Greece's Theodoros Zagorakis was the last captain to lift the old trophy in Lisbon in July 2004 but which captain will climb the stairs at the Ernst-Happel-Stadion to accept the winning trophy this year?
UEFA European Championship – Group A
The UEFA European Championship kicks off this summer in Austria and Switzerland and you can follow all the action with Soccer 365. Group A features co-host Switzerland, the Czech Republic, Turkey and Portugal.
Group A
Switzerland
After hitting a low point at the last European Championship in 2004, Switzerland head coach Jakob Kuhn came up with a motivating internal slogan for his side, ‘European Champions 2008.’ Kuhn, who has announced he will retire after the Euro campaign, admitted this was an ‘optimistic goal’ and recently added that a run to the quarterfinals would be a great achievement for the co-host.
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As co-host Switzerland did not need to go through qualification but they have put in some impressive outings leading up to the event, most notably a 1-1 draw against Argentina and a 2-1 win against the Netherlands.
Kuhn has said he will build his squad from the back and go with a youngster that has only been capped 10 times, Diego Benaglio. The VfL Wolfsburg netminder has received high praise from Felix Magath who claims Benaglio will one day be one of the world’s top keepers.
And if all goes well will look for Switzerland striker Alexander Frei to return to fitness after being out of the lineup for a year with injuries.
Switzerland has appeared in two previous European finals, 1996 and 2004.
Tournament fixtures
06/07/2008 v Czech Republic
06/11/2008 v Turkey
06/15/2008 v Portugal
Squad list
Goalkeepers
Diego Benaglio
Fabio Coltorti
Johnny Leoni
Germano Vailati
Pascal Zuberbühler
Defenders
Philipp Degen
Johan Djourou
Mario Eggimann
Stéphane Grichting
Stephan Lichtsteiner
Ludovic Magnin
Patrick Müller
Philippe Senderos
Christoph Spycher
Steve Von Bergen
Midfielders
Tranquillo Barnetta
Valon Behrami
Ricardo Cabanas
Fabio Celestini
David Degen
Daniel Gygax
Benjamin Huggel
Gökhan Inler
Xavier Margairaz
Gelson Fernandes
Johan Vonlanthen
Hakan Yakin
Reto Ziegler
Forwards
Eren Derdiyok
Alexander Frei
Blaise Nkufo
Marco Streller
Nicolas Weber
Czech Republic
The Czech Republic was in fine form to qualify for the 2008 European Championship finals finishing on top of their group and ahead of second place finisher Germany.
Karel Brückner’s side will be looking to improve on a run to the semi-finals in 2004 when they fell to eventual winner Greece on a silver goal but it will be a challenge with several key players absent.
Pavel Nedvěd has denied speculation he will come out of retirement to play while Tomáš Rosický is sidelined with a knee injury.
In past European Championships, the Czech Republic finished second place in 1996 when they lost to Germany via an Oliver Bierhoff golden goal. Twenty years earlier, however, playing as Czechoslovakia the tables were turned as the eastern European nation defeated the Federal Republic of Germany to win.
Tournament fixtures
06/07/2008 v Switzerland 18:00
06/11/2008 v Portugal 18:00
06/15/2008 v Turkey 20:45
Squad list
Goalkeepers
Jaromír Blažek
Petr Čech
Daniel Zítka
Defenders
Zdeněk Grygera
Marek Jankulovski
Michal Kadlec
Zdeněk Pospěch
David Rozehnal
Tomáš Ujfaluši
Midfielders
Tomáš Galásek
David Jarolím
Radoslav Kováč
Marek Matějovský
Jaroslav Plašil
Jan Polák
Daniel Pudil
Tomáš Sivok
Forwards
Václav Svěrkoš
Milan Baroš
Martin Fenin
Jan Koller
Libor Sionko
Stanislav Vlček
Portugal
Portugal will be out to prove themselves at the FIFA 2008 European Championships in 2008 after losing a tense final to Greece in 2004 on home soil. Portugal has appeared in the last four European Championship finals and despite only losing one game in qualifying this year only narrowly advanced finishing second in their group.
