reaching here. Zapatero made the declarations after Spain triumphed over Germany 1-0 in the soccer tournament final in Vienna.

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"I'm happy. I have not talked with the soccer players, but I have seen them happy, excited and yelling," Zapatero said. "For me it was a privilege to have been able to come here. I'm the first (Spain's) Prime Minister of the democracy that lives a triumph like this one. I'll never forget this," Zapatero said. "My generation had the right to see a triumph like this. This is only the beginning. The best is about to come. Now we are going for the soccer World Cup. We can," Zapatero said.

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Spain striker Fernando Torres celebrated the first important success in his career after scoring the victorious goal for Luis Aragones' side in Sunday's Euro 2008 final against Germany.German players should hold their heads high after they lost to Spain 1-0 at the Euro 2008 final, German coach Joachim Loew said here after the match on Sunday.Spain's triumph over Germany ended a 44-year drought for titles, Spain always had been favorite at every major tournament, but the teams had failed to match the expectations since 1964 when they won the European Championship against USSR and then in 1984 they arrived the final but lost against France.

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FINALLY THIS IS THE MATCH WINNING GOAL, WHICH SHOW GERMANY TO GO BACK HOME.

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I hope we (NSN Creations) given a wonderful information about this EURO CUP 2008. Hope all enjoyed. We will come back to you next EURO CUP 2012. Untill then keep watching NSN Creations: http://nsncreations.blogspot.com/

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Spain makes Euro 2008 final on 3-0 victory over Russia

Substitute Cesc Fabregas initiated a hat-trick move here on Thursday, assisting twice, to send his Spanish team into the Euro 2008 final on a thrilling 3-0 run over surprising semifinalists Russia at rain-invaded Ernst Happel Stadium. A 50-minute score by Xavi Hernandez and the goals from Daniel Guiza at 73 and David Silva on 82 minutes, all after nice one-two efforts with Fabregas, sent Spain to Sunday's final against Germany.

The Spaniards have not tasted a sweet European victory for 44 years since they last lifted the European Cup in 1964 after beating the USSR. Luis Aragones' Spanish side earned a blessing in disguise as the tournament's top scorer David Villa was forced off earlier in the first half due to injury and replaced by Arsenal generalist Fabregas, who assisted all the three goals of Spain with marvelous dance of nice efforts. The 69-year-old coach replaced Villa with Fabregas 34 minutes into the game after the Vallencia striker injured his calf taking the 29-minute free kick. The substitution had once been deemed a major blow of the night to the Spaniards.

Fabregas, however, came out the most important player on the pitch for Spain's victory over the rapid Russians. A lovely move launched by the Arsenal playmaker, just 21 years old, short into the second half saw Spain thread it from Xavi to Torres to Iniesta, who looked up before playing it into Xavi's path against the error-committing Russian midfielder.
Twenty-three minutes later, Guiza chested the ball down after a superb one-two with Fabregas, who cleverly dunked it over Ignashevich, and slotted it over Akinfeev and into the back of the net. Silva then scored another superb goal at the 82nd minute. After a succession of passes, Iniesta scooped a lovely ball towards Fabregas on the left and the latter slid an eye-of-a-needle pass to Silva, who side-footed home brilliantly.

The Spaniards, however, didn't occupy any advantage on ball possession until 19 minutes into the second half, as the youngster-packed Russia fought bravely and patiently to play on a nailbiting first half. With both sides trying to make thorough possession on ball, the free-flowing attacking football that many had hoped for had yet to materialize before break, with both defenses tightly marking the creative players and strikers on each side. Roman Pavlyuchenko could have become the only player to score in three consecutive matches at the tournament as the Spartak Moscow striker's free kick from central edge of the box on 16 minutes just went a slim high over the bar. Again Pavlyuchenko missed the best chances of Russia twice in three minutes with a quarter left before the interval, overcooking a shot in the 31st minute before kicking wide an opportunist pass after Russia free kick from just inside the halfway line landed a this feet. The Russians have made history after knocking out the Netherlands 3-1 to make it to the semifinals.

