Thursday, May 22nd, 2008
Arsenal FC’s player Robin van Persie has been training separately from Netherlands’ squad since joining the training camp on Tuesday. Netherlands’ national football team’s coach, Marco van Basten, decided to allow Robin van Persie to train apart from the rest of the squad in order to give him room to recover from older knee and thigh injuries, which have restricted him all season.
Marco van Basten wants each of his players to be fit for their opening EURO 2008 game against Italy on 9 June. But he can’t afford losing van Persie as a player at EURO 2008, so he decided to make an exception, giving Robin van Persie the necessary time to recover from injuries.
Van Basten will not rush Arsenal FC’s 24-year-old player, as he said that van Persie is “a very special player.”
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Tags: Euro 2008 News, Holland, Marco Van Basten, Netherlands, Robin van Persie
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Thursday, May 22nd, 2008
Switzerland’s national football team will have to play without Steve von Bergen at EURO 2008. The 24-year-old defender has broken a bone in his right hand and he won’t be able to play because of this problem.
Steve von Bergen has broken the fourth metacarpal in his hand during an open training session in Lugano. Although he and his team mates hoped he would be able to play at EURO 2008, Switzerland’s national football team doctors have confirmed recently that this won’t be happening.
Hertha BSC Berlin’s player is the third player that leaves Switzerland’s squad after goalkeeper Fabio Coltorti and striker Blaise Kufo, who left the training camp also because of serious health problems: Coltorti was suffering from post-viral fatigue and Kufo was discovered to suffer from a torn groin muscle.
Now it was Steve von Bergen’s time to leave the training camp.
Tags: Euro 2008 News, Steve von Bergen, Switzerland
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Thursday, May 22nd, 2008
Another team’s player is forced to leave the training camp for EURO 2008 because of a broken metacarpal in his right hand. Similarly to Switzerland’s player Steve von Bergen, the Czech Republic’s player Daniel Pudil has been announced recently to have been withdrawn from his country’s national football squad after breaking a bone in his right hand. Steve von Bergen cracked his fourth metacarpal, while Daniel Pudil cracked his fifth metacarpal bone in his right hand. Unfortunately, both of them will have to say “goodbye” to EURO 2008 because of these unfortunate events.
Daniel Pudil was said to be replaced by Rudolf Skacel.
Pudil, 22 years old, has been capped for three times and scored once for the Czech Republic. He got the injury in his right hand in SK Slavia Praha’s final league game against FK Jablonec 97. Now, with Pudil missing because of this injury, the newly-crowned Czech champions SK Slavia Praha won’t have any player in the squad for the finals at EURO 2008.
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Tags: Czech Republic, Daniel Pudil, Euro 2008 News, Radek Sirl, Rudolf Skacel
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Thursday, May 22nd, 2008
Thomas Haberli is 34 years old, but this hasn’t stopped Switzerland’s national football team’s coach Jakob Kuhn to call him up in order to replace Blaise Kufo, who will miss the tournament because of a torn thigh muscle.
Thus, a player’s misfortune becomes another’s reason to be happy; veteran forward Thomas Haberli wouldn’t have had the chance to star again in his country’s squad, if it hadn’t been for Kufo to get injured.
Although Thomas Haberli has been capped only once (in 2004), he is now able to make a surprise appearance at EURO 2008 thanks to coach Jakob Kuhn, who decided to give him a chance to shine before retiring from football.
Haberli, who has played this season for the BSC Young Boys has been in great shape and has scored 18 goals for his team. This means that he might impress some fans at EURO 2008!
Tags: Euro 2008 News, Switzerland, Thomas Haberli
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Wednesday, May 21st, 2008
After four years since he came at the Stadio Artemio Franchi, the Czech Republic defender Tomas Ujfalusi was announced to leave ACF Fiorentina and move to a Spanish club. The player is still thinking where exactly he will be playing after leaving ACF Fiorentino, but he is sure he will move to Spain.
