The UEFA EURO 2008™ qualifying campaign was not just a tale of winners and losers. uefa.com looks beyond the 14 successful qualifiers to the individual and collective stories that illuminated the competition.
Net gains
Three players scored four goals in a game: Lukas Podolski (San Marino v Germany), Hakan Sükür (Turkey v Moldova), Mladen Petrić (Croatia v Andorra).
There were nine other hat-tricks registered – two from Northern Ireland's David Healy (against Spain at home and Liechtenstein away). The other men to claim match balls were Shota Arveladze (Faroe Islands v Georgia), Eduardo da Silva (Israel v Croatia), Robbie Keane (Republic of Ireland v San Marino), Aleksandr Kerzhakov (Russia v Andorra), Euzebiusz Smolarek (Poland v Kazakhstan), Theofanis Gekas (Greece v Malta), Steffen Iversen (Malta v Norway).
Generation game
Moldova's Serghei Stroenco was the oldest performer in the campaign at 40 years, seven months and 25 days. Georgia tyro Levan Kenia, in contrast, was just 16 years, ten months and 21 days old when he appeared against Ukraine on 8 September.
Aged 36 years and seven days, Turkey's Hakan Sükür was the most seasoned player to score in qualifying when he found the target against Malta, also on 8 September.
The youngest man to hit the back of the net was Gareth Bale of Wales, aged just 17 years, two months and 21 days, against Slovakia on 7 October 2006. The left-back also became the youngest Welshman to play a competitive international that day, eclipsing the mark set by Ryan Giggs.
Record breakers
Hakan Sükür was one of two players to pass 50 national-team goals during the campaign, the other being Jan Koller of the Czech Republic.
David Healy's superb chipped winner against Denmark in Northern Ireland's penultimate qualifier was a fitting way to break Davor Šuker's record of 12 goals scored in a single UEFA European Championship qualifying campaign.
Thierry Henry surpassed Michel Platini (41 goals) as France's all-time top scorer, his double against Lithuania taking his tally to 43.
Rógvi Jacobsen struck all four of the Faroe Islands' goals in Group B – including home-and-away scores against world champions Italy – to become his country's ten-goal leading marksman.
Eidur Gudjohnsen smashed Iceland's 59-year scoring record when the forward notched twice against Latvia on 13 October. He has 19 international goals.
Lithuania's all-time high lasted even longer, since 1935, until captain Tomas Danilevicius reached new ground with his 13th goal for his country. Peerless Latvia striker Maris Verpakovskis, meanwhile, took his tally to 23 when netting against Liechtenstein.
The Netherlands managed just 15 goals in 12 games, the fewest of all the qualifiers. Their average of 1.25 goals per game was also the lowest ever of a team to qualify for the finals.
Northern Ireland might have qualified had they not lost three of their last five matches to own goals – although Spain's Xavi Hernández was credited with the Iberian side's winner on the final Matchday.
Centurions
Estonia's Martin Reim overtook Lothar Matthäus as the most-capped European player with his 151st international appearance on 22 August. Team-mate Andres Oper also became a centurion along with Patrick Vieira of France, Sweden's Niclas Alexandersson, Imants Bleidelis of Latvia and Malta's Gilbert Agius.
Norway boss Åge Hareide was involved in his 100th fixture with the national team, having also played 50 times for his country. The match against Malta was his 50th as coach.
The 1-0 defeat of Luxembourg on 17 November sent the Netherlands through in Marco van Basten's 100 game for the Oranje – 58 as coach, 42 as one of the game's greatest strikers.
The man who lifted the European crown in 2004, Greece captain Theodoros Zagorakis, bowed out on 120 caps, two of them coming in Group C.
Bad boys
Andorra may have finished on zero points (along with Faroe Islands and San Marino) but they did top one table having collected 39 yellow cards, eight more than Albania and the Sammarinese. Croatia, with only seven bookings, were the cleanest contestants.
There were 52 red cards in qualifying. Seven sides had three men dismissed – Albania, Andorra, Estonia, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Malta, Moldova and San Marino.
Milestones
Germany were the first team to reach the finals – fully 238 days before the tournament opener in Basel. Their 13-0 triumph in San Marino was their best-ever away victory and the biggest win in qualification. It helped to make them the campaign's most prolific team with 35 goals in 12 games.
Surprisingly, Slovakia, who came fourth in Germany's group, were the second top scorers with 33 goals. Seven of that total came without reply against San Marino, a record win for Slovakia. The Czech Republic's 7-0 thrashing of the same opponents almost equalled their best of 8-1.
The Faroe Islands, San Marino and Andorra all finished point-less. San Marino had the worst goal difference, though, scoring two goals and shipping 57.
Kazakhstan took part in their first-ever EURO qualifying bid. They recorded their first victory at this level against Serbia on 24 March. Serbia were also playing as an independent country for the first time.
Having won just one UEFA European Championship qualifer previously, Liechtenstein enjoyed taking the scalps of both Latvia and Iceland. That second success, by 3-0, is their best-ever result.
When Fons Leweck headed Luxembourg's stoppage-time winner against Belarus on 13 October, it ended a run of 55 competitive matches without a victory, stretching back 12 years.
Despite recording their most points in a qualifying attempt – 25 – Bulgaria failed to advance from Group G. Their previous best had been 22 points on the road to EURO '96™.
Cyprus ended up fifth in Group D yet still secured their highest haul of points (14), of wins (four) and of goals (17) in a campaign.
Finland were another to register their most points (24), most wins (six) and fewest defeats (two). Roy Hodgson's men also featured in more goalless draws than any other side – five, with four coming in their last five Group A games.
F.Y.R. Macedonia (14 points) and Malta (five) enjoyed their best qualifying campaigns, while this was England's worst: they lost three times in a section for the first time. The same applies to Hungary, who finished a lowly sixth in Group C.
Romania qualified for a final tournament for the first time since 2000 – with the same man, Victor Piturca, at the helm each time. His side also claimed a first-ever victory over the Netherlands in Group G.
Coaching changes
Armenia's EURO will be remembered with sadness following the death in September of coach Ian Porterfield. The Scotsman had been on the bench for a game against Portugal the month before, despite undergoing treatment for cancer in London at the time.
Bulgaria were the only participant to employ three coaches: Hristo Stoichkov (five games), Stanimir Stoilov (two) and Dimitar Penev (five).
Shakhin Diniyev (Azerbaijan), Yuri Puntus (Belarus), Blaz Sliškovic (Bosnia-Herzegovina), Jelle Goes (Estonia), Eyjólfur Sverrisson (Iceland), Jurijs Andrejevs (Latvia), Anatol Teslev (Moldova), Lawrie Sanchez (Northern Ireland), Steve Staunton (Republic of Ireland), Walter Smith (Scotland) and Dušan Galis (Slovakia) all failed to see out qualifying. Albania's Otto Baric and Steve McClaren of England were sacked at the conclusion of their groups.
Greece march on
By contrast, Otto Rehhagel goes from strength to strength with Greece. The man who guided the country to glory in 2004, established a Greek record when taking charge of the team for the 75th time against Hungary. The holders also took more points than any other side – 31 – and will hope to continue setting the pace in Austria and Switzerland.
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