European Cup opening match of the first half of Switzerland Vs Czech Republic

Diego Benaglio (born September 8, 1983) is a Swiss footballer who plays as a goalkeeper for VfL Wolfsburg in the Bundesliga.

Club career

Benaglio started his career with his Grasshoppers Zürich and played there for several seasons before moving to Germany to join VfB Stuttgart. After a brief period there, he joined C.D. Nacional where he eventually became first choice as Henrique Hilário left for Chelsea F.C. On January 22, 2008 he moved to VfL Wolfsburg. He made his debut on January 29, helping his team advance to the quarterfinals of the DFB Cup.

International career

Benaglio is a member of the Swiss national team and was called up to the squad for the 2006 World Cup. During this competition he was third choice goalkeeper behind Pascal Zuberbühler and Fabio Coltorti. With consistently good performances in 2008, he was promoted to first choice goalkeeper for Euro 2008 in his home country.

The Portugal national football team is controlled by the Portuguese Football Federation (FPF), finishing 4th at the last World Cup. Portugal have qualified four times for the FIFA World Cup; 1966, 1986, 2002 and 2006. The first appearance saw them reach the semi final, losing 2-1 at Wembley to the eventual world champions England. Portugal finished in third place and Eusébio was considered the best player of the tournament. The next two times Portugal qualified for the World Cup were 1986 and 2002, with Portugal going out in the first round both times after surprise defeats to Morocco, United States and South Korea. In the 1986 tournament, players went on strike over prize-money and refused to train between their first and the second games.

In 2003, the Portuguese Football Federation decided to hire Luiz Felipe Scolari, the Brazilian who had led the Brazil national football team to win the 2002 FIFA World Cup. Scolari led Portugal to the final of Euro 2004 (The European Championships), where they lost to Greece, and to their second World Cup semi final in 2006, where they lost to France. The Portuguese were unable to equal Eusebio’s 1966 third place finish as they lost to hosts Germany 3-1 on July 8 in Stuttgart, finishing in fourth place in the 2006 World Cup.

FIFA World Cup

1966 FIFA World Cup

The team started out with three wins in the group stage where they were in Group C when they beat Hungary, Bulgaria and two-time defending champions Brazil. Secondly they beat surprise quarter-finalist Korea DPR 5-3, with Eusébio getting four markers to overturn a 0-3 deficit. Later, they reached the semifinals where they were beaten by hosts England 2-1. Portugal then defeated USSR 2-1 in the third place match for their best World Cup finish to date. Eusébio was the top scorer of the World Cup with nine goals.

Eusébio played in the 1970 and 1974 World Cup qualifiers but Portugal failed to make the tournament Finals.

1986 FIFA World Cup

In qualification round, Portugal had to beat West Germany in Stuttgart in the last qualifying game to be able to go through to the final round. Portugal won 0-1 and become the first team to beat West Germany at their home ground in an official match. Portugal was a fan favourite to make a good campaign because of their 1984 Euro Cup. The team exited early in the group stages after a win and two losses. They started with a 1-0 win to England. Later they were beaten by Poland with a score of 1-0 and Morocco with a score of 3-1.

1998 FIFA World Cup

The team almost qualified for the tournament that was to be hosted by France. However, during a qualifier in Germany, Rui Costa was controversially sent off for taking too long to walk off the field. Germany drew the crucial game and was thus able to qualify.[1] This incident is regarded as one of the darkest in Portugal’s football history, with FIFA being accused of favouritism in support of Germany, who were the defending Euro 96 champions.

2002 FIFA World Cup

Portugal entered the tournament as favourites to win Group D. However, they were upset 3-2 by the United States, at one point being three goals down in the match. They then rebounded with a 4-0 thrashing of Poland, with Pauleta getting a hat trick.

Needing a draw to advance, they lost the final group game to hosts South Korea. Argentinian referee Angel Sanchez sent off João Vieira Pinto for a tackle on Park Ji-Sung. Beto was ejected for his second yellow card of the match, reducing Portugal to nine men, and Park scored the winner to allow the Koreans to advance.[2]

2006 FIFA World Cup

The Portuguese squad qualified for the 2006 FIFA World Cup in Germany under the leadership of manager Luis Felipe Scolari and came in first place in Group D with victories over Angola (1-0, goal from Pauleta), Iran (2-0, goals from Deco and Cristiano Ronaldo) and Mexico (2-1, goals from Maniche and Simão). Only Mexico’s Francisco Fonseca was able to score against Portugal.

