Group A Group B Group C Group D
France | England | Switzerland | Croatia
* = seeded teams
The shock of a first-round exit from the last edition of
the World Cup should have dissipated by now, but they will
have to learn to draw their opponents out of their own penalty
areas to give their speedy forwards a little room. Yes, Henry
manages to score regularly on the smallest pitch in the English
leagues, but then the defenders in Portugal may not be as
giving as those of (say) Leeds. Or Germany; France were in
the comfort zone as they beat the World Cup finalists 3-0
in Gelsenkirchen 15 Nov 03.
France have quality players in all positions, but as we saw
at the Euro 2000, they almost lost the final against Italy.
A bad case of over-confidence? Perhaps. If they make the same
mistake this time they stand a good chance of not winning
the tournament.
Seriously though, which other team is as good? Brazil?
Fixtures
France v England 13 June 19:45 KO; Estádio da Luz,
Lisbon
France v Croatia 17 June 19:45 KO; Estádio Municipal
Dr. Magalhães Pessoa, Leiria
France v Switzerland 21 June 19:45 KO; Estádio Municipal
de Coimbra
Coach: Jacques Santini
Record: Champions 1984 & 2000. Qualified in 1960, 1964, 1968, 1984, 1992, 1996, 2000.
Men to watch: Thierry Henry and Zinedine Zidane.
Predictions & Latest Odds: Winners. 3/1 Betting
On the sidelines: The only weaknesses in the squad are in the defence where the aging Marcel Desailly and Manchester United's Mikael Silvestre had poor seasons.
The Squad (Official Squad List)
Goalkeepers
Fabien Barthez (Marseille)
Grégory Coupet (Lyon)
Mickaël Landreau (Nantes)
Defenders
Jean-Alain Boumsong (Auxerre)
Marcel Desailly (Chelsea)
William Gallas (Chelsea)
Bixente Lizarazu (Bayern Munich)
Willy Sagnol (Bayern Munich)
Mikaël Silvestre (Manchester United)
Lilian Thuram (Juventus)
Midfielders
Olivier Dacourt (AS Roma)
Claude Makelele (Chelsea)
Benoît Pedretti (Sochaux),
Robert Pires (Arsenal)
Jérôme Rothen (Monaco)
Patrick
Vieira (Arsenal)
Zinedine Zidane (Real Madrid)
Forwards
Thierry Henry (Arsenal)
Steve Marlet (Marseille)
Louis Saha (Manchester Utd)
David Trezeguet (Juventus)
Sylvain Wiltord (Arsenal)
Le Foot:
The Legends of French Football
The 0-0 encounter in Turkey which allowed England to qualify
for the finals without having to go through a play-off shows
the maturity of the current squad. Indeed the qualifying matches
as a whole reflected this. Sure, England seemed to struggle
against Macedonia, but there are positive things to be said.
For example, the team can now come back after going a goal
down; the lack of natural left-sided players is not seen as
such a problem as it was pre-World Cup; Rooney is that rarity
– a player with ball skill who's actually allowed to
don an England shirt; Beckham has true leadership qualities;
the players are used to Sven's modus operandi.
Then there are the weak points: the goalkeeper position; the
defence which likes to head away knee-high passes; the media
and some of the fans who like to blame poor performances on
the error of particular players, rather than seeing the team
as a unit.
All in all reasons to be cheerful.
Fixtures
England v France 13 June 19:45 KO; Estádio da Luz,
Lisbon
England v Switzerland 17 June 17:00 KO; Estádio Municipal
de Coimbra
England v Croatia 21 June 19:45 KO; Estádio da Luz,
Lisbon
Coach: Sven Goran-Eriksson
Record: Qualified in 1968, 1980, 1988, 1992, 1996 and 2000 but have never made it to the final of a European championship.
Men to watch: Wayne Rooney, Steven Gerrard and David Beckham.
Predictions & Latest Odds: Last eight. 7/1 Betting
On the sidelines: England's best performance in the European championship was at home in Euro 1996 under coach Terry Venables, when they lost on penalties to eventual winners Germany in the semi-finals.
Warren Barton looks at England's chances
Ramon Vega Previews England v Switzerland
The Squad (Official Squad List)
Goalkeepers
David James (Manchester City)
Paul Robinson (Leeds)
Ian Michael Walker (Leicester City)
Defenders
Wayne Bridge (Chelsea)
Sol Campbell (Arsenal)
Ashley Cole (Arsenal)
Gary Neville (Manchester United)
Phil Neville (Manchester United)
John Terry (Chelsea)
Ledley King (Tottenham)
Jamie Carragher (Liverpool)
Midfielders
David Beckham (Real Madrid)
Nicky Butt (Manchester United)
Joe Cole (Chelsea)
Kieron Dyer (Newcastle United)
Steven Gerrard (Liverpool)
Owen Hargreaves (Bayern Munich)
Frank Lampard (Chelsea)
Paul Scholes (Manchester United)
Forwards
Emile Heskey (Liverpool)
Michael Owen (Liverpool)
Wayne Rooney (Everton)
Darius Vassell (Aston Villa)
England's Path To Portugal
Buy now on DVD!
