If You Ain't Dutch, You Ain't Much - Dutch Goal Videos

Sorry, my wife grew up in Holland and 'If you ain't Dutch, You ain't much' is her favorite saying these days with the Netherlands making the 2010 World Cup Final.

In honor of the Dutch Final appearance, here are some of the best/most impressive goals by the Netherlands from past European Championships, World Cups, and World Cup Qualifiers.


Johan Neeskens - 1974 WC vs Brazil


Johan Cruyff - 1976 Euro vs Belgium


Arie Haan - 1978 WC vs Italy


Marco van Basten - 1988 Euro vs USSR


Dennis Bergkamp - 1993 WC Qualifier vs England (goal at 2:30)


Dennis Bergkamp - 1998 WC vs Argentina



Frank de Boer - 2000 Euro vs France (goal at 7:25)



Giovanni van Bronckhorst - 2002 WC Qualifier vs Ireland (goal at 5:20)


Wesley Sneijder - 2008 Euro vs Italy

2008 Soccer Player and Coach Look-Alikes

Some of the most popular posts I've done in the 10 months of The Best Eleven's existence have been the player and coach look-alike posts. Since 2008 is winding down I thought I'd recap those posts today. Click the links for many, many more look-alikes.

MLS Stunt Doubles in the UEFA Champion's League

Chad Barrett and Wayne Rooney

Euro 2008 Head Coach Look-alikes

Raymond Domenech and Borat

MLS Celebrity Look-alikes

Danny Dichio and Imhotep from the Mummy

Euro 2008 Wrap: What Clubs and Leagues did the Goals Come From?

These are the clubs where all of the goal scoring players in Euro 2008 were playing leading up to the tournament. Obviously, some of these players will be changing or have changed clubs, but I've used the clubs they played for in the recently finished European season for this list.






# Goals/Club/Players:
8 - Bayern Munich (Lukas Podolski, Bastian Schweinsteiger, Miroslav Klose, Philipp Lahm)
6 - Real Madrid (Ruud van Nistelrooy, Arjen Robben, Pepe, Wesley Sneijder)
5 - Valencia CF (David Villa, David Silva)
4 - Fenerbahçe (Semih Şentürk, Uğur Boral)
3 - Liverpool (Fernando Torres, Dirk Kuyt)
3 - BSC Young Boys (Hakan Yakin)
3 - Spartak Moscow (Roman Pavlyuchenko)
3 - Arsenal (Robin van Persie, Cesc Fàbregas)
3 - Zenit St. Petersburg (Andrei Arshavin, Konstantin Zyrianov)
3 - FC Barcelona (Deco, Xavi, Thierry Henry)
2 - FC Porto (Ricardo Quaresma, Raul Meireles)
2 - 1. FC Nuremberg (Jan Koller, Angelos Charisteas)
2 - A.S. Roma (Daniel De Rossi, Christian Panucci)
2 - RCD Mallorca (Dani Güiza)
2 - Werder Bremen (Ivan Klasnić)
2 - Inter Milan (Zlatan Ibrahimović)
2 - Villareal (Nihat Kahveci)
2 - Chelsea (Michael Ballack)
2 - Galatasaray (Arda Turan)
1 - Baník Ostrava (Václav Svěrkoš)
1 - LASK Linz (Ivica Vastić)
1 - Ajax (Klaas Jan Huntelaar)
1 - Getafe CF (Ruben de la Red)
1 - Panathinaikos (Helder Postiga)
1 - Hamburger SV (Ivica Olić)
1 - FC Lokomotiv Moscow (Dmitri Torbinski)
1 - S.L. Benfica (Nuno Gomes)
1 - Legia Warsaw (Roger Guerreiro)
1 - AC Milan (Andrea Pirlo)
1 - Fiorentina (Adrian Mutu)
1 - CA Osasuna (Jaroslav Plašil)
1 - F.C. Copenhagen (Libor Sionko)
1 - Stade Rennais (Petter Hansson)
1 - Manchester United (Cristiano Ronaldo)
1 - Shakhtar Donetsk (Darijo Srna)
1 - Feyenoord (Giovanni van Bronckhorst)
1 - Dinamo Zagreb (Luka Modrić)

Euro 2008 Goals By League
20 - Spain La Liga
13 - German Bundesliga
9 - English Premier League
7 - Russian Premier League
6 - Italian Serie A
6 - Turkcell Süper Lig
3 - Swiss Super League
3 - Portugal BWINLIGA
2 - Dutch Eredivisie
1 - Czech Gambrinus liga
1 - Austrian Bundesliga
1 - Super League Greece
1 - Danish Superliga
1 - Polish Orange Ekstraklasa
1 - France Ligue 1 Orange
1 - Ukrainian Premier League
1 - Croatia Prva HNL


Interestingly, some of the most represented clubs in the tournament ended with zero goal contributing players.

Clubs with a least 5 players represented with no Euro 2008 Goals:

11- Lyon
9 - Galatasaray
7 - Red Bull Salzburg
6 - Steaua Bucureşti
5 - CSKA Moscow
5 - Juventus
5 - Rapid Wien
5 - Stuttgart



Corrections, Thanks to Commenter:
I had missed 2 goals from Wesley Sneijder (Real Madrid) and Arda Turan (Galatasaray) and 1 goal from Thierry Henry (FC Barcelona) in the original post. That of course removes Galatasaray from the no goals list as well. Thanks for the correction.