After qualifying head coach Felipe Scolari was clear that his side would have to play better to win the tournament but then with confidence went on to say that each team had an equal chance to win and he was not going to worry about player selections or injuries.
Cristiano Ronaldo leads the attack for the Portuguese, knocking in eight goals during qualification and has proven equally lethal with his club team Manchester United.
Tournament fixtures
06/07/2008 v Turkey 20:45
06/11/2008 v Czech Republic 18:00
06/15/2008 v Switzerland 20:45
Squad list
Goalkeepers
Rui Patrício
Ricardo
Quim
Defenders
Bosingwa
Miguel
Jorge Ribeiro
Pepe
Fernando Meira
Paulo Ferreira
Bruno Alves
Ricardo Carvalho
Midfielders
Nani
Ricardo Quaresma
Deco
Simão
Petit
João Moutinho
Miguel Veloso
Raul Meireles
Forwards
Cristiano Ronaldo
Hélder Postiga
Hugo Almeida
Nuno Gomes
Turkey
After opening qualification strong, Turkey stumbled through the middle fixtures but righted the ship in time to finish second in their qualifying group behind holders Greece. Fatih Terim’s side will hope to improve on their quarterfinal run of 2000, their best run in the competition.
The squad will have a new look and feel with Terim not calling up longtime player Hakan Şükür, the player the Turkish Federation selected as their top player over the last 50 years and having recent injuries to defenders Servet Çetin and Gökhan Gönül.
They first appeared in a European Championship finals in 1996 where they lost all three of their group matches.
Tournament fixtures
06/07/2008 v Portugal 20:45
06/11/2008 v Switzerland 20:45
06/15/2008 v Czech Republic 20:45
Squad list
Goalkeepers
Volkan Demirel
Rüştü Reçber
Tolga Zengin
Defenders
Emre Aşık
Servet Çetin
Gökhan Gönül
İbrahim Kaş
Gökhan Zan
Midfielders
Ayhan Akman
Hamit Altıntop
Mehmet Aurélio
Hakan Balta
Yıldıray Baştürk
Emre Belözoglu
Uğur Boral
Gökdeniz Karadeniz
Tümer Metin
Sabrı Sarıoğlu
Mehmet Topal
Arda Turan
Forwards
Halil Altıntop
Mevlüt Erding
Nihat Kahveci
Kazım Kazım
Tuncay Sanli
Semih Şentürk
GROUP B
UEFA European Championship – Group B
The UEFA European Championship kicks off this summer in Austria and Switzerland and you can follow all the action with Soccer 365. Group B features co-host Austria, Croatia, Poland and Germany
Austria
Austria will be making their first appearance at a European Championship finals although they did not qualify earning an automatic bid as co-hosts. And a successful campaign will be difficult for head coach Josef Hickersberger whose team has struggled in friendlies leading up to the tournament.
Hickersberger is confident, however, predicting that fans will see a ‘very different national team’ at the finals. He has made a slight change in his youth initiative during qualification to call up 38-year-old veteran Ivica Vastic. Vastic has won 46 caps for Austria although his most recent came in 2005.
Tournament fixtures
06/08/2008 v Croatia 18:00
06/12/2008 v Poland 20:45
06/16/2008 v Germany 20:45
Squad list
Goalkeepers
Christian Gratzei
Jürgen Macho
Alex Manninger
Helge Payer
Defenders
Andreas Dober
Ronald Gercaliu
Martin Hiden
Andreas Ibertsberger
Markus Katzer
Jürgen Patocka
Emanuel Pogatetz
Sebastian Prödl
Franz Schiemer
Joachim Standfest
Martin Stranzl
Midfielders
René Aufhauser
Christian Fuchs
György Garics
Andreas Ivanschitz
Ümit Korkmaz
Christoph Leitgeb
Jürgen Säumel
Markus Weissenberger
Forwards
Martin Harnik
Erwin Hoffer
Marc Janko
Roman Kienast
Saniel Kuljic
Roland Linz
Stefan Maierhofer
Ivica Vastic
Croatia
Under the leadership of former international defender Slaven Bilić, Croatia finished on top of a tough qualifying group and are eager to continue their form in Austria and Switzerland this summer.
