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)