Euro 2008 Preview

At the World Cup two years ago, four European teams reached the semi-finals showing that this European Championships is going to be extremely competitive. All 16 teams will be disappointed with anything less than a quarter-final appearance meaning the group stage should be extremely competitive, unlike many World Cup groups where the top two seeds cruise through.

Group A

Czech Republic On their day they can beat anyone, showed emphatically when they outclassed Germany 3-0 in qualifying. They have quality all over the pitch from arguably the best goalkeeper in the world, Petr Cech, to the giant striker Jan Koller. Milan Baros and David Rozehnal, two players who have struggled in the Premiership, look different players when they wear the Czech shirt. Watch for Tomas Galasek pulling the strings in the midfield as well. However, the loss of key player Tomas Rosicky is a major blow to their hopes of going all the way, as is Pavel Nedveds decision to stay in international retirement.

Key Player: Jan Koller. With the loss of Rosicky, Koller needs to be scoring goals if Czech Republic are going to go far.

Portugal Runners-up in 2004 and semi-finalists at the World Cup two years ago, Portugal will be expecting to go far this year. Portugal boasts one of the best midfields in the competition with Deco, Petit, Joao Moutinho and Miguel Veloso fighting for the probable three midfield spots. In attack they can rely on the form man of European football, Cristiano Ronaldo, to score goals. Ronaldo may even start as a lone striker for Portugal due to their lack of a natural goal scoring forward. Portugal will need to perform like they did Coach Luiz Felipe Scolari will be leaving after the tournament and a European Championship would be the perfect leaving present. Expect Portugal to go far.

Key Player: Cristiano Ronaldo. If he can reproduce the form he showed all season for Manchester United then Portugal will have an outstanding chance of success.

Switzerland Being co-host of the finals assured Switzerland of their finals spot. They are placed in a very tough group and will need all the support their home fans give them if they are going to advance. They are a very defensive based team so do not expect lots of goals and excitement in their games. Arsenal's Philippe Senderos will need to get over his poor form for Arsenal if he is going to be the rock in Switzerland's defence. Alex Frei and Johan Vonlanthen will be relied on to score Switzerland's goals.

Key Player: Alex Frei. He is going to have to be on top form or Switzerland will struggle to score goals at all.

Turkey Turkey will need to rely on teamwork to survive in this group. The core of the defence and midfield are made up from Galatasaray players, with their attacking players made up from top flight Western European clubs. Middlesbrough's Sanli Tuncay and Newcastle's Emre Belozoglu are the creative force in the team whilst Nihat will provide the cutting edge up front. Will hope to match Fenerbache's brilliant run to the quarter finals in the Champions League but should find Group A too tough.

Key Player: Sanli Tuncay. The tireless Middlesbrough forward will not give opposition players any room to breathe and is an excellent attacking wide player.

Group A Prediction: Portugal will cruise the group and clinch first place whilst home advantage may just be enough for Switzerland to edge the Czech's.

Group B

Austria The other co-hosts would love nothing more than to top the group ahead of fierce rivals Germany and Poland but they aren't being referred to as the worst ever hosts for nothing. Austria are ranked 101st in world football, below countries like Ethiopia, Gabon and Syria and would have got no where near qualifying if they were not hosts. The fact Emmanuel Pogatetz is relied upon to hold the defence together speaks volumes for their chances. A recent friendly against Holland showed the low morale the team have; they managed to throw a 3-1 half time lead away and lose 4-3. They will need a miracle to progress beyond the group stage, even with home advantage.

Key Player: Andreas Ivanschitz. The captain will be relied on to dominate the midfield, score goals and act as inspiration to his teammates. Good luck.

Croatia The Croats outclassed England home and away on their route to the Finals. They are a proper footballing side that has drawn comparisons with Brazil for their style of play. However, the loss of Brazilian born Eduardo da Silva is a major loss for a team who could go all the way. Croatia have quality players in abundance such as Portsmouth ace Niko Franjcar, new Tottenham signing Luka Modric and veteran midfielder Niko Kovac. Mladen Petric and Ivan Klasnic will be looking to score the goals in Eduardo's absence. Croatia are the dark horses of the tournament. Do not be surprised to see them top the group ahead of Germany.

