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EURO on this day: 7 June

Wednesday, June 7, 2023

On this day: UEFA EURO 2008 co-hosts Switzerland endured a curtain-raiser to forget.

EURO 2008: Watch the Czech Republic's winner against Switzerland

Switzerland 0-1 Czech Republic
(Svěrkoš 71)
2008 group stage, Basel

Czech Republic substitute Václav Svěrkoš crashed the party for co-hosts Switzerland by scoring the only goal of the UEFA EURO 2008 curtain-raiser in Basel.

Svěrkoš struck after 71 minutes to defeat a home side already deflated by a tournament-ending knee injury to forward Alexander Frei. The closest the Swiss came to rescuing a point was a late Johan Vonlanthen shot off the underside of the crossbar as they made a disappointing start to the finals.

At least one host team had previously advanced to the knockout rounds in every edition since the group stage was introduced for this competition – that proud record was already under threat.

Other EURO fixtures on 7 June
2008 group stage: Portugal 2-0 Turkey

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