klinsmann left the german team after the world cup, with joachim löw taking the throne. löw was known for often putting young players in the team. the german team then easily qualified for the uefa euro 2008. in the final tournament, germany advanced to the next round after they finished the group stage with two wins and one loss to croatia. germany then played portugal in the quarter-finals and beat them 3–2 with goals from bastian schweinsteiger, miroslav klose and michael ballack. they then went to the semi-finals against turkey and barely defeated them 3–2 after philipp lahm scored on the 90th minute. in the final of the euro 2008, spain were the favourites but germany was believed to have a chance. spain took control of the game and with fernando torres's goal, spain won the tournament.