EUROPEAN FOOTBALL CHAMPIONSHIP

Alex Bivol and Petar Kostadinov
GETTING READY: On May 26, performers practiced
with a football prop for the June 9 Euro 2008
pre-match ceremony at Basel’s St. Jakob-Park.
Basel is one of the cities in which the European 2008
football tournament will be played; it is being
co-hosted by Austria and Switzerland.
FOOTBALL SPIRIT: The spirit of the upcoming 2008
European football championships can be felt in every
place in Switzerland. The Grossmunster church in Zurich
is just one of the examples.
Photos: REUTERS

The football season in domestic European leagues is over and national cup finals have all been played out, which can mean only one thing – it is summer and time for Euro 2008, hosted by Austria and Switzerland on June 7 to 29.

Every four years, Europe’s best teams come together for the European championship finals to decide who will hold the title of the continent’s best. The winner gets the bragging rights and the Henry Delaunay trophy, named after the French secretary general of Uefa, the game’s governing body in Europe, who tirelessly promoted the idea, but did not live to see it become reality.

Even though much has been written about club tournaments – the bigger European leagues and the Champions League – eclipsing international football, the European championships have always raked in solid crowds and high viewer ratings for the television companies, second only to the World Cup. As a consequence, the race to host the tournament is highly contested, with seven different bidders having vied for the 2008 tournament. Austria and Switzerland won the honour, ahead of Hungary and the joint bid by Greece and Turkey, who also made the final cut. It will be only for the second time in 13 editions that two countries are organising the event together, with the Netherlands and Belgium doing so in 2000.

Since the European championship finals format change in 1996, when the number of participants doubled to 16, and with another change to raise the figure to 24 being discussed by Uefa, the trend for multiple countries picked looks to continue. With Portugal, who hosted the event in 2004, not yet fully recovering its expenses to upgrade stadium infrastructure, tandem bids offer the opportunity to reduce costs and raise overall revenues, both from the tournament itself and from increased tourist interest in its aftermath. The tournament in 2012 will be held in Poland and Ukraine.

The event’s high profile and numerous sponsorships have allowed Uefa to also increase prize money by more than 40 per cent to 184 million euro. Just for appearing in the tournament, the football federations of the 16 countries will receive 7.5 million euro, with additional bonuses awarded for wins, draws and reaching the later stages of the competition. The winners will receive a guaranteed 20 million euro, rising to 23 million euro if they also win each of their group stage matches.

After two years of qualifying, the field of challengers has been narrowed to 14 teams, who are joined by the two host countries. Split into four groups of four, the teams will play each other once, with the top two in each group advancing to the knockout stage. With a week left before the start of the tournament, the teams involved are busy with final preparations – trimming down their squads to the maximum of 23 players allowed, playing last-minute friendlies to keep those players fit and trying out new line-ups and tactics. Participants will arrive at their respective headquarters between June 1 and June 5, with most teams scheduling at least one training session open to the public. Only Germany and Poland opted to train behind closed doors throughout the tournament. Spain is their polar opposite, offering a limited number of fans the opportunity to watch them train every day.

And fans there shall be aplenty. Hundreds of thousands will make the pilgrimage to the two Alpine countries to watch the games and those without tickets – to submerge themselves in the live atmosphere. It is unquestionably the football event of the year and the second biggest sports event, topped only by the Beijing Summer Olympics in August.

