Day 20: They Showed What They Were Merde Of

What? Where’s the football gone? Come back!

Well, it’s the first rest day of the tournament as the remaining eight teams prepare for the quarter-finals. So I decided to take this opportunity to reflect on one of the biggest stories of this World Cup so far – France.

Before I start on the serious analysis, let me start with HAHAHAHAHAHAHA. I mean, come on, it’s pretty funny. Rarely do you get to see a team self-destruct quite so spectacularly.

It all started in 2004 when Raymond Domenech was surprisingly appointed manager of the French national team following their exit from that year’s European Championships at the hands of eventual winners Greece in the quarter-finals. He had been in charge of the under-21 side for the past eleven years. Their qualifying campaign for Germany 2006 was stuttering, with France struggling against such footballing luminaries as Israel, Switzerland and the Republic of Ireland. They were in real danger of not qualifying at all, but then Domenech aggressively begged retired greats Claude Makelele, Lilian Thuram, and Zinedine Zidane to bail them out. Inspired particularly by Zidane, France managed to scrape through. At the World Cup that followed, France reached the final and might well have won if Zidane hadn’t had his infamous moment of madness, but none of it was down to Domenech. The players, with very little respect for their manager, who had little ability to influence a game and omitted talented players like Robert Pires because he was a Scorpio (according to Domenech, Scorpios “can’t be trusted”), held a revolution around the leadership of Zidane to get as far as they did. The result looked good on the manager’s CV but it wasn’t his achievement.

After that successful campaign, Domenech led his side into Euro 2008 qualification. Zidane had returned to retirement, but when Claude Makelele announced that he too was retiring from international football, Domenech disgracefully said no. “As long as he can walk, he will play,” said the loon, “I have the right to pick him.” This disgusting treatment of a player who had given long years of great service to his country and now wanted to be able to prolong his professional career at club level indicated Domenech’s desperation and inability to get the best out of the players who were actually available to him. Domenech kept calling him up and Makelele, to his great credit, played on.

At Euro 2008, France were drawn in an admittedly tough group with Italy, the Netherlands and Romania, but performed poorly. The team was old, slow and uninspired, and finish bottom of the group. They looked hopeless and leaderless, and Domenech should have been sacked there and then. The players blatantly didn’t believe in him but the French Football Federation pointed to the World Cup final two years previous and kept him on. And so the malaise continued into the World Cup qualifiers.

France were again poor in that campaign and finished second behind Serbia, who looked comfortably more assured, competent and determined. They then faced that infamous playoff with Ireland, and but for two missed Irish chances and a disgraceful example of cheating from a self-styled ambassador of the game in Thierry Henry, they would have never made it to South Africa.

When they did reach the finals, their group wasn’t the easiest in the world but considering the playing resources at their disposal, France should have made it out on paper. However, it became clear in the first game, a limp performance in a  0-0 draw with Uruguay, that the same problems that had always been under Domenech’s management were still there. There was no belief and no clear game plan. Time went by but Domenech didn’t act to change things for the better. And it just got worse from there. When France lost horrendously to Mexico, Nicolas Anelka berated his manager to kick off the release of all the pent-up discontent in the camp. Apparently Anelka’s situation was resolved inside the camp and it was agreed it would stay until the details of the story were leaked to the press. As soon as the FFF got hold of it they decided to expel Anelka from the squad, which upset many French players including the captain Patrice Evra, who talked of a “traitor” in their midst.

In the next training session Evra was involved in a huge row with the fitness coach Robert Duverne, presumably because he thought that he was the man who had leaked the story, and then we were shown the bizarre sight of Domenech reading a written statement by the playing squad saying that they would be boycotting training. All semblance of discipline and unity was completely lost, as was any lingering illusions that Domenech was in control of his side. He dropped several players, including Evra, for the final match against South Africa, needing a miracle to qualify, but another poor performance saw France lose to the hosts to leave with just one flattering point. The players never gave any other impression on the pitch other than that they couldn’t wait to be shot of the manager and start the new era under Bordeaux coach Laurent Blanc, who was confirmed before the tournament to be taking over after proceedings in South Africa were closed. Domenech himself ended his reign by refusing to shake South Africa coach Carlos Alberto Parreira by the hand, claiming Parreira had offended him when several months previously he had commented on the Henry handball incident. It was a petty, depressing sight that summed up his awful, incompetent tenure that somehow became the longest period in charge of the French national team of any manager in their history.