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Germany beats Turkey to reach Euro 2008 final

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Germany edges into Euro 2008 final after defeating Turkey by 3-2

Three-time winner Germany elbowed its way into the Euro 2008 final after a thrilling 3-2 victory over Turkey at a semifinal here on Wednesday. Defender Philipp Lahm's goal in the added time gifted Germany an arrow victory over under-strength Turkey, which had nine players benched because of bookings or injuries. German striker Miroslav Klose's header in the 78th minute put Germany 2-1 ahead while Turkey's Semih Senturk equalized in the 84th. Lahm, who earlier delivered a superb pass to Klose for Germany's second goal, ended Turkey's heroic run in Euro 2008, sending the Germans to the June 29 final against the other semifinal winner between Spain and Russia. "It was certainly not our best game today, but we have won the match with our virtues," said Lahm, who was selected as "man of the match".

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"The final score is the best moment of my life," he said. "Our goal is very clear, we want the title," he added. In a sold-out St. Jakob Park Stadium in Basel, German fans held high the banner of "Our goal is Vienna", referring to the final to be held in the Austrian capital, while German Chancellor Angela Merkel was also present to show the support for Germany.

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German coach Joachim Loew, who returned to the coach zone after a one-match ban, kept Germany's quarterfinal lineup against Portugal, a 4-2-3-1 system, unchanged. Quarterfinal hero Bastian Schweinsteiger was among the lineup as the Bayern midfielder had contributed to all three goals which shut out Portugal. Turkey had turned around the last three games with late goals at the cost of red and yellow cards and injuries.

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Turkey coach Fatih Terim had a depleted team at his hands as nine players were barred for Turkey's first-ever Euro semifinal because of card punishments or injuries. The quartet of Volkan Demirel, Tuncay Sanli, Arda Turan and Emre Asli were suspended while striker Nihat Kahveci followed Emre Gungoer in departing the tournament injured after the quarterfinal shootout triumph over Croatia.

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However, it was Turkey which emerged more offensive and dangerous during the first half, surprising thousands of German fans at the stadium. Statistics showed that Turkey made 15 shots with nine within the goal while Germany only managed three shots. In the 22nd minute, Turkey's efforts yielded fruits as unmarked Ugur Boral sent home a rebound off the crossbar.

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Turkey had a good chance to score earlier. In the 13th minute, midfielders Kazim Clatters sent a powerful shot through Lehmman's fingers and hit the crossbar. Germany, which was troubled with Turkey's quick attacks, revenged with a swift counterattack in the 26th minute. Bayern striker Lukas Podolski penetrated the area and delivered a superb pass to Schweinsteiger, who scored with ease. During the second half, both teams paid more attention to defense and they created less scoring opportunities.

The dull defense-to-defense show was interrupted in the 78th minute when Lahm abruptly charged into Turkey's area from the leftside and delivered a pass to Klose, who smashed the net with a header. German fans's celebrations did not last long as never-say-quits Turkey leveled the score six minutes later. Sabri Sarioglu cheated through Lahm's defense and passed to Semih Senturk, who tapped the ball into the net.

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Lehmman's humiliation was washed off by playmaker Lahm in the added time, who ran 40 meters and shook off Thomas Hitzlsperger to calmly lift his shot over goalkeeper Recber Rustu.
"We are incredibly satisfied with the result," said Loew at the after-match press conference. However, the 49-year-old said Germany failed to stage the level they performed against Portugal, noting there were some problems with the midfielders. Looking ahead, Loew already set his sight on the title.

"In the final everything is possible. The team has proved that. Of course we want to win the final. We have the winning mentality," he said. For Fatih Terim, losing to Germany is a "sad" outcome for Turkey. "I am very sad. We were so close to the final," he said.

Spain beat Italy to reach Semis

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Fourth Semi-Finalist - Spain

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The footballing matadors of Spain finally claimed their prize deep into a clammy Austrian night, as Cesc Fabregas' winning penalty sent Italians slumping to the turf in despair.

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Rich emotions flooded through the Arsenal midfielder and his fellow Spaniards. June 22 will no longer be a day of dread from Madrid to Malaga, a day when Spanish fathers warn sons of their country's penalty hoodoo. Three times, Spain had faced shoot-outs to decide quarter-finals on June 22. Three times, they had lost. Redemption arrived at the fourth attempt, addressing painful memories of spot-kick defeat to Belgium at the 1986 World Cup, even to England at Euro 96, and to Guus Hiddink's South Korea in the 2002 World Cup.

Hiddink's men again stand in their way, this time his free-flowing Russians in what could be a treat of a semi-final here at the Ernst Happel Stadium on Thursday. The Swiss have joked that much of the best football has been in their cantons, but Austria could have the last laugh.