EUROPEAN FOOTBALL CHAMPIONSHIP: Match schedule

June 7
Switzerland v Czech Republic, 6pm
Portugal v Turkey, 8.45pm

June 8
Austria v Croatia, 6pm
Germany v Poland, 8.45pm

June 9
Romania v France, 6pm
Netherlands v Italy, 8.45pm

June 10
Spain v Russia, 6pm
Greece v Sweden, 8.45 pm

June 11
Czech Republic v Portugal, 6pm
Switzerland v Turkey, 8.45pm

June 12
Croatia v Germany, 6pm
Austria v Poland, 8.45pm

June 13
Italy v Romania, 6pm
Netherlands v France, 8.45pm

June 14
Sweden v Spain, 6pm
Greece v Russia, 8.45pm

June 15
Switzerland v Portugal, 8.45pm
Turkey v Czech Republic, 8.45pm

June 16
Poland v Croatia, 8.45pm
Austria v Germany, 8.45pm

June 17
Netherlands v Romania, 8.45pm
France v Italy, 8.45pm

June 18
Greece v Spain, 8.45pm
Russia v Sweden, 8.45pm

June 19
Quarterfinal 1: Winner Grp A v Runner-up Grp B, 8.45pm

June 20
Quarterfinal 2: Winner Grp B Runner-up Grp A, 8.45pm

June 21
Quarterfinal 3: Winner Grp C v Runner-up Grp D, 8.45pm

June 22
Quarterfinal 4: Winner Grp D v Runner-up Grp C, 8.45pm

June 25
Semi-final 1: Winner Quarterfinal 1 v Winner Quarterfinal 2, 8.45pm

June 26
Semi-final 2: Winner Quarterfinal 3 v Winner Quarterfinal 4, 8.45pm

June 29
Final: Winner Semi-final 1 v Winner Semi-final 2, 8.45pm

*All kick-off times are for Central European time zone (CET)

EUROPEAN FOOTBALL CHAMPIONSHIP: The arenas

Eight cities will host the Euro 2008 games, equally divided between the two host countries, Austria and Switzerland.

Most of the stadiums were either built for the tournament or substantially reconstructed, so spectators and viewers can expect a high quality atmosphere. The average capacity of the stadiums is about 30 000 seats, which will add to the “hot air” during the games.

Vienna will be the venue for all of the games played by Austria in the group stage, while Basel will serve the same purpose for the Swiss team. The two cities will host the quarterfinals, the semi-final s and the last two games of the tournament.

The kick-off of the tournament on June 7 will take place in Basel with a game between Switzerland and the Czech Republic starting at 7pm. St. Jakob-Park is the home of local FC Basel.

It was re-opened in 2001 after reconstruction that increased its seating capacity to 42 000, which makes it the largest sports venue in Switzerland. Besides the opening game, St. Jakob-Park will host the June 11 Switzerland v Turkey match and the June 15 Switzerland v Portugal match. Uefa has awarded it four stars – the highest amount of stars that can be awarded to a stadium of that size.

In total, just two games will be played on June 7. Besides the opening match, fans can watch Portugal v Turkey at Stade de Geneve in Geneva. The stadium was completed in 2003 after three years of of construction and has a seating capacity of 32 000. Local Servette FC plays its game at the venue. The June 11 game, Czech Republic v Portugal, is also scheduled to take place at the stadium as well as the June 15 Turkey v Czech Republic game.

The other hosts from Austria will have their opening game at Vienna’s Ernst Happel Stadium on June 8 against Croatia. The 53 000-seat stadium will have the honour of hosting the final game of the tournament on June 29. Uefa has rated it as one of its five-star stadiums. The June 12 Austria v Poland and the June 16 Austria v Germany matches will also be played at the venue.

One of the most interesting games in the group stages, that between Germany and Poland, will be hosted by the Austrian town of Klagenfurt am Worthersee. The Hypo-Arena is the home venue of local SK Austria Karnten. It was built especially for Euro 2008, replacing the old club stadium. The new venue has a capacity of 32 000 seats, which will be reduced to 12 500 after the end of the event. It will host the June 12 Croatia v Germany and the June 16 Poland v Croatia games.

Stade de Suisse Wankdorf in Berne will host the June 9 Netherlands v Italy match. On June 13, the Netherlands will play against France in what is expected to be a football classic, and on June 17, the Netherlands will face Romania. Opened in 2005, the stadium is the home venue for Swiss football team BSC Young Boys and is currently the second-largest sport venue in the country with a capacity of 32 000 seats.

Zurich will be the fourth Swiss town to host Euro 2008 games. Letzigrund Stadium was opened in 2007 and is the home of local FC Zurich. It has a capacity of 30 000 seats and will host three games – Romania v France on June 9, Italy v Romania on June 13 and France v Italy on June 17.

EM Stadion Wals-Siezenheim in Salzburg was also recently opened. Local Red Bull Salzburg has been the host club of the 30 000-seat stadium since the day it was opened in 2003 and reconstructed in 2006. It is the only stadium in Austria that has an artificial turf. It will host three of the group stage games – Greece v Sweden on June 10, Greece v Russia on June 14 and Greece v Spain on June 18.

Tivoli Neu Stadion in Innsbruck is the home ground of FC Wacker Tirol. Built in 2000, it has a capacity of 17 000 seats, which makes is the smallest sporting venue of the tournament. It will host games mainly from group D – Spain v Russia on June 10, Sweden v Spain on June 14 and Russia v Sweden on June 18.

