EV Guide to Euro 2008
By Khilen Mehta
With Euro 2008 only 11 days away, the EV guide to the championships begins now. Everyday I will whet your appetite for the summer by giving you the lowdown on two teams from each group. The key facts, the key players and my very own predictions for each group. Let us begin with Group A…
1) Switzerland- This is the first time the UEFA EURO 2008 co-hosts will have played in consecutive UEFA European Championship finals and the 2008 tournament will be their third finals overall. They look far better prepared then fellow hosts Austria with encouraging results including a draw against Argentina followed by a victory against the Netherlands. With a solid defensive base, scoring goals will be Switzerlands main concern. Their record prior to the finals of UEFA EURO 2008 was 80 matches played with 29 wins, 22 draws and 29 losses, with 119 goals scored and 108 conceded. Both of their finals campaigns in 1996 and 2004 have started with draws - 1-1 against hosts England in 1996 and 0-0 with Croatia in Portugal - but ended with two subsequent defeats.
Manager- Jakob Kuhn, “Success would be to reach the quarter-finals. Of course it won’t be easy, but that has to be our goal”
Key Player- Alexander Frei will be relied upon to score the goals
Prediction- Will struggle to finish anywhere but bottom
2) Czech Republic- The Czechs have the pedigree to go far in this competition. They retain a 100 per cent qualification record for the UEFA European Championship with four appearances from four attempts and they reached the final in Euro 96. However with the retirements of Poborsky and Nedved, and the potential loss of Rosicky to injury, it remains to see whether they will be as creative in front of goal to match their solidness at the back. Koller and Baros link up brilliantly up front, and Koller even finished second top goal scorer in 2006 FIFA qualifying with nine goals. Up until the end of UEFA EURO 2008 qualifying, the Czech Republic had played 54 matches in the UEFA European Championship, winning 39, drawing eight and losing seven. In that time, they scored 117 goals and conceded 37.
Manager- Karel Brückner, “Qualifying is nice but the way we did it is even better.”
Key Player- David Rozenhal will keep it tight at the back
Prediction- Will fall to one of the bigger nations in the quarter finals
Tags: bruckner, czech republic, euro, Euro 2008, football, frei, khilen mehta, kuhn, rozenhal, switzerland