The 2009 UEFA Women's Championship, or just Women's Euro 2009, was played in Finland between 23 August and 10 September 2009. The host was appointed on 11 July 2006, in a

UEFA Union of European Football Associations (UEFA ; french: Union des associations européennes de football; german: Union der europäischen Fußballverbände) is one of six continental bodies of governance in association football. It governs f ...

Executive Committee meeting in

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constitue ...

and the Finnish proposal won over the

Dutch Dutch commonly refers to: * Something of, from, or related to the Netherlands * Dutch people () * Dutch language () Dutch may also refer to: Places * Dutch, West Virginia, a community in the United States * Pennsylvania Dutch Country People E ...

proposal. The

UEFA Women's Championship The UEFA European Women's Championship, also called the UEFA Women's Euro, held every four years, is the main competition in women's association football between national teams of the UEFA confederation. The competition is the women's equivalent ...

is a regular tournament involving European national teams from countries affiliated to

, the European governing body, who have qualified for the competition. The competition aims to determine which national women's team is the best in Europe. The 2009 tournament was won by

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

for a seventh time in ten events. They beat

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

, appearing in their first final since 1984, 6–2 in the final. The Germans also boasted the tournament's leading goalscorer in

Inka Grings Inka Grings (born 31 October 1978) is a German former international footballer who played as a striker. She played sixteen years for FCR 2001 Duisburg before joining FC Zürich Frauen. She also played for the Germany national team. Grings is ...

Format

Twelve teams competed in the competition, an increase of 4 teams from 8 teams that played in previous tournaments. After a preliminary round, 30 teams competed in a qualifying group stage. Those teams were divided into six groups of five, with teams playing each other on a home-and-away basis. The six group winners advanced to the final tournament. The six runners-up and the four best third-placed teams played a qualification playoff. Those 11 teams and the hosts completed the 12-team lineup for the competition.

Qualification

45 teams competed for the eleven available places in the final tournament; the qualifying teams together with the host were: :

¹ Bold indicates champion for that year. ''Italic'' indicates host for that year

Venues

The tournament was played in four cities in Finland:

Helsinki Helsinki ( or ; ; sv, Helsingfors, ) is the Capital city, capital, primate city, primate, and List of cities and towns in Finland, most populous city of Finland. Located on the shore of the Gulf of Finland, it is the seat of the region of U ...

Turku Turku ( ; ; sv, Åbo, ) is a city and former capital on the southwest coast of Finland at the mouth of the Aura River, in the region of Finland Proper (''Varsinais-Suomi'') and the former Turku and Pori Province (''Turun ja Porin lääni''; ...

Tampere Tampere ( , , ; sv, Tammerfors, ) is a city in the Pirkanmaa region, located in the western part of Finland. Tampere is the most populous inland city in the Nordic countries. It has a population of 244,029; the urban area has a population o ...

and

Lahti Lahti (; sv, Lahtis) is a city and municipality in Finland. It is the capital of the region of Päijänne Tavastia (Päijät-Häme) and its growing region is one of the main economic hubs of Finland. Lahti is situated on a bay at the southern e ...

Tournament review

Matchday One – 23–25 August

In the opening round of Group A matches,

Finland Finland ( fi, Suomi ; sv, Finland ), officially the Republic of Finland (; ), is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It shares land borders with Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of B ...

and the

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

showed that they would be contenders for qualification beyond the group stage. In the opening match of the tournament goals from Kirsten van de Ven and Karin Stevens would give the Dutch women a 2–0 victory over

Ukraine Ukraine ( uk, Україна, Ukraïna, ) is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the second-largest European country after Russia, which it borders to the east and northeast. Ukraine covers approximately . Prior to the ongoing Russian inv ...

. The evening fixture in the Olympic Stadium in Helsinki saw the host nation Finland begin their campaign with a 1–0 victory over

Denmark ) , song = ( en, "King Christian stood by the lofty mast") , song_type = National and royal anthem , image_map = EU-Denmark.svg , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Danish Realm, Kingdom of Denmark ...

. Maija Saari scored the first goal of the campaign, her first international goal. In Group B defending World and European Champions

set the marker, dispatching fellow contenders

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe, the mainland territory of which comprises the western and northernmost portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and t ...

4–0. The champions and favourites to defend their title stuttered early on as they took a 1–0 lead, but in stoppage time three more goals helped the Germans to their victory and their lead in Group B. In the other match in Group B,

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

began their campaign with a win, recovering from a goal down to beat

Iceland Iceland ( is, Ísland; ) is a Nordic island country in the North Atlantic Ocean and in the Arctic Ocean. Iceland is the most sparsely populated country in Europe. Iceland's capital and largest city is Reykjavík, which (along with its s ...

3–1. Group C opened with a surprise, World Cup quarter-finalists

beaten 2–1 by Group C outsiders

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...

. England led 1–0 thanks to a Williams penalty just before half-time; however, goals from Panico and Tuttino gave Italy the victory. England finished the game with ten women after Casey Stoney was dismissed. In Group C's other match 2003 World Cup finalists

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden,The United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names states that the country's formal name is the Kingdom of SwedenUNGEGN World Geographical Names, Sweden./ref> is a Nordic country located on ...

opened their challenge with a comfortable 3–0 win over

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia, Northern Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the ...

Matchday Two – 26–28 August

Finland continued their good form in Group A, following up their 1–0 victory with a 2–1 win against the Netherlands. Kalmari scored twice as the home nation moved into the quarter-finals as winners of Group A with a match to spare. The win for Finland would prove to be the end for Ukraine. Earlier on the Ukrainian team had been beaten by Denmark 2–1, and a result of the Dutch and Danes' meeting in the next round of Group games could no longer qualify for the quarter-finals. Maiken Pape scored three minutes from time to devastate the debut nation. Group B saw holders Germany progress after another victory, this time a 5–1 success against the French. Norway recovered from their opening defeat to edge past Iceland by a single goal, a result which eliminated the Icelandic team. In Group C; Sweden booked their place in the last eight with a 2–0 win over Italy arguably the surprise package of the tournament so far. Two goals in the first twenty minutes killed the game for Sweden who now meet England in their final group match. Sweden's win in Turku meant that if England lost their match against Russia then their hopes would be over at the Group stage for the third successive Euro. Russia knowing a win would kickstart their campaign appeared certain to condemn the English to an exit as goals from Ksenia Tsybutovich and Olesya Kurochkina gave the Russians a 2–0 lead. However, that wasn't the end of the tale. England player Karen Carney reduced the gap and then just ten minutes later Carney dinked the ball through to Aluko who equalised for the England team. Two minutes before half-time Kelly Smith scored the fifth goal of the half and what proved to be the winner in a result which gives both sides a chance of qualifying.

Matchday Three – 29–31 August

With both Ukraine and Finland knowing where they would finish in the Group, the hosts made four changes to their line up for the final group game. The Ukrainian side took advantage of the changes and signed off from their first UEFA Women's Euro with a 1–0 victory. With everything to play for in the other Group A match, The Netherlands with goals from Sylvia Smit and Manon Melis took a 2–0 lead over Denmark. Rasmussen reduced the arrears however the Dutch would hold on to take second place and leave Denmark relying on results from Group B and Group C to now progress to the quarter-finals. In Group B; Germany through Inka Grings took top spot and the maximum nine points from three matches as they ended the Icelandic challenge with a 1–0 victory. Iceland, making their debut in the tournament showed renewed spirit but could not secure their first point in the European Championships. In the other game a 1–1 draw between Norway and France secured both teams their place in the quarter-finals. The first round concluded on 31 August with the final games in Group C. Played simultaneously as are all final group matches. Italy secured their passage in the tournament with a 2–0 win over Russia, eliminating the Russians from the competition. Russia aware that a three-goal win would guarantee a place in the knock-out stages held out until 13 minutes from the end. In Group C's final game Sweden secured top spot in the group with a 1–1 draw against England, a result which saw the English side qualify. The result also eliminated Denmark in Group A as the side in third place with the worst record.

Quarter-finals – 3–4 September

In the opening quarter-final in Turku, Group A winner Finland took on second-best third-place and Group C qualifiers England. England, seeking to reach the last four following their early elimination in 2005 started well; Aluko giving them a 1–0 half-time lead. A Williams goal put England 2–0 up on 49 minutes and in total control. The home team rallied a goal from Sjölund recovering the deficit to 2–1 before Aluko put England 3–1 up and with one foot in the last four a minute later. A Sällström goal proved mere consolation for the Home nation who went out of the tournament 3–2. In the second quarter-final held between the runners-up of Group A and Group B France took on Netherlands. In a tight match no goals would be scored in normal time or extra time forcing the first shootout of the tournament. After eight perfect penalties making the score 4–4, both teams missed their next two efforts as the tension continued to mount. However, the Dutch would prevail 5–4 to send out France, and book a date with England in the semi-finals. In Friday's quarter-final matches, Germany took a 2–0 lead thanks to Two goals from Grings, making her top goalscorer in the tournament so far. Patriza Panico scored for Italy, and for a couple of moments it seemed that the holders may be in trouble. However, Germany soon regained control in possession and would win 2–1 to book their place in the semi-finals yet again. In the final match of the round, Norway began to impress. Two goals in 7 minutes meant that the Norwegian women led 2–0 at half-time against a very strong and very impressive Swedish side. Cecile Pedersen's goal on the hour meant Norway led one of the favourites in Sweden 3–0. Even though Sandell Svensson scored for Sweden it would prove to be no more than consolation as Norway won 3–1 to secure a semi-final spot with Germany and a chance to avenge the 4–0 loss suffered against the Germans in their opening game.

Semi-finals – 6–7 September

In the opening semi-final England faced the Netherlands; Both teams having caused surprises to reach this stage of the tournament. England took the lead in the 61st minute with a goal from Kelly Smith. Marlous Pieëte levelled the scores at 1–1. The score at the end of 90 minutes was indeed that and extra-time started with the Dutch, who had advanced already via that method as favourite. However, with four minutes left and with Penalties looming Jill Scott scored the winner to send England into the final.

Final (England vs. Germany) – 10 September

England tried from the start to take the game to the favourites, Germany. But after missing several chances, England found themselves behind after 20 minutes of play when Germany scored in their very first attack ( Birgit Prinz), and immediately scored a second—a long-range shot from Melanie Behringer to go 2–0 up. Two minutes later, England pulled one back (

Karen Carney Karen Julia Carney (born 1 August 1987) is an English sports journalist and former professional footballer who played as a winger and midfielder. Carney has been a regular broadcaster for live football on Sky Sports and Amazon Prime, includi ...

) and the game remained delicately balanced until half-time. The second half initially continued much the same as the first, with England generally attacking and Germany content to play a counter-attacking game. In the second half, Germany added a third (

Kim Kulig Kim Nadine Kulig-Soyah (; born 9 April 1990) is a retired German footballer. She last played as a central midfielder or forward for 1. FFC Frankfurt and the German national team. Career Club Kulig, born in Herrenberg, Swabia, Baden-Württemb ...

) and England responded with their second ( Kelly Smith), but when Grings scored Germany's fourth, England seemed to lose heart, and Germany were able to seal the win with a further two goals (Grings and Prinz getting their second goal each).

Gallery

File:Euro 2009 - Germany-Norway - Goal Scrum 239.jpg, Germany playing Norway in Tampere, 24 August File:LauraKalmari.jpg,

Laura Österberg Kalmari Laura Elina Österberg Kalmari (; born 27 May 1979) is a Finnish former professional footballer. Immediately prior to her retirement in early 2012, she had been playing as a forward for American Women's Professional Soccer (WPS) team Sky Blue FC. ...

scored two goals for hosts Finland File:Faye White crop.jpg,

Faye White Faye Deborah White, (born 2 February 1978) is an English former footballer who captained Arsenal Women in the FA Women's Super League and is the longest-serving female captain of England to date. Her Lionesses career spanned 15 years and five m ...

suffered a fracture in the quarter-final, but returned for the final

Results

''All times local (

EEST Eastern European Summer Time (EEST) is one of the names of the UTC+03:00 time zone, which is 3 hours ahead of Coordinated Universal Time. It is used as a summer daylight saving time in some European and Middle Eastern countries, which makes it ...

UTC+3 UTC+03:00 is an identifier for a time offset from UTC of +03:00. In areas using this time offset, the time is three hours later than the Coordinated Universal Time (UTC). Following the ISO 8601 standard, a time with this offset would be wri ...

)''

Group stage

The top two teams from each group progress to the quarter-finals along with the two best third-placed teams. If two or more teams are level on points they are split by, in order of precedence: (a) higher number of points obtained in the matches played between the teams in question, (b) superior goal difference from the matches played between the teams in question (c) higher number of goals scored in the matches between the teams in question, (d) superior goal difference from all matches played, (e) higher number of goals scored, (f) Fair Play ranking (from during the tournament), (g) the drawing of lots.

Group A

---- ---- ---- ---- ----

Group B

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Group C

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Third-placed qualifiers

At the end of the first stage, a comparison will be made between the third placed teams of each group. The two best third-placed teams advance to the quarter-finals.

Knockout stage

Quarter-finals

---- ---- ----

Semi-finals

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Final

Goalscorers

;6 goals *

;3 goals * Eniola Aluko * Kelly Smith *

Fatmire Bajramaj Fatmire "Lira" Alushi (; born 1 April 1988) is a German former professional footballer who played as an attacking midfielder. She placed third in 2010 FIFA Ballon d'Or competition, an annual award given to the world's best player. Club career ...

Victoria Sandell Svensson Victoria Margareta Sandell Svensson (born 18 May 1977) is a Sweden, Swedish Association football, football manager and former player. Nicknamed Vickan, she was team captain on the Sweden women's national football team, Swedish women's national te ...

;2 goals *

Fara Williams Fara Tanya Franki Merrett MBE (born 25 January 1984) is an English former footballer who played as a central midfielder for multiple clubs, as well as the English national team. A consistent goalscorer and set-piece specialist, Williams was co ...

Camille Abily Camille Anne Françoise Abily (born 5 December 1984) is a French football manager and former player, best known as a star midfielder for both the French women's national team and for the Lyon club in the Division 1 Féminine. She currently is t ...

* Melanie Behringer *

Linda Bresonik Linda Bresonik (born 7 December 1983) is a German retired footballer. She played as a defensive midfielder or wing back. She mostly played for Duisburg, and many times for Germany. Career Club Bresonik began her career at the age of five at Tu ...

* Simone Laudehr * Birgit Prinz *

Patrizia Panico Patrizia Panico (; born 8 February 1975) is an Italian former footballer who is the current manager of Italy U16. A prolific goalscorer, Panico is a longstanding member of the Italy women's national team; she won over 185 caps for Italy, and als ...

* Kirsten van de Ven * Cecilie Pedersen ;1 goal *

Camilla Sand Andersen Camilla Sand (born 14 February 1986 in Als, Hadsund) is a Danish football midfielder. She currently plays for Fortuna Hjørring Fortuna Hjørring is a women's association football team from Hjørring, Denmark. The club was formed in 1966 and pl ...

Maiken Pape Maiken With Pape (born 20 February 1978) is a retired Danish international football striker and former professional tennis player. In January 2009 she signed to play for Stabæk in Norway. She has previously played for Brøndby. Career statist ...

* Johanna Rasmussen * Jill Scott *

* Maija Saari *

Linda Sällström Linda Charlotta Sällström (born 13 July 1988) is a Finnish international footballer. She currently plays for Vittsjö GIK in the Damallsvenskan and the Finland women's national football team. Career She made her debut for the senior Finland t ...

Annica Sjölund Annica Maria Sjölund (born 31 March 1985) is a Finnish football striker, who last played for Kopparbergs/Göteborg FC of Sweden's Damallsvenskan. She previously played for FC United Pietarsaari and Åland United in Finland's Naisten Liiga a ...

* Sonia Bompastor *

Louisa Nécib Louisa Nécib Cadamuro (; born 23 January 1987) is a French former professional footballer who played for the France national team. She spent the majority of her career at Lyon, amassing eighteen titles with the French club over a nine-year spa ...

* Gaëtane Thiney *

Annike Krahn Annike Berit Krahn (born 1 July 1985) is a German former footballer who played as a centre back. Club career Krahn started playing football at the age of four. She played at SV Westfalia Weitmar 09, SV Waldesrand Linden, TuS Harpen and SG Watte ...

* Anja Mittag * Célia Okoyino da Mbabi *

Hólmfríður Magnúsdóttir Hólmfríður "Fríða" Magnúsdóttir (born 20 September 1984) is an Icelandic former footballer who played as a left winger or as an attacking midfielder. Hólmfríður was a part of Iceland's national team from 2003 to 2020 and represented ...

Melania Gabbiadini Melania Gabbiadini (born 28 August 1983) is an Italian former football forward. After beginning her career with Bergamo in 2000, she later joined AGSM Verona in 2004 and went on to captain the team, until her retirement in 2017. She won five ''S ...

* Alessia Tuttino *

Tatiana Zorri Tatiana Zorri is an Italian former women's soccer, football midfielder, who rounded off her career at ASDCF Bardolino, Bardolino CF in Serie A (women's football), Serie A. She has also played for SS Lazio, Torino Calcio Femminile, Torino CF and U ...

Manon Melis Gabriëlla Maria "Manon" Melis (; born 31 August 1986) is a Dutch football coach and former player who is a manager of women's football development at Feyenoord. As a professional player she played as a forward. She spent most of her profess ...

Marlous Pieëte Marlous Pieëte (born 19 July 1989, in Naarden) is a Dutch female retired footballer who played either as a midfielder or as a striker for Western Sydney Wanderers in the Australian W-League and international football for the Netherlands women' ...

Sylvia Smit Sylvia Smit (born 4 July 1986) is a Dutch female footballer who plays as a midfielder and striker for DTS Ede in the Dutch Topklasse. She has played professional football for clubs in the Dutch Eredivisie Vrouwen and the Belgian-Dutch BeNe Leag ...

* Karin Stevens *

Anneli Giske Anneli is a female given name common in Finland, Sweden, Estonia and Norway. It originated as a variation of the name Anna (given name), Anna. It is listed by the Finnish Population Register Centre as one of the top 10 most popular female given ...

Isabell Herlovsen Isabell Lehn Herlovsen (born 23 June 1988) is a Norwegian former football player. She last played for Våleranga and Kolbotn after moving home from China and the club Jiangsu Suning. She plays as a midfielder and a striker. Herlovsen is the ...

Lene Storløkken Lene Glesåsen Storløkken (born 20 June 1981) is a Norwegian football player who played for the LSK Kvinner FK. Career Storløkken is a midfielder and her former clubs are Athene Moss, Setskog/Høland FK and Kurland FK. International career S ...

* Olesya Kurochkina *

Ksenia Tsybutovich Ksenia Tsybutovich (born 26 June 1987) is a Russian football defender, currently playing for Zenit in the Russian Championship. She has won four league titles with Rossiyanka, Zvezda Perm and Ryazan. She is a member of the Russian national t ...

* Kosovare Asllani *

Charlotte Rohlin Barbro Charlotte Rohlin (born 2 December 1980) is a Swedish former footballer who played as a defender and captained Damallsvenskan club Linköpings FC. She won 77 caps for the Sweden women's national football team between 2007 and 2015. Clu ...

Lotta Schelin Charlotta Eva Schelin (born 27 February 1984) is a Swedish former professional footballer who most recently played as a striker for FC Rosengård of the Damallsvenskan. She made her debut for the Sweden national team in March 2004 and was appo ...

* Caroline Seger *

Daryna Apanaschenko Daryna Apanashchenko ( uk, Дарина Олександрівна Апанащенко; born 16 May 1986) is a Ukrainian footballer, who plays as a striker for Ankara BB Fomget GSK and the Ukraine women's national football team. For 14 years s ...

Lyudmyla Pekur Lyudmyla Pekur ( uk, Людмила Михайлівна Пекур) (born 6 January 1981 in Chernihiv) is a former Ukrainian footballer who last played for Ryazan VDV in the Russian Championship. She previously played for Lehenda Chernihiv and ...

;own goals * Stina Segerström (playing against Norway)

Squads

References

External links

Women's Euro 2009 – UEFA Official PageOfficial technical reportDedicated Finnish Site for Euro 2009 (Finland F.A)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Uefa Women's Euro 2009

2009 File:2009 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The vertical stabilizer of Air France Flight 447 is pulled out from the Atlantic Ocean; Barack Obama becomes the first African American to become President of the United States; 2009 Iran ...

Women A woman is an adult female human. Prior to adulthood, a female human is referred to as a girl (a female child or Adolescence, adolescent). The plural ''women'' is sometimes used in certain phrases such as "women's rights" to denote female hum ...

2009 in Finnish women's football August 2009 sports events in Europe September 2009 sports events in Europe 2009 in Finnish women's sport Sports competitions in Lahti International sports competitions in Turku International sports competitions in Helsinki 2000s in Turku 2000s in Helsinki Sports competitions in Tampere

Format

Qualification

Venues

Tournament review

Matchday One – 23–25 August

Matchday Two – 26–28 August

Matchday Three – 29–31 August

Quarter-finals – 3–4 September

Semi-finals – 6–7 September

Final (England vs. Germany) – 10 September

Gallery

Results

Group stage

Group A

Group B

Group C

Third-placed qualifiers

Knockout stage

Quarter-finals

Semi-finals

Final

Goalscorers

Squads

See also

References

External links