UEFA Euro 2008 Group C
Group C of UEFA Euro 2008 was played from 9 to 17 June 2008. All six group matches were played at venues in Switzerland, in Zürich and Bern. The group was composed of 2006 FIFA World Cup finalists Italy and France, as well as the Netherlands and Romania. At the time of the draw, these countries' respective Elo rankings among European teams were 1st, 2nd, 4th and 8th, and as such the group had been dubbed the competition's "group of death".[1][2]
The Netherlands became the first team from Group C to qualify for the quarter-finals. In their first match, they beat the world champions Italy 3–0, in a display of counter-attacking football. Then, in their second game, they also beat the 2006 World Cup runners-up, France, by a 4–1 scoreline. This left the French in a difficult position, having already played out a scoreless draw against Romania in the group's opening match. Romania also played out a draw against Italy in their second match, leaving them in second place going into the final round of group matches.
Italy finished as the second quarter-finalists, after they beat France 2–0 in their final game. French defender Eric Abidal was sent off just over a quarter of the way through the game for a foul on Luca Toni in the area; Andrea Pirlo converted the resulting penalty. Daniele De Rossi added the second goal from a deflected free kick just after the hour mark. Because of the Italian win, Romania had to beat the Netherlands to qualify for the next round, but they were undone by a Klaas-Jan Huntelaar goal just after half-time, before Robin van Persie scored his second of the tournament three minutes from the end.[3]
Despite the perceived strength of its teams, Group C was the only group at Euro 2008 from which no side made it past the quarter-finals; Italy went out in a penalty shoot-out to eventual winners Spain and the Netherlands lost against Russia after extra time.
Teams
| Draw position | Team | Pot | Method of qualification |
Date of qualification |
Finals appearance |
Last appearance |
Previous best performance |
UEFA Rankings | FIFA Rankings June 2008 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| November 2007[nb 1] | May 2008[nb 2] | |||||||||
| C1 | Netherlands | 1 | Group G runner-up | 17 November 2007 | 8th | 2004 | Winners (1988) | 1 | 6 | 10 |
| C2 | Italy | 2 | Group B winner | 17 November 2007 | 7th | 2004 | Winners (1968) | 3 | 1 | 3 |
| C3 | Romania | 3 | Group G winner | 17 October 2007 | 4th | 2000 | Quarter-finals (2000) | 6 | 12 | 12 |
| C4 | France | 4 | Group B runner-up | 17 November 2007 | 7th | 2004 | Winners (1984, 2000) | 13 | 2 | 7 |
Notes
Standings
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Netherlands | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 9 | 1 | +8 | 9 | Advance to knockout stage |
| 2 | Italy | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 4 | −1 | 4 | |
| 3 | Romania | 3 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 3 | −2 | 2 | |
| 4 | France | 3 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 6 | −5 | 1 |
In the quarter-finals,
- The winner of Group C, Netherlands, advanced to play the runner-up of Group D, Russia.
- The runner-up of Group C, Italy, advanced to play the winner of Group D, Spain.
Matches
Romania vs France
Romania[5]
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France[5]
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Man of the Match:
Assistant referees:[5][6]
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Netherlands vs Italy
| Netherlands | 3–0 | Italy |
|---|---|---|
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Report |
Netherlands[8]
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Italy[8]
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Man of the Match:
Assistant referees:[8][6]
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Italy vs Romania
Italy[10]
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Romania[10]
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Man of the Match:
Assistant referees:[10][6]
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Netherlands vs France
| Netherlands | 4–1 | France |
|---|---|---|
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Report |
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Netherlands[12]
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France[12]
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Man of the Match:
Assistant referees:[12][6]
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Netherlands vs Romania
| Netherlands | 2–0 | Romania |
|---|---|---|
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Report |
Netherlands[14]
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Romania[14]
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Man of the Match:
Assistant referees:[14][6]
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France vs Italy
France[16]
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Italy[16]
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Man of the Match:
Assistant referees:[16][6]
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See also
- France at the UEFA European Championship
- Italy at the UEFA European Championship
- Netherlands at the UEFA European Championship
- Romania at the UEFA European Championship
References
- ^ Harrold, Michael (2 December 2007). "Group of Death draws mixed reaction". Euro 2008 official website. Union of European Football Associations. Archived from the original on 5 February 2008. Retrieved 3 March 2008.
- ^ "Italy and France in Euro 2008 'group of death'". ESPN Soccernet. ESPN. 2 December 2007. Archived from the original on 5 October 2012. Retrieved 3 March 2008.
- ^ Chowdhury, Saj (11 June 2008). "France 0–2 Italy & Netherlands 2–0 Romania". BBC Sport. British Broadcasting Corporation. Retrieved 17 June 2011.
- ^ a b "Full-time report Romania-France" (PDF). Union of European Football Associations. 9 June 2008. Archived from the original (PDF) on September 28, 2014. Retrieved 9 June 2012.
- ^ a b c "Team Line-ups – Group C – Romania-France" (PDF). Union of European Football Associations. 9 June 2008. Archived from the original (PDF) on June 27, 2023. Retrieved 11 June 2012.
- ^ a b c d e f "Reserve officials – EURO 2008". UEFA. Retrieved 30 April 2021.
- ^ a b "Full-time report Netherlands-Italy" (PDF). Union of European Football Associations. 9 June 2008. Archived from the original (PDF) on July 25, 2018. Retrieved 9 June 2012.
- ^ a b c "Team Line-ups – Group C – Netherlands-Italy" (PDF). Union of European Football Associations. 9 June 2008. Archived from the original (PDF) on June 4, 2020. Retrieved 11 June 2012.
- ^ a b "Full-time report Italy-Romania" (PDF). Union of European Football Associations. 13 June 2008. Archived from the original (PDF) on September 28, 2014. Retrieved 9 June 2012.
- ^ a b c "Team Line-ups – Group C – Italy-Romania" (PDF). Union of European Football Associations. 13 June 2008. Archived from the original (PDF) on June 25, 2023. Retrieved 11 June 2012.
- ^ a b "Full-time Netherlands-France" (PDF). Union of European Football Associations. 13 June 2008. Archived from the original (PDF) on September 26, 2015. Retrieved 9 June 2012.
- ^ a b c "Team Line-ups – Group C – Netherlands-France" (PDF). Union of European Football Associations. 13 June 2008. Archived from the original (PDF) on March 15, 2022. Retrieved 11 June 2012.
- ^ a b "Full-time report Netherlands-Romania" (PDF). Union of European Football Associations. 17 June 2008. Archived from the original (PDF) on September 28, 2014. Retrieved 9 June 2012.
- ^ a b c "Team Line-ups – Group C – Netherlands-Romania" (PDF). Union of European Football Associations. 17 June 2008. Archived from the original (PDF) on June 4, 2020. Retrieved 11 June 2012.
- ^ a b "Full-time report France-Italy" (PDF). Union of European Football Associations. 17 June 2008. Archived from the original (PDF) on November 5, 2015. Retrieved 9 June 2012.
- ^ a b c "Team Line-ups – Group C – France-Italy" (PDF). Union of European Football Associations. 17 June 2008. Archived from the original (PDF) on January 26, 2020. Retrieved 11 June 2012.