Euro Cup 2008: Germany Defeats Poland In Quarterfinals

Euro Cup 2008: Germany Defeats Poland In Quarterfinals

The begining of the 2008 UEFA European Football Championship, also known as Euro Cup, has teams are fighting for spots in the quarterfinals. The first week of games was marked by close calls and upset wins.

If not for a disputed penalty and a fortuitous save, the European Championship would already have lost both co-hosts, the defending champion and World Cup holder all in the first eight days.

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This three-week long tournament, hosted by Austria and Switzerland, consists of sixteen teams, from European nations, competing for a spot at the 2009 FIFA Confederations Cup The sixteen teams are divided into four groups and two teams from each group advance to the quarterfinals.

In group A, Portugal and Turkey have secured spots in the quarterfinals, disqualifying Czech Republic and Switzerland.

In Group B, Croatia earned nine points and easily qualified while Germany secured a spot in a close match with Austria. Germany's team captain, Michael Ballack, scored the winning goal against Austria.

In group C, the Netherlands and Italy have qualified for the quarterfinals.

In group D, Spain is in the quarterfinals and Russia qualified in a 2-0 victory over Sweden.

The quarterfinals will take place from June 19- 22.

Thursday, in a 2-3 victory Germany defeated Poland in the first quarterfinals match. Germany will now advance to the semi-finals for the first time since 1996, where they will face either Croatia or Turkey depending on which team wins on Friday.

On Saturday, The Netherlands and Russia will play and on Sunday, Spain and Italy will play. The winners from the matches will both advance to the sem-finals and play each other.

Check back for updates.

For more information on the tournament click here.
For photos from the games click here
For the official Euro Cup website click here

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