The UEFA European Football Championship 2008 kicks off on Saturday, when co-hosts Switzerland host the Czech Republic in the first Group A game in Basel. The Euros are the third most-watched sporting competition in the world - after the FIFA World Cup and the Olympics - but this year there will be less interest for the English-speaking world, as none of the British Isles teams qualified.
England and Ireland both had disastrous campaigns which saw their homegrown managers being replaced by wily old Italians, while Northern Ireland and Scotland were quite heroic in their ultimately unsuccessful adventures: Northern Ireland's victories over Spain and Sweden, and Scotland's home and away triumphs over France, rank among both countries' finest ever results. Wales never really stood a chance in a tough group.
Still, most football fans will still be excited about the tournament, which showcases many of the world's finest players, a lot of them plying their trade in the English Premiership. Can Cristiano Ronaldo win this tournament on his own, just like Platini did for France in 1984? Can Spain, with Premiership stars like Fabregas and Torres, finally live up to their talent by showing it on the big stage? And can poor Austria avoid a total humiliation on their home soil? I can't wait to find out. Here's my Euro 2008 preview...
GROUP A
Czech Republic
FIFA World Ranking: 6th
Odds: 16/1
The Czechs have been perennially under-rated ever since they became a Slovak-free republic, but just now might be the time to actually not-rate them. They've lost the two key men of their last decade, unpredictable winger Karel Poborsky and the majestic Pavel Nedved, who've both got too old for International football; if that wasn't bad enough, they've lost Nedved's mercurial replacement, Arsenal's Tomas Rosicky, to a crippling hamstring injury.
It's now hard to see just where their genuine class is going to come from. Six-foot-eight-inch striker Jan Koller is always a danger, but he's due to retire after the tournament, and at 35 most defenders have now worked out how to mark him. Milan Baros, the top scorer at the last Euros in 2004, hasn't scored a single goal since joining Portsmouth in January.
That they finished above tournament favourites Germany in qualification is slightly deceptive - Germany's convenient last-day loss to the Czechs, 3-0 at home, gave them a seeding advantage for this stage. Of course, Chelsea's Petr Cech is one of the top three goalkeepers in the world, and players like attacking full-back Marek Jankulovski and winger Libor Sionko will offer some threat.
Article comments
1 - Paul
It maybe a shock to you Ally, but The Republic of Ireland is not in the British Isles. The Irish are not British and the British do not own Ireland. Funny how the British have always claimed ownership of lands they invaded such as Ireland, India, Gibralter, The Malvinas (Falklands) and many, many more.
2 - Barry
For me there may well be some group shock qualifiers but at the end of the day the big 4 will be there Spain,Portugal,Germany & France, the Germans will fall short due to the lack of quality between the posts, Portugal will under perform leaving Spain and France in the Final and as for the world Cup France will blow it and finally the best team in the tournament will come out victorious Viva El SPAIN!
Barry
3 - Barry
Paul and error Im sure as Yes Ireland is not and never has been part of the British Iles, But invaders they may have been like many other nations of the world - France Portugal Germany! but unlike many none democratic country's elsewhere Britain left them country's to rule for themselves.
The Falklands is an Island inhabited by Ex Pat British Citizens and was called to defend the Island from a invading force - Many lives were lost during that campaign!
So think on?
4 - Dr Dreadful
The British Isles is an unfortunately parochial name which describes the whole archipelago of two large and several hundred small islands that stands off the coast of north-western Europe. You will find it described thus in any atlas, whether published in Britain or not, and it does not imply any lingering imperial covetousness on the part of Her Majesty or her subjects.
Besides which, since the Irish originally came from Scotland, which is part of Britain, it could be said that the esteemed inhabitants of the Emerald Isle are indeed... British.
And now back to Ally, who I believe has some team news. Apparently Sophocles has passed a late fitness test and will be lining up in goal for the Greeks. Ally?
5 - Ally Brown
Paul and Barry - I really don't want to get into a Irish v British political argument here - let's keep this to the football if possible - but I will say in my defence that the Wikipedia definition of British Isles includes the island of Ireland...
"The British Isles... are a group of islands off the northwest coast of continental Europe which comprise Great Britain, Ireland and a number of smaller islands"
Of course Ireland is not 'owned' by Britain and I am not claiming anything of the sort. I used 'British Isles' in the same way someone might use 'Scandinavia' or 'North America' (to include Canada), as a geographical description, not a political statement. I hope this can be the final word on this matter.
PS. I do have team news! Matthieu Flamini has just been called up to the French squad due to worries over Patrick Viera's fitness.
6 - Dr Dreadful
Unfortunately, Ally, asking an Irishman to separate politics from football - or indeed from any other subject - is something of a lost cause!
7 - Alex
Barry, big four? Germany, Portugal and Spain ahead of Italy?
Have you been following soccer at all?
8 - Barry
Well Alex only time will tell but I am confident that the four I listed will be the the Big 4 they will confirm that when they win their groups.
But having viewed the draw process I will resubmit the final pairing Spain - Portugal as France will be out at the Semi Final stage when they meet Spain.