Portugal defeated the Netherlands 1-0 in the Round of 16 on June 25 in Nuremberg. The only goal came courtesy of a Maniche strike in an acrimonious match marked by 16 yellow cards, with 4 players being sent off for a second bookable offense.

On Saturday, July 1 at Gelsenkirchen in the controversial the quarter-final match which saw Wayne Rooney being sent off, Portugal drew with England but won penalty kicks (3-1) to reach their first World Cup semi-final since the days of Eusébio, 40 years earlier.

Portugal lost to France (1-0) in the semi-finals on Wednesday, July 5 at Munich. Two players had been forced to sit out due to accumulated bookings from the round of 16 and quarterfinals. It did not help that the team faced a hostile crowd of English and French fans; as Cristiano Ronaldo was accused of unsportsmanlike behavior. As in the semi-finals of Euro 2000, Portugal was again narrowly defeated by France, with the decisive goal being a penalty scored by Zinedine Zidane after Thierry Henry was awarded a penalty from a foul committed by Ricardo Carvalho. Portugal could have been awarded a penalty after Cristiano Ronaldo flopped in the box. However, rightly, a penalty was not awarded by the referee.

For third place, they faced Germany in the third place match on July 8 in Stuttgart. In this match, like the previous two in which Portugal had a couple of players suspended, the Selecção had lost Miguel to an injury suffered in the semi-final and Ricardo Carvalho to suspension, for accumulated yellow cards against Holland and France. Goalkeeper Ricardo had only conceded one goal in regular play so far (scored by Mexico’s Francisco Fonseca, which would later curiously move to Portugal’s own SL Benfica). Surprisingly, Figo did not start the match despite having captained the squad in the rest of the tournament. Not unlike the Lusitanians, three of Germany’s starters, including captain Michael Ballack, would not be available due to injury. The first half was scoreless but Portugal had several good chances from Pauleta and Deco, forcing Oliver Kahn to make several saves. In the second half, Portugal was thoroughly routed 3-1 as Germany went up three goals to nil from Bastian Schweinsteiger’s two goals and an own goal, also off his shot, by Portugal’s Petit. Figo replaced Pauleta in the 77th minute, regaining his captaincy during the substitution. Although Germany scored another goal shortly after Figo’s entrance, he set up Nuno Gomes’s beautiful goal (a diving header) in the 88th minute to help Portugal claw back a marker, which was Portugal’s second goal of the knockout round and the first since Maniche’s against Holland.

Despite this defeat, the Portuguese public hailed their national team as heroes when they returned home. The team won the Most Entertaining Team award for their play during the 2006 World Cup. The award is always organized through public participation in a poll.

Portugal’s “Golden Generation” retired after the 2006 World Cup. The departure of Luís Figo has left Portugal’s squad with a new look in midfield that was once taken over by himself and the likes of Rui Costa and Sérgio Conceição. The squad attempting to qualify for Euro 2008 will produce a young generation of players from the U-21 squad. Ricardo Quaresma, Joao Moutinho, Miguel Veloso, Nani, Manuel Fernandes, and Cristiano Ronaldo are some of the names that could possibly bring future success to Portugal.

European Championships

1984 European Championship

This was the first time that Portugal ever entered the European Championship. In the qualifying round, the team almost didn’t qualify, but a 1-0 victory over USSR in the last game made it possible. Portugal ended in group B, alongside Spain, West Germany and Romania. In the first two games, they tied 0-0 and 1-1 against West Germany and Spain, respectively. A 1-0 win over Romania gave them the second place in the group, which was enough to go through to the elimination round.

They would play against hosts, France, in one of the most excited matches in Euro Cup history. France scored first, but Portugal tied it almost an hour later. The game ended and the two teams would play in extra time. Portugal made 2-1 in the first half and both teams could have scored more goals. In the second half France scored with six minutes to go and in the last one. Portugal had been eliminated in the semi-finals.

1996 European Championship

In the final tournament, Portugal tied 1-1 with European Champions Denmark, won 1-0 to Turkey and Croatia by 3-0, finishing first in their group. In the quarter-finals they lost 1-0 to eventual runners-up, Czech Republic.

2000 European Championship

This tournament was the inaugural success of the so-called “Golden Generation”, captained by Luís Figo. They defeated England, Romania, and Germany to finish atop their group and then defeated Turkey in the quarter-finals.Nuno Gomes is one of the best strikers with a high performance of 4 goals this tournament.

