Euro 2008 - Switzerland & Austria

[Motorboatjones33]

News and Notes on the upcoming competition.

[Motorboatjones33]

My Short Preview

Austria: Co-hosts and debut appearance in the UEFA European Football Championship
Key Players: Forward Roland Linz (S.C. Braga), Forward Erwin "Jimmy" Hoffer (Rapid Vienna), and Defender Emanuel Pogatetz (Middlesbrough FC)

Switzerland: Co-hosts appeared in the 1996 and 2004 tournaments
Key Players: Midfielder Gelson Fernandes (Manchester City FC), Forward Alexander Frei (Borussia Dortmund), and Defender Philippe Senderos (Arsenal FC)

Poland: Group A Qualifying Winner and debut appearance in the torunament
Key Players: Goalkeeper Artur Boruc (Celtic FC), Forward Euzebiusz Smolarek (Racing de Santander), and Midfielder Jacek Krzynówek (VfL Wolfsburg)

Portugal: Group A Runner-up appeared in the 1984, 1996, 2000, and 2004 tournaments
Key Players: Midfielder/Forward Cristiano Ronaldo (Manchester United), Forward Nuno Gomes (S.L. Benfica), and Midfielder Deco (Barcelona)

Italy: Group B Winner appeared in the 1968, 1980, 1988, 1996, 2000, and 2004 tournaments
Key Players: Forward Luca Toni (Bayern Munich), Midfielder Gennaro Gattuso (A.C. Milan) and Goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon (Juventus)

France: Group B Runner-up appeared in 1960, 1984, 1992, 1996, 2000, and 2004
Key Players: Defender William Gallas (Arsenal FC), Midfielder Franck Ribéry (Bayern Munich), and Forward Thierry Henry (Barcelona)

Greece: Group C Winner appeared in 1980 and 2004 (Euro 2004 Champions)
Key Players: Midfielder Kostas Katsouranis (S.L. Benfica), Forward Angelos Charisteas (Nuremberg), and Giourkas Seitaridis (Atlético Madrid)

Turkey: Group C Runner-up appeared in 1996 and 2000 tournaments
Key Players: Forward Nihat Kahveci (Villarreal CF), Midfielder Tuncay Sanli (Middlesbrough FC), and Defender Servet Çetin (Galatasaray S.K.)

Czech Republic: Group D Winner appeared in 1960, 1976, 1980, 1996, 2000, and 2004
Key Players: Forward Milan Baroš (Portsmouth FC), Midfielder Jan Polák (R.S.C. Anderlecht), and Defender Marek Jankulovski (A.C. Milan)

Germany: Group D Runner-up appeared in 1972, 1976, 1980, 1984, 1988, 1992, 1996, 2000, and 2004
Key Players: Defender Philipp Lahm (Bayern Munich), Forward Miroslav Klose (Bayern Munich), and Forward Kevin Kurányi (FC Schalke 04)

Croatia: Group E Winners appeared 1996 and 2004 tournaments
Key Players: Midfielder Niko Kranjčar (Portsmouth FC), Forward Ivica Olić (Hamburger SV), and Defender Dario Šimić (A.C. Milan)

Russia: Group E Runner-up appeared in 1960, 1964, 1968, 1972, 1988, 1992, 1996, and 2004
Key Players: Midfielder Marat Izmaylov (Sporting Clube de Portugal), Forward Dmitri Sychev (FC Lokomotiv Moscow), and Defender Aleksei Berezutskiy (CSKA Moscow)

Spain: Group F Winner appeared in 1964, 1980, 1984, 1988, 1996, 2000, and 2004
Key Players: Forward Fernando Torres (Liverpool FC), Midfielder Xavi (Barcelona), and Defender Carles Puyol (Barcelona)

Sweden: Group F Runnder-up appeared in 1992, 2000, and 2004
Key Players: Forwad Zlatan Ibrahimović (Inter Milan), Goalkeeper Andreas Isaksson (Manchester City FC), and Defender Olof Mellberg (Aston Villa FC)

Romania: Group G Winner appeared in 1984, 1996, and 2000
Key Players: Forward Adrian Mutu (Fiorentina), Defender Cristian Chivu (Inter Milan), and Forward Ciprian Marica (VfB Stuttgart)

Nehterlands: Group G Runner-up appeared in 1976, 1980, 1988, 1992, 1996, 2000, and 2004
Key Players: Forward Robin van Persie (Arsenal), Midfielder Wesley Sneijder (Real Madrid), and Midfielder Clarence Seedorf (A.C. Milan)

[Motorboatjones33]

Raul and superkid Bojan Krkic left off of Spain's Euro roster.

Their attacking players are stacked 20 deep it seems!

[bedir than average]

Motorboat, can you pick your favorite from each of the groups?

[Motorboatjones33]

Group A is Swiss, Czech Republic, Portugal, and Turkey

I see Portugal winning the group and my suprise team Turkey also coming out...

Group B is Austria, Poland, Germany, and Croatia

I have Poland winning and Germany also coming out...

Group C is Netherlands, Italy, France, and Romania

I have Italy winning and Romania coming out...

Group D is Greece, Sweden, Spain, and Russia

I have Sweden winning and Spain coming out...

Advancing from the quaterfinals to the semifinals would be:

Portugal, Poland, Sweden, and Spain

Poland and Spain in the final

Poland 2-1 in a shock over Spain

These could change but as of now... this where I stand.

[bedir than average]

Group C looks brutal.

[Motorboatjones33]

Originally Posted by bedir than average

Group C looks brutal.

Indeed! That is why I had to go with Romania making it out. Perhaps the other three will mentally lose focus against in their minds the weakest nation in the bunch.

[bedir than average]

Is Switzerland going to be Greece this round? Their performance against the Czecks looks good so far. Putting a lot of pressure up front.

Portugal is obviously the favorite, but if the Swiss pull off a win the second place from this group is wide open.

[bedir than average]

Like a baseball team that gets more hits but less runs, the Swiss hosed themselves with an inability to finish.

[bedir than average]

with announced lineups it intrigues me that so far 3 of the 4 teams have been stated to be going with versions of 4-5-1, while the Turks are going 3-3-4

[bedir than average]

Although calling C.Ronaldo a mid in the x-x-x parlance might be a stretch.

[bedir than average]

I can't believe that Turkey has made it back to a SemiFinal of a major competition. I had though that WC'06 was going to be the only time for them.

[bedir than average]

The traditional powers certainly didn't look too powerful this year.