Tomas Ujfalusi was announced to change his football club only one day after Fiorentina achieved the UEFA Champions League qualification.
“Yesterday Ujfalusi played his last match for the Viola,” ACF Fiorentina announced. “We wish to thank him for his precious contribution over the last four years. He is an extraordinary player and, more importantly, a great man,” the Italian football club’s spokesperson also said.
During this season, Tomas Ujfalusi played 28-flight games for Fiorentina, which eventually achieved the UEFA Champions League qualification after finishing fourth in Series A. The Czech football player came at ACF Fiorentina from Hamburger SV in the summer of 2004.
He will now leave the Italian football club for a Spanish Primera Division club. “I still have to decide which club, but I will certainly move to Spain,” said Ujfalusi, who is also know as “UFO.”
Ujfalusi will play also at EURO 2008, when his country will face Portugal, Switzerland and Turkey.
Tags: Czech Republic, Euro 2008 News, Tomas Ujfalusi
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Wednesday, May 21st, 2008
Laurentiu Rosu and George Ogararu will represent two of the most important Romanian football players that will miss at EURO 2008, as they absented from Romania’s 26-man provisional squad that has already begun preparations for the tournament.
Laurentiu Rosu won’t play at EURO 2008 because in the recent period of time he dropped out of first-team reckoning at his club, AFC Ajax, while George Ogararu won’t play because he failed to recover after his return from an injury. Thus, Rosu and Ogararu will be replaced by younger players, such as Cosmin Moti, Cristian Sapunaru, Ciprian Deac.
14 players of Romania’s national football squad play club football in Romania, so they have already started to gather as a team for EURO 2008. Florentin Petre and Paul Codrea have also joined them in an informal camp in Turkey, where the players came with their families for training and relaxation.
Coach Victor Piturca will start the preparations on 22 May, when the full 26-man squad will meet at the Mogosoaia training center. By 28 May the squad will be cut down to 23 players.
Romania will face France in Zurich on 9 June and then Italy on 13 June. Four days later they will play against Netherlands.
Tags: Euro 2008 News, George Ogararu, Laurentiu Rosu, Romania, Victor Piturca
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Tuesday, May 20th, 2008
During the official meeting from Moscow on Monday and Tuesday, UEFA’s Executive Committee has decided to accept single yellow cards to be cancelled at the end of quarter-finals of EURO 2008.
Practically, this decision will put an end to the irritating situations when football players couldn’t play in the final of the tournament because of the fact that they had received a second yellow card in the semi-finals.
Thus, UEFA’s Executive Committee’s decision brings great news to football fans from all over the world, as they will now have the chance to watch the best football players’ performance in the final.
On the other hand the Executive Committee’s decision represents also a long-waited solution to a much discussed football issue. Even UEFA’s President Michel Platini admitted it. “I have supported [this] for a number of years and the Executive Committee gave its unanimous approval,” said President Michel Platini. “It’s a very good decision for lovers of football and TV spectators, who will be able to see the best players talking part in the final – as long as they are not sent off in the semi-final,” UEFA’s President also added.
So, with this problem solved, EURO 2008 in Austria and Switzerland has all the chances to be a really tough football event. During its official meeting in Moscow, UEFA’s Executive Committee has been informed that Austria and Switzerland are done with all preparations for EURO 2008 and they are ready for the event that will be taking place between 7 and 29 June.
UEFA’s General Secretary David Taylor said that “All the tickets have been sold, all the corporate hospitality has effectively been sold – worldwide revenues from TV broadcasts are 30-40 per cent ahead of where we were in Portugal [in 2004],” which means that Austria and Switzerland have really done their homework as hosts of one of the most popular football events of the world.
“So as regards the financial consequences, we have a EURO tournament which will not only be a great football success, but also a great financial success,” UEFA’s General Secretary David Taylor also said.
Tags: Euro 2008 News
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Tuesday, May 20th, 2008
Raymond Domenech, France’s national football team’s coach, made public the provisional list of 30 players for UEFA EURO 2008 during a press conference at the French Football Federation headquarters in Paris. Surprisingly or not, Juventus’ striker David Trezeguet was not chosen by coach Domenech to be part of this provisional 30-man squad.