In the semi-final meeting with World Cup holders France, Portugal scored first. However, France equalized and Portugal was eliminated in extra time by a golden goal when Zinedine Zidane converted a penalty. Austrian referee Gunter Benko controversially awarded the spot kick for a handball after Abel Xavier blocked a shot from Sylvain Wiltord. (Benko initially gave France a corner but changed his mind after consulting with a Slovak linesman Igor Sramka). Abel Xavier, Nuno Gomes and Paulo Bento were given lengthy suspensions for shoving the referee.[3]

2004 European Championship

Portuguese fans during Euro 2004

This tournament was held in Portugal. Portugal, as the host nation, lost the first game against Greece, Greece winning 2-1. They got their first win against Russia 2-0 and also beat Spain 1-0. They went through and went on to play against England, it was an entertaining game to watch, it went on to penalties and Portugal went through with Ricardo scoring the wining penalty. Portugal beat Holland 2-1 in the semi-final with a lovely goal from Maniche. They were eventually beaten by rank outsiders Greece by a goal to Nil, credits to Greek striker, Angelos Charisteas. Previously, on the opening match, Greece beat Portugal 2-1. This is the first time in the history of the competition that the final featured the same two teams as the opening match.

2008 European Championship

The Portuguese team is a featured part of TV network ESPN’s ad campaign (http://youtube.com/watch?v=2_7fKzasYjA&feature=related) promoting their coverage of the EURO 2008 tournament.

Current squad

The following players named for UEFA EURO 2008.^[3]

No. Pos. Player DoB (Age) Caps Goals Club 1 GK Ricardo February 11, 1976 (age 32)(1976-02-11) 75 0 Real Betis 12 GK Quim November 13, 1975 (age 32)(1975-11-13) 26 0 Benfica 22 GK Rui Patricio February 15, 1988 (age 20)(1988-02-15) 0 0 Sporting 2 DF Paulo Ferreira January 18, 1979 (age 29)(1979-01-18) 47 0 Chelsea 3 DF Bruno Alves November 27, 1981 (age 26)(1981-11-27) 11 1 Porto 4 DF José Bosingwa August 24, 1982 (age 25)(1982-08-24) 8 0 Chelsea 5 DF Fernando Meira June 5, 1978 (age 30)(1978-06-05) 49 2 Stuttgart 13 DF Miguel January 4, 1980 (age 28)(1980-01-04) 47 1 Valencia 14 DF Jorge Ribeiro November 9, 1981 (age 26)(1981-11-09) 8 0 Benfica 15 DF Pepe February 26, 1983 (age 25)(1983-02-26) 3 0 Real Madrid 16 DF Ricardo Carvalho May 18, 1978 (age 30)(1978-05-18) 43 4 Chelsea 6 MF Raul Meireles March 17, 1983 (age 25)(1983-03-17) 9 0 Porto 8 MF Petit September 25, 1976 (age 31)(1976-09-25) 54 4 Benfica 10 MF João Moutinho September 8, 1986 (age 21)(1986-09-08) 13 1 Sporting 18 MF Miguel Veloso May 11, 1986 (age 22)(1986-05-11) 6 0 Sporting 20 MF Deco August 27, 1977 (age 30)(1977-08-27) 53 3 Barcelona 7 FW Cristiano Ronaldo February 5, 1985 (age 23)(1985-02-05) 55 20 Manchester United 11 FW Simão October 31, 1979 (age 28)(1979-10-31) 61 15 Atlético Madrid 17 FW Ricardo Quaresma September 26, 1983 (age 24)(1983-09-26) 21 2 Porto 19 FW Nani November 17, 1986 (age 21)(1986-11-17) 13 2 Manchester United 9 FW Hugo Almeida May 23, 1984 (age 24)(1984-05-23) 9 2 Werder Bremen 21 FW Nuno Gomes July 5, 1976 (age 31)(1976-07-05) 69 28 Benfica 23 FW Hélder Postiga August 2, 1982 (age 25)(1982-08-02) 32 10 Sporting

The Czech national football team is the national football team of the Czech Republic and is controlled by the Football Association of the Czech Republic.

History

Before World War I, Bohemia (present-day Czech Republic), while being part of Austria-Hungary, played seven matches between 1903 and 1908, six of them against Hungary and one against England. Bohemia also played a match against Yugoslavia, Ostmark and Germany in 1939 while being the Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia.

When the Czech Republic was part of Czechoslovakia, the national team had runner-up finishes in World Cups (1934, 1962) and a European Championship win in 1976. After Czechoslovakia split into the Czech Republic and Slovakia, the national team was reformed, and played its first match against Turkey in 1994.

