U.E.F.A. Euro 2008 Austria – Switzerland 🇦🇹🇨🇭Football Championship: Turkey’s 🇹🇷 inspirational run to tournament’s semi-final stage

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Prior to the 2008 U.E.F.A. (Union of European Football Associations) European Football Championship co-hosted by Austria and Switzerland, respectively, most soccer analysts and experts had predicted that traditional European soccer juggernauts Germany or Italy would win the tournament. Coincidentally, the commencement of the U.E.F.A. Euro 2008 Austria – Switzerland Championship coincided with the emergence of the Vicente Del Bosque-led Spanish men’s national soccer team as an elite football world power. Blessed with youthful, supremely talented players such as Liverpool’s (Premier League–England) tall, powerful striker Fernando “El Nino” Torres and Barcelona’s (La Liga–Spain) pinpoint-accurate, attacking midfielder Xavier “Xavi” Hernández Creus, Spain was also accorded “pre-tournament favorite” status by some.

Germany’s national squad was also replete with stars such as crafty Cheslea (Premier League–England) attacking midfielder/team captain Micheal Ballack and Bayern Munich (Bundesliga–Germany) striker Lukas Podolski. During the U.E.F.A. Euro 2008 Austria – Switzerland Championship qualifying matches,
Joachim Löw-led Germany looked especially dangerous in the final (attacking) third of the football pitch. But Turkey’s men’s national soccer team display of sheer determination and courage during the U.E.F.A. Euro 2008 Austria – Switzerland Championship really intrigued me. Their cohesiveness on the pitch and electrifying team play was epic and perhaps caught some of their opponents off guard.

With the likes of silky-smooth Fenerbahçe (Süper Lig–Turkey) striker Semih Şentürk and Bayern Munich’s (Bundesliga–Germany) versatile midfielder Hamit Altintop, Fatih Terim-led Turkey proved to be one of the most resilient and awe-inspiring teams in recent U.E.F.A. European Football Championship memory. If it was not for Bayern Munich (Bundesliga–Germany) defensive midfielder Philipp Lahm’s eleventh-hour heroics (scoring Germany’s 90th-minute winning goal) in Germany’s 3-2 nail-biting semi final victory, Turkey would have advanced to the finals match versus Spain instead. And with Turkey’s sizable forward momentum at the time, perhaps Turkey could have managed to defeat Spain and been crowned U.E.F.A. Euro 2008 Austria – Switzerland Champions.

In my humble opinion, Turkey’s men’s national soccer team’s compelling performances at the U.E.F.A. Euro 2008 Austria – Switzerland Football Championship placed Turkey higher on the world football stage.
Shortly after the U.E.F.A. Euro 2008 Austria – Switzerland Football Championship (July 2008), Turkey’s F.I.F.A. World Ranking improved to tenth place in the world. Remarkably, the U.E.F.A. Euro 2008 Turkey National Team roster was largely domestic-based (Süper Lig–Turkey). I truly believe that Turkey deserved a better final result than they ended up with at the U.E.F.A. Euro 2008 Football Championship. I would have to give this U.E.F.A. Euro 2008 Turkey team a slight edge over another remarkable Turkey squad from the 2002 F.I.F.A. (Fédération Internationale de Football Association) World Cup in South Korea/Japan that reached the semi-final stage (Brazil defeated Turkey, 1-0) in that tournament. Turkey would eventually defeat the host nation South Korea, 3-2 in the third place match. Consequently, Turkey finished in third place behind eventual 2002 F.I.F.A. World Cup champions Luiz Felipe Scolari-led Brazil and runners-up Germany, respectively. That notable 2002 World Cup team featured the likes of legendary former Galatasaray (Süper Lig–Turkey) striker Hakan Sukur and speedy former Galatasaray (Süper Lig–Turkey) winger Hasan Şaş. Shortly after the 2002 F.I.F.A. World Cup (July 2002), Turkey’s
F.I.F.A. World Rankings drastically improved to ninth place in the world. That was Turkey’s first ever top-ten F.I.F.A. World Ranking.

Perhaps if Arsenal’s (English Premier League) technically-gifted attacking midfielder Mesut Özil (of Turkish origin) played for his native Turkey instead of Die Mannschaft (Germany’s men’s national soccer team), Turkey could of won the U.E.F.A. Euro 2008 Football Championship. As fate would have it, Spain would defeat Germany in the finals match 1-0 on a Fernando Torres first-half goal. Although Turkey did not win the U.E.F.A. Euro 2008 Football Championship, their fearless and memorable performance in said tournament commands respect and is worthy of recognition.

Turkey U.E.F.A. Euro 2008 Austria – Switzerland Highlights – 🇹🇷

Below are Turkey U.E.F.A. Euro 2008 Austria -Switzerland Championship qualifying match and tournament results:

Turkey U.E.F.A. Euro 2008 Austria -Switzerland Qualifying Match Highlights

U.E.F.A. Euro 2008 Austria – Switzerland Qualifying Match Highlights: Turkey 🇹🇷 vs Greece 🇬🇷 4-1 (Stadio Georgios Karaiskakis–Piraeus, Greece–March 24, 2007)

Turkey U.E.F.A. Euro 2008 Austria – Switzerland Championship Highlights

U.E.F.A. Euro 2008 Austria – Switzerland Quarter-finals Match Highlights: Turkey 🇹🇷 vs Croatia 🇭🇷 1-1 (Full-time), 3-1 (On Penalties) (Ernst Happel Stadion–Vienna, Austria–June 20, 2008)

U.E.F.A. Euro 2008 Austria – Switzerland Group A Match Highlights: Turkey 🇹🇷 vs Czech Republic 🇨🇿 3-2 (Stade de Genève–Geneva, Switzerland–June 15, 2008)

U.E.F.A. Euro 2008 Austria – Switzerland Semi-finals Match Highlights: Turkey 🇹🇷 vs Germany 🇩🇪 2-3 (St. Jakob Park–Basel, Switzerland–June 25, 2008)

U.E.F.A. Euro 2008 Austria – Switzerland Finals Match Highlights: Spain 🇪🇸 vs Germany 🇩🇪 1-0 (Ernst Happel Stadion–Vienna, Austria–June 29, 2008)

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U.E.F.A. Euro 2008 Austria – Switzerland Finals Match Complete Game: Spain 🇪🇸 vs Germany 🇩🇪 1-0 (Ernst Happel Stadion–Vienna, Austria–June 29, 2008)

U.E.F.A. Euro 2008 Austria – Switzerland Championship–Turkey’s Road to the Semi-final’s (Goals/Highlights Compilation) – 🇹🇷

U.E.F.A. Euro 2008 Austria – Switzerland Championship (All Goals/Highlights) – 🇦🇹🇨🇭

U.E.F.A. Euro 2008 Austria – Switzerland Championship (All Goals) – 🇦🇹🇨🇭

Published on: July 5, 2019

Sources: Wikipedia–https://www.en.wikipedia.org, U.E.F.A. —https://www.uefa.com, F.I.F.A.–https://www.fifa.com, Vimeo–https://www.vimeo.com, Dailymotion–https://www.dailymotion.com, YouTube–https://www.youtube.com