Euro 2008 Final: Pre-Game Recommended Reading

Fortune favours Germany's title bid: euro2008.uefa.com

Excerpt

Final record
Germany have won three and lost two of their five previous UEFA European Championship finals. Mannschaft supporters of a superstitious bent may want to avoid studying their sequence of results, given each final victory has so far been followed by a defeat.
• 1972 USSR W 3-0
• 1976 Czechoslovakia L 2-2 aet, 3-5 on pens
• 1980 Belgium W 2-1
• 1992 Denmark L 0-2
• 1996 Czech Republic W 2-1 aet

Aragonés's Spain scratch 24-year itch: euro2008.uefa.com

Excerpt

Final record
Spain lifted the Henri Delaunay trophy in 1964 when they beat reigning champions USSR 2-1 in Madrid, with Marcelino scoring the decisive goal six minutes from time. Twenty years later they lost the 1984 final to hosts France, succumbing to goals from Michel Platini and Bruno Bellone at the Parc des Princes.
• 1964 USSR W 2-1
• 1984 France L 2-0

Spain bid to end 44 years of stylish failure: The Guardian

Key tactical battles: The Guardian

Fabregas can inspire Spain to final glory: BBC Blog

Fan vs Fan: Germany-Spain: goal.com

Guiza to Propose to Partner if Spain Win: goal.com

Euro-Vienna neutrals favouring Spain over Germany: Yahoo! Sports

Injury threatens German Euro 2008 final hopes: Yahoo! Sports

Final flourish a fitting end to Euro 2008: Times Online

Losers Cesc Fabregas and Michael Ballack both want Euro2008 trophy: Mirror

Football fever grips finalists: BBC

Aragones: Cesc not a certain starter: Setanta

ESPN Axis and How it Works

I have really enjoyed the new broadcasting technology that ESPN has introduced in the past season of soccer coverage, especially the "Axis" camera angles in the Euro 2008 games. I wondered how they did it, so I looked around a bit and here's what I found.

The technology is made by a Swiss company, LiberoVision.

Info from an ESPN press release:

“ESPN Axis” creates "virtual" replays using video captured by cameras covering the live action event. Images fed from the game cameras are calibrated and seamed together to create virtual freeze-frames from multiple angles. The angles of view may be tilted upwards by 90 degrees -- from pitch level to direct overhead shots -- creating three-dimensional, birds-eye views of key plays from multiple vantage points.

Excerpt About "Axis" technology From the Sports Video site, SVG, article By Ken Kerschbaumer:

ESPN ties together two camera feeds from different sides of the stadium to allow for analysts to swing around 90 degrees and show the backside of a play or overhead for a bird’s eye view. It takes approximately 10 minutes to process the video and build the graphics however Liberovision is working hard to shorten the time to air.

“The minimum number of cameras you need is two,” says Stephan Würmlin, LiberoVision co-founder, adding that more cameras will require more processing time but will add more replay angles.

The camera streams are ingested into an EVS server and then fed to the LiberoVision system that is 5 rack-units high. ESPN is using two software products, DiscoverEye, which builds the virtual graphics, and Interactive Telestrator, providing the ability to place 3D telestrator graphics that change perspective as the replay is played out to viewers.

“It gives us five camera angles even though only two camera angles are being used,” says Toms.

Here is a page from the brochure on LiberoVision's Website

Click to Enlarge

Axis really is a cool technology, like bringing a video game replay to the real world. It's unreal to me that no additional infrastructure is needed in the stadium to pull this off. I assumed there were about 100 cameras all over the stadium to do the effect but those smart Swiss have made it much simpler. Hopefully future coverage of Champion's League and MLS will receieve the Axis treatment.

Here is an example of Axis from the "was he offside?" Netherlands goal vs. Italy in the Euro group stages.



Check out the LiberoVision website for videos and more information on the technology.

Euro 2008 Semi-final Stats and Facts

A compilation of statistics from the official Euro 2008 page for the players and teams that are remaining in the tournament. I have left off the stats for players that are suspended or won't play due to injury (which pretty much means half of Turkey's squad).

Goal Scorers

Germany
3 - Lukas Podolski
2 - Michael Ballack
1 - Miroslav Klose, Bastian Schwiensteiger
Turkey
2 - Semih Şentürk
Russia
3 - Roman Pavlyuchencko
2 - Andrei Arshavin
1 - Dimitri Torbinski, Konstantin Zyrianov
Spain
4 - David Villa
1 - Rubén de la Red, Cesc Fàbregas, Dani Güiza, Fernando Torres

Players with Assists

Germany
2 - Miroslav Klose, Bastian Schweinsteiger
1 - Torsten Frings
Turkey
3 - Hamit Altintop
1 - Rüştü Reçber
Russia
2 - Aleksandr Anyukov, Sergei Semak
1 - Yuri Zhirkov, Roman Shirokov, Andrei Arshavin
Spain
1 - Joan Capdevila, Cesc Fàbregas, Andrés Iniesta, Daniel Güiza, Sergio García, David Silva, Fernando Torres

Goalkeeper Saves
27 - Igor Akinfeev (Russia)
17 - Jens Lehmann (Germany)
7 - Iker Casillas (Spain)
5 - Rüştü Reçber (Turkey)

Fouls Committed
14 - Michael Ballack
14 - David Villa
12 - Roman Pavlyuchenko
12 - Yuri Zhirkov
10 - Lukas Podolski
10 - Marcos Senna

Fouls Suffered
12 - Michael Ballack
12 - David Villa
11 - Yuri Zhirkov
10 - Konstantin Zyryanov
8 - Sergei Semak
8 - Marcos Senna

Shots on Goal
11 - Roman Pavlyuchenko
10 - David Villa
6 - Andrei Arshavin
6 - Fernando Torres
5 - Michael Ballack
5 - Marcos Senna
5 - Lukas Podolski

Team Offsides
12 - Germany
11 - Russia
7 - Spain
7 - Turkey

Team Ball Possesion %
55.25% - Spain
52.25% - Turkey
51.75% - Russia
51.00% - Germany

Team Fouls Committed
87 - Turkey
81 - Spain
77 - Russia
57 - Germany

Team Yellow Cards
14 - Turkey
8 - Russia
6 - Spain
5 - Germany

Team Total Passes
2442 - Spain
1938 - Germany
1783 - Russia
1725 - Turkey

Team Total Shots
84 - Spain
79 - Russia
49 - Germany
44 - Turkey

Team Goals Conceded
5 - Turkey
4 - Russia
2 - Germany
2 - Spain

Suspended Players

Turkey
Volkan Demirel, Tuncay Şanlı, Arda Turan, Emre Aşık

Russia
Denis Kolodin, Dmitri Torbinski

The Last Three Euro Semi-Finals with FIFA rankings at the time of the game:

Austria/Switzerland 2008
Germany (5) v Turkey (20)
Russia (24) v Spain (4)

Portugal 2004
Portugal (22) 2:1 Netherlands (5)
Greece (35) 1:0 Czech Republic (11)

Belgium/Netherlands 2000
France (2) 2:1 Portugal (15)
Italy (14) 0:0 Netherlands (21)
(Italy 3-1 Pen)

England 1996
France (2) 0:0 Czech Republic (3)
(Czech Republic 5-6 Pen)
England (12) 1:1 Germany (6)
(Germany 5-6 Pen)

Russia Euro 2008 Squad Map and Facts

This map shows where the players on Russia's Euro 2008 squad came from in the vast country. I assumed that the whole team would be from Moscow and St Petersburg, but they are from all over the country, including one player from eastern Ukraine and two from the Siberian region of Russia.