The weight might fall on Croatia midfielder Luka Modrić. The 22-year-old has been compared to Lionel Messi and Johan Cruyff and made his mark in qualifying. Head coach Bilic has said he is one of the top European players.
Tournament fixtures
06/08/2008 v Austria 18:00
06/12/2008 v Germany 18:00
06/16/2008 v Poland 20:45
Squad list
Goalkeepers
Mario Galinović
Stipe Pletikosa
Vedran Runje
Defenders
Vedran Ćorluka
Dario Knežević
Robert Kovač
Dario Šimić
Josip Šimunić
Hrvoje Vejić
Midfielders
Manuel Pamić
Nikola Pokrivač
Niko Kovač
Niko Kranjčar
Jerko Leko
Luka Modrić
Danijel Pranjić
Ivan Rakitić
Darijo Srna
Ognjen Vukojević
Forwards
Anas Sharbini
Igor Budan
Nikola Kalinić
Ivan Klasnić
Ivica Olić
Mladen Petrić
Germany
Germany will look to reverse recent form in European Championship finals when they open their quest for an unprecedented fourth championship in Europe’s premier soccer event. Since last winning in 1996, Germany has failed to win a match in the finals, losing 3 matches and tying their other three matches.
But if qualification is any indicator, Die Mannschaft should be well poised to hoist the trophy. Germany was the first team to secure qualification although they finished second in their group behind the Czech Republic.
In addition to success in qualifying, Germany has the experience in big matches having advanced to the semi-final of the 2006 FIFA World Cup and finishing third. And Germany coach Joachim Löw will have many of the same veteran players to call on in 2008.
And to cap matters off for Germany, Michael Ballack has returned to form and is more confident than ever heading into the tournament.
Tournament fixtures
06/08/2008 v Poland 20:45
06/12/2008 v Croatia 18:00
06/16/2008 v Austria 20:45
Squad list
Goalkeepers
René Adler
Robert Enke
Jens Lehmann
Defenders
Arne Friedrich
Clemens Fritz
Marcell Jansen
Philipp Lahm
Per Mertesacker
Christoph Metzelder
Heiko Westermann
Midfielders
Marko Marin
Michael Ballack
Tim Borowski
Torsten Frings
Thomas Hitzlsperger
Jermaine Jones
Simon Rolfes
Bastian Schweinsteiger
Piotr Trochowski
Forwards
Mario Gómez
Patrick Helmes
Miroslav Klose
Kevin Kuranyi
Oliver Neuville
David Odonkor
Lukas Podolski
Poland
Dutch coach Leo Beenhakker led Poland to their first UEFA European Championship finals after finishing on top of Group A. The success ended years of frustration as Poland had come up short in 13 previous qualifying attempts for the European Championship.
The Dutchman said leading Poland to the finals was the ‘greatest success of my career’ which is impressive considering he helped Trinidad and Tobago to their first FIFA World Cup in 2006.
Tournament fixtures
06/08/2008 v Germany 20:45
06/12/2008 v Austria 20:45
06/16/2008 v Croatia 20:45
Squad list
Goalkeepers
Artur Boruc
Łukasz Fabiański
Tomasz Kuszczak
Defenders
Michal Pazdan
Jacek Bąk
Grzegorz Bronowicki
Dariusz Dudka
Paweł Golański
Mariusz Jop
Adam Kokoszka
Marcin Wasilewski
Jakub Wawrzyniak
Michał Żewłakow
Midfielders
Roger Guerreiro
Radoslaw Majewski
Rafał Murawski
Jakub Błaszczykowski
Łukasz Garguła
Jacek Krzynówek
Mariusz Lewandowski
Wojciech Łobodziński
Euzebiusz Smolarek
Forwards
Radosław Matusiak
Marek Saganowski
Tomasz Zahorski
Maciej Żurawski
GROUP C
UEFA European Championship – Group C
The UEFA European Championship kicks off this summer in Austria and Switzerland and you can follow all the action with Soccer 365. Group C features the Netherlands, Italy, France, and Romania.
