Just hours from now, it's kick-off. I have to pinch myself that this is for real. Two years of qualifiers, and it has come down to 16 teams. Austria and Switzerland need not qualify as they enter the tournament as the joint co-hosts.
Some may be happy that England didn't qualify this time round as the national team can be overhyped sometimes. I have a feeling as well. With especially The Straits Times so Premier League-centred, I had prepared for whatever references. It has already long happened. True, England has always being the motherland of football but if a national team in Europe wants to qualify for the tournament, reputation alone does not count. You win as a team, you lose as a team. Nothing else. Superstars do that only? No!
If everyone play their part irregardless of their status on the national team, it's a job well done. A team does not depend only on a handful of well-known footballers. Sometimes I have a feeling this is the attitude that...oh well, I better shut up now. Thank goodness there is the TODAY newspaper. If The Straits Times starts to become Germany-friendly during the tournament, I will probably be laughing my head off. What did the 2006 World Cup taught me? Who says you cannot match efficiency and excitement at the same time? I am not really getting the 'respect' at all. I might as well say I support Italy.
The general preview of the tournament and if one thinks there are only a handful of favourites, think again. There has always been reasons why the European Championships has always been considered tougher than the World Cup. Talented footballers at each national team, no matter how FIFA rank the national teams at the tournament. And this makes the tournament exciting.
Alright. The general run-down of the four groups. A preview of Group A from Reuters. Portugal was the hosts four years ago and they eventually lost out in the final to surprise packages Greece. Surely they want to get one better this time. And it's inevitable to mention Portugal without also talking about probably one of the best footballers around at the moment, Cristiano Ronaldo. Co-hosts Switzerland will definitely want to go all out to impress as they are going to play in the opening match against the Czech Republic. This tournament will be Switzerland coach Jakob 'Kobi' Kuhn's swansong before he hands the baton to Ottmar Hitzfeld. The Czechs were the semi-finalists four years ago (losing to eventual champions Greece back then) and for coach Karel Brueckner, this will also be his swansong as well. On the team, towering striker Jan Koller (he is really that tall...slightly over 2m, mind you) will retire from international football after this tournament. The Turks, with Fatih Terim being in charge, will be proving that the third-placed finish in the 2002 World Cup was not a fluke.
Reuters's take on Group B. Or I call it 'The Group of Neighbours' given all four nations are just next-door neighbours to each other. Germany is one of the favourites to lift the trophy this time round, especially in terms of their qualification route (the 3-0 loss to the Czech Repbulic after they sealed their places didn't really matter much though) and the 2006 World Cup hosts (who were also third then) will want to end a 12-year drought. The last win actually came in the Euro 1996 final in England. Former assistant to Juergen Klinsmann during the World Cup two years ago, it will be when coach Joachim Loew is really in the spotlight this time round. Austria may be the other co-hosts and also the outsiders to the title but if history is anything to go by, except in 2000 where Belgium crashed out in the group stages, it does favour the host nations. It will be coach Josef Hickersberger's (or 'Hicke' as he is also known) second stint with the national team. This is the first-ever time Poland is in the tournament, and it's Dutch coach Leo Beenhakker (who is very well-travelled...his CV does impress) who make it happen. Everyone knows how Croatia enter the tournament and though they have nothing to play for in their final qualifier against England, they did enough to make them absent from the tournament. Coach Slaven Bilic does play guitar on the sidelines and in a rock band back home in Croatia (he had also read law...how about that?).
Group C, Group of Death! Reuters's take on this group. France and Italy...set to renew the rivalries which last happened in the qualifying stages. Both also met in the 2006 World Cup final as well. France does have a mixture of veterans and up-and-coming stars (read: Lyon's Karin Benzema) and coach Raymond Domenech is the love-hate kind of guy. His Italian counterpart Roberto Donadoni (who just recently sign an extended contract until the 2010 World Cup) had long being in the shadows of his predecessor Marcello Lippi and it's time for him to make his mark on the European stage. The Azzuri are the current world champions, and they also want to follow in the footsteps of France and the then-West Germany to be in the exclusive 'club' of national teams to have won a World Cup and the European Championships within two years. Holland is managed by a former talented and well-known footballer in the form of Marco van Basten. His volley against the Soviets two decades ago in the European Championships in then-West Germany is the reason why the Oranje has only a trophy in the trophy cabinet to date. Holland does have talented footballers, but if only they stop the constant internal squabbling.
