When it comes to European nations and international football the UEFA European Football Championships is the most important. This championship occurs every four years and has been going on since 1960. Today this tournament is one of the world’s most prestigious however it has changed significantly since its beginning.
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England fans are looking for The Maksimir Mole that lives under the Stadium in Zagreb. The Maksimir Mole was found guilty of raising molehills responsible for the second goal when Gary Neville’s back pass to Robinson rolled into the unguarded net.
Croatia trio Bosko Balaban, Ivica Olic and Dario Srna have been expelled from their Euro 2008 qualifying squad and fined ($5,232 each) after leaving the team’s training camp to go partying in a nightclub. They were kicked out of the squad by manager Slaven Bilic after discovering the players were not in their camp in Slovenia.
Although we will now be short of seven players, we are travelling to Moscow without these three.
The same problems had Sweden’s coach Lars Lagerback who has sent home three players from the squad to face Liechtenstein. Striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic, defender Olof Mellberg and midfielder Christian Wilhelmsson have all been asked to leave the training camp in Gothenburg, where the team are preparing for this week’s Euro 2008 qualifier, after staying out late on Sunday evening.
On Wednesday comes the FIFA World Cup final rematch between France and Italy. The French will clearly have a score to settle at the Stade de France, scene of their own World Cup triumph in 1998, when they face Italy’s world champions just two months after their disappointing contest in Berlin.
France will go into the game after a convincing 3-0 victory in Georgia on Saturday when Italy, by contrast, need to pick themselves up after a surprise 1-1 draw with Lithuania in Naples.
Don’t forget about the 52 teams that are after the Henri Delaunay trophy. After three games last month, EURO 2008 qualifying gets up to full speed on Saturday and Wednesday.
For the first time since the expansion to a 16 team finals in 1996, there will be no play offs. All 50 teams in the seven groups will try to finish in the top two to join hosts Switzerland and Austria in the finals.
Raymond Domenech convinced Lilian Thuram to continue his international career. France visit Georgia on September 2 before hosting Italy at the Stade de France four days later in a rematch of the World Cup final.
I’ll be there to play against Georgia. I haven’t had much choice. When I was in Guadeloupe and in Africa during the summer and even when we were in New York with my club, there was such a demand from the fans that I feel like I have to come back to thank them. My only doubt is whether I’m capable of playing for the two sides (Barcelona and France). I’m 34 and I play for one of the best club’s in the world. I hope I can live up to the expectations.
A complete different story is around Chelsea’s player Claude Makelele.
Macedonian coach Srecko Katanec has named the same squad, that beat Estonia in the first EURO 2008 Group E qualifying round, for the game against England. Macedonia vs England will be played in Skopje on September 2. The squad has only one home based player - Tome Pacovski from Rabotnicki Skopje.
Macedonian squad:
The qualifying phase for UEFA EURO 2008 is starting today. The winners and runners-up in the seven qualifying groups (50 teams) will join the hosts Austria and Switzerland in the UEFA EURO 2008 final round.
Group A
20:45 Belgium - Kazakhstan 0:0
Group B
19:00 Faroe Islands - Georgia 0:6
Group E
19:00 Estonia - F.Y.R. Macedonia 0:1