Netherlands
The Netherlands looked good in qualifying for the European Championship finals using both veteran players and members from their 2006 and 2007 UEFA European Under-21 Championship winning squads. They qualified with a game in hand although ultimately finished second in their group.
Head coach Marco van Basten will need to find a quick replacement for Clarence Seedorf, who called the coach and said he was not playing apparently due to issues between coach and the AC Milan midfielder. Khalid Boulahrouz replaced Seedorf on the roster.
The Dutch have qualified for the last five UEFA European Championship final tournaments, winning in 1988, and hope to improve on their semifinal run in 2004 when they lost to the hosts, Portugal.
Tournament fixtures
06/09/2008 v Italy 20:45
06/13/2008 v France 20:45
06/17/2008 v Romania 20:45
Squad list
Goalkeepers
Sander Boschker
Maarten Stekelenburg
Henk Timmer
Edwin van der Sar
Defenders
Ibrahim Afellay
Wilfred Bouma
Tim de Cler
Urby Emanuelson
Johnny Heitinga
Kew Jaliens
Joris Mathijsen
Mario Melchiot
André Ooijer
Giovanni van Bronckhorst
Midfielders
Nigel de Jong
Demy de Zeeuw
Orlando Engelaar
Denny Landzaat
Hedwiges Maduro
Arjen Robben
Wesley Sneijder
Rafael van der Vaart
Forwards
Ryan Babel
Klaas Jan Huntelaar
Danny Koevermans
Dirk Kuyt
Ruud van Nistelrooy
Robin van Persie
Jan Vennegoor of Hesselink
Italy
Replacing Marcello Lippi after Italy’s success at the 2006 FIFA World Cup, coach Roberto Donadoni has had his hands full in trying to become only the second team to back up their FIFA World Cup title with a European Championship. France accomplished that goal with a FIFA World Cup title in 1998 and Euro glory in 2000.
After a slow start to qualifying, Italy finished on top of the competitive group ahead of France and with Scotland narrowly missing out.
And Luca Toni has already set the bar high claiming Italy are coming to win the tournament. The Bayern Munich forward will look to continue his scoring onslaught to help in the cause.
The Azzurri’s lone title in the European Championship came at home in 1968 when they eventually beat Yugoslavia in a replay at Stadio Olimpico after the first matched ended 1-1.
Tournament fixtures
06/09/2008 v Netherlands 20:45
06/13/2008 v Romania 18:00
06/17/2008 v France 20:45
Squad list
Goalkeepers
Christian Abbiati
Marco Amelia
Gianluigi Buffon
Gianluca Curci
Defenders
Andrea Barzagli
Daniele Bonera
Fabio Cannavaro
Giorgio Chiellini
Dario Dainelli
Fabio Grosso
Marco Materazzi
Alessandro Nesta
Massimo Oddo
Christian Panucci
Manuel Pasqual
Max Tonetto
Cristian Zaccardo
Gianluca Zambrotta
Midfielders
Massimo Ambrosini
Alberto Aquilani
Mauro Camoranesi
Daniele De Rossi
Gennaro Del Vecchio
Aimo Diana
Pasquale Foggia
Gennaro Gattuso
Marco Marchionni
Stefano Mauri
Simone Perrotta
Andrea Pirlo
Franco Semioli
Forwards
Antonio Cassano
Alessandro Del Piero
David Di Michele
Antonio Di Natale
Alberto Gilardino
Vincenzo Iaquinta
Filippo Inzaghi
Cristiano Lucarelli
Raffaele Palladino
Fabio Quagliarella
Tommaso Rocchi
Luca Toni
France
France have qualified for all 13 UEFA European Championship competitions to date and are the only other country apart from three-time winners Germans to have won the competition more than once with victories in 1984 and 2000.
After a tough qualifying campaign, that saw them finish second to Italy, France coach Raymond Domenech will be eager to re-gain their form in 2006 which saw them reach the FIFA World Cup final.
Since making his mark at the 2006 FIFA World Cup, Franck Ribéry will be the center of attention for Les Bleus fans. The Bayern Munich playmaker has added additional pressure saying he wanted to fill the boots of legendary players Zinedine Zidane and if he can accomplish such a feat, France might once again rule Europe.