Russia will be more persistently threatening than Italy, whose most accomplished contributors during the two-hour stalemate were Juventus colleagues: Gianluigi Buffon, the keeper blessed with such great reflexes, and the centre-half, Giorgio Chiellini, whose timing in the tackle was an art-form echoing the great tradition of obdurate Italian defending.

Buffon even saved a penalty, parrying away Daniel Guiza's effort, but he had no chance when Fabregas came in off a run-up that was more Caribbean quickie than Catalan footballer. A substitute here, whether Fabregas starts against the Russians remains to be seen but he contributed more than Xavi and Andres Iniesta.

Fabregas claimed the headlines but his Spanish team-mates were quick to mob Iker Casillas, who made fantastic saves from Daniele de Rossi and Antonio di Natale.

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In a listless game, Spain deserved to record their first competitive success over the Azzurri since 1920. Buffon was far busier than Casillas. Chiellini's constant blocking and intercepting also kept David Villa, Fernando Torres and David Silva in check. With Italy's demise following Holland's, the coffin lid has finally been nailed down on the Group of Death. For all their gutsy spirit, and the excellence of Buffon and Chiellini, the world champions have not entertained at Euro 2008 as Spain have.

All drums on the terraces and triangles in midfield, Spain looked the likelier to score during normal and extra-time but it was largely disappointing fare. In temperatures more suited to messing on about on the Med, Spain and Italy were never going to maintain the sort of high tempo Russia had done against Holland the previous evening.

For two hours, Spain tried and failed to break down a formidable barrier in Chiellini and Buffon. Silva, Valencia's clever little attacking midfielder, was first to show, unleashing a shot that took a deflection, looped up and was caught by Buffon.

With Manolo, the famous drummer who owns a bar outside Silva's Mestalla home, keeping up a percussive beat, Spain's fans were at their noisy best, although their singing was briefly laced with frustration as Iniesta was cautioned for poleaxing Fabio Grosso.

For all the bonhomie in the tunnel beforehand, with Antonio Cassano hugging all his former Real Madrid colleagues, the tackles flew in. Marcos Senna, patrolling deep midfield in Spain's 4-1-3-2 formation, soon clattered Cassano. Massimo Ambrosini then executed a magnificent challenge to dispossess Torres in the area, a real masterpiece of anticipation, but was then hugely fortunate to escape punishment for catching Villa on the ankle.

As the tournament's leading scorer had just entered the area, it was a foolish act. When De Rossi then smeared Villa across the Austrian turf, Valencia's much-coveted striker almost exacted revenge. After picking himself up, he despatched a low free-kick which Buffon, anticipating well and diving to his left, clutched to his chest. Silva then unleashed a low shot which Buffon held. Close but no cigarillo.

Wary of the pacey Torres and Villa getting in behind them, Italy dropped deep. Their own threat was intermittent, partly because they lacked the passing gifts of the suspended Andrea Pirlo, and partly because Luca Toni was isolated for periods.

Russia beat Netherlands & Enter Semis

.Third Semi-Finalist - Russia

Two late goals in extra time gave Russia a 3:1 win over the Netherlands in the Euro 2008 quarterfinal on June 21, booking their first semi-final appearance in a major tournament in two decades.

In 1988, Marco van Basten's goal in the final brought the Netherlands their only European championship against the Soviet Union, but the former striker's bid to become the first player to win the tournament as a manager was ended byfellow Dutchman Guus Hiddink's Russia.
Netherlands topped the "group of death", winning all their games and scoring nine goals, but came against an opponent that put up a bigger fight than either world champions Italy or World Cup finalists France in the group stage.

Russia was on the front foot from the start and striker Roman Pavlyuchenko wasted a free header in the penalty area within the first ten minutes of the match.

Beaten by Spain 4:1 in their opening game, Russia looked a different team in the past two games since the return from suspension of Andrei Arshavin, who was at the heart of every dangerous move for his team. Only the great reflexes of Edwin van der Sar kept the scoresheet unchanged in the first half.

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At the other end, Dutch players had a torrid time, with Russia constantly pressing when without the ball. The Dutch rarely ventured out wide, preferring insted to pummel their opponents' defence through the middle, but it yielded little result.