Another surprise, this time a positive one, was the inclusion of AS Saint-Etienne’s striker Bafetimbi Gomis in France’s national football team. Gomis was selected for the first time in the national team, as he impressed coach Domenech after a promising season that included no less than 16 league goals.
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Tags: David Trezeguet, Euro 2008 News, France, Raymond Domenech
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Tuesday, May 20th, 2008
Vincenzo Iaquinta might miss UEFA EURO 2008, as his football club, Juventus, announced at the beginning of May that the football player is forced to miss the rest of the Series A season because of an injury sustained a month ago. Thus, it is likely for Iaquinta to miss also UEFA EURO 2008.
Vincenzo Iaquinta is 28 years old and he has scored eight goals in 24 league appearances this term. Unfortunately, he was injured in training midway in April and although he was expected to get over it for the Bianconeri’s final two matches, the football club confirmed he won’t play anymore during this campaign. On the other hand, he might still miss this summer’s famous UEFA EURO tournament.
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Tags: Euro 2008 News, Italy, Roberto Donadoni, Vincenzo Iaquinta
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Tuesday, May 20th, 2008
Sergei Semak, 32 years old, was surprisingly included by coach Guus Hiddink in his draft 25-man squad for the finals of UEFA EURO 2008.
Although Semak had a total of 43 appearances for Russia and has scored four times for his county in different international tournaments, he hasn’t played for the national team since May 2006.
But Semak seems to have been lucky enough to have an extraordinary performance with Russian Premier-Liga leader FC Rubin Kazan this season, which drew coach Guus Hiddink’s attention. Thus, Hiddinks chose to include Sergei Semak in his 25-man squad for UEFA EURO 2008.
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Tags: Euro 2008 News, Guus Hiddink, Russia, Sergei Semak
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Tuesday, May 20th, 2008
Poland’s squad for UEFA EURO 2008 will have to find its way without Arkadiusk Radomski, who asked coach Leo Bennhakker to remove him from his list of six reserves for Poland’s UEFA EURO 2008 party.
Arkadiusz Radomski is one of the six football players that were cut from the initial 31-man Croatian squad. However, the 30-year-old football player was forced to miss the UEFA EURO 2008 because of injury problems.
According to Croatia’s national football team’s spokesperson, it seems that “Radomski has informed the coach that he has dropped out of the reserve list of players,” because of older knee injuries.
During this season, Arkadiusz Radomski was also forced to play only for six times with his team FK Austria Wien.
Tags: Arkadiusz Radomski, Euro 2008 News, Leo Bennhakker, Poland
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Tuesday, May 20th, 2008
22-year-old Nikola Pokrivac revealed recently that he learned of his inclusion in Croatia’s squad for UEFA EURO 2008 while he was surfing the Internet.
AS Monaco FC’s football player had been previously touted for a call-up to Croatia’s 23-man squad, but he didn’t want to celebrate until he received the confirmation. But his “dream come true”…
“There was talk saying I was on the list for EURO, but I didn’t want to celebrate before I saw it personally,” said Nikola Pokrivač. “I was connected to the Internet and was waiting for the happy news on the day when Bilić named the team. It’s the best thing that has happened in my career. My dream came true. I was hoping I could earn a call to the national team, but to be in the team for EURO…,” confessed Pokrivac, who hasn’t been capped before in Croatia’s squad.
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Tags: Croatia, Euro 2008 News, Nikola Pokrivac, Slaven Bilic
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Tuesday, May 20th, 2008
Although he is 38 years old, Ivica Vastic’s experience will play at UEFA EURO 2008. Austria’s squad’s coach Josef Hickersberger has always been impressed by Vastic’s performance and he decided to give him the chance to enjoy playing at UEFA EURO 2008 before retiring, especially that Austria will co-host the famous international football tournament.