Tournament fixtures
06/09/2008 v Romania 18:00
06/13/2008 v Netherlands 20:45
06/17/2008 v Italy 20:45
Squad list
Goalkeepers
Grégory Coupet
Sébastien Frey
Mickaël Landreau
Steve Mandanda
Defenders
Eric Abidal
Jean-Alain Boumsong
François Clerc
Julien Escudé
Patrice Evra
William Gallas
Philippe Mexès
Willy Sagnol
Sébastien Squillaci
Lilian Thuram
Midfielders
Hatem Ben Arfa
Alou Diarra
Lassana Diarra
Mathieu Flamini
Claude Makelele
Florent Malouda
Samir Nasri
Franck Ribéry
Jérémy Toulalan
Patrick Vieira
Forwards
Bafetimbi Gomis
Nicolas Anelka
Karim Benzema
Djibril Cissé
Sidney Govou
Thierry Henry
Romania
Romania advanced to their first finals tournament since UEFA Euro 2000 as the top finisher in Group G with 9 wins, 2 draws and 1 loss and it marked the second successful qualifying campaign for head coach Victor Piţurcă, who was at the helm in 2000 for qualifying but not during the finals.
Piţurcă was dismissed in 1999 after a dispute with senior players but has put that behind him and returned Romania to a major tournament. He will look to combine a equal mix of players he first coached in 1999 that are veterans now, Chivu, Cosmin Contra, Bogdan Lobonţ, Adrian Mutu and Florentin Petre. and new players, keepers Dănuţ Coman and Marius Popa, defenders George Ogăraru, Dorin Goian and Ştefan Radu, and midfielders, Bănel Nicoliţă and Răzvan Cociş.
While Romania is confident they have a difficult task being in what many consider the Group of Death for this tournament.
Tournament fixtures
06/09/2008 v France 18:00
06/13/2008 v Italy 18:00
06/17/2008 v Netherlands 20:45
Squad list
Goalkeepers
Dănuţ Coman
Bogdan Lobonţ
Marius Cornel Popa
Defenders
Cosmin Moti
Cristian Sapunaru
Cristian Chivu
Cosmin Contra
Sorin Ghionea
Dorin Goian
Mirel Rădoi
Ştefan Radu
Răzvan Raţ
Gabriel Tamaş
Midfielders
Răzvan Cociş
Paul Codrea
Adrian Cristea
Bănel Nicoliţă
Florentin Petre
Forwards
Ciprian Deac
Marius Niculae
Florin Bratu
Nicolae Dică
Ciprian Marica
Adrian Mutu
Daniel Niculae
Group D
UEFA European Championship – Group D
The UEFA European Championship kicks off this summer in Austria and Switzerland and you can follow all the action with Soccer 365. Group D features holders Greece, Sweden, Russia, and Spain.
Greece
After winning Group C in qualification and finishing with more points, 31, than any other team in qualification, Greece will be eager to make history and become the first team to successfully defend their European title this summer in Austria and Switzerland.
Head coach Otto Rehhagel, Greece’s longest serving coach, continues to focus his side on defensive stinginess and an opportunistic attack which has served them well. Greece opened their qualification campaign holding their opponents scoreless much like they did while winning the title when they held cleansheets in the final 4 matches (all 1-0 results).
The German coach will be pleased as some of his veteran players return from injury improving the chances for another Greek run.
This is their third appearance in the European Championship finals with the other showing in 1980 in Italy.
Tournament fixtures
06/10/2008 v Sweden 20:45
06/14/2008 v Russia 20:45
06/18/2008 v Spain 20:45
Squad list
Goalkeepers
Konstantinos Chalkias
Alexandros Tzorvas
Defenders
Grigorios Makos
Sokratis Papastathopoulos
Traianos Dellas
Ioannis Goumas
Nikos Spiropoulos
Loukas Vintra
Midfielders
Sotiris Ninis
Stelios Giannakopoulos
Georgios Karagounis
Konstantinos Katsouranis
Alexandros Tziolis
Forwards
Lazaros Hristodoulopoulos
Nikolaos Liberopoulos
Dimitrios Salpingidis
Sweden
Henrik Larsson came out of retirement to bolster Sweden’s chance of a European Championship and will join a lethal strike force that includes Zlatan Ibrahimović and youngster Markus Rosenberg.