Still, should either Andre Ooijer or Ruud van Nistelrooy been quicker in getting to the ball to take advantage of some good crosses, Netherlands would have gone into the break ahead, allowing them to play the counter-attacking style of football that made the Dutch the early favourites to lift the trophy.

Instead, it was Russia that opened the scoring, Pavlyuchenko tapping in Sergei Semak's cross ten minutes after the restart. Not satisfied with taking the lead, Russia continued attacking van der Sar's goal, while a frustrated Dutch side was left trying their luck with long-range efforts.

Somewhat anti-climactically, Netherlands managed to score an equaliser with five minutes remaining, van Nistelrooy taking advantage of a momentary lapse in concentration from the Russian defence to head in Wesley Snejder's free kick.

And yet, despite the disappointment, Russia would not concede initiative and looked the fresher team in extra time, with Arshavin, Pavlyuchenko and substitute Dmitry Torbinski all going close to scoring against a tiring Dutch side.

It looked increasingly likely that it would take spot kicks to separate the two sides on the night, a situation the Dutch seemed ready to accept, when Russia struck in the 112th minute. Arshavin chased a long ball to the goal line, lobing a ball over van der Sar that three Dutch defenders rushed to clear, buth Torbinsky got to it first, turning the ball from less than one metre.

Dejection was clearly visible on the faces of Dutch players and Russia took advantage to put the final result beyond doubt. Once again, Arshavin proved to be too quick for his marker and his volley flew into the net between van der Sar's legs, taking a slight deflection from John Heitinga.

The Dutch had opted to rest their starters for the final group game, which was still enough to defeat Romania, but in the end it was Russia who looked the fresher side throughout the match. Portugal and Croatia, who have fielded reserves in their last group matches as well, are already out of the tournament, which does not bode well for Spain, who take on Italy in the last quarterfinal on June 22.

Turkey beat Croatia & Enter Semis

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Second Semi-Finalist - Turkey
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Turkey reached Semi finals and will play with Germany in Semi-Final. Rustu Recber saved a penalty shot from Mladen Petric on Friday to send Turkey into the European Championship semifinals with a 3-1 shootout win over Croatia after a 1-1 draw after extra time.Arda Turan, Semih Senturk and Hamit Altintop scored for Turkey in the shootout. Luka Modric and Ivan Rakitic also missed their shots for Croatia, while Darijo Srna scored the team's only penalty.After a scoreless 90 minutes of regulation time, Ivan Klasnic gave Croatia the lead with a header in 119th minute. The first player to ever take part at the European Championship after a kidney transplant headed in Modric's cross from close range only 22 minutes after coming on as a substitute.

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But before the Croatian fans had stopped celebrating with time almost up, Recber sent a long clearance into Croatia's box and the ball dropped to Semih, whose left-footed shot deflected off defender Robert Kovac and went into the top corner of the net with goalkeeper Stipe Pletikosa rooted to the ground."It seemed like the match was over, then to concede a goal, then go on to penalties, gave a psychological advantage to the Turks," Croatia coach Slaven Bilic said. "This certainly isn't going to be easy to forget. Not only will we not forget this, this will haunt me for the rest of my life."We will probably weep for a few days, but such is life. We will be back."Turkey will face Germany in the semifinals on Wednesday in Basel, Switzerland.

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Both Germany and Turkey finished second in their groups in the first round.Turkey rallied to win its last two matches, beating Switzerland 2-1 and then getting two goals in the final three minutes to beat the Czech Republic and advance to the quarterfinals."To lose a lead in such a short space of time would be a blow to any team. I knew they would be feeling it psychologically," Turkey coach Fatih Terim said. "I tell my players never to give up. I tell them that they shouldn't be afraid of losing or conceding goals. This is football. You should never give up until the referee blows the final whistle."Altintop said he didn't have any time to worry about losing after Klasnic scored."We would have time to weep after the referee had blown the final whistle, so we had to play without fear," the Turkey midfielder said. "In football, emotions often don't have time to come into it."In a low quality match marked by defensive caution at Ernst Happel Stadium, a depleted Turkish team restricted Croatia to few opportunities by pressing in midfield and not allowing its opponent time on the ball.

