Euro 2008 Top Goal Scorers

The 2008 UEFA European Football Championship, commonly referred to as UEFA Euro 2008 or simply Euro 2008, was the 13th UEFA European Championship, a quadrennial football tournament contested by the member nations of UEFA (the Union of European Football Associations). It took place in Austria and Switzerland (both hosting the tournament for the first time) from 7 to 29 June 2008.

The tournament was won by Spain, who defeated Germany 1–0 in the final. Spain was only the second nation to win all their group stage fixtures and then the European Championship itself, matching France's achievement from 1984. Spain was also the first team since Germany in 1996 to win the tournament undefeated.

Greece were the defending champions going into the tournament, having won UEFA Euro 2004. They recorded the worst finish in Euro 2008, losing their three group fixtures and collecting the least amount of prize money. Throughout 31 matches, the participating nations totalled 77 goals, the same as the previous tournament.

Austria and Switzerland automatically qualified as hosts; the remaining 14 teams were determined through a qualifying tournament, played between August 2006 and November 2007. As European champions, Spain earned the right to compete in the 2009 FIFA Confederations Cup in South Africa.

Now, let’s know the top scorers in UEFA Euro 1980. There were 77 goals scored in 31 games, for an average of 2.48 goals per match. The Euro top goal scorers are as follow:

4 goals

• David Villa - Spain

3 goals

• Lukas Podolski - Germany

• Roman Pavlyuchenko - Russia

• Hakan Yakin - Switzerland

• Semih Şentürk - Turkey

Euro 2008 Top Goal Scorers

Now we

know the top scorers in UEFA Euro 1980

. As you can see, one player scored 4 goals in UEFA Euro 2008 and three footballers netted 3 goals. So, we introduce all of them in the 

top goal scorers Euro 2008

. It's time to know the top scorers in UEFA Euro 2008.

Lukas Josef Podolski – Germany (3 goals)

Lukas Josef Podolski was one of the

Euro top goal scorers

. He born on 4 June 1985 and is a German professional football player who plays as a forward for Turkish team Antalyaspor.

Well-known for his great and accurate left foot, Lukas Podolski is known for his explosive shot, technique and probing attacks from the left side.

Poldi joined 

 in 1995 where he made it into the first team in 2003 resulting in playing in 81 matches for the team before joining Bayern Munich. With Bayern Munich, Lukas Podolski won the Bundesliga title and DFB-Pokal  in 2008.

Lukas Podolski returned to FC Köln in 2009. He later moved to Premier League team Arsenal in 2012, with whom he won the FA Cup in 2014.

Lukas then moved on loan to Serie A club 

 in January 2015, and then six months later signed for Galatasaray where he also lifted the Türkiye Kupası of 2016.

Podolski was authorized to play for Germany and Poland. Podolski initially wanted to play for the Poland national team but was rejected by then Polish coach Paweł Janas in 2003. 

The striker however enjoyed a great accomplishment with the German national team. He first played for Germany in 2004 and was a part of the squad in seven main tournaments, winning the 2014 FIFA World Cup in Brazil. Lukas Podolski is the third most-capped football player in German history, with 130 games, and the third-highest goal scorer in German history, having scored 49 goals.

On 29 May 2013, Lukas Podolski scored the fastest goal in German national team history, after just nine seconds of the 4–2 friendly victory over Ecuador. At that time, it was the second fastest international goal in history, second only to San Marino's Davide Gualtieri's 8.3-second strike against England in 1993. 

Lukas Podolski retired from international football on 22 March 2017 after he netted the winner in a friendly match against England.

Roman Anatolyevich Pavlyuchenko – Russia (3 goals)

One of the Euro top goal scorers in

UEFA Euro 2008

was Roman Pavlyuchenko. He was born on 15 December 1981. He is a Russian football player who plays as an attacker for FC Znamya Noginsk.

Roman Pavlyuchenko began his professional career at Dynamo Stavropol, and Rotor Volgograd, before he transferred to 

 in 2003. His performances in the club earned him a £13.7 million transfer to Tottenham Hotspur of the English Premier League in 2008. In Tottenham Hotspur, Roman Pavlyuchenko spent three full seasons before he returned to Russia to play for Lokomotiv Moscow. After another full 3 seasons he moved to Kuban Krasnodar in July 2015.

Pavlyuchenko was a full international player for a decade. He made his debut in 2003 and earned 51 caps for Russia, and netted 21 international goals.

The Russian was also named in the Team of the Tournament at

UEFA Euro 2008

, with Russia reaching the semi-finals, and was also in the nation’s squad for Euro 2012.

Hakan Yakin – Switzerland (3 goals)

One of the top goal scorers Euro 2008 was Hakan Yakin. He was born on 22 February 1977 and is a Swiss former football player who played as a striker or midfielder. Hakan Yakin was a member of the Swiss national team for 11 years.

Hakan Yakin played in 87 matches for Switzerland, the first coming in 2000. Hakan was offered Turkish nationality before being called up to the Swiss team, but rejected it for personal motives. Hakan Yakin has played in UEFA Euro 2004, 

UEFA Euro 2008

, and 2006 FIFA World Cup and the 2010 FIFA World Cup with his national team.

On 11 June 2008, Hakan Yakin netted the opening goal in the 32nd minute of Switzerland's second UEFA Euro 2008 Group A game against Turkey, giving them a 1–0 lead and he did not celebrate after his goal as a respect for his own family's birth country. Though, he missed another chance in a while afterward as Turkey netted two second-half goals, resulting in Switzerland's becoming the first national team to be mathematically eliminated from their own competition within five days of its beginning. Nevertheless, in Switzerland's final group game against Portugal on 15 June, Hakan Yakin scored two second-half goals, the second a penalty kick, to secure their first ever victory at the UEFA Euro Championship, 2–0. 

Hakan Yakin finished the tournament as joint-second highest goal scorer with Lukas Podolski, Roman Pavlyuchenko, and Semih Şentürk with three goals each, behind David Villa's four goals.

Under new national team manager, Ottmar Hitzfeld, Hakan Yakin played in seven of Switzerland's ten qualifying games for the 2010 FIFA World Cup, starting twice, and making five substitute appearances, netting one goal in Switzerland's opening qualifier against Israel. Finally, Hakan Yakin declared his retirement from the Swiss national team on 4 October 2011.

Semih Şentürk – Turkey (3 goals)

Semih Şentürk was the other top goal scorers UEFA Euro 2008. He was born on 29 April 1983 and is a Turkish former international football player who played as a forward.

He has spent most of his club career at 

 in which he played from 1999 to 2014, winning 5 Süper Lig and 2 Turkish Cup trophies. Şentürk was a member of the squad of Turkey at UEFA Euro 2008, in which Turkey reaches semi-finals. Semih Şentürk was the top-scorer of Süper Lig in 2007–08 season with 17 goals.

Şentürk was included to Turkey national team by Fatih Terim. On 11 June he came on as a substitute in the 46th minute and in the 57th minute of the second Group A match against Switzerland and netted the equalizer with a powerful header outjumping Swiss defence and beating the goalkeeper, although he got a hand on it. 

In the quarter-finals match against Croatia, Semih Şentürk netted a last-second equalizer, leading team to beat Croatia through the penalty shootouts.

The UEFA Euro 2008 semi-final against Germany had a thriller ending in which Semih Şentürk played a key role.

In the 86th minute, just 7 minutes after Miroslav Klose scored a goal, Semih Şentürk took a low cross provided by teammate Sabri Sarıoğlu and steered in the crucial equalizer. Though, his team went on to be defeated as Germany's winger-back Philipp Lahm was able to to score a significant goal in the 90th minute, which knocked out Turkey finally. Upon the end of the tournament, Semih Şentürk received many approvals for his last minute heroics, with the press labelling him as the super-sub of the tournament.

David Villa Sánchez – Spain (4 goals)

One of the Euro 2008 top goal scorers and the first in the ranking is David Villa Sánchez. He was born on 3 December 1981. David Villa is a Spanish retired professional football player who played as a forward. David Villa is considered by commentators as one of the best forwards of his generation, and one of the best Spanish forward of all time. 

David Villa is now working as a technical consultant for the Indian Super League team Odisha FC as well as the head of Global Football Operations.

David Villa was Nicknamed El Guaje (The Kid in Asturian) due to a reputation of playing football with children much older than him. He sustained a serious injury as a child but was able to start his professional career with Sporting de Gijón in 2001.

He joined Real Zaragoza after two seasons, where he made his La Liga first appearance, and won the Copa del Rey and Supercopa de España. David Villa joined 

 in 2005 for a transfer fee of €12 million and won another Copa del Rey trophy. When he was 28 years old, David Villa scored 28 league goals and moved to 

 for a transfer fee of €40 million in 2010, where he could win his first La Liga and UEFA Champions League trophies, and netted a stunning goal in the 2011 final match against Manchester United.

David Villa left the team in 2013 after concluding a €5.1 million transfer to Atlético Madrid, where he lifted another La Liga title. After a single season in the capital city of Spain, David Villa left to join new MLS franchise New York City, where he became the team's best goal scorer and appearance maker, winning the MLS MVP Award for best player in 2016. In 2018, Villa publicised his leaving from New York, to join Vissel Kobe in Japan.

Regarding David Villa’s international career, it is worth mentioning that he made his international debut for Spain national team in 2005. He for Spain in four major tournaments, and was one of the most important players of the Spain teams that won UEFA Euro 2008 and the 2010 World Cup.

David Villa netted three goals at the 2006 World Cup, was the top scorer at UEFA Euro 2008, and got the Silver Boot at the 2010 World Cup. David Villa’s shows for Spain and Valencia saw him named in the FIFA FIFPro World11 for 2010.

David Villa became the first Spanish football player to ever reach 50 international goals and, after a brief comeback in 2017, he retired from the national team with 59 goals in 98 games, making him Spain's all-time best goal scorer as well as the nation's top scorer in the World Cup, with 9 goals.

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