Now, the Czech Republic is continuing its football tradition, finishing second in Euro 96 and making the semifinals of Euro 2004. They made their first World Cup as an independent country in 2006 and they are currently the sixth-ranked country in the world according to the FIFA World Rankings.

The Under-21 national team of Czech Republic won the European championship in 2002.

Stadia

The most important matches of the Czech national team are held in Prague´s AXA Arena, the home stadium of Sparta Prague. After the construction of Stadion Eden is finished (opened May 2008), the team will play its home matches there. Other venues include the cities of Teplice, Olomouc and Liberec. The new leaders of the Czech Football Association have announced that they will be building a new state of the art stadium for 50,000 people.

European Championship record

• 1960 to 1992 - See Czechoslovakia

Year	Round	GP	W	D*	L	GS	GA
1996	Runners-up	6	2	2*	2	7	8
2000	Round 1	3	1	0	2	3	3
2004	Semi-Final	5	4	0	1	10	5
2008	Qualified
2012		-	-	-	-	-	-
Total	4/4	14	7	2	5	20	16

*Denotes draws include knockout matches decided on penalty shootout.

**Gold background color indicates that the tournament was won. Red border color indicates tournament was held on home soil.

Players

Notable former players

This lists players who have played most or all of their international careers in the Czech Republic era. For notable players from the Czechoslovakia era, see Czechoslovakia national football team.

• Patrik Berger (1994-2001)
• Petr ?ech (2002-)
• Marek Jankulovski (2000-)
• Miroslav Kadlec (1987-1997)
• Pavel Kuka (1990-2003)
• Jan Koller (1999-)
• Pavel Nedv?d (1994-2006)
• Karel Poborský (1994-2006)
• Tomáš Rosický (2000-)
• Pavel Srní?ek (1994-2001)
• Vladimír Šmicer (1994-2005)

Czech Republic national team 2008

Current Squad

The following players were included in the UEFA EURO 2008 squad announced by Karel Brückner 28/05/2008

Head coach: Karel Brückner

No. Pos. Player DoB (Age) Caps Goals Club 1 GK Petr ?ech 20 May 1982 56 0 Chelsea 16 GK Jaromír Blažek 29 December 1972 12 0 1. FC Nuremberg 23 GK Daniel Zítka 20 June 1975 1 0 R.S.C. Anderlecht 2 DF Zden?k Grygera 14 May 1980 50 1 Juventus 6 DF Marek Jankulovski 9 May 1977 62 10 A.C. Milan 12 DF Zden?k Posp?ch 14 December 1978 5 0 F.C. Copenhagen 13 DF Michal Kadlec 13 December 1984 2 0 AC Sparta Praha 21 DF Tomáš Ujfaluši 24 March 1978 64 2 Atletico Madrid 22 DF David Rozehnal 5 July 1980 39 0 SS Lazio 3 MF Jan Polák 14 March 1981 33 6 R.S.C. Anderlecht 4 MF Tomáš Galásek 15 January 1973 61 1 1. FC Nuremberg 5 MF Radoslav Ková? 27 November 1979 19 1 Spartak Moscow 14 MF David Jarolím 17 May 1979 14 1 Hamburger SV 17 MF Marek Mat?jovský 20 December 1981 4 1 Reading F.C. 18 MF Tomáš Sivok 15 September 1983 5 0 Besiktas 19 MF Rudolf Skácel 17 July 1979 3 1 Southampton 20 MF Jaroslav Plašil 5 January 1982 31 2 CA Osasuna 7 FW Libor Sionko 1 February 1977 29 6 F.C. Copenhagen 8 FW Martin Fenin 16 April 1987 3 0 Eintracht Frankfurt 9 FW Jan Koller 30 March 1973 86 51 1. FC Nuremberg 10 FW Václav Sv?rkoš 1 November 1983 1 0 FC Baník Ostrava 11 FW Stanislav Vl?ek 26 February 1976 8 0 R.S.C. Anderlecht 15 FW Milan Baroš 28 October 1981 59 31 Portsmouth F.C.

The Swiss national football team also known as the Schweizer Nati is the national football team of Switzerland and is controlled by the Swiss Football Association.

Its best performances in the World Cup have been reaching the quarter-finals, in 1934, 1938 and when the country hosted the event in 1954. Switzerland also won silver at the 1924 Olympics. The 2002 U-17 European Championship was won by the Nati.

In 2006, Switzerland set a FIFA World Cup record by being eliminated from the competition despite not conceding a goal in any of their four matches. In addition, Switzerland was the only national team in Cup history to fail to score a single goal in a penalty shootout.

