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The year 2008 brings to Austria and Switzerland the greatest football feast ever experienced in these two countries. After the Olympic summer games and the Football World Cup, the European championship is the world’s third-largest sporting event. The 2008 European champion will be determined in 31 matches, 16 in Austria and 15 in Switzerland. The opening match will be played in Basel on June 7, the final on June 29 at Vienna’s Ernst Happel stadium. More than a million spectators will experience the matches in the stadiums. Millions of spectators on all five continents will watch the matches on television.

As a symbol for the bi-national hosting of the European championship, the two 5 Euro pieces complement each other for a view into the stadium. With dynamic scenes both coins express the emotional side of the sport. One of the coin shows players dribbling, while the other coin shows a striker fighting for the ball. The background features fans waving a banner. The two 5 Euro pieces depict all eight venues of the 2008 finals, starting with the respective capital. The nine-sided shape of the coins in “special uncirculated” quality is symbolic of Austria’s nine provinces whose coats-of arms are shown on the value side of the coins.