Key Player: Luka Modric. Tottenham's new signing will be showing the Premiership exactly what they're in for next year.

Germany The Germans are favourites following their performance at the World Cup two years ago and their results since. They play very attacking football; a throw back to the efficient Germany of old. Miroslav Klose and Lukas Podolski thrive off the creative genius of Michael Ballack and Bastian Schweinsteiger. Stuttgart's Mario Gomez has been tipped to shine in this tournament by leading pundits so keep a look out for him. In defence Christoph Metzelder, Per Mertesacker, Philip Lahm and Marcell Jansen provide a formidable barrier for Jens Lehmann who will be looking to put a frustrating season behind them. Being favourites may provide too much pressure for Germany who have done better as underdogs in recent tournaments.

Key Player: Michael Ballack. The Chelsea man's much improved second half to the season has come at a great time for Germany.

Poland Surprisingly qualified as winners from Group A ahead of Portugal and Serbia and should not be underestimated. Artur Boruc and Tomasz Kuszczach are both very able goalkeepers but expect Celtic's Boruc to start. Whilst Poland lacks truly world class players, Euzebiusz Smolarek and Maciej Zurawski will not be the easiest of opponents. They should beat Austria so the last game against Croatia could be the decider.

Key Player: Arthur Boruc. A few world class saves from Boruc could be the difference between the quarter finals and an early exit.

Group B Prediction: The host nation always makes it through the group stage - but not this time. Germany and Croatia will proceed to the knockout stages.

Group C

France The World Cup runners-up may have lost the great Zinedine Zidane but they will be looking to go one better in Austria and Switzerland. They beat Italy in the qualifying round and only came unstuck against Scotland. The attacking talent at coach Raymond Domenech's is unbelievable. Franck Ribery is one of Europe's most dangerous players whilst Thierry Henry still has the ability to win any game of football for his side. Add to that Karim Benzema, Nicolas Anelka, Sidney Govou, Samir Nasri and young prospect Bafetimbi Gomis and France will always score goals. In the midfield Claude Makelele and Patrick Vieira may be getting on a bit but both are still superb holding midfielders. France are always contenders to win any tournament but they will need to start brightly to escape from The Group of Death'.

Key Player: Franck Ribery. Bayern Munich's excellent winger is always a tricky customer to come up against.

Holland Holland are always contenders for any tournament they enter but will have to rely on their superb defensive record to escape this group. Edwin van der Sar, fresh from his Champions league final exploits, will be protected by John Heitinga, Joris Mathijsen, Andre Ooijer and Wilfred Bouma in their attempt to keep the two World Cup finalists at bay. In midfield Wesley Sneijder and Arjen Robben will be looking to lay goals on for Ruud van Nistelrooy and Klaas Jan Huntelaar. They will fancy their chances of qualifying but may just come up short.

Key Player: Arjen Robben. Why Chelsea let him go will never be understood. On his day is as good as Ronaldo and Messi.

Italy The World Champions will be looking to add the European Championship to their roll of honour that has eluded them since 1968. They looked shaky at times during qualifying but were the only team to leave Hampden Park with three points - no easy feat. As do all Italian sides, they have a superb defence, including former FIFA World Player of the Year Fabio Cannavaro, and the World's most expensive goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon. Andrea Pirlo, Daniele De Rossi and Gennaro Gattuso should be able to outplay any other midfield combination. However, in attack an over reliance on Luca Toni to score goals may cost them.

Key Player: Fabio Cannavaro. The best defender by a long way at the World Cup and has followed it up with two solid seasons at Real Madrid. He is retiring from International Football after the tournament and a winner's medal would be a fitting send off for one of the greats of the game.

