Uefadirect #79 (11.2008)
UEFAdirect-79-Nov.•E 17.10.2008 15:19 Page 1 11. 0 8 Including UEFA Cup groups 03 UEFA Europa League replaces UEFA Cup 06 Solidarity payments for youth training 07 EURO expands to 24 teams 12 No 58 – Février 2007 79 November 2008 UEFAdirect-79-Nov.•E 17.10.2008 15:19 Page 2 Message Photos: UEFA-pjwoods.ch of the president The EURO assumes new dimensions When, at the 2007 UEFA Congress in Düsseldorf, a few national associations raised the idea of expanding the European Football Championship final round from 16 to 24 participants, I was rather sceptical, I have to say. However, EURO 2008 convinced me that it was a good idea. Once again, the tournament illustrated the extraordinary passion generated by national team football and gave rise to such a fantastic party atmosphere that I felt it was only right for the tournament to be extended to more countries, to let even more supporters take part and to spread the excitement and party atmosphere far and wide across the continent. I also felt that the emotion of the tournament should be heightened by adding a direct knockout round for the last 16 in the competition and by ensuring that all the group matches, or the vast majority of them at least, would be crucial, by allowing the best third-placed teams through to the next round. The quality of the matches we saw during EURO 2008 also confirmed the high technical level of European football, and teams like England, Scotland and IN THIS ISSUE Denmark, or even Serbia and Ukraine – to name but a few – would certainly not UEFA Cup groups 03 have reduced the quality of the tournament.
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