EUROPEAN FOOTBALL CHAMPIONSHIP: The teams and how they rate: Group A

Switzerland
As co-hosts, the Swiss have qualified automatically for Euro 2008, the third time the country will participate in a final tournament. A draw with Argentina and a win over the Netherlands, both last summer, gave head coach Jakob Kuhn hope of progressing past the group stage: “Success would be to reach the quarter-finals. Of course it won’t be easy, but that has to be our goal.” Able to surprise anyone on their day, especially if playing to their strength – defence.
Best result: group stage (1996, 2004)
Odds: 25/1 (Coral), 25/1 (Ladbrokes), 22/1 (William Hill)

Czech Republic
The Czechs qualified for a fourth consecutive time, topping their qualifying group ahead of Germany. Euro 2008 will be the last tournament for Jan Koller, the country’s all-time top scorer with 52 strikes, who will retire after the end of the tournament, aged 35. The team features one of the world’s top goalkeepers in Petr Cech, but its attacking power might suffer in the absence of captain Tomas Rosicky, who is out with a hamstring injury.
Best result: winners (1976, as Czechoslovakia); finalists (1996, as Czech Republic)
Odds: 14/1 (Coral), 16/1 (Ladbrokes), 12/1 (William Hill)

Portugal
Luiz Felipe Scolari, who will quit as head coach after Euro 2008, has another shot at adding an European medal to his impressive collection, which already features a World Cup win (with Brazil in 2002). Despite a shaky qualifying campaign, which went down to the last match, Portugal is highly rated ahead of the tournament. The team has potentially one of the players of the tournament in Cristiano Ronaldo – scorer of 42 goals, European Golden Boot, English champion and Champions League winner with Manchester United.
Best result: finalist (2004)
Odds: 15/2 (Coral), 7/1 (Ladbrokes), 7/1 (William Hill)

Turkey
After play-off defeats stopped Turkey from participating in Euro 2004 and the World Cup in 2006, both times at the hands of teams perceived as inferior opposition (Latvia and Switzerland, respectively), Turkey finally qualified for a major tournament, dashing Norway’s hopes along the way. The draw now gives Fatih Terim a chance to avenge the loss that kept Turkey out of the World Cup. With a couple of important players returning from injury, their odds could still improve.
Best result: quarterfinal (2000)
Odds: 33/1 (Coral), 33/1 (Ladbrokes), 40/1 (William Hill)

EUROPEAN FOOTBALL CHAMPIONSHIP: The teams and how they rate: Group B

Austria
Austria’s first appearance in an European championship final tournament comes by virtue of co-hosting the event. The team’s decline and frequent defeats in recent years have even prompted an online petition, signed by thousands, asking that Austria withdrew from the event to avoid embarrassment. The co-hosts are ranked as absolute outsiders to lift the trophy. Winning just one of their 12 matches in 2007, Austria’s mission to salvage its reputation looks doomed unless it discovers a sudden knack for scoring goals.
Best result: debut appearance
Odds: 80/1 (Coral), 100/1 (Ladbrokes), 100/1 (William Hill)

Croatia
Under coach Slaven Bilic, Croatia delivered one of the upsets of Euro 2008 qualifying, doing the double over England to prevent the Three Lions from going to the final tournament. Bilic has allied resilience to an attacking style of play for his side, which resulted in an impressive points total and goals scored record. An ageing defence and the absence of Eduardo da Silva, Croatia’s top scorer in the qualifying campaign, who is out with a broken leg, are potential worries.
Best result: quarterfinal (1996)
Odds: 12/1 (Coral), 12/1 (Ladbrokes), 12/1 (William Hill)

Germany
Although Germany finished second in its qualifying group, it was the first country to secure a place in the Euro 2008 finals. Bookmakers have made Germany the early favourites, in part due to its proximity to the host countries. Surprisingly, the team has not won a single match in the finals since lifting the trophy in 1996, but thousands of are fans expected to travel to the matches, which could help re-create the atmosphere that propelled Germany to a semi-final appearance in 2006, when it hosted the World Cup.
Best result: winner (1972 and 1980 as West Germany, 1996 as Germany)
Odds: 7/2 (Coral), 4/1 (Ladbrokes), 4/1 (William Hill)

Poland
Under the guidance of Dutch coach Leo Beenhakker, Poland will make its first-ever appearance in an European championship final tournament, thanks to the nine goals scored by striker Euzebiusz Smolarek. The team finished top of its group, ahead of Portugal and Serbia, showing themselves capable of standing up to top opposition, although the lack of any experience playing at the highest international level could prove a serious drawback.
Best result: debut appearance
Odds: 50/1 (Coral), 40/1 (Ladbrokes), 40/1 (William Hill)