As for following the game yes mate but the Italians are getting a but weathered and weary so I just feel they have seen better days and that group is pretty dam tough!
9 - Alex
Barry, sound choices for sure. But I think there'll be an upset somewhere. Who I don't know.
But Italy, come on, let's get serious. They have the pedigree - there's no debating that.
The way I see that group is that whoever gets through it either makes them stronger or exhausts them. Italy tends to get stronger as a tournament grows. France too. My Dutch friend is pessimistic about Holland but I wouldn't be. The x-factor is Romania.
10 - Alex
By the way, I point you to Sneijder's comments on ESPN. I think he has a point. Many of the teams are equal and it will possibly come down to luck or a penalty somewhere. It always does.
I don't think France or Italy are "terrified" of anyone as he states; wary perhaps but not terrified.
I don't think anyone needs to be afraid. They need to be diligent and vigilant. And stay calm under fire.
That's why upsets are usually inevitable. Croatia, Greece, Turkey etc. - these countries come in with quality and nothing to lose.
11 - Beautifulgamer
Predictions are for the birds in a tournament like this. And odds go out the window. I wouldn't want to be a bookie for the Euros. Who to pick? What to pick? I'm predicting only one thing: beautiful football. May the best and luckiest team win this beautiful tournament.
12 - Alessandro
I agree with #11.
Ally, just a small addition to your smashing run down, Italy no longer play classic catenaccio - an art form in itself. That's been dead for years. Baresi was the last of those Mohicans.
13 - Barry
Well Alex I think it showed on my prediction of the Italians they are no longer the force of 2007 they are very much misguided and disjointed the Dutch showed class and the Italians let them? OK the French were boring and will need to get their finger out against the Dutch, But the Germans and the Spaniards are looking good!
But what do I know about football I am Welsh and a Everton Supporter lol!
14 - Alex
Oh come now, Barry no one should ever use that against you! :<)
Perfect word: misguided. It's only one game in but Donadoni is not the guy to get this team in gear.
Spain always comes out in a hurry and fury. We'll see. Portugal looks good. We'll wait and see for Group C.
I liked what I saw from Sweden.
15 - Barry
You are right a few surprises but the team of the moment has got to be the Dutch fantastic goals against proven opposition!
Swenden are no push over and Spain had there work cut out there!
Germany as predicted the man between the posts just don't cut it no more?
Holland are playing world class at the moment who can stop them???
16 - Barry
Can it be a Portugal v Holland Final?
17 - Dr Dreadful
I agree, Portugal-Holland would probably be the dream final. Spain are also playing some great stuff but they're very one-dimensional and didn't seem to know what to do once Sweden got back into the game. They were very lucky to get that late winning goal. I think they'll choke again, most likely against Italy.
Unfortunately, don't put it past either the Italians or the Germans (or - nightmare scenario - both!) to grind their soul-destroying way to Vienna now that they've squeaked out of their groups.
18 - Barry
What a Fantastic Competition and a wonderful display of flowing football by Spain the worthy winners streets ahead of the Germans on the day.
Viva Espana!
Take Care All
19 - iano
Just to join in on the British Isles debate.
Ireland is not part of the British isles , the term is defunct and people in the UK should cease using it as it is offensive.
It's like calling austria part of Greater Germany. The "British Isles" like "Greater Germany" did once exist and hence it can be defined in any dictionary however they both do not any longer exist.
"UK and Ireland" if you must, "Ireland and the UK" if you seek to please, that will include the soccer teams you imply.
20 - Dr Dreadful
If the term is defunct, Iano, then apparently no-one has informed the publishers of atlases.
The archipelago has been known by that name since the ancient Greeks first wrote about the place. They called the people who lived there Prettanoi, and named the islands after them.
You can blame Pliny the Elder for the controversy: he was the first to call the largest island Britannia. If he'd left it alone to go by its former name Albion, there wouldn't be all this fuss.
I understand why the term might be offensive to Irish people: however, in that case we should probably not refer to the body of water that separates the Irish from the British as the Irish Sea. Luckily, that particular geographical feature does have an alternative name: St George's Channel. St George being the patron saint of... oh, never mind.
Back to the Euros. Oh, wait, that's finished. Never mind either.
Anyone have any thoughts about the World Cup qualifiers?
:-)
21 - Surfer
Yeah, sorry Iano, dread's right (but nice to see the pernickity old hatreds still being fostered) ... geographically, they are still known as the British Isles.
Politically, well, that's a different thing.
But maybe you should just get over it in the 21st century like most Irish people have these days. It's just a geographic term.
Take a leaf out of our book down here in Australia, the country that has the largest number (by percentage of population) of people of Irish descent outside Ireland (over 40 per cent), where the old hatreds have been left at the doorstep and forgotten and everyone forgets to ask - or even wonder, for that matter - who's a catholic or who's a heathen.
Even the statue of Queen Victoria removed from Dublin in the 1930s found a welcome home down here and lives on outside the Queen Victoria Centre shopping mall in downtown Sydney, while on the other side of the coin half the place names here are named after the Irish.
We are living proof that the the Irish and British can live together in peace and harmony and be proud of both parts of our shared heritage. We describe ouselves as being Anglo-Celtic, which is absolutely accurate.
Which kind of makes a mockery of the head-butting that has gome on on the other side of the world.
How do I know all this? I'm half Irish (the good half, and my mother hated the conflict between Irish nationalism/and British imperialism that left so many people needlessly dead, maimed and emotionally scarred). May pet hate too. Time to let it go, though, Iano ... no one cares about that bullsh.t anymore.
22 - Dr Dreadful
Stan, I do think it's important to draw a distinction between geographical and political names of places, yes. I would never refer to Ireland (either bit) as part of Britain. And I often have to warn these iggernant Seppos over here not to call any Scottish or Welsh people they may meet 'English'. Barstools have been known to fly over the issue...
Someone needs to tell the Greeks to mellow out a bit, too. They had a fit over one of the fledgling Balkan states wanting to call itself Macedonia, just because that happens also to be the name of a Greek province. (Of course it was also the birthplace of a certain Alexander, but that was two and a half thousand years ago. Get a grip, people.) We even had to call the place The Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia for a while. Fortunately, most of the world now seems to have decided that's too terminally stupid to put up with, and it's now (everywhere except Greece, presumably) plain old Macedonia.
In your part of the world, I wonder if there's any needle over the use of the terms 'Papua' and 'New Guinea' in reference to that whacking great island off to the north of you, which is divided about equally between two nations?
23 - STM
No Doc, Papua-New Guinea (or PNG as we call it here) is one independent sovereign nation ... no problems there apart from the high crime rate in Moresby. The other half of that big island is Irian Jaya, which is part of Indonesia.
People I know who've been up there reckon if you sail around the coast of Irian Jaya, you can almost feel the darkest-Africa type vibe coming off the hills.
It's really, really, really wild up there. If I were an Indo soldier sent up there to quell the restless locals who seek their independence from Jakarta, I'd be losing as much weight as possible first so that I'd appear as unattractive as possible in terms of being a dinner guest, if you know what I mean.
I don't really know if that stuff still goes on, but I suspect there are undiscovered tribes in Irain Jaya, and the indos aren't the most popular people among the locals - and its neighbour, modern PNG, is a dangerous enough place, with murdeers, shootings, rapes and robberies way too commonplace in Port Moresby.
The government, with the backing of the Australian Government, has tried very hard to clean it up and it's better than it was a few years back, but it's still pretty heavy going, and there are still a number of so-called "raskol" (pidgin for rascal) crime gangs that have operated there too.
Interesting that in that 2004 world ranking , Melbourne, Australia, is regarded as sitting at number one of the world's best cities to live, with Perth, Australia at number 4, and Port Moresby, capital of our nearest neighbour, ranks as the world's worst city to live - coming in at 130.
Expect Rudd's government to offer more tangible help to PNG than Howard's in terms of social justice and schemes that might create jobs.
We hope ... they need help right now.
24 - Dr Dreadful
West Papua (or Irian Jaya) certainly is an interesting place. Don't know if you've seen it down there, but the Travel Channel here had a series a couple of months ago called Living with the Mek, which followed the experiences of two British explorers who lived for three months in total immersion as part of a remote tribe in the Papuan Highlands. The Mek live a completely traditional lifestyle and have had very, very little contact with the outside world. The two Poms had to do the hill-farming, foraging, fishing, looking after pigs, wearing penis gourds, dealing with evil spirits and witches, the whole bit.
A year or two before that they did a stint with another Papuan tribe, the Kombai, which I haven't watched all the way through yet but which looks just as fascinating.
And, er... considering some of the choice things you've had to say about that part of the world in the past, mate, it must really stick in your craw that Melbourne was ranked the world's most liveable city...
25 - STM
Actually Doc, I was down there recently and I really enjoyed it. It has really changed ... it's also a big mutha of place, with skyscrapers everywhere, really modern, great restaurants. If it wasn't for all the Victorians, it'd be a great joint :)
However, it does retain its soul ... the nice orderly rows of federation houses in the bayside suburbs like St Kilda, where I took my daughter for dinner on a stinking hot night and we sat outside watching the sunset eating a great meal. We got back to downtown Melbourne in about 15 minutes (max) on the tram (fantastic, aren't they?), in time for her to have a dip in the hotel pool.
When we arrived, we got a cab into town on the freeway and as we approached Melbourne, she saw the skyline and said: "Oh, it's big Dad ... it's a proper city." Lol. Well, almost. She's been listening to me too much.
Considering I could've bought a house in a bayside suburb down there for a lot less than I paid for mine up here (not near the water, although not far), it's certainly sobering and very attractive when you think about the lifestyle.
But then they play that abomination of a game down there - Australian football - and bang on about it for three-quarters of the year like there's nothing else that counts.
That'd get a bit tiresome; I'd need to watch a few live rugby games every year ... so nah, I'm happy to stay up here in the Premier State. Plus, I like being able to swim all year round without me nuts falling off :)