Romania Finished ahead of Holland in qualifying but do not have a chance to qualify from this group. Picking up a point would be viewed as a good tournament given the group they find themselves in. Much will rely on captain Christian Chivu leading by example from the back and Adrian Mutu to score goals. If they can catch a nervous France cold in the opening game they will stand a chance of going through but anything less and they will be on the first plane home.

Key Player: Christian Chivu. Replaced Cannavaro at Inter Milan with no complaints and will need to be on top form to keep out van Nistelrooy, Henry and Toni.

Group C Prediction: The Group of Death' will see one of the favourites fall at the first hurdle and you have to feel it will be Holland. Italy and France to go through.

Group D

Greece Greece won the European Championships but failed to even qualify for the World Cup so it depends on which Greece turns as to how far they get. Four years ago they relied on a tight defence, unbelievable work rate and set pieces to score from and it will be a case of same again this time. Antonis Nikopolidis is expected to be fit to start in goal and will be looking to keep Europe's finest at bay again. Angelos Charisteas was the goal scoring hero last time but he will probably be kept out the starting line up by Theofanis Gekas this time around. They will need to get off to a good start if they are going to get out the group, never remind a repeat performance.

Key Player: Angelos Basinas. The captain will be the playmaker in the midfield and will need to be on top form.

Russia Guus Hiddink has a great record in International competitions; getting lowly countries like South Korea and Australia to the semi-finals and the second round respectively of the World Cup. If he can carry his record into the European Championships, Russia will be a force to be reckoned with. Goalkeeper Igor Akinfeev has been regularly linked with the top European clubs and will be a difficult nut to crack in the Russian side. Defender Sergei Ignashevich knows Akinfeev well from CSKA Moscow and will add to the defensive steel. The Russian's most well known player is Andrei Arshavin who was Man of the Match in the UEFA Cup final. However, he will be suspended for the opening games which might ruin Russia's chances.

Key Player: Pavel Pogrebnyak. With Arshavin suspended, much will rely on Zenit St. Petersburgh colleague Pogrebnyak, who scored twice in Zenit's impressive victory against Bayern Munich in the UEFA Cup.

Spain The perennial underachievers may finally be ready to end 44 years of failure. They are always tipped before every tournament but always choke when it matters. On paper they have the most talented team; Iker Casillas, Carles Puyol, Sergio Ramos, Xavi Hernandez, Andres Iniesta, Cesc Fabregas, David Villa and Fernando Torres all fall into the world class' bracket. The squad is so good there are no places for Raul, Bojan Krkic, Joaquin, Jose Antonio Reyes and Luis Garcia to name a few. In a pure footballing match Spain have the ability to beat anyone, but will be found lacking if a match turns physical. However, they are surely primed for their long overdue tournament win.

Key Player: Cesc Fabregas. Many to choose from but if Fabregas dominates games like he does for Arsenal, Spain will have the platform that their attacking players will thrive on.

Sweden Can always be relied on to give a good account of themselves in any tournament they enter but struggled in qualifying. They had to rely on Spain doing them a favour to finish ahead of Northern Ireland. Henrik Larsson has, again been tempted out of International retirement to lead the line with Zlatan Ibrahimovic. Larsson showed last year at Manchester United that he can still produce at the highest level whilst Ibrahimovic is regarded as one of Europe's best strikers on his day. However, his day' does not happen as often as it should. If the two of them can fire on all cylinders then Sweden have a great chance of reaching the quarter finals.

Key Player: Christian Wilhelmsson. The creative force in midfield will need to be giving Larsson and Ibrahimovic regular service.

Group D Prediction One of the tightest to call but Spain will top the group whilst Sweden will narrowly edge out Russia.

Of course predictions mean nothing. Four years ago no one backed Greece to win it. Who knows? In three weeks time we could be watching Romania or Austria parade the trophy around. That is the beauty of football, and the beauty of this tournament. Sit back and enjoy the ride.

Glen Robertson