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

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Group B

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Knockout stage

Semi-finals

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Final

{| style="width:100%;"

|-

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{| style="font-size: 90%" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0"

|colspan="4"|<br />GERMANY:

|-

!width="25"| !!width="25"|

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|GK ||1||Silke Rottenberg

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|DF ||4||Steffi Jones

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|FW ||6||Inka Grings || ||

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|FW ||9||Birgit Prinz (c)

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|MF ||10||Renate Lingor

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|FW ||11||Anja Mittag || ||

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|DF ||13||Sandra Minnert

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|MF ||14||Britta Carlson || ||

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|MF ||16||Conny Pohlers

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|DF ||17||Ariane Hingst

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|MF ||18||Kerstin Garefrekes

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|colspan=3|Substitutes:

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|FW ||20||Petra Wimbersky || ||

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|FW ||8||Sandra Smisek || ||

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|DF ||5||Sarah Günther || ||

|-

|colspan=3|Manager:

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|colspan="4"|Tina Theune

|}

|

| style="vertical-align:top; width:50%;"|

{| cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" style="font-size:90%; margin:auto;"

|colspan="4"|<br />NORWAY:

|-

!width="25"| !!width="25"|

|-

|GK ||1||Bente Nordby

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|DF ||2||Ane Stangeland (c)

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|DF ||3||Gunhild Følstad

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|DF ||4||Ingvild Stensland

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|DF ||6||Marit Christensen

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|MF ||7||Trine Rønning || ||

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|MF ||8||Solveig Gulbrandsen

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|FW ||14||Dagny Mellgren

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|DF ||17||Marianne Paulsen

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|FW ||19||Stine Frantzen || ||

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|FW ||20||Lise Klaveness || ||

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|colspan=3|Substitutes:

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|FW ||9||Isabell Herlovsen || ||

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|MF ||18||Marie Knutsen || ||

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|FW ||16||Kristin Blystad-Bjerke || ||

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|colspan=3|Manager:

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|colspan="4"|Bjarne Berntsen

|}

|}

{| style="width:100%; font-size:90%;"

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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

  • Official site