This is Reuters's take on Group D. This group is rather open-ended for me. Reigning champions Greece may not be among the huge favourites for the title this time round but when coach Otto Rehhagel (or 'King Otto' as the German is known in Greece) is at the helm, complacency is not allowed. Spain has always stumbled on the international stage even though they have great footballers and looking at the current side which coach Luis Aragones has selected, maybe the willy Spainard has a point when he used to say that Spain's time has come. It's really about time given the 1964 version was the last time (and the only time so far) Spain won. Russia won the inaugural edition as the former Soviet Union and when you got Guus Hiddink as the coach at the moment, be prepared. He has worked wonders with South Korea and Australia and now Russia is on a resurgence under him. Among all 16 national coaches of the tournament, Sweden's Lars Largeback has been in his position the longest given he has been in charge since eight years ago. Sweden had been consistently qualified for the past European Championships (except when they hosted it in 1992 and their best performance ever when they went all the way to the semi-finals) and maybe it's about time something happens now?
Oof. The slogan for this tournament 'Expect Emotions'. This entire June, expect a whole load of emotions. I am mentally prepared. For me given I support Germany since the World Cup, in view of Euro 2000 and 2004, get past the group stages first...then we will talk. My most frank assessment of the national team. If happenings since the arrival at their training camp is anything to go by...I don't really get a lot of clues. Except for politics almost threatening to overshadow the Germany-Poland match. And given I am a dud when it comes to tactics (I only know 4-4-2 is always the most preferred choice and 4-5-1 means it's playing on the defensive with only a striker up front), ESPN's Uli Hesse-Lichtenberger mulling over the attacking options before Germany's opening match. Good strikers, but not everyone can start.
Basel will be at the centre of attention given the opening ceremoney (going to be a short one) and the opening match is going to happen there. Co-hosts Switzerland and the Czech Republic. If history is anything to go by for opening matches, it's going to be a tight encounter.
More reading before the opening ceremony below. Until then, if you are planning to follow the tournament, enjoy yourself as much as you can. Even if there is no team you are rooting. Going to be one good summer of football.
Left-side Lahm is Germany's Mr Versatile (Germany defender Philipp Lahm fired his country's imagination with the first goal on their way to third in the 2006 World Cup, but he is more concerned about stopping opponents during Euro 2008.)
Senderos seeks Euro balm for Gunners wounds (Philippe Senderos is determined to banish the demons of a traumatic end to his season with Arsenal by leading Switzerland into the knockout stages of Euro 2008.)
Lahm: We'll peak right on time (A few days ahead of UEFA EURO 2008, Germany star Philipp Lahm spoke exclusively to FIFA.com about targets, opponents and favourites.)
Portugal's Meira: "Cristiano Ronaldo is Our Biggest Hope" (In the last of a series of interviews ahead of Euro 2008, VfB Stuttgart defender Fernando Meira, 29, who played for Portugal in the World Cup 2006, spoke about his countryman Cristiano Ronaldo and a new Portugal team.)
Croatians in Vienna hope for peaceful celebrations during Euro (A joke in Vienna says that three countries will play home games in Austria during the Euro -- Austria, Croatia and Turkey -- and two of these have a reputation as violent fans.)
In Diego we trust: Swiss museum's offside take on footy culture ("Football is not only a reflection of society, it also 'makes' society by acting as a means of social contact on all sorts of levels, whether it's playing the game, going to matches or just arguing about it in the pub," said exhibition organiser Raffaele Poli.)