GK Igor Akinfeev - Moscow
GK Vyacheslav Malafeev - St Petersburg
GK Vladimir Gabulov - Republic of North Ossetia-Alania

DF Sergei Ignashevich - Moscow
DF Aleksandr Anyukov - Samara Oblast
DF Aleksei Berezutski - Moscow
DF Vasili Berezutski - Moscow
DF Denis Kolodin - Volgograd Oblast
DF Roman Shirokov - Moscow
DF Renat Yanbayev - Krasnodar Krai

MF Sergei Semak - Luhansk Oblast (Ukraine)
MF Igor Semshov - Moscow
MF Diniyar Bilyaletdinov - Moscow
MF Vladimir Bystrov - Leningrad Oblast
MF Yuriy Zhirkov - Tambov Oblast
MF Konstantin Zyryanov - Prem Krai
MF Dmitri Torbinski - Krasnoyarsk Krai (Siberia)
MF Ivan Saenko - Voronezh Oblast
MF Oleg Ivanov - Moscow
MF Andrei Arshavin - St Petersburg

FW Dmitri Sychev - Omsk Oblast (Siberia)
FW Roman Pavlyuchenko - Krasnodar Krai
FW Roman Adamov - Volgograd Oblast

By Territory:
8 - Moscow
2 - St Petersburg
2 - Krasnodar Krai
2 - Volgograd Oblast
1 - North Ossetia-Alania
1 - Samara Oblast
1 - Luhansk Oblast (Ukraine)
1 - Tambov Oblast
1 - Prem Krai
1 - Krasnoyarsk Krai(Siberia)
1 - Voronezh Oblast
1 - Leningrad Oblast
1 - Omsk Oblast (Siberia)



Geography Facts:

Krai and Oblast are terms that roughly translate to province, region, or territory.

Dmitri Torbinski and Dmitri Sychev, both from areas of Siberia, are the only two players from the Asian section of Russia.

Vladimir Gabulov's North Ossetia-Alania is a Republic in Russia, or an area of non-Russian Ethnicity. It is in southern Russia's Caucasus region near disputed Chechnya. Many people speak Ossetic in this Republic which is an Iranian language.

Dmitri Torbinski was born in Norilsk, Siberia, which is the northernmost city in Siberia and the world's second largest city above the Arctic Circle with a population of just over 200,000 (Murmansk in Northwest Russia is the largest). It's also one of only two large cities in a continuous permafrost zone.

Renat Yanbayev is of Tatar ethnicity who are Turkic people that once made up the western part of Genghis Khan's army in the 13th century. Today there are nearly 7 million Tatars in the Caucasus region of southern Russia, with 97% practicing Sunni Islam.

Sergei Semak is from Ukraine's easternmost province, Luhansk Oblast, where nearly 70 percent of the population speak Russian rather than Ukrainian.

Euro 2008 Group Stage Statistics

This is a compilation of statistics from the Official Euro 2008 page.

Quarterfinal Matchups
Portugal v Germany
Croatia v Turkey
Netherlands v Russia
Spain v Italy

Goals Scored
9 - Netherlands
8 - Spain
5 - Portugal
5 - Turkey
4 - Croatia
4 - Czech Republic
4 - Germany
4 - Russia
3 - Italy
3 - Sweden
3 - Switzerland
1 - Austria
1 - France
1 - Greece
1 - Poland
1 - Romania

Total shots
58 - Spain
53 - Russia
50 - Netherlands
47 - France
45 - Switzerland
44 - Poland
43 - Portugal
41 - Austria
41 - Italy
40 - Croatia
38 - Germany
34 - Czech Republic
34 - Greece
33 - Romania
33 - Sweden
31 - Turkey

Ball Possession %
55% - Portugal
55% - Spain
54% - Netherlands
54% - Germany
53% - Russia
53% - Turkey
51% - France
51% - Austria
51% - Italy
50% - Poland
49% - Greece
49% - Switzerland
46% - Croatia
44% - Romania
43% - Czech Republic
43% - Sweden


Goal times - All teams
4 - Between minute 1 and 15
8 - Between minute 16 and 30
7 - Between minute 31 and 45
0 - In additional time 1st half

8 - Between minute 46 and 60
15 - Between minute 61 and 75
8 - Between minute 76 and 90
7 - In additional time 2nd half

Total 57


Top Scorers
4 - David Villa (Spain)
3 - Hakan Yakin (Switzerland)
3 - Lukas Podolski (Germany)
2 - Arda Turan (Turkey)
2 - Zlatan Ibrahimović (Sweden)
2 - Nihat Kahveci (Turkey)
2 - Roman Pavlyuchenko (Russia)
2 - Wesley Sneijder (Netherlands)
2 - Robin van Persie (Netherlands)

Shots on Goal
8 - Roman Pavlyuchenko (Russia)
8 - David Villa (Spain)
7 - Cristiano Ronaldo (Portugal)
6 - Angelos Charisteas (Greece)
6 - Fernando Torres (Spain)
5 - Hakan Yakin (Switzerland)
5 - Gökhan Inler (Switzerland)
5 - Adrian Mutu (Romania)
5 - Ruud van Nistelrooy (Netherlands)
4 - Zlatan Ibrahimović (Sweden)
4 - Jacek Krzynówek (Poland)
4 - Nuno Gomes (Portugal)
4 - Lukas Podolski (Germany)
4 - Wesley Sneijder (Netherlands)
4 - Ivica Vastic (Austria)

Pass Completion Percentage
93% - William Gallas (France)
92% - Christoph Metzelder (Germany)
91% - Per Mertesacker (Germany)
90% - John Heitenga (Netherlands)
90% - Marcos Senna (Spain)
90% - Lilian Thuram (France)
90% - Xavi Hernandez (Spain)
88% - Raul Albiol (Spain)
88% - Jacek Bąk (Poland)
88% - Nigel de Jong (Netherlands)
88% - Dorin Goian (Romania)

Fouls Committed
12 - Nani (Portugal)
11 - Rene Aufhauser (Austria)
11 - Giorgos Karagounis (Greece)
10 - Gelson Fernandes (Switzerland)
10 - Zlatan Ibrahimović (Sweden)
10 - Roman Pavlyuchenko (Russia)
10 - Anders Svensson (Sweden)
10 - Tuncay Şanlı (Turkey)
10 - Marcin Wasilewski (Poland)

Euro 2008 Head Coach Look-a-likes

It's been a while since I've done a "fun" post around here so I thought I'd do another look-a-like post, this time focusing on the head coaches of some of the Euro 2008 nations. I tried to use up to date photos of the coaches but I couldn't pass up the old school Raymond Domenech photo.

