Sunday, June 29, 2008

'A summer dream come true'


The presidents of the two host national associations of UEFA EURO 2008™ – Austria's Friedrich Stickler and Switzerland's Ralph Zloczower – have expressed their pride at the success of the tournament.

Superb festival
Five and a half years have passed since the two men were united in joy at having been awarded the final round of European football's blue-riband national-team competition. As Austria and Switzerland bid farewell with tonight's final between Germany and Spain in Vienna, the presidents enthused about what has been a superb football festival. "Today is a special day. On 12 December 2002, Austria and Switzerland were awarded the European Championship," said Stickler. "And now we've come full circle. Looking back it's been totally positive. It's the biggest event which has ever taken place in Austria and has been well received. A dream has come true for the two associations. Over the past few weeks, we've shown that we're extremely able to manage such an event. Co-operation with the Swiss FA has been impeccable."

'High-quality final'
Zloczower added: "I'd like to fully return Friedrich Stickler's compliments, because I too feel our co-operation could not have been better. I'm confident that we're going to have an interesting and high-quality final this evening and it's with a bit of sadness that by midnight tonight it will all be over, and UEFA EURO 2008™ in Austria and Switzerland will be a part of history." Both presidents spoke of the excellent atmosphere that has surrounded the tournament on and off the pitch. "More than four million people have been to the Fan Zones, so this was a peaceful mass movement without any significant incidents," said Stickler. "Football has rightly been the centre of attention; we've seen excellent matches played in a wonderful atmosphere – it's been a summer dream come true for Austria and Switzerland."

'Expect Emotions'
"In the Fan Zones the Expect Emotions slogan was a great success - it became a reality and the atmosphere couldn't have been better, particularly in my home town of Berne," added Zloczower. "The images of the Dutch fans is something I will never forget. I would like to thank the public authorities for the help we've received. All the efforts have been worthwhile and we can be totally satisfied with what we've achieved."

TV figures excellent
TV viewing figures for the tournament were welcomed by the FA presidents – hundreds of millions of viewers throughout the world have been enthralled by the action on offer so far. "Today is also special because the whole world will be watching the match tonight," said Stickler, who added of the global viewing figures for the 2004 showpiece: "At the last final in Portugal, the figure was [more than] 270 million TV viewers and it will be more tonight, possibly even reaching the 300 million mark. The TV figures so far are quite impressive. In Austria, there has been an increase of 40 per cent from the last EURO, and others have had even higher market shares of 60, 70, even 80 per cent, so we've set new standards."

Pitch decision right
Zloczower stressed that the decision to change the pitch in Basel had been the correct one, following the torrential rain that affected the playing surface at the Switzerland-Turkey group match. "Crisis management was needed once, in Basel because of the pitch," he explained. "We coped with the challenge and it was worth the effort of replacing the pitch. We always had that as a Plan B, and the quarter-finals and semi-final were played under excellent conditions." Looking ahead to the final, Stickler said he hoped for a "happy end" to UEFA EURO 2008™, while Zloczower said he wanted goals for a special reason. "In terms of sport, we've seen attacking football of the kind we love," he said. "We've seen 76 goals – there were 77 in Portugal, so we're missing two tonight so we can beat that mark."

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