After a good start the qualification campaign, Sweden faltered down the stretch and were forced to claim second in the group on the final matchday.
Sweden’s best showing in the European Championships came on home soil in 1992 when they made a run to the semifinals.
Tournament fixtures
06/10/2008 v Greece 20:45
06/14/2008 v Spain 18:00
06/18/2008 v Russia 20:45
Squad list
Goalkeepers
Andreas Isaksson
Rami Shaaban
Johan Wiland
Defenders
Mikael Dorsin
Andreas Granqvist
Petter Hansson
Daniel Majstorovic
Olof Mellberg
Fredrik Stoor
Midfielders
Niclas Alexandersson
Daniel Andersson
Kim Källström
Sebastian Larsson
Tobias Linderoth
Fredrik Ljungberg
Mikael Nilsson
Anders Svensson
Christian Wilhelmsson
Forwards
Henrik Larsson
Marcus Allbäck
Johan Elmander
Zlatan Ibrahimović
Markus Rosenberg
Spain
After a poor start to qualifying, Luis Aragonés righted the ship and lead Spain to the top of their group but Aragonés was quick to point out the accomplishment was not a ‘success’ but merely their ‘duty.’
And Aragones is superbly confident thinking it should be a routine matter to make it to the elimination round.
He did make some surprise selections with uncapped Santiago Cazorla and Sergio García the included while , although there is no place for Raúl González was left to ponder how his fine season with Real Madrid went unnoticed.
The challenge will now be to find success in the major tournament. The last time they won a major title was on home soil when they defeated the Soviet Union in 1964.
Tournament fixtures
06/10/2008 v Russia 18:00
06/14/2008 v Sweden 18:00
06/18/2008 v Greece 20:45
Squad list
Goalkeepers
Andrés Palop
Iker Casillas
Pepe Reina
Defenders
Raúl Albiol
Álvaro Arbeloa
Joan Capdevila
Juanito Gutiérrez
Carlos Marchena
Fernando Navarro
Carles Puyol
Sergio Ramos
Midfielders
Santi Cazorla
Xabi Alonso
Rubén De la Red
Cesc Fábregas
Xavi Hernández
Andrés Iniesta
Marcos Senna
Forwards
Sergio García
Daniel Güiza
David Silva
Fernando Torres
David Villa
Russia
Russia made their fans wait to the last match to seal qualification to the 2008 European Championship by finishing second at the expense of England. Guus Hiddink's side controlled their own destiny but lost to lowly Israel in the penultimate match forced them to wait for the last matchday.
Guus Hiddink now has the task of bringing his side together to achieve some glories of years past by the Soviet Union sides that won the title in 1960 and losing as finalists in 1964, 1972 and 1988.
Diniyar Bilyaletdinov is confident heading to Austria and Switzerland thinking a run to the final eight is not out of the question. The FC Lokomotiv Moskva captain was a central figure during qualifying but believes he has room to improve his form to help improve Russia’s chances.
Tournament fixtures
06/10/2008 v Spain 18:00
06/14/2008 v Greece 20:45
06/18/2008 v Sweden 20:45
Squad list
Goalkeepers
Igor Akinfeev
Vladimir Gabulov
Vyacheslav Malafeev
Defenders
Aleksandr Anyukov
Aleksei Berezutski
Vasili Berezutski
Sergei Ignashevich
Denis Kolodin
Roman Shirokov
Renat Yanbaev
Midfielder
sOleg Ivanov
Aleksandr Pavlenko
Sergei Semak
Diniyar Bilyaletdinov
Vladimir Bystrov
Igor Semshov
Dmitri Torbinskiy
Yuri Zhirkov
Konstantin Zyrianov
Forwards:
Roman Adamov
Ivan Saenko
Andrei Arshavin
Roman Pavlyuchenko
Pavel Pogrebnyak
Dmitri Sychev