Like many smaller nations, Switzerland exports most of its
talented players to leagues with teams that have deeper pockets
than Grasshoppers, FC Zurich and Berne's Young Boys.
Also, the Swiss are hockey-mad and, of course, more interested
in skiing. As a result, the national side tends toward mediocrity.
Aside from a strong showing in the 1994 World Cup, in the
United States, Switzerland has produced few promising results
at this level, though Swiss club football has definitely been
on the up of late.
Short of a series of huge upsets though, the Swiss will stay
true to form and end their Portuguese sojourn after three
matches.
Fixtures
Switzerland v Croatia 13 June 17:00 KO; Estsdio Municipal,
Leiria
Switzerland v England 17 June 17:00 KO; Estádio Municipal
de Coimbra
Switzerland v France 21 June 19:45 KO; Estádio Municipal
de Coimbra
Coach: Jakob 'Kobi' Kuhn.
Record: Exited after the group stage in their only previous appearance in 1996.
Men to watch: The Yakin brothers & Alexander Frei.
Predictions & Latest Odds: Will crash out in the first round; revenge to be had as co-hosts in 2008. 40/1 Betting
On the sidelines: Coach Kobi Kuhn appeared in the 1966 World Cup finals as a player.
Ramon Vega Previews England v Switzerland
The Squad (Official Squad List)
Goalkeepers
Fabrice Borer (Grasshopper-Club)
Jörg Stiel (Borussia Mönchengladbach)
Pascal Zuberbühler (FC Basel)
Defenders:
Bruno Berner (Freiburg)
Bernt Haas (West Bromich Albion)
Stéphane Henchoz (FC Liverpool)
Ludovic Magnin (SV Werder Bremen)
Patrick Muller (Olympique Lyonnais)
Christoph Spycher (Grasshoppers)
Murat Yakin (FC Basel)
Marco Zwyssig (FC Basel)
Midfielders
Ricardo Cabanas (Grasshoppers)
Fabio Celestini (Marseille)
Benjamin Huggel (FC Basel)
Tranquillo Barnetta (St. Gallen)
Johann Vogel (PSV Eindhoven)
Raphael Wicky (Hamburg SV)
Hakan Yakin (VfB Stuttgart)
Forwards
Stephane Chapuisat (Young Boys)
Alexander Frei (Rennes)
Daniel Gygax (FC Zurich)
Milaim Rama (FC Thun)
Johann Vonlanthen (PSV Eindhoven)
Disappointing at World Cup 2002, Croatia continue to underwhelm but continue to qualify for the major tournaments. Coach Otto Baric is in the process of rebuilding the side of veterans who limped out of Japan last June. Monaco striker Dado Prso is filling the boots of Alen Boksic and Juventus defender Igor Tudor can be regal at the back. Croatia are now solid rather than spectacular with Juve's Igor Tudor and the Kovac brothers, who play in the Bundesliga regular members of the team. All in all, the class of 1998 is long since gone.
Croatia Euro 2004: in-depth team profile
Fixtures
Croatia v Switzerland 13 June 17:00 KO; Estádio Municipal,
Leiria
Croatia v France 17 June 19:45 KO; Estádio Municipal,
Leiria
Croatia v England 21
June 19:45 KO; Estádio da Luz, Lisbon
Coach: Otto Baric.
Record: Have appeared at one European championships in 1996.
Men to watch: Dado Prso.
Predictions & Latest Odds: Will struggle to get
out of the group and they won't.
40/1 Betting
On the sidelines: Liverpool's Igor Biscan has been told he 'will never play again' after leaving the squad before the Bulgaria game in qualifying.
The Squad (Official Squad List)
Goalkeepers
Tomislav Butina (FC Brugge)
Joey Didulica (Vienna Austria)
Stipe Pletikosa (Shakhtar Donetsk)
Defenders
Robert Kovac (Bayen Munich)
Mato Neretljak (Hajduk Split)
Dario Simic (AC Milan)
Josip Simunic (Hertha Berlin)
Mario Tokic (GAK Graz)
Stjepan Tomas (Fenerbahce)
Igor Tudor (Juventus)
Boris Zivkovic (Stuttgart)
Midfielders
Marko Babic (Bayer Leverkusen)
Nenad Bjelica (Kaiserslautern)
Niko Kovac (Hertha Berlin)
Jerko Leko (Dynamo Kiev)
Milan Rapaic (Ancona)
Giovanni Rosso (Maccabi)
Dario Srna (Shakhtar Donetsk)
Forwards
Ivan Klasnic (Werder Bremen)
Ivica Mornar (Portsmouth)
Ivica Olic (CSKA Moscow)
Dado Prso
(Monaco)
Tomislav Sokota (Benfica)