Coach Josef Hickerberger has chosen mainly young players to play at this major tournament, but Ivica Vastic, also known as “Lynx”, has proved to be in great shape at LASK Linz this season and Hickerberger was pleased to recall Vastic to be part of Austria’s UEFA EURO 2008 squad too.
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Tags: Austria, Euro 2008 News, Ivica Vastic, Josef Hickerberger
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Tuesday, May 20th, 2008
Diego Benaglio and his team are lucky that football is something beyond language barriers: Benaglio speaks Swiss-German, while his team-mates at VfL Wolfsburg speak high German.
However, despite of this language difficulty, the Swiss-Italian goalkeeper managed to have an extraordinary spring since joining VfL Wolfsburg in winter. “A determining factor in my transfer was definitely the fact that I had already worked with Felix Magath,” Diego Benaglio said, reminding the fact that Felix Magath coached him also between 2002 and 2005 at VfB Stuttgart.
“The three years at Stuttgart really shaped me and my game. The goalkeeper training was very good, but I matured as a person as well,” Benaglio also said.
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Tags: Diego Benaglio, Euro 2008 News, Switzerland
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Friday, May 16th, 2008
The youngster won’t play at UEFA EURO 2008! That’s the pact reached after Bojan Krkic admitted he suffered from fatigue.
The 17-year-old Spanish football player had an exhausting, highly competitive football year, so he had to eventually agree that Luis Aragones was right. He needs a break; after all, he is only 17 years old!
“I know what it is I’m missing out on but I’ve reached a point where I’m very tired,” said Bojan Krkic, who is also FC Barcelona’s player. “At no point did I ever say ‘no’ to the Spanish team. On the other hand, I want to be honest with the manager, the [Spanish Football] Federation and with myself,” added Krkic.
However, although he won’t play at UEFA EURO 2008, Bojan Krkic will remain fully committed to Spain. “My commitment to the Spanish set-up can’t be called into doubt when you consider that I have always played when I have been called upon to do so,” Krkic said, adding also: “I played at a [UEFA] European Championship and a [FIFA] World Cup at Under-17 level and took part in three or four games with the Under-21s. There are no personal problems, I’m just exhausted and I need to disconnect.”
Tags: Bojan Krkic, Euro 2008 News, Spain
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Friday, May 16th, 2008
Although four years ago Maniche shone at UEFA EURO, the FC Internazionale Milano midfielder is not among Portugal’s final 23-man squad for UEFA EURO 2008. Coach Luiz Felipe Scolari however included Maniche’s brother in his final 23-man squad for UEFA EURO 2008.
So, it seems that it will be Jorge Ribeiro’s turn to shine at UEFA EURO. Maniche’s brother is 26 years old and he plays at Boavista, for which he has scored eight goals in 26 Liga outings.
Luiz Felipe Scolari’s squad is to convene in Viseu for a training camp that will last between 19 and 31 May.
Tags: Euro 2008 News, Luiz Felipe Scolari, Maniche, Portugal
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Friday, May 16th, 2008
The Czech Republic’s football team’s coach, Karel Bruckner, has named recently a provisional 23-man finals squad for UEFA EURO 2008 and Pavel Nedved isn’t among these 23 players.
Although Pavel Nedved announced in the wake of the 2006 FIFA World Cup that he would retire from international football, he was said to return to the Czech squad to replace Tomas Rosicky. The latter had his knee under surgery and was this way ruled out of UEFA EURO 2008.
However, according to Pavel Nedved’s recent statements, he didn’t want to return to international football for UEFA EURO 2008.
Among the Czech squad’s players, Vaclav Sverkos is the only newcomer. He is 24 years old and represents the top scorer in the Czech league, as he has scored 15 goals during this season.
Tags: Czech Republic, Euro 2008 News, Pavel Nedved, Vaclav Sverkos
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Friday, May 16th, 2008
Double-bad news for Turkey! The defensive pair Servet Cetin – Gokhan Gonul might put the country’s football team’s appearance at UEFA EURO 2008 in doubt! Unbelievable or what?