Portugal's Luiz Felipe Scolari and Gene Hackman

Greece's Otto Rehhagel and Walter Matthau

Romania's Victor Piţurcă and Paul Simon

Sweden's Lars Lagerbäck and Fox Soccer Analyst Bobby McMahon

Turkey's Fatih Terim and Kevin Arnold's Dad (Dan Lauria)

Switzerland's Köbi Kuhn and Jack Lemmon

Italy's Roberto Donadoni and Robert Downey Jr.

France's "Old School" Raymond Domenech and "Borat"

Czech Republic's Karel Brückner and Hugh Hefner

Poland's Leo Beenhakker and "Henry Kane" from Poltergeist

Spain's Luis Aragonés and US Vice President Dick Cheney


Germany's Joachim Löw and Tom Cruise

More Euro 2008 Posts:
Foreign-born Players on Euro 2008 squads
Former 'Team of the Tournament' Players returning to Euro 2008
Premiership Players on Euro 2008 squads
La Liga Players on Euro 2008 squads
Serie A Players on Euro 2008 squads
Bundesliga Players on Euro 2008 squads
Club Breakdown of Euro 2008 squads

Most Capped Euro 2008 Players

This is a listing of the most capped players in the Euro 2008 tournament as of June 14, 2008 before the Sweden/Spain and Russia/Greece games have taken place. The numbers are obviously changing daily at this point but I wanted to get the list done before the group stages were over. I had initially planned to do the list sooner but never got around to it, better late than never I guess.


Overall Most Capped Players: (min. 80)
142 - Lilian Thuram (France)
127 - Edwin van der Sar (Netherlands)
116 - Rüştü Reçber (Turkey)
109 - Niclas Alexandersson (Sweden)
105 - Patrick Vieira (France)
101 - Thierry Henry (France)
98 - Dario Šimić (Croatia)
96 - Henrik Larsson (Sweden)
96 - Jacek Bąk (Poland)
91 - Anders Svensson (Sweden)
89 - Angelos Basinas (Greece)
89 - Jan Koller (Czech Republic)
88 - Alessandro Del Piero (Italy)
88 - Antonios Nikopolidis (Greece)
84 - Gianluigi Buffon (Italy)
83 - Michael Ballack (Germany)
83 - Olof Mellberg (Sweden)
81 - Jacek Krzynówek (Poland)
80 - Patrick Müller (Switzerland)


By Nation:

Group A
89 - Jan Koller (Czech Republic)
77 - Ricardo (Portugal)
80 - Patrick Müller (Switzerland)
116 - Rüştü Reçber (Turkey)

Group B
53 - René Aufhauser (Austria)
98 - Dario Šimić (Croatia)
83 - Michael Ballack (Germany)
96 - Jacek Bąk (Poland)

Group C
142 - Lilian Thuram (France)
88 - Alessandro Del Piero (Italy)
127 - Edwin van der Sar (Netherlands)
65 - Bogdan Lobonţ and Cosmin Contra (Romania)

Group D
89 - Angelos Basinas (Greece)
47 - Sergei Semak (Russia)
78 - Iker Casillas (Spain)
109 - Niclas Alexandersson (Sweden)

The Tallest and Shortest Players on Euro 2008 Squads

The Shortest Euro 2008 Players
1.66m - Florentin Petre (Romania)
1.67m - Gökdeniz Karadeniz (Turkey)
1.69m - Piotr Trochowski (Germany)
1.69m - Santi Cazorla (Spain)

The Tallest Euro 2008 Players
2.02m - Jan Koller (Czech Republic)
1.99m - Andreas Isaksson (Sweden)
1.99m - Konstantinos Chalkias (Greece)
1.98m - Orlando Engelaar (Netherlands)
1.98m - Per Mertesacker (Germany)
1.98m - Pascal Zuberbühler (Switzerland)

Conversion:
2.02m = 6ft 7½in
1.90m = 6ft 3in
1.75m = 5ft 9in
1.66m = 5ft 5½in


Tallest (1.90m or taller) and Shortest (1.75m or shorter) Players for Each Participating Nation:

Czech Republic
2.02m - Jan Koller (FW)
1.72m - David Jarolím (MF)

Portugal
1.91m - Hugo Almeida (FW)
1.70m - João Moutinho (MF)
1.70m - Simão Sabrosa (FW)

Switzerland
1.98m - Pascal Zuberbühler (GK)
1.73m - Ricardo Cabanas (MF)

Turkey
1.95m - Volkan Demiral (GK)
1.66m - Gökdeniz Karadeniz (FW)

Austria
1.96m - Sebastian Prödl (DF)
1.75m - Christoph Leitgeb (MF)

Croatia
1.95m - Josip Šimunić (DF)
1.95m - Mario Galinović (GK)
1.72m - Danijel Pranjić (MF)

Germany
1.98m - Per Mertesacker (DF)
1.69m - Piotr Trochowski (MF)

Poland
1.94m - Jacek Bąk (DF)
1.94m - Artur Boruc (GK)
1.75m - Rafał Murawski (MF)

France
1.92m - Patrick Vieira (MF)
1.70m - Claude Makélélé (MF)

Italy
1.94m - Luca Toni (FW)
1.70m - Antonio Di Natale (FW)

Netherlands
1.98m - Orlando Engelaar (MF)
1.70m - Wesley Sneijder (MF)

Romania
1.96m - Dorin Goian (DF)
1.66m - Florentin Petre (MF)

Greece
1.99m - Konstantinos Chalkias (GK)
1.72m - Nikos Spiropoulous (DF)

Russia
1.93m - Oleg Ivanov (MF)
1.70m - Igor Semshov (MF)

