EURO 2008 INFO

EURO 2008 has been a joy to watch with exhilarating action and sublime goals.

But it hasn't been short of controversial incidents either with referees - as ever - coming under the spotlight.

English whistler Howard Webb needed security minders after handing hosts Austria a crucial last-minute penalty against Poland.

And the likes of Turkish keeper Volkan Demirel made refs' job easy by raising his hands to opponents and seeing red.

Here, MailSport looks at the eight biggest calls of the Championships so far.

1 Van Nistelrooy's goal: In Holland's opening 3-0 win over Italy, hitman Ruud van Nistelrooy got the Dutch off to a perfect start with a dubious strike.

While Ruud was clearly in an offside position, ref Peter Frojdfeldt ruled Italy defender Christian Panucci was playing him on by lying outwith the field of play.

2 Austria's late penalty: Webb made arguably the most controversial decision of the tournament by giving Austria a last-gasp spot-kick leveller against Poland.

The Poles led 1-0 - which would have boosted their qualification hopes and put the hosts out - but Webb sawa tug by Mariusz Lewandowski on Sebastian Prodl's shirt and gave the penalty.

3 Abidal's red card: In their must-win Group of Death clash with Italy the last thing faltering France needed was to get a man sent off AND concede a penalty.

But dozy defender Eric Abidal obliged by clumsily tangling with Luca Toni and had to go as last man. Andrea Pirlo scored from the spot as Les Bleus crashed out.

4 Spanish penalty denied: During the vital Group D match with Sweden, Spanish winger David Silva teed up a volley as the ball dropped out of the air in the box before being clattered by Johan Elmander.

It was verging on assault but incredibly ref Pieter Vink waved play on. Luckily for him David Villa sealed a 2-1 win at the death.

5 Toni's header ruled out: Ropey ref Tom Ovrebo admitted after Italy's 1-1 draw with Romania he'd blundered by ruling out Luca Toni's goal for offside.

Right on half-time the striker powered a header past Bogdan Lobont only to see the flag go up, yet Paul Codrea clearly played him on.

6 Ballack's shove affair: Midfield hero Michael Ballack infuriated Portugal with the header that handed Germany a crucial 3-1 lead in Thursday's quarter-final.

Ballack blatantly pushed Paulo Ferreira before nodding past Ricardo but got away with it and Germany edged through 3-2.

7 Modric's spot-kick: Croatia scored the fastest goal in European Championship history when Luca Modric slotted a fourth minute penalty to beat co-hosts Switzerland.

Rene Aufhauser's ill-timed challenge on Ivica Olic left ref Pieter Vink with no choice and the decision proved pivotal as Slaven Bilic's side clung on for a 1-0 win.

8 Volkan loses the plot: Just as Turkey had pulled off one of the most amazing comebacks in history against the Czech Republic, keeper Volkan Demirel almost spoiled it with a stupid sending off.

With just seconds left and the Turks 3-2 ahead after trailing 2-0, Volkan pushed over Jan Koller in the box and was sent packing. With every sub used striker Tuncay Sanli had to go in goal and Volkan earned a two-game ban.