Switzerland is co-hosting Euro 2008 making it their third appearance in the competition.

No.	Pos.	Player	DoB (Age)	Caps	Goals	Club
Goalkeepers
1	GK	Diego Benaglio	September 8, 1983 (1983-09-08) (age 24)	12	0	VfL Wolfsburg
18	GK	Pascal Zuberbühler	January 8, 1971 (1971-01-08) (age 37)	50	0	Neuchâtel Xamax
21	GK	Eldin Jakupovi?	October 2, 1984 (1984-10-02) (age 23)	0	0	Grasshopper-Club Zürich
Defense
2	DF	Johan Djourou	January 18, 1987 (1987-01-18) (age 21)	17	1	Arsenal F.C.
3	DF	Ludovic Magnin	April 20, 1979 (1979-04-20) (age 29)	50	3	VfB Stuttgart
4	DF	Philippe Senderos	February 14, 1985 (1985-02-14) (age 23)	28	3	Arsenal
5	DF	Stephan Lichtsteiner	January 16, 1984 (1984-01-16) (age 24)	12	0	OSC Lille
13	DF	Stéphane Grichting	May 30, 1979 (1979-05-30) (age 29)	18	0	AJ Auxerre
17	DF	Christoph Spycher	March 30, 1978 (1978-03-30) (age 30)	38	0	Eintracht Frankfurt
19	DF	Valon Behrami	April 19, 1985 (1985-04-19) (age 23)	16	2	S.S. Lazio
20	DF	Patrick Müller	December 17, 1976 (1976-12-17) (age 31)	78	3	Olympique Lyonnais
23	DF	Philipp Degen	February 15, 1983 (1983-02-15) (age 25)	30	0	Liverpool F.C.
Midfield
6	MF	Benjamin Huggel	July 7, 1977 (1977-07-07) (age 30)	25	0	FC Basel
7	MF	Ricardo Cabanas	January 17, 1979 (1979-01-17) (age 29)	49	4	Grasshopper-Club Zürich
8	MF	Gökhan Inler	June 27, 1984 (1984-06-27) (age 23)	17	1	Udinese
10	MF	Hakan Yak?n	February 22, 1977 (1977-02-22) (age 31)	66	15	BSC Young Boys
14	MF	Daniel Gygax	August 28, 1981 (1981-08-28) (age 26)	34	5	FC Metz
15	MF	Gelson Fernandes	September 2, 1986 (1986-09-02) (age 21)	8	0	Manchester City
16	MF	Tranquillo Barnetta	May 22, 1985 (1985-05-22) (age 23)	32	6	Bayer 04 Leverkusen
Forward
9	FW	Alexander Frei	July 15, 1979 (1979-07-15) (age 28)	59	35	Borussia Dortmund
11	FW	Marco Streller	June 18, 1981 (1981-06-18) (age 26)	28	11	FC Basel
12	FW	Eren Derdiyok	June 12, 1988 (1988-06-12) (age 19)	3	1	FC Basel
22	FW	Johan Vonlanthen	February 1, 1986 (1986-02-01) (age 22)	30	6	Red Bull Salzburg

Group A of the 2008 UEFA European Championships is scheduled to begin on 7 June 2008, and will be completed on 15 June 2008. The pool is made up of co-host Switzerland and UEFA Euro 2004 hosts Portugal, as well as the Czech Republic and Turkey.

Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts
Switzerland	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Czech Republic	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Portugal	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Turkey	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0

All times local (UTC+2)

Switzerland vs Czech Republic

2008-06-07 18:00	Switzerland	v	Czech Republic	St. Jakob-Park, Basel Referee: Roberto Rosetti (Italy)

Portugal vs Turkey

2008-06-07 20:45	Portugal	v	Turkey	Stade de Genève, Geneva Referee: Herbert Fandel (Germany)

Czech Republic vs Portugal

2008-06-11 18:00	Czech Republic	v	Portugal	Stade de Genève, Geneva Referee: Kyros Vassaras (Greece)

Switzerland vs Turkey

2008-06-11 20:45	Switzerland	v	Turkey	St. Jakob-Park, Basel Referee: ?uboš Miche? (Slovakia)

Switzerland vs Portugal

2008-06-15 20:45	Switzerland	v	Portugal	St. Jakob-Park, Basel

Turkey vs Czech Republic

2008-06-15 20:45

Turkey

v

Czech Republic

Stade de Genève, Geneva