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Croatia striker Ivica Olic hit the crossbar in the 19th minute from close range after a low cross from Modric, but both teams were too often guilty of taking the wrong option in the final third of the field.Recber, playing for the suspended Volkan Demirel, preserved the scoreline in regulation time when he made an amazing one-handed save from a free kick by Srna in the 83rd. Recber was also the goalkeeper that helped Turkey reach the 2002 World Cup semifinals, where the team lost to eventual champion Brazil.Both teams made their European Championship debut at Euro 1996 and played each other, with Croatia winning 1-0 with Bilic playing in defense as Turkey finished the tournament in England without scoring a goal.The only other previous matches between the teams had resulted in draws, 1-1 in 1997 and 2-2 in 2004.The Turks were missing Emre Gungor (calf), Servet Cetin (hip and knee), Emre Belozoglu (groin), Tumer Metin (groin), while Demirel and defensive midfielder Mehmet Aurelio were both suspended.Recber was playing his 117th international match, but he failed to come for a through ball in the 11th and only a timely intervention by a defender prevented Srna's pass across goal reaching a teammate.Eight minutes later, Srna threaded a pass behind the defense and Modric's low, sweeping cross was thundered against the crossbar by Olic from inside the box, and Niko Kranjcar's follow-up header went wide.

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Tuncay Sanli, one of eight Turkish players a yellow card away from missing the next round, was booked in the 27th. He was again on the wrong side of the referee's decision 10 minutes later when he was denied a penalty after a collision with defender Josip Simunic in the box.Arda was booked in the 48th to also be ruled out of the next game, before Turkey almost gave up a goal when Gokhan Zan's backheader was intercepted by Olic and his headed centering ball was hacked away near the line.A neat turn from Modric and slide pass put Kranjcar in on goal in the 57th, but he had no backlift on his shot and Recber saved down low in one of the few on-target attempts.Tuncay almost broke the deadlock in extra time after he finished a driving run with a shot that forced Pletikosa to palm the ball away in the 96th.Emre Asik became the third Turk to be ruled out of the next game after being booked in the 18th minute of extra time as the game looked to be heading for a scoreless draw.Both teams had reached the quarterfinals once before: Croatia in 1996 and Turkey four years later in Belgium and the Netherlands.

Germany beat Portugal to reach Euro 2008 semis

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First Semi-Finalist - Germany

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Germany have claimed the first semi-final spot at Euro 2008 after beating Portugal 3-2 in their quarter-final clash last night.
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The Germans dominated the opening period of the game and were 2-0 up midway through the first half thanks to goals from Bastian Schweinsteiger Miroslav Klose.
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Nuno Gomes pulled one back for Portugal before the break, but Michael Ballack restored Germany's two-goal cushion in the second half.
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Portugal stepped up their attack in the latter stages and substitute Helder Postiga managed to find the back of the net with just minutes left to play. However, Germany held on for victory and will now go on to face either Croatia or Turkey, who meet in the second quarter-final tonight. .

Cristiano Ronaldo Who? Oh, speaking of Cristiano Ronaldo and the 98 million euro tag on him imposed by Real Madrid, he was hardly appearing even a quarter of that sum. Throughout the competition, he has been brilliant in flashes and if his inability to translate his undeniably stupendous form for his current club Manchester United was willingly ignored by all during the group matches, then there was no eclipsing that fact against Germans. Ronaldo was kept in check by a very organized and wary German defence and although he did have a few chances prostrating before him, it seemed that like on all other grand occasions this time too he had gone fishing.

Euro 2008 Quarter-Finals line-up

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We have had 12 days of action in which four groups of four teams each have battled it out for eight places in the quarterfinals. The shock of the tournament so far has without doubt been France's elimination in the Group of Death, while there have been no standout surprises, though Turkey's miraculous back-to-back comeback wins to earn their place in the last eight certainly came against the odds.There have been plenty of standout performers in what has been a promising tournament so far. Midfield has, as it usually does, produced the most impressive performers, while there have been surprisingly few good defensive displays.Unsurprisingly, the Netherlands have the most players in the team, with three, while the impressive Croatia's two entrants are both defensive, as going forward was really more of a collective effort than reliance on individual brilliance.As always, there will be controversy and debate over many of the inclusions, so without further ado, Here the line-up for quarterfinals of EURO 2008

Germany vs Portugal - June 19th @ mid night 00.15
Croatia vs Turkey - June 20th@ mid night 00.15

Netherlands vs Russia, June 21st@ mid night 00.15

Spain vs Italy - June 22nd@ mid night 00.15