Spain
NONE over 1.90m
1.69m - Santi Cazorla (MF)

Sweden
1.99m - Andreas Isaksson (GK)
1.75m - Freddie Ljungberg (MF)



Players 1.90m (6ft 3in) and over by Nation:
Switzerland (8), Germany (7), Austria (6), Greece (6), Croatia (5), Czech Republic (5), Sweden (5), Italy (4), Netherlands (4), Turkey (4), Poland (3), France (2), Portugal (2), Russia (2), Romania (1), Spain (0)


Players 1.75m (5ft 9in) and under by Nation:
Spain (7), France (5), Portugal (5), Germany (4), Italy (4), Netherlands (4), Romania (4), Greece (3), Russia (3), Croatia (2), Czech Republic (2), Austria (1), Poland (1), Sweden (1)

Average Height by Nation (in cm):
184.91 - Croatia
184.87 - Germany
184.61 - Switzerland
184.48 - Greece
184.43 - Austria
184.17 - Sweden
184.14 - Poland
184.00 - Czech Republic
183.30 - Netherlands
183.17 - Italy
182.09 - Russia
181.83 - France
181.43 - Romania
180.57 - Portugal
180.35 - Turkey
179.61 - Spain

More Euro 2008 Posts:
Foreign-born Players on Euro 2008 squads
Former 'Team of the Tournament' Players returning to Euro 2008
Premiership Players on Euro 2008 squads
La Liga Players on Euro 2008 squads
Serie A Players on Euro 2008 squads
Bundesliga Players on Euro 2008 squads
Club Breakdown of Euro 2008 squads

Age-Analysis of Euro 2008 Players

Players 35 and Older

Czech Republic
MF - Tomáš Galásek (35)
FW - Jan Koller (35)
GK - Jaromír Blažek (35)

Switzerland
GK - Pascal Zuberbühler (37)

Turkey
GK - Rüştü Reçber (35)

Austria
DF - Martin Hiden (35)
MF - Ivica Vastić (38)

Germany
GK - Jens Lehmann (38)
FW - Oliver Neuville (35)

Poland
DF - Jacek Bąk - (35)

France
MF - Claude Makélélé (35)
DF - Lilian Thuram (36)
GK - Grégory Coupet (35)

Italy
DF - Christian Panucci (35)

Netherlands
GK - Edwin van der Sar (37)
GK - Henk Timmer (36)

Greece
GK - Antonios Nikopolidis (36)

Sweden
MF - Niclas Alexandersson (36)
FW - Henrik Larsson (36)


Players 21 and Under

Czech Republic
FW - Martin Fenin (21)

Portugal
GK - Rui Patrício (20)
MF - João Moutinho (21)
FW - Nani (21)

Switzerland
FW - Eren Derdiyok (19)
DF - Johan Djourou (21)
MF - Gelson Fernandes (21)

Turkey
MF - Arda Turan (21)
MF - Colin Kazim-Richards (21)

Austria
DF - Sebastian Prödl (20)
FW - Martin Harnik (21)
FW - Erwin Hoffer (21)

Croatia
MF - Ivan Rakitić (20)

Poland
MF - Michał Pazdan (20)
DF - Adam Kokoszka (21)

France
FW - Karim Benzema (20)
MF - Samir Nasri (20)

Romania
DF - Ştefan Radu (21)

Spain
MF - Cesc Fàbregas (21)


Youngest/Oldest Players by Position:

GK
Youngest: Rui Patricio - Portugal (20)
Oldest: Jens Lehmann - Germany (38)

DF
Youngest: Sebastian Prödl - Austria (20)
Oldest: Lillian Thuram - France (36)

MF
Youngest: Michał Pazdan - Poland (20)
Oldest: Ivica Vastić - Austria (38)

FW
Youngest: Eren Derdiyok - Switzerland (19)
Oldest: Henrik Larsson - Sweden (36)


Number of Players 30 and Older on each Squad:

Italy (13), Greece (9), Sweden (9), Czech Republic (8), Croatia (7), Austria (6), France (6), Netherlands (6), Portugal (6), Germany (5), Poland (5), Spain (5), Switzerland (5), Turkey (4), Romania (3), Russia (3)

Average Age by Nation:
29.16 - Sweden
29.12 - Italy
29.07 - Germany
28.74 - Czech Republic
28.18 - Netherlands
27.94 - France
27.50 - Croatia
26.99 - Poland
26.84 - Portugal
26.80 - Romania
26.79 - Turkey
26.43 - Austria
26.43 - Spain
26.40 - Switzerland
26.15 - Russia

More Euro 2008 Posts:
Foreign-born Players on Euro 2008 squads
Former 'Team of the Tournament' Players returning to Euro 2008
Premiership Players on Euro 2008 squads
La Liga Players on Euro 2008 squads
Serie A Players on Euro 2008 squads
Bundesliga Players on Euro 2008 squads
Club Breakdown of Euro 2008 squads
Tallest and Shortest Players on Euro 2008 squads
Euro 2008 Head Coach Look-a-likes

Foreign-Born Players on Euro 2008 Squads

Yes, it's another Euro 2008 post. What can I say, the tournament is what's on my mind this week.

These are the players on Euro 2008 squads that were born somewhere other than the country that they are representing in the tournament. Many of these players were born elsewhere but grew up in the country they are representing and a few of the players are naturalized, having moved to their nation later on in their career.