EUROPEAN FOOTBALL CHAMPIONSHIP: The teams and how they rate: Group C

Netherlands
Making their eighth appearance in a final tournament (only Germany and Russia have more), the Dutch have been less than inspiring in their qualifying group, finishing second to Romania and just ahead of Bulgaria. Despite having a wide array of attacking options, scoring has not come easy for Marco van Basten’s team, even against unheralded opposition. But one can never discount the country that came up with “total football”, and the team does boast a record of four semi-finals in the last five final tournaments.
Best result: winners (1988)
Odds: 12/1 (Coral), 12/1 (Ladbrokes), 12/1 (William Hill)

Italy
Despite starting their qualifying campaign with one point from its first two matches, reinforcing their reputation as slow starters, Italy got back on track and finished top of their group, ahead of France, Scotland and Ukraine. A new encounter with France, the fourth in less than two years, beckons. The current world champions have been less than impressive on the continental stage, compared to their success in World Cups, but will feel they have the squad to win the trophy this time around.
Best result: winners (1968)
Odds: 6/1 (Coral), 7/1 (Ladbrokes), 7/1 (William Hill)

Romania
Winners of the qualifying group that included Bulgaria, the Romanians can only bemoan their luck of being drawn in what has been unofficially termed the tournament’s “group of death”. Their hopes of progressing further will rest with their two biggest stars, both playing in Italy – Cristian Chivu at the back and Adrian Mutu in attack. A well-organised outfit that is dangerous on the break, Romania could still play a big role in this year’s tournament, even if bookmakers are not optimistic.
Best result: quarterfinal (2000)
Odds: 33/1 (Coral), 40/1 (Ladbrokes), 40/1 (William Hill)

France
Drawn into the most difficult qualifying group, France went through after the results of games between its rivals went their way. Two defeats to Scotland have left a sour taste, as did the fact that France had to rely on Italy doing them a favour by beating Scotland, in order to qualify. Raymond Domenech and his charges have now been given another shot at Italy and the opportunity to revenge the loss suffered in the 2006 World Cup final, made infamous by Zidane’s headbutt.
Best result: winners (1984, 2000)
Odds: 8/1 (Coral), 9/1 (Ladbrokes), 15/2 (William Hill)

EUROPEAN FOOTBALL CHAMPIONSHIP: The teams and how they rate: Group D

Greece
Greece stunned the continent when it won the trophy in 2004 in its second appearance in the finals. Sporting a steel defence and nicking the odd goal, Greece triumphed in one of the biggest upsets ever. Half of that team is still around to defend their title, although this time around the will not have the surprise factor on their side. Their task is made harder by the fact that no team has ever successfully defended their trophy, but, just in case, bookmakers odds are not that long.
Best result: winners (2004)
Odds: 16/1 (Coral), 20/1 (Ladbrokes), 22/1 (William Hill)

Sweden
Coach Lars Lagerback has successfully persuaded Henrik Larssen, aged 36, to come out of retirement for the tournament, adding one more to the group of experienced players that have played together for a long time, but it will be Zlatan Ibrahimovic who will be asked to provide the brunt of Sweden’s attack. Experience comes at a cost, however, and it remains to be seen how Sweden will fare against quicker and more physical opponents, given the team’s high average age.
Best result: semi-final (1992)
Odds: 28/1 (Coral), 33/1 (Ladbrokes), 28/1 (William Hill)

Spain
Perennial favourites and perennial underachievers, Spain had a slow start to qualifying and only a sequence of eight wins in the last nine games spared them their blushes. The host of big-name stars has led once again to high expectations, but after so many false dawns, one can be excused for predicting another self-implosion. Spain undoubtedly has the talent to take the trophy home, as the short odds offered by bookmakers show, so maybe it is their year finally after all.
Best result: winners (1964)
Odds: 6/1 (Coral), 5/1 (Ladbrokes), 11/2 (William Hill)

Russia
The successor team to USSR, Russia finally looks like re-emerging from the turmoil of the 1990s and re-establishing itself as a top football team under the guidance of Dutch coach Guus Hiddink. After an up-and-down qualifying campaign, it has managed to secure a spot in the finals at England’s expense. Expect forwards Pavel Pogrebnyak and Andrei Arshavin, who led Zenit St Petersburg to the UEFA Cup triumph in May, to feature heavily.
Best result: winners (1960, as USSR), group stage (1996 and 2004, as Russia)
Odds: 33/1 (Coral), 28/1 (Ladbrokes), 33/1 (William Hill)