Both Servet Cetin and Gokhan Gonul suffer from severe injuries, leaving Turkey coach Fatih Terim to deal with serious concerns regarding his squad for UEFA EURO 2008. Servet Cetin got a groin injury during a final league game against Genclerbirligi Oftaspor and it seems that the injury is worse than previously imagined. However, coach Fatih Terim hasn’t ruled Servet Cetin out of this summer’s tournament and has put Emre Gungor on standby.
On the other hand, Fenerbahce SK’s player Gokhan Gonul has also missed training because of a foot injury and this has made Fatih Terim’s job even more difficult.
Excepting Servet Cetin and Gokhan Gonul, Terim has to deal also with goalkeeper Volkan Demirel’s absence.
“We are in Antalya to relax, not for training,” Fatih Terim said from the Turkish coastal resort. “However, it is sad to see my players getting injured before we even start training. Volkan Demirel and Servet Çetin’s groin injury were bad enough but Gökhan Gönül’s injury was a very unpleasant surprise,” he also added.
Tags: Euro 2008 News, Gokhan Gonul, Servet Cetin, Turkey
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Friday, May 16th, 2008
Michael Ballack knows both the bitter taste of frustration and the sweet taste of success. And now he seems he enjoys success so much that he is ready for glory also at UEFA EURO 2008!
After he had failed to set the Premier League alight during his first year at Stamford Bridge, Michael Ballack, 31 years old, seemed unlucky enough to suffer also from a recurring problem at his ankle during the first half of the present campaign. However, Ballack is a fighter and starting December he has eventually returned to top form with Chelsea FC.
So, the recent period has encouraged the player enough to determine him to announce that he believes he can lead Germany’s squad to glory at UEFA EURO 2008.
“The expectations [in England] were huge and I couldn’t show people what I was capable of. I was distraught but I fought back and fortunately things are going well now. I’m back in the final of the Champions League and I’m in good form for EURO 2008,” Michael Ballack said in a statement.
Tags: Euro 2008 News, Germany, Michael Ballack
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Friday, May 16th, 2008
Although he knows how a player could feel to be dropped from the squad for EUFA EURO 2008, coach Raymond Domenech said that French football was more important that feelings in this case. “I know it’s not an easy position for a player, but the interests of French football must come first,” said Domenech, who has the tough duty to decide who will be part of the French squad for UEFA EURO 2008.
The coach is concerned about that fact that as many as 18 players of the squad will still be in action after 18 May, the deadline Domenech had given a few time ago. Thus, there will be a major threat of injuries and Raymond Domenech can’t take any chances.
“After 18 May there are still major games to be played such as the UEFA Champions League, Italian Cup and French Cup finals,” Domenech said in a statement. “There is a big risk that some of the players I call up could get injured, so it will be an extended list given many players are involved in these matches,” he also added.
Tags: Euro 2008 News, France, Raymond Domenech
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Friday, May 16th, 2008
Clarence Seedorf seems to have decided to shock both his mates and coach Marco van Basten, as the popular player asked on Monday to be withdrawn from the Netherlands squad for UEFA EURO 2008.
“I did not expect this at all,” said coach Marco van Basten. “I told Clarence I have a lot of respect for him as a person and as a football player, but his mind was already made up,” van Basten added.
AC Milan’s midfielder phoned van Basten on Monday night to announce his decision. However, the 32-year-old famous player won’t retire from international football. “It is a decision that comes after serious consideration and months of reflection. Since my return to the national team, the right conditions have not been created to let me perform at my best and to effectively excel as the team member I always strive to be,” Seedorf said in a statement trying to explain his unexpected announcement.
Clarence Seedorf has scored no less than 11 goals in 87 international appearances for the Netherlands squad. It’s been said that he may join the Oranje again after UEFA EURO 2008, when Bert van Marwijk takes over from van Basten.
Tags: Clarence Seedorf, Euro 2008 News, Holland, Marco Van Basten, Netherlands
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