Now in the aftermath of the debacle, Thierry Henry, still nominally the captain but who played almost no time at all on the pitch, personally requested a meeting with his country’s President, Nicolas Sarkozy, to discuss the issues involved in the team’s exit. That this should be taken to the government is quite insane but I imagine that it will have little consequence for the Blanc era – Henry is a player who will have to be jettisoned by the new manager, having been past his best for a few years now and heading most likely to the MLS this summer, his exit from Barcelona confirmed last week.

Moving forward to the future, France will have the shadow of this World Cup hanging over them for a long time. It’s been a seriously embarrassing and depressing circus that will have affected some players more severely than others and major changes will be needed to lift the nation. Luckily, Blanc seems an excellent appointment, having brought Bordeaux right back to the top of French football playing really beautiful, exciting football in the process, and working closely with Yoann Gourcuff, the midfielder who was underused by Domenech and got harshly sent off in the South Africa match. He’s a player of boundless talent who really can be this new team’s Zidane, and together with Franck Ribery France already have two players to build a team around. There’s also Karim Benzema and Samir Nasri, two excellent young players inexplicably left at home by Domenech in favour of makeweights like Sidney Govou, and also Philippe Mexes, who for many years has been an absolute rock at the heart of the Roma defense and was controversially almost never picked by Domenech and who missed out on both the past two World Cups. Hugo Lloris didn’t have a great tournament here but he is a top class goalkeeper, and there are plenty of other young talents like Lassana Diarra and Mathieu Valbuena who can make a name for themselves on the international stage. I have no doubt that Blanc is the right man for the job, and in Brazil in 2014 France should be back where they belong – competing with the big guns.

World Cup Guide: Group H Preview

GROUP H

SPAIN

FIFA World Ranking: 2

Team Colours: Red shirts with yellow trim, blue shorts with yellow trim, red socks. Away kit is dark blue shirts with red and yellow trim, dark blue shorts with red and yellow trim, dark blue socks.

Manager: Vicente del Bosque came out of semi-retirement, having not coached since leaving Besiktas in 2005, to take charge of Spain following their Euro 2008 triumph and has carried on in much the same way that his predecessor, Luis Aragones, left off, relying on one-touch passing through midfield, and has had plenty of success. Del Bosque is best known for his four year stint at the helm of Real Madrid between 1999 and 2003, during which he won the Intercontinental Cup and twice won La Liga and the Champions League.

Form: Scary. Spain have won all but one game under del Bosque (the one loss being to the USA in the Confederations Cup semi last summer), including a 100% record in a qualifying group which included tricky sides like Turkey and Bosnia & Herzegovina. In the last few months they have comfortably beaten Argentina and France in friendlies, and more recently they’ve swept their warmup matches, beating Saudi Arabia, South Korea, and most impressively, Poland by six goals to no reply. At the moment Spain are something of a machine.

Captain: Goalkeeper Iker Casillas is right up there with Buffon and Julio Cesar squabbling over who gets to be called the best keeper in the world, and the 29-year-old, who has made nearly 400 appearances for Real Madrid, is an inspirational figure between the sticks, regularly pulling off saves that he has no right to make. Will forever be idolised in Spain for being the captain that broke their 44-year duck to lead La Seleccion to triumph at Euro 2008.

Key Man: It seems frankly rude to pick just one out of the Spanish line-up, but even in such mighty company, David Villa strikes out. The Barcelona-bound striker is simply the most impressive forward in the world game right now, terrorising defences all over the world with his searing pace, clinical finishing and, for Spain, his perfect understanding with Fernando Torres, who, you may have heard, is also a bit talented. He can drop deep to aid in the build-up play from around the midfield or drift wide only to cut back inside to devastating effect.

Man to Watch: The only reason why Sevilla winger Jesus Navas only has six caps to his name is a serious anxiety problem that forced him to retire from international football before making a single appearance soon after he emerged in the Spanish game, but last year he resolved to overcome his condition and force his way into the squad for South Africa. Spanish fans will be delighted – Navas has enjoyed his best season yet for the Andalucian side, maturing into a more effective, destructive player than ever before. His pace with and without the ball really has to be seen to be believed. Expect to see Navas come off the bench to run at tired left-backs down the right flank and cause havoc in the opposition box.

Prediction: There are a couple of injury worries over two-parts-of-the-same-player midfield passing robots Xavi and Andres Iniesta but they should be fit to play, but the Spanish need not worry all that much anyway – they have by far the deepest squad in the tournament, particularly in midfield, where world-class talents Cesc Fabregas, Juan Manuel Mata, Jesus Navas and Sergio Busquets will probably all be on the bench. The only barrier to Spain bulldozing their way to what could be the most beautiful World Cup win ever is the mental hurdle of the World Cup – obviously they got the monkey off their back by winning the Euros, but the biggest tournament of all is another kettle of fish,if you pardon my mixing of zoological metaphors. That said, I can’t look past Spain to win this year. Their probable final clash with Brazil should be a belter, as well.

Squad List:

Goalkeepers

1. Iker Casillas, captain (Real Madrid)

12. Victor Valdes (Barcelona)

23. Pepe Reina (Liverpool)

Defenders

2. Raul Albiol (Real Madrid)

3. Gerard Pique (Barcelona)

4. Carlos Marchena (Valencia)

5. Carles Puyol (Barcelona)

11. Joan Capdevila (Villarreal)

15. Sergio Ramos (Real Madrid)

17. Alvaro Arbeloa (Real Madrid)

Midfielders

6. Andres Iniesta (Barcelona)

8. Xavi (Barcelona)

10. Cesc Fabregas (Arsenal)

13. Juan Manuel Mata (Valencia)

14. Xabi Alonso (Real Madrid)

16. Sergio Busquets (Barcelona)

20. Javi Martinez (Athletic Bilbao)

21. David Silva (Valencia)

22. Jesus Navas (Sevilla)

Forwards

7. David Villa (Barcelona)

9. Fernando Torres (Liverpool)

18. Pedro Rodriguez (Barcelona)

19. Fernando Llorente (Athletic Bilbao)

SWITZERLAND

FIFA World Ranking: 24

Team Colours: Red shirts with white trim, white shorts, red socks. Away kit is the inverse.

Manager: Ottmar Hitzfeld’s CV commands respect – one of only three men to win the Champions League with two different clubs (Borussia Dortmund and Bayern Munich), he’s won the Bundesliga seven times and the Intercontinental Cup twice. He’s more than familiar with Swiss football having played there for nine years and managed three Swiss clubs before going on to achieve so much in Germany, where he was named the greatest Bundesliga coach of all time as well as Bayern Munich’s best ever coach. Not bad.

Form: Switzerland started qualifying very slowly – a 1-1 draw with Israel was followed by an embarrassing loss to Luxembourg – but picked themselves up to finish top of their group ahead of Greece, including a five-game winning streak. Their warmup games haven’t been much good, though – they lost against Uruguay and a distinctly average Costa Rica side, but picked up enough to draw 1-1 with Italy on Saturday.

Captain: FC Basel striker Alexander Frei is his country’s all-time leading goalscorer and certainly one of the most capable players in the Swiss squad. He scores hatfuls of goals wherever he goes – including 48 in 100 games for Rennes, 31 in 69 for Borussia Dortmund and now 15 in 19 for his hometown club which he returned to last summer. With 40 in 73 internationals, Frei is very much the focal point of the Swiss attack and will want to make up for Euro 2008, where he was taken off injured during the first match and never featured again in the tournament.

Key Man: Udinese defensive midfielder Gokhan Inler has long been linked with a move a big Premier League club, and if Switzerland do well you can be sure those rumours will resurface. Sitting in the centre of the Swiss engine room, Inler’s tough, dominating approach governs his team’s play, and if he can be shut out of the game, opponents will find a much less cohesive unit in their way.

Man to Watch: Known amusingly as “Forrest Gump” for the way he’s constantly running, Lazio right-back Stephan Lichtsteiner should be an energetic presence for Switzerland. After ignoring interesting from Paris Saint-Germain and Everton following his performances at Euro 2008, Lichtsteiner has formed a potent partnership with Serbian man to watch Aleksandar Kolarov at Lazio and can be deployed further forward at right midfield if required.

Prediction: Switzerland are plenty willing but, Frei aside, lack attacking potency. If anything happens to their captain I can’t see where the goals are going to come from and they should be too rigid to trouble the likes of Spain and Chile in this group. An early exit for Hitzfeld’s boys beckons.

Squad List:

Goalkeepers

1. Diego Benaglio (Wolfsburg)

12. Marco Wolfli (Young Boys)

21. Johnny Leoni (FC Zurich)

Midfielders

2. Stephan Lichtsteiner (Lazio)

3. Ludovic Magnin (FC Zurich)

4. Philippe Senderos (Fulham)

5. Steve von Bergen (Hertha Berlin)

13. Stephane Grichting (Auxerre)

17. Reto Ziegler (Sampdoria)

22. Mario Eggimann (Hannover 96)

Midfielders

6. Benjamin Huggel (FC Basel)

7. Tranquillo Barnetta (Bayer Leverkusen)

8. Gokhan Inler (Udinese)

11. Valon Behrami (West Ham United)

14. Marco Padalino (Sampdoria)

15. Hakan Yakin (Luzern)

16. Gelson Fernandes (Saint Etienne)

20. Pirmin Schwegler (Eintracht Frankfurt)

23. Xherdan Shaqiri (FC Basel)

Forwards

9. Alexander Frei, captain (FC Basel)

10. Blaise Nkufo (Seattle Sounders)

18. Albert Bunjaku (Nurnberg)

19. Eren Derdiyok (Bayer Leverkusen)

HONDURAS

FIFA World Ranking: 38

Team Colours: White shirts with blue trim and a short horizontal stripe across the chest in various shades of  blue, white shorts, white socks. Away kit is blue shirts with both lighter and darker blue trim and the same stripe, blue shorts, blue socks.

Manager: Colombian Reinaldo Rueda’s first management job saw him lead the Colombian Under-20s to third place in the 2003 FIFA World Youth Championship, and soon after he was promoted to the main job for qualifying for the 2006 World Cup, where he picked up a team in disarray and steered them to a mid-table finish in South America. Since taking the reins at Honduras in early 2007 he has won great popularity by returning Honduras to the tournament they last participated in in 1982.

Form: Honduras surprisingly came top of their third round qualifying group ahead of Mexico, as well as Jamaica and Canada, before edging out Costa Rica on goal difference to reach South Africa automatically, and condemning Costa Rica to a playoff with Uruguay that they went on to lose. They never really set the world alight, though, and would have missed out on the trip to South Africa if the USA had not come from behind to snatch a draw with the Costa Ricans. Their warmups could have gone a lot better – losses to Venezuela and Romania and draws with Belarus and Azerbaijan aren’t good enough to signal that this team will be competitive this summer.

Captain: Attacking midfielder Amado Guevara is Honduras’ most capped player of all time, having won 135 caps over 16 years in the international side. He spent a few years in the MLS with the New York Red Bulls and Toronto FC but now plies his trade in the Honduran league with Motagua. The crowning moment of his career so far was being named MVP in the Copa America in 2001, a tournament which Honduras only entered a day before it started when Argentina pulled out, and he led them to a shock semifinal finish that year – I doubt he’s dreaming that far ahead in South Africa though.

Key Man: Look no further than evergreen striker Carlos Pavon, according to a poll, the most popular footballer in the world. The 36-year-old journeyman, who’s played for 14 different teams, some of them two or three times, has nabbed 57 goals in exactly 100 international games and remains Honduras’ main man up front. Currently still banging them in for Real Espana in Honduras, his first club whom he has played for in five separate spells, Pavon will be keen to take this last chance on the world stage.

Man to Watch: Keep an eye out for Pavon’s understudy, the magnificently named Georgie Welcome, another Motