Spain finally ended their 44-year wait for a trophy when Fernando Torres's exquisite first-half goal gave them a deserved 1-0 victory over Germany in a fast and furious Euro 2008 final on Sunday.
Coach Guus Hiddink said Russia's success at Euro 2008 had surprised him and told his players to enjoy themselves in their semi-final against Spain because whatever the result it would make them better players.
Roberto Donadoni's position as Italy coach will be discussed in the coming weeks after the world champions went out of Euro 2008 in the quarter-finals on Sunday, Italian soccer federation chief Giancarlo Abete said.
Substitute Dmitri Torbinski and Andrei Arshavin scored late in extra time to give Russia a deserved 3-1 win over Netherlands and a semifinal berth at the 2008 European Championships on Saturday.
Rustu Recber saved a penalty shot from Mladen Petric on Friday to send Turkey into the European Championship semifinals with a 3-1 shootout win over Croatia.
Croatia captain Niko Kovac hinted he was likely to hang up his international boots after their astonishing Euro 2008 quarter-final defeat by Turkey on Friday.
Bastian Schweinsteiger said he was pleased to make up for his group stage sending off by inspiring Germany to a 3-2 win over Portugal in their Euro 2008 quarter-final.
Cristiano Ronaldo hinted on Thursday he would leave Manchester United for Real Madrid after Portugal went out of Euro 2008.
Russia produced their best performance of Euro 2008 just when it was most needed on Wednesday, beating Sweden 2-0 to snatch second place in Group D and earn a quarter-final meeting with Netherlands.
Forget the defeat by Netherlands and the draw with Romania because Italy's 2-0 win over France on Tuesday showed the world champion is finally on the move.
World champions Italy fought their way back from the Euro 2008 exit door by beating 10-man France 2-0 on Tuesday to line up a quarter-final with Spain.
Croatia showed they are well-equipped to make a serious bid for the Euro 2008 title when their reserves swept aside Poland 1-0 in their final Group B game on Monday.
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