2008 UEFA Cup Final facts for kids
| Event | 2007–08 UEFA Cup | ||||||
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| Date | 14 May 2008 | ||||||
| Venue | City of Manchester Stadium, Manchester | ||||||
| Man of the Match | Andrei Arshavin (Zenit) | ||||||
| Referee | Peter Fröjdfeldt (Sweden) | ||||||
| Attendance | 43,878 | ||||||
| Weather | Sunny 16°C 43% humidity |
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The 2008 UEFA Cup Final was a big football match. It was the 37th final of the UEFA Cup. This tournament is UEFA's second most important club football competition. The game happened at the City of Manchester Stadium in Manchester, England. It took place on May 14, 2008, at 7:45 PM local time.
The final was played between Zenit St. Petersburg from Russia and Rangers from Scotland. It was an interesting match because the coaches of both teams knew each other well. Zenit's manager, Dick Advocaat, used to be the manager for Rangers. The current Rangers manager, Walter Smith, had also led Rangers twice before. Both coaches had helped Rangers win the Scottish domestic treble (three major trophies in one season). Smith did it in 1993, and Advocaat in 1999.
Zenit won the match 2–0. Igor Denisov and Konstantin Zyryanov scored the goals. This was Zenit's first time winning the UEFA Cup. They became only the second Russian team to win this competition. The first was CSKA Moscow in the 2004–05 season.
The special logo for the final showed a picture of the City of Manchester Stadium. An English artist named Liam Spencer created it. The logo was first shown at a special event at the stadium on December 6.
Contents
How Teams Reached the Final
To reach the final, both Zenit St. Petersburg and Rangers had to play many games. They went through several knockout rounds. In these rounds, if a team lost, they were out of the competition.
Zenit St. Petersburg's Journey
Zenit started their knockout journey against Villarreal from Spain. They won that match based on away goals. This means they scored more goals in the game played at Villarreal's stadium.
Next, they faced Marseille from France. Zenit won this round also on away goals. Then, they played against Bayer Leverkusen from Germany in the quarter-finals. Zenit won this match easily.
In the semi-finals, Zenit played against Bayern Munich, another strong German team. Zenit had a great performance, winning the second leg 4-0. This big win sent them to the final!
Rangers' Journey
Rangers began their knockout matches against Panathinaikos from Greece. They also won this round on away goals.
After that, they played against Werder Bremen from Germany. Rangers won the first game 2-0 at home, which helped them move forward.
In the quarter-finals, Rangers faced Sporting CP from Portugal. They managed to win this round 2-0 away from home.
Their semi-final match was against Fiorentina from Italy. Both games ended in a 0-0 draw, even after extra time. So, the winner was decided by a penalty shootout. Rangers won the shootout 4-2, which meant they were going to the final!
Before the Big Match
Before the final, Zenit and Michel Platini, who was the head of UEFA, asked the British government to make it easier for Russian fans to get visas. A visa is a special document needed to enter a country. However, the UK government said that checking visas was very important for their immigration rules, so they could not make it easier.
Meanwhile, a huge number of Rangers fans traveled to Manchester. More than 100,000 supporters came to the city! This was even though the club only had 13,000 official tickets. The police had asked fans to stay home if they didn't have tickets. Because so many people came, there were no empty hotel rooms for miles around the city. It's thought that all these visitors brought about £25 million into the local economy.
Rangers' home stadium, Ibrox, was opened for fans to watch the match live on a big screen. About 30,000 people watched the game there. Fans even waited overnight to get a seat. The stadium was full more than two hours before the game started.
The Match Itself
Team Lineups
Zenit St. Petersburg had to play without their top scorer in the competition, Pavel Pogrebnyak. He was suspended because he had received too many yellow cards. But they still had their other important players like Andrei Arshavin, Konstantin Zyryanov, and Anatoliy Tymoschuk.
Rangers manager Walter Smith chose to start with Jean-Claude Darcheville as their main attacker. He had five midfielders supporting him: Steven Davis, Kevin Thomson, Steven Whittaker, Barry Ferguson, and Brahim Hemdani. Neil Alexander was the goalkeeper for Rangers. It was only his tenth start for the team because their usual first-choice keeper, Allan McGregor, was injured.
Match Details
The game was played on May 14, 2008.
| 14 May 2008 20:45 CEST |
Zenit St. Petersburg  |
2 - 0 |  Rangers |
City of Manchester Stadium, Manchester Attendance: 43,878 Referee: Peter Fröjdfeldt (Sweden) |
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Denisov  72'Zyryanov 90+4' |
Report |
     Zenit St. Petersburg
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Rangers
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Man of the Match: Assistant referees: |
Match Highlights
The game was very close for a long time. Both teams tried hard to score. Zenit finally broke the tie in the 72nd minute. Igor Denisov scored the first goal for Zenit. This put them in the lead.
Rangers pushed to find an equalizing goal. But in the final moments of the game, Zenit scored again. Konstantin Zyryanov scored in the 94th minute, right before the end. This made the score 2-0 to Zenit. The referee blew the whistle soon after, and Zenit won the UEFA Cup!
Game Statistics
Here are some numbers from the match:
| Zenit | Rangers | |
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| Goals scored | 2 | 0 |
| Total shots | 19 | 8 |
| Shots on target | 8 | 3 |
| Ball possession | 56% | 44% |
| Corner kicks | 9 | 2 |
| Fouls committed | 12 | 12 |
| Offsides | 3 | 0 |
| Yellow cards | 2 | 1 |
| Red cards | 0 | 0 |
Fan Gatherings
The event in Manchester had some challenges with fan gatherings. Some fans became upset when a large screen, meant to show the match, stopped working. Police worked to manage the crowds and keep everyone safe. News channels showed live reports of the situation.
Images for kids
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Zenit won the match 2–0 to claim their first UEFA Cup title.
