UEFA Euro 2008 Group C

Free kick in the Netherlands-Italy match, 9 June

Group C of the 2008 UEFA European Championships is one of four groups of competing nations at UEFA Euro 2008. The first of three rounds of matches took place on 9 June, and finished on 17 June. All six group matches were played at venues in Switzerland, in Zürich and Berne. The group is composed of 2006 FIFA World Cup finalists Italy and France, as well as the Netherlands and Romania. At the time of the draw, these countries' respective Elo rankings among European teams were 1st, 2nd, 4th and 8th, and as such the group has been dubbed the competition's "group of death".^[1][2] Nevertheless, despite the strength of the four teams, Group C was the only group at Euro 2008 from which no team made it past the quarter-finals.

The Netherlands became the first team to qualify for the quarter-finals from Group C. In their first match, they beat the world champions, Italy, 3–0 in a display of counter-attacking football. Then, in their second game, they also beat the 2006 World Cup runners-up, France, 4–1. This left the French in a difficult position, having already played out a scoreless draw against Romania in the group's opening match. Romania also managed to pull off a draw against Italy in their second match, leaving them in second place going into the final round of group matches.

Italy finished as the second quarter-finalists, after they beat France 2–0 in their final game. French defender Éric Abidal was sent off just over a quarter of the way through the game for a foul on Luca Toni in the area; Andrea Pirlo converted the resulting penalty. Daniele De Rossi added the second goal from a deflected free kick just after the hour mark. Because of the Italian win, Romania had to beat the Netherlands to qualify for the quarters, but they were undone by a Klaas-Jan Huntelaar goal just after half-time, before Robin van Persie scored his second of the tournament three minutes from the end.

Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts
Netherlands	3	3	0	0	9	1	+8	9
Italy	3	1	1	1	3	4	−1	4
Romania	3	0	2	1	1	3	−2	2
France	3	0	1	2	1	6	−5	1

All times local (UTC+2)

Romania vs France

2008-06-09 18:00	Romania	0 – 0	France	Letzigrund Stadion, Zürich Attendance: 30,585 Referee: Manuel Mejuto González (Spain)
		(Report)

ROMANIA: GK 1 Bogdan Lobonţ RB 2 Cosmin Contra 40' CB 4 Gabriel Tamaş CB 15 Dorin Goian 43' LB 3 Răzvan Raţ RM 11 Răzvan Cociş 64' CM 6 Mirel Rădoi 90+3' LM 5 Cristian Chivu (c) RF 16 Bănel Nicoliţă CF 21 Daniel Niculae 27' LF 10 Adrian Mutu 78' Substitutions: MF 8 Paul Codrea 64' FW 18 Marius Niculae 78' MF 20 Nicolae Dică 90+3' Manager: Victor Piţurcă

FRANCE: GK 23 Grégory Coupet RB 19 Willy Sagnol 51' CB 15 Lilian Thuram (c) CB 5 William Gallas LB 3 Éric Abidal CM 20 Jérémy Toulalan CM 6 Claude Makélélé RW 22 Franck Ribéry LW 7 Florent Malouda CF 8 Nicolas Anelka 72' CF 9 Karim Benzema 78' Substitutions: FW 18 Bafétimbi Gomis 72' MF 11 Samir Nasri 78' Manager: Raymond Domenech

Netherlands vs Italy

2008-06-09 20:45	Netherlands	3-0	Italy	Stade de Suisse, Wankdorf, Berne Attendance: 30,777 Referee: Peter Fröjdfeldt (Sweden)
		(Report)

NETHERLANDS: GK 1 Edwin van der Sar (c) RB 2 André Ooijer CB 21 Khalid Boulahrouz 77' CB 4 Joris Mathijsen LB 5 Giovanni van Bronckhorst DM 17 Nigel de Jong 58' DM 8 Orlando Engelaar RW 18 Dirk Kuyt 81' AM 23 Rafael van der Vaart LW 10 Wesley Sneijder CF 9 Ruud van Nistelrooy 70' Substitutions: FW 7 Robin van Persie 70' DF 3 John Heitinga 77' MF 20 Ibrahim Afellay 81' Manager: Marco van Basten

ITALY: GK 1 Gianluigi Buffon (c) RB 2 Christian Panucci CB 6 Andrea Barzagli CB 23 Marco Materazzi 54' LB 19 Gianluca Zambrotta 35' CM 13 Massimo Ambrosini CM 21 Andrea Pirlo CM 8 Gennaro Gattuso 51' RF 16 Mauro Camoranesi 75' CF 9 Luca Toni 27' LF 11 Antonio Di Natale 64' Substitutions: DF 3 Fabio Grosso 54' FW 7 Alessandro Del Piero 64' FW 18 Antonio Cassano 75' Manager: Roberto Donadoni

Italy vs Romania

2008-06-13 18:00	Italy	1 – 1	Romania	Letzigrund Stadion, Zürich Attendance: 30,585 Referee: Tom Henning Øvrebø (Norway)
	Panucci  56'	(Report)	Mutu  55'

ITALY: GK 1 Gianluigi Buffon RB 19 Gianluca Zambrotta CB 2 Christian Panucci CB 4 Giorgio Chiellini LB 3 Fabio Grosso DM 21 Andrea Pirlo 61' DM 10 Daniele De Rossi 90+2' RW 16 Mauro Camoranesi 85' AM 20 Simone Perrotta 57' LW 7 Alessandro Del Piero (c) 77' CF 9 Luca Toni Substitutions: FW 18 Antonio Cassano 57' FW 15 Fabio Quagliarella 77' MF 13 Massimo Ambrosini 85' Manager: Roberto Donadoni

ROMANIA: GK 1 Bogdan Lobonţ RB 2 Cosmin Contra CB 4 Gabriel Tamaş CB 15 Dorin Goian 73' LB 3 Răzvan Raţ DM 6 Mirel Rădoi 25' RM 7 Florentin Petre 60' CM 8 Paul Codrea LM 5 Cristian Chivu (c) 58' SS 10 Adrian Mutu 43' 88' CF 21 Daniel Niculae Substitutions: MF 20 Nicolae Dică 25' MF 16 Bănel Nicoliţă 60' MF 11 Răzvan Cociş 88' Manager: Victor Piţurcă

Netherlands vs France

2008-06-13 20:45	Netherlands	4 – 1	France	Stade de Suisse, Wankdorf, Berne Attendance: 30,777 Referee: Herbert Fandel (Germany)
	Kuyt  9' van Persie  59' Robben  72' Sneijder  90+2'	(Report)	Henry  71'

NETHERLANDS: GK 1 Edwin van der Sar (c) RB 21 Khalid Boulahrouz CB 2 André Ooijer 51' CB 4 Joris Mathijsen LB 5 Giovanni van Bronckhorst DM 17 Nigel de Jong DM 8 Orlando Engelaar 46' RW 18 Dirk Kuyt 55' AM 23 Rafael van der Vaart 78' LW 10 Wesley Sneijder CF 9 Ruud van Nistelrooy Substitutions: MF 11 Arjen Robben 46' FW 7 Robin van Persie 55' DF 14 Wilfred Bouma 78' Manager: Marco van Basten

FRANCE: GK 23 Grégory Coupet RB 19 Willy Sagnol CB 15 Lilian Thuram (c) CB 5 William Gallas LB 13 Patrice Evra CM 20 Jérémy Toulalan 82' CM 6 Claude Makélélé 32' RW 10 Sidney Govou 75' LW 7 Florent Malouda 60' SS 22 Franck Ribéry CF 12 Thierry Henry Substitutions: FW 18 Bafétimbi Gomis 60' FW 8 Nicolas Anelka 75' Manager: Raymond Domenech

Netherlands vs Romania

2008-06-17 20:45	Netherlands	2 – 0	Romania	Stade de Suisse, Wankdorf, Berne Attendance: 30,777 Referee: Massimo Busacca (Switzerland)
	Huntelaar  54' van Persie  87'	(Report)

NETHERLANDS: GK 16 Maarten Stekelenburg RB 21 Khalid Boulahrouz 58' CB 3 John Heitinga (c) CB 14 Wilfred Bouma LB 15 Tim de Cler DM 6 Demy de Zeeuw DM 8 Orlando Engelaar RW 20 Ibrahim Afellay AM 7 Robin van Persie LW 11 Arjen Robben 61' CF 19 Klaas-Jan Huntelaar 83' Substitutions: DF 12 Mario Melchiot 58' FW 18 Dirk Kuyt 61' FW 22 Jan Vennegoor of Hesselink 83' Manager: Marco van Basten

ROMANIA: GK 1 Bogdan Lobonţ RB 2 Cosmin Contra CB 4 Gabriel Tamaş CB 14 Sorin Ghionea LB 3 Răzvan Raţ DM 8 Paul Codrea 72' RM 11 Răzvan Cociş LM 5 Cristian Chivu (c) 78' RW 16 Bănel Nicoliţă 82' LW 10 Adrian Mutu CF 18 Marius Niculae 59' Substitutions: FW 21 Daniel Niculae 59' MF 20 Nicolae Dică 72' MF 7 Florentin Petre 82' Manager: Victor Piţurcă

France vs Italy

2008-06-17 20:45	France	0 – 2	Italy	Letzigrund Stadion, Zürich Attendance: 30,585 Referee: Ľuboš Micheľ (Slovakia)
		(Report)	Pirlo  25' (pen.) De Rossi  62'

FRANCE: GK 23 Grégory Coupet RB 14 François Clerc CB 5 William Gallas CB 3 Éric Abidal  24' LB 13 Patrice Evra 18' CM 20 Jérémy Toulalan CM 6 Claude Makélélé RW 10 Sidney Govou 47' 66' LW 22 Franck Ribéry 10' CF 9 Karim Benzema CF 12 Thierry Henry (c) 85' Substitutions: MF 11 Samir Nasri 10' 26' DF 2 Jean-Alain Boumsong 72' 26' FW 8 Nicolas Anelka 66' Manager: Raymond Domenech

ITALY: GK 1 Gianluigi Buffon (c) RB 19 Gianluca Zambrotta CB 2 Christian Panucci CB 4 Giorgio Chiellini 45+4' LB 3 Fabio Grosso CM 21 Andrea Pirlo 44' 55' CM 10 Daniele De Rossi CM 8 Gennaro Gattuso 54' 82' AM 20 Simone Perrotta 64' CF 9 Luca Toni CF 18 Antonio Cassano Substitutions: MF 13 Massimo Ambrosini 55' MF 16 Mauro Camoranesi 64' MF 22 Alberto Aquilani 82' Manager: Roberto Donadoni

References