The UEFA EURO 2008T qualifying campaign was not just a tale
of winners and losers. uefa.com looks beyond the 14 successful qualifiers
to the individual and collective stories that illuminated the competition.
Net gains
• Three players scored four goals in a game: Lukas Podolski
(San Marino v Germany), Hakan Sukur (Turkey v Moldova), Mladen Petric
(Croatia v Andorra).
• There were nine other hat-tricks registered - two from
Northern Ireland's David Healy (against Spain at home and Liechtenstein
away). The other men to claim match balls were Shota Arveladze (Faroe
Islands v Georgia), Eduardo da Silva (Israel v Croatia), Robbie Keane
(Republic of Ireland v San Marino), Aleksandr Kerzhakov (Russia v Andorra),
Euzebiusz Smolarek (Poland v Kazakhstan), Theofanis Gekas (Greece v Malta),
Steffen Iversen (Malta v Norway).
Generation game
• Moldova's Serghei Stroenco was the oldest performer
in the campaign at 40 years, seven months and 25 days. Georgia tyro Levan
Kenia, in contrast, was just 16 years, ten months and 21 days old when
he appeared against Ukraine on 8 September.
• Aged 36 years and seven days, Turkey's Hakan Sukur
was the most seasoned player to score in qualifying when he found the
target against Malta, also on 8 September.
• The youngest man to hit the back of the net was Gareth
Bale of Wales, aged just 17 years, two months and 21 days, against Slovakia
on 7 October 2006. The left-back also became the youngest Welshman to
play a competitive international that day, eclipsing the mark set by Ryan
Giggs.
Record breakers
• Hakan Sukur was one of two players to pass 50 national-team
goals during the campaign, the other being Jan Koller of the Czech Republic.
• David Healy's superb chipped winner against Denmark
in Northern Ireland's penultimate qualifier was a fitting way to break
Davor Suker's record of 12 goals scored in a single UEFA European Championship
qualifying campaign.
• Thierry Henri surpassed Michel Platini (41 goals) as
France's all-time top scorer, his double against Lithuania taking his
tally to 43.
• Rogvi Jacobsen struck all four of the Faroe Islands'
goals in Group B - including home-and-away scores against world champions
Italy - to become his country's ten-goal leading marksman.
• Eidur Gudjohnsen smashed Iceland's 59-year scoring
record when the forward notched twice against Latvia on 13 October. He
has 19 international goals.
• Lithuania's all-time high lasted even longer, since
1935, until captain Tomas Danilevicius reached new ground with his 13th
goal for his country. Peerless Latvia striker Maris Verpakovskis, meanwhile,
took his tally to 23 when netting against Liechtenstein.
• The Netherlands managed just 15 goals in 12 games,
the fewest of all the qualifiers. Their average of 1.25 goals per game
was also the lowest ever of a team to qualify for the finals.
• Northern Ireland might have qualified had they not
lost three of their last five matches to own goals - although Spain's
Xavi Hernandez was credited with the Iberian side's winner on the final
Matchday.
Centurions
• Estonia's Martin Reim overtook Lothar Matthaus as the
most-capped European player with his 151st international appearance on
22 August. Team-mate Andres Oper also became a centurion along with Patrick
Vieira of France, Sweden's Niclas Alexandersson, Imants Bleidelis of Latvia
and Malta's Gilbert Agius.
• Norway boss Age Hareide was involved in his 100th fixture
with the national team, having also played 50 times for his country. The
match against Malta was his 50th as coach.
• The 1-0 defeat of Luxembourg on 17 November sent the
Netherlands through in Marco van Basten's 100 game for the Oranje - 58
as coach, 42 as one of the game's greatest strikers.
• The man who lifted the European crown in 2004, Greece
captain Theodoros Zagorakis, bowed out on 120 caps, two of them coming
in Group C.
Bad boys
• Andorra may have finished on zero points (along with
Faroe Islands and San Marino) but they did top one table having collected
39 yellow cards, eight more than Albania and the Sammarinese. Croatia,
with only seven bookings, were the cleanest contestants.
• There were 52 red cards in qualifying. Seven sides
had three men dismissed - Albania, Andorra, Estonia, Bosnia-Herzegovina,
Malta, Moldova and San Marino.
Milestones
• Germany were the first team to reach the finals - fully
238 days before the tournament opener in Basel. Their 13-0 triumph in
San Marino was their best-ever away victory and the biggest win in qualification.
It helped to make them the campaign's most prolific team with 35 goals
in 12 games.
• Surprisingly, Slovakia, who came fourth in Germany's
group, were the second top scorers with 33 goals. Seven of that total
came without reply against San Marino, a record win for Slovakia. The
Czech Republic's 7-0 thrashing of the same opponents almost equalled their
best of 8-1.
• The Faroe Islands, San Marino and Andorra all finished
point-less. San Marino had the worst goal difference, though, scoring
two goals and shipping 57.
• Kazakhstan took part in their first-ever EURO qualifying
bid. They recorded their first victory at this level against Serbia on
24 March. Serbia were also playing as an independent country for the first
time.
• Having won just one UEFA European Championship qualifer
previously, Liechtenstein enjoyed taking the scalps of both Latvia and
Iceland. That second success, by 3-0, is their best-ever result.
• When Fons Leweck headed Luxembourg's stoppage-time
winner against Belarus on 13 October, it ended a run of 55 competitive
matches without a victory, stretching back 12 years.
• Despite recording their most points in a qualifying
attempt - 25 - Bulgaria failed to advance from Group G. Their previous
best had been 22 points on the road to EURO '96T.
• Cyprus ended up fifth in Group D yet
still secured their highest haul of points (14), of wins (four) and of
goals (17) in a campaign.
• Finland were another to register their most points
(24), most wins (six) and fewest defeats (two). Roy Hodgson's men also
featured in more goalless draws than any other side - five, with four
coming in their last five Group A games.
• F.Y.R. Macedonia (14 points) and Malta (five) enjoyed
their best qualifying campaigns, while this was England's worst: they
lost three times in a section for the first time. The same applies to
Hungary, who finished a lowly sixth in Group C.
• Romania qualified for a final tournament for the first
time since 2000 - with the same man, Victor Piturca, at the helm each
time. His side also claimed a first-ever victory over the Netherlands
in Group G.
Coaching changes
• Armenia's EURO will be remembered with sadness following
the death in September of coach Ian Porterfield. The Scotsman had been
on the bench for a game against Portugal the month before, despite undergoing
treatment for cancer in London at the time.
• Bulgaria were the only participant to employ three
coaches: Hristo Stoichkov (five games), Stanimir Stoilov (two) and Dimitar
Penev (five).
• Shakhin Diniyev (Azerbaijan), Yuri Puntus (Belarus),
Blaz Sliskovic (Bosnia-Herzegovina), Jelle Goes (Estonia), Eyjolfur Sverrisson
(Iceland), Jurijs Andrejevs (Latvia), Anatol Teslev (Moldova), Lawrie
Sanchez (Northern Ireland), Steve Staunton (Republic of Ireland), Walter
Smith (Scotland) and Dusan Galis (Slovakia) all failed to see out qualifying.
Albania's Otto Baric and Steve McClaren of England were sacked at the
conclusion of their groups.
Greece march on
• By contrast, Otto Rehhagel goes from strength to strength
with Greece. The man who guided the country to glory in 2004, established
a Greek record when taking charge of the team for the 75th time against
Hungary. The holders also took more points than any other side - 31 -
and will hope to continue setting the pace in Austria and Switzerland.