Croatia
Josip Šimunić - Australia
Robert Kovač - Germany
Niko Kovač - Germany
Ivan Klasnić - Germany
Ivan Rakitić - Switzerland
Vedran Ćorluka - Yugoslavia (Bos-Herz)
Mladen Petrić - Yugoslavia (Bos-Herz)

France
Jean-Alain Boumsong - Cameroon
Florent Malouda - French Guiana [1]
Lilian Thuram - Guadeloupe [1]
Steve Mandanda - Zaire (DR Congo)
Claude Makélélé - Zaire (DR Congo)
Patrice Evra - Senegal
Patrick Vieira - Senegal

Germany
Kevin Kurányi - Brazil
Miroslav Klose - Poland
Piotr Trochowski - Poland
Lukas Podolski - Poland
Oliver Neuville - Switzerland

Portugal
Pepe - Brazil
Deco - Brazil
Nani - Cape Verde
José Bosingwa - Zaire (DR Congo)
Petit - France

Switzerland
Gelson Fernandes - Cape Verde
Johan Vonlanthen - Colombia
Johan Djourou - Cote d'Ivoire
Valon Behrami - Yugoslavia (Kosovo)
Eldin Jakupović - Yugoslavia (Bos-Herz)

Turkey
Mehmet Aurélio - Brazil
Colin Kazim-Richards - England
Mevlüt Erdinç - France
Hakan Balta - Germany
Hamit Altintop - Germany

Austria
Ronald Gërçaliu - Albania
Ivica Vastić - Yugoslavia (Croatia)
Martin Harnik - Germany
György Garics - Hungary

Italy
Mauro Camoranesi - Argentina
Simone Perrotta - England

Spain
Marcos Senna - Brazil

Greece
Loukas Vyntra - Czech Republic

Poland
Roger Guerreiro - Brazil

Sweden
Tobias Linderoth - France

Czech Republic
NONE

Netherlands
NONE

Romania
NONE

Russia
NONE


A couple of interesting foreign-born player situations:

Josip Šimunić was born in Australia and trained, on Australian tax dollars, at the Australian Institute of Sports. He played in Australia for the Melbourne Knights until he was 19 before moving to Germany with Hamburger SV. When it was time to choose a national team he chose Croatia. He was eventually the player who Graham Poll yellow carded 3 times in one 2006 World Cup game against, you guessed it, Australia.

There's a good post at worldcupblog.org about recent Polish "acquisition" Roger Guerreiro.


[1] French Guiana and Guadeloupe are considered overseas parts of France and are members of the EU.


More Euro 2008 Posts:
Former 'Team of the Tournament' Players returning to Euro 2008
Premiership Players on Euro 2008 squads
La Liga Players on Euro 2008 squads
Serie A Players on Euro 2008 squads
Bundesliga Players on Euro 2008 squads
Club Breakdown of Euro 2008 squads
Age-Analysis of Euro 2008 squads
Euro 2008 Head Coach Look-a-likes

Serie A Players on UEFA Euro 2008 Squads

Here are the players on Euro 2008 squads that played in Italy's Serie A in 07/08.

Group A

Czech Republic
Zdeněk Grygera - Juventus
Marek Jankulovski - AC Milan
Tomáš Ujfaluši - Fiorentina

Portugal
NONE

Switzerland
Gökhan İnler - Udinese
Valon Behrami - Lazio

Turkey
NONE

Group B

Austria
Alex Manninger - Siena
György Garics - Napoli

Croatia
Dario Šimić - Croatia
Dario Knežević - Livorno
Igor Budan - Parma

Germany
NONE

Poland
NONE

Group C

France
Patrick Vieira - Inter Milan
Sébastien Frey - Fiorentina

Italy
Gianluigi Buffon - Juventus
Giorgio Chiellini - Juventus
Alessandro Del Piero - Juventus
Mauro Camoranesi - Juventus
Christian Panucci - Roma
Daniele De Rosi - Roma
Simone Perrotta - Roma
Alberto Aquilani - Roma
Alessandro Gamberini - Fiorentina
Andrea Barzagli - Palermo
Gennaro Gatuso - AC Milan
Massimo Ambrosini - AC Milan
Andrea Pirlo - AC Milan
Antonio Di Natale - Udinese
Fabio Quagliarella - Udinese
Marco Borriello - Genoa
Marco Amelia - Livorno
Marco Materazzi - Inter Milan

Netherlands
NONE

Romania
Cristian Chivu - Inter Milan
Paul Codrea - Siena
Adrian Mutu - Fiorentina

Group D

Greece
NONE

Russia
NONE

Spain
NONE

Sweden
Zlatan Ibrahimović - Inter Milan



More Euro 2008 Posts:
Foreign-born Players on Euro 2008 squads
Former 'Team of the Tournament' Players returning to Euro 2008
Premiership Players on Euro 2008 squads
La Liga Players on Euro 2008 squads
Bundesliga Players on Euro 2008 squads
Club Breakdown of Euro 2008 squads
Age-Analysis of Euro 2008 squads
Euro 2008 Head Coach Look-a-likes

German Bundesliga Players on UEFA Euro 2008 Squads

Here is a list of players on Euro 2008 squads who played in the German Bundesliga in 07/08.

Group A

Czech Republic
Tomáš Galásek - Nuremberg
Jan Koller - Nuremberg
Jaromír Blažek - Nuremberg
Martin Fenin - Eintracht Frankfurt
David Jarolim - Hamburg

Portugal
Hugo Almeida - Werder Bremen

Switzerland
Diego Benaglio - Wolfsburg
Ludovic Magnin - Stuttgart
Alexander Frei - Borussia Dortmund
Philipp Degen - Borussia Dortmund
Tranquillo Barnetta - Bayer Leverkusen
Christoph Spycher - Eintracht Frankfurt

Turkey
Hamit Altintop - Bayern Munich

Group B

Austria
Marin Harnik - Werder Bremen

Croatia
Josip Šimunić - Hertha Berlin
Robert Kovač - Borussia Dortmund
Mladen Petrić - Borussia Dortmund
Ivan Rakitić - Schalke 04
Ivan Klasnić - Werder Bremen
Ivica Olić - Hamburg

Germany
Marcell Jansen - Bayern Munich
Bastian Schweinsteiger - Bayern Munich
Miroslav Klose - Bayern Munich
Philipp Lahm - Bayern Munich
Lukas Podolski - Bayern Munich
Arne Friedrich - Hertha Berlin
Clemens Fritz - Werder Bremen
Torsten Frings - Werder Bremen
Per Mertesacker - Werder Bremen
Tim Borowski - Werder Bremen
Heiko Westermann - Schalke 04
Kevin Kurányi - Schalke 04
Mario Gómez - Stuttgart
Thomas Hitzlsperger - Stuttgart
Oliver Neuville - (2.Bliga) Borussia Mönchengladbach
Robert Enke - Hannover 96
Piotr Trochowski - Hamburg
Simon Rolfes - Bayer Leverkusen
Rene Adler - Bayer Leverkusen

