The 2005 UEFA Women's Championship, commonly referred to as the 2005 Women's Euros or just the 2005 Euros, was a football tournament for women held from 5 June to 19 June 2005 in Lancashire and Cheshire, England. The UEFA Women's Championship is a regular tournament involving European national teams from countries affiliated to UEFA, 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.
Germany won the competition for the fourth consecutive tournament, and the record-extending sixth time overall (including one win in the predecessor tournament, the European Competition for Representative Women's Teams). Their championship win was the last for coach Tina Theune-Meyer, who months earlier had announced her retirement effective at the end of the tournament. In her nine years in charge of Germany, they won three European titles, two bronze medals in the Olympics, and the 2003 World Cup.
Finland made its debut in the competition.
Teams and structure Eight national teams participated – seven of which qualified from earlier stages, plus England, which received an automatic berth as the host nation. They were split into two groups of four: Group A and Group B. Each team in a group played each other once, with the top two teams in each group progressing to the semi-finals. The winner faced the runner-up of the other group in a play-off, with the winner of each semi-final advancing to the final to determine the champion.
Group A
Group B
Qualification
A qualifying round ran from 22 March to 3 October 2004. The teams which were entered played in a group stage, with the winners advancing to the final, and the runners-up being given the chance of qualification through a play-off. England, as the host nation, qualified automatically for the tournament. This was the first time in which the hosts qualified automatically for the final tournament.
The following teams were eliminated at this stage:
Armenia, Austria, Belarus, Belgium, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Croatia, Estonia, Greece, Hungary, Israel, Kazakhstan, Malta, Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Republic of Ireland, Romania, Scotland, Serbia and Montenegro, Slovakia, Spain, Switzerland, Ukraine
Three teams were also eliminated in play-offs for the tournament:
Czech Republic, Iceland, Russia
More information on the qualification format at UEFA.com
Squads For a list of all squads that played in the final tournament, see 2005 UEFA Women's Championship squads
Match officials
Croatia Blazenka Logarusic
Czech Republic Dagmar Damková Hana Spackova
England Amy Rayner Wendy Toms
Hungary Gyöngyi Gaál
Northern Ireland Andi Regan
Poland Katarzyna Nadolska
Romania Floarea Cristina Ionescu Irina Mirt
Slovakia Alexandra Ihringova Miroslava Migalova
Spain Yolanda Parga Rodriguez
Switzerland Elke Lüthi Nicole Petignat
United States of America Kari Seitz
Results First round
Group A
Group B
Knockout stage
Semi-finals
Final
GERMANY: GK 1Silke RottenbergDF 4Steffi JonesFW 6Inka Grings FW 9Birgit Prinz (c)MF 10Renate LingorFW 11Anja Mittag DF 13Sandra MinnertMF 14Britta Carlson MF 16Conny PohlersDF 17Ariane HingstMF 18Kerstin GarefrekesSubstitutes:FW 20Petra Wimbersky FW 8Sandra Smisek DF 5Sarah Günther Manager:Tina TheuneNORWAY: GK 1Bente NordbyDF 2Ane Stangeland (c)DF 3Gunhild FølstadDF 4Ingvild StenslandDF 6Marit ChristensenMF 7Trine Rønning MF 8Solveig GulbrandsenFW 14Dagny MellgrenDF 17Marianne PaulsenFW 19Stine Frantzen FW 20Lise Klaveness Substitutes:FW 9Isabell Herlovsen MF 18Marie Knutsen FW 16Kristin Blystad-Bjerke Manager:Bjarne Berntsen MATCH OFFICIALS Assistant referees: Blaženka Logarušić (Croatia) Yolanda Parga Rodríguez (Spain) Fourth official: Dagmar Damková (Czech Republic)
Goalscorers 4 goals Inka Grings
3 goals
Conny Pohlers Birgit Prinz Solveig Gulbrandsen Hanna Ljungberg
2 goals
Cathrine Paaske-Sørensen Laura Österberg Kalmari Marinette Pichon Renate Lingor Melania Gabbiadini Isabell Herlovsen Lise Klaveness Dagny Mellgren
1 goal
Merete Pedersen Johanna Rasmussen Amanda Barr Karen Carney Fara Williams Heidi Kackur Minna Mustonen Anna-Kaisa Rantanen Stéphanie Mugneret-Béghé Hoda Lattaf Steffi Jones Sandra Minnert Anja Mittag Elisa Camporese Sara Di Filippo Marit Christensen Anna Sjöström
Own goal Sanna Valkonen (playing against England)
Legacy
The tournament was viewed as a successful one by The Football Association. The tournament is credited with popularising women's football in England.
See also UEFA Women's Championship UEFA Women's football (soccer)
References
External links Official site