Poland
Jacek Krzynówek - Wolfsburg
Łukasz Piszczek - Hertha Berlin

Group C

France
Willy Sagnol - Bayern Munich
Franck Ribéry - Bayern Munich

Italy
Luca Toni - Bayern Munich

Netherlands
Joris Mathijsen - Hamburg
Nigel de Jong - Hamburg
Rafael van der Vaart - Hamburg

Romania
Ciprian Marica - Stuttgart

Group D

Greece
Angelos Charisteas - Nuremberg
Sotirios Kyrgiakos - Eintracht Frankfurt
Ioannis Amanatidis - Eintracht Frankfurt
Theofanis Gekas - Bayer Leverkusen

Russia
Ivan Saenko - Nuremberg

Spain
NONE

Sweden
Markus Rosenberg - Werder Bremen



More Euro 2008 Posts:
Foreign-born Players on Euro 2008 squads
Former 'Team of the Tournament' Players returning to Euro 2008
Premiership Players on Euro 2008 squads
La Liga Players on Euro 2008 squads
Serie A Players on Euro 2008 squads
Club Breakdown of Euro 2008 squads
Age-Analysis of Euro 2008 squads

Club Breakdown for Euro 2008 Squads

This is a breakdown of the nations where the Euro 2008 players played their club soccer this past season. The numbers show how many players play in each nation's league and the red listing is the home league for each country.




Group A

Czech Republic
Germany (5), England (4), Italy (4), Belgium(3), Denmark (2), Czech Republic (2), Russia (1), France (1), Spain (1)

Portugal
Portugal (12), Spain (5), England (4), Germany (2)

Switzerland
Switzerland (7), Germany (6), France (4), England (3), Italy (2), Austria (1)

Turkey
Turkey (16), England (2), Spain (1), Russia (1), Greece (1), France (1), Germany (1)


Group B

Austria
Austria (15), Italy (2), Russia (1), England (1), Portugal (1), Norway (1), Germany (1), Greece (1)

Croatia
Germany (6), Croatia (3), France (3), Italy (3), Russia (2), England (2), Austria (1), Ukraine (1), Greece (1), Netherlands (1)

Germany
Germany (19), England (2), Spain (2)

Poland
Poland (9), England (3), Germany (2), Greece (2), Scotland (1), Russia (1), Romania (1), Austria (1), Spain (1), Belgium (1), Ukraine (1)

Group C

France
France (10), England (6), Spain (3), Italy (2), Germany (2)

Italy
Italy (18), Spain (3), France (1), Germany (1)

Netherlands
Netherlands (9), England (7), Germany (3), Spain (3), Scotland (1)

Romania
Romania (12), Italy (3), France (2), Spain (1), Ukraine (1), Bulgaria (1), Germany (1), Russia (1), Scotland (1)

Group D

Greece
Greece (14), Germany (4), Spain (2), England (2), Portugal (1)

Russia
Russia (22), Germany (1)

Spain
Spain (18), England (5)

Sweden
Sweden (6), England (5), France (4), Greece (1), Norway (1), Turkey (1), Italy (1), Switzerland (1), Denmark (1), Germany (1), Romania (1)


Most Represented Clubs for Each Nation:
Number represents number of players from each club

8 - Turkey - Galatasaray
7 - France - Lyon
6 - Greece - Panathinaikos
6 - Russia - Zenit St. Petersburg
5 - Austria - Rapid Wien and Red Bull Salzburg
5 - Germany - Bayern Munich
5 - Portugal - FC Porto
5 - Romania - Steaua Bucureşti
4 - Italy - Juventus and Roma
4 - Spain - Liverpool and Valencia
3 - Czech Republic - Anderlecht and Nuremberg
3 - Netherlands - Ajax, Real Madrid, Hamburger SV and Feyenoord
3 - Poland - Wisła Kraków
3 - Switzerland - FC Basel
2 - Croatia - Dinamo Zagreb and Borussia Dortmund
2 - Sweden - Elfsborg

Nations with 16 or more Players from their Home League:
Turkey, Russia, Spain, Italy, and Germany

Nations with 7 or less players from their Home League:
Croatia, Czech Republic, Sweden, and Switzerland

The most represented clubs in the tournament are Lyon (11), Bayern Munich (9), Galatasaray (9), Barcelona (8), Chelsea (8), Panathinaikos (8), and Real Madrid (8).

Interestingly, the only Sweden players who play on the same club are Elfsborg's Johan Wiland and Anders Svensson. The other 21 players come from different clubs in 11 different nations. Sweden coach Lars Lagerbäck must have a tough job getting his players on the same page.

Poland's Marek Saganowski and Czech Republic's Rudolf Skácel, both players for Southampton in England, are the only two players called into Euro 2008 squads not playing in the top division in their club's respective country. [edit] Oliver Neuville also played with 2.Bundesliga side Borussia Mönchengladbach last season, thanks bvborussia.

The German Bundesliga is the most represented league in the tournament with 55 players. Every team in the tournament except Spain has at least one player from the Bundesliga.

Obviously, the German, English, Spanish, and Italian leagues are well represented, but I found it interesting that 6 different nations have players from the Russian league and 5 different nations have players from the Greek League.

Amazingly, Russia's squad has 22 out of 23 players who play in the Russian Premier League, with striker Ivan Saenko of Germany's 1. FC Nuremberg being the only player playing outside of Russia.



More Euro 2008 Posts:
Foreign-born Players on Euro 2008 squads
Former 'Team of the Tournament' Players returning to Euro 2008
Premiership Players on Euro 2008 squads
La Liga Players on Euro 2008 squads
Serie A Players on Euro 2008 squads
Bundesliga Players on Euro 2008 squads

Former Euro 'Team of the Tournament' Players Returning to Euro 2008

These are players on the Euro 2008 squads that have been selected to the Euro "Team of the Tournament" in previous European Championship tournaments.

GOALKEEPERS:
Petr Cech - Czech Republic (2004)
Antonis Nikopolidis - Greece (2004)

DEFENDERS:
Fabio Cannavaro* - Italy (2000)
Lilian Thuram - France (2000)
Traianos Dellas - Greece (2004)
Olof Mellberg - Sweden (2004)
Ricardo Carvalho - Portugal (2004)
Georgios Seitaridis - Greece (2004)
Gianluca Zambrotta - Italy (2004)

MIDFIELDERS:
Patrick Vieira* - France (2000)
Michael Ballack - Germany (2004)

FORWARDS:
Thierry Henry - France (2000)
Nuno Gomes - Portugal (2000)
Milan Baroš - Czech Republic (2004)
Angelos Charisteas - Greece (2004)
Henrik Larsson - Sweden (2004)
Cristiano Ronaldo - Portugal (2004)
Ruud van Nistelrooy - Netherlands (2004)



* Cannavaro has been ruled out of Euro 2008 and Vieira will miss France's first match and maybe more. Since they were included up until this week, I thought I'd leave them on the list with the dreaded asterisk.

Zinedine Zidane and Luis Figo were the only players to be selected to the Euro 'Players of the Tournament' in both 2000 and 2004. Will any of the players here make it two in a row this time around? My vote goes to Cech, Ballack, and Ronaldo as decent bets to make the team of the tournament again.



More Euro 2008 Posts:
Foreign-born Players on Euro 2008 squads
Premiership Players on Euro 2008 squads
La Liga Players on Euro 2008 squads
Serie A Players on Euro 2008 squads
Bundesliga Players on Euro 2008 squads
Club Breakdown of Euro 2008 squads
Age-Analysis of Euro 2008 squads

La Liga Players on UEFA Euro 2008 Squads

Group A

Czech Republic
Jaroslav Plašil - Osasuna

Portugal
Simão - Atlético Madrid
Deco - Barcelona
Ricardo - Real Betis
Pepe - Real Madrid
Miguel - Valencia

Switzerland
NONE

Turkey
Nihat - Villarreal

Group B

Austria
NONE

Croatia
NONE

Germany
David Odonkor - Real Betis
Christoph Metzelder - Real Madrid

Poland
Ebi Smolarek - Racing de Santander

Group C

France
Éric Abidal - Barcelona
Thierry Henry - Barcelona
Lilian Thuram - Barcelona

Italy
Gianluca Zambrotta - Barcelona
Fabio Cannavaro - Real Madrid
Morgan De Sanctis - Sevilla

Netherlands
Ruud van Nistelrooy - Real Madrid
Wesley Sneijder - Real Madrid
Arjen Robben - Real Madrid

Romania
Cosmin Contra - Getafe

Group D

Greece
Gioukas Seitaridis - Atletico Madrid
Angelos Basinas - Mallorca

Russia
NONE

Spain
Carlos Puyol - Barcelona
Andres Iniesta - Barcelona
Xavi - Barcelona
Ruben de la Red - Getafe
Juanito - Real Betis
Iker Casillas - Real Madrid
Sergio Ramos - Real Madrid
Fernando Navarro - Real Mallorca
Dani Güiza - Real Mallorca
Sergio Garcia - Real Zaragoza
Andres Palop - Sevilla
Raul Albiol - Valencia
Carlos Marchena - Valencia
David Villa - Valencia
David Silva - Valencia
Joan Capdevila - Villarreal
Santi Cazorla - Villarreal
Marcos Senna - Villarreal

Sweden
NONE



More Euro 2008 Posts:
Foreign-born Players on Euro 2008 squads
Former 'Team of the Tournament' Players returning to Euro 2008
Premiership Players on Euro 2008 squads
Serie A Players on Euro 2008 squads
Bundesliga Players on Euro 2008 squads
Club Breakdown of Euro 2008 squads
Age-Analysis of Euro 2008 squads

Premiership Players on UEFA Euro 2008 Squads

England may have missed out on Euro 2008, but plenty of players from the English Premiership will be in Austria-Switzerland with their national teams. This is a list of all the 07/08 Premiership players that have been called up to represent their country in the upcoming Euro 2008 tournament.






Group A

Czech Republic
Petr Čech - Chelsea
Milan Baroš - Portsmouth
David Rozenhnal - Newcastle United
Marek Matějovský - Reading

Portugal
Paulo Ferreira - Chelsea
Ricardo Carvalho - Chelsea
Cristiano Ronaldo - Manchester United
Nani - Manchester United

Switzerland
Johan Djourou - Arsenal
Philippe Senderos - Arsenal
Gelson Fernandes - Manchester City

Turkey
Emre Belözoğlu - Newcastle United
Tuncay Şanlı - Middlesbrough

Group B

Austria
Emmanuel Pogatetz - Middlesbrough

Croatia
Vedran Ćorluka - Manchester City
Niko Kranjčar - Portsmouth

Germany
Jens Lehmann - Arsenal
Michael Ballack - Chelsea

Poland
Tomasz Kuszczak - Manchester United
Łukasz Fabiański - Arsenal

Group C

France
William Gallas - Arsenal
Claude Makelele - Chelsea
Florent Malouda - Chelsea
Nicolas Anelka - Chelsea
Patrice Evra - Manchester United
Lassana Diarra - Portsmouth

Italy
NONE

Netherlands
Edwin van der Sar - Manchester United
André Ooijer - Blackburn Rovers
Robin van Persie - Arsenal
Mario Melchiot - Wigan Athletic
Wilfred Bouma - Aston Villa
Dirk Kuyt - Liverpool
Ryan Babel - Liverpool

Romania
NONE

Group D

Greece
Georgios Samaras - Manchester City
Stelios Giannakopoulos - Bolton

Russia
NONE

Spain
Fernando Torres - Liverpool
Xabi Alonso - Liverpool
Alvaro Arbeloa - Liverpool
Pepe Reina - Liverpool
Cesc Fàbregas - Arsenal

Sweden
Andreas Isaksson - Manchester City
Olof Mellberg - Aston Villa
Freddie Ljungberg - West Ham United
Andreas Granqvist - Wigan Athletic
Sebastian Larsson - Birmingham City


Number of Players By Club: (45 Total)
7 - Arsenal
7 - Chelsea
6 - Liverpool
5 - Manchester United
4 - Manchester City
3 - Portsmouth
2 - Aston Villa
2 - Middlesbrough
2 - Newcastle United
2 - Wigan Athletic
1 - Reading
1 - Blackburn Rovers
1 - Bolton Wanderers
1 - West Ham United
1 - Birmingham City



More Euro 2008 Posts:
Foreign-born Players on Euro 2008 squads
Former 'Team of the Tournament' Players returning to Euro 2008
La Liga Players on Euro 2008 squads
Serie A Players on Euro 2008 squads
Bundesliga Players on Euro 2008 squads
Club Breakdown of Euro 2008 squads
Age-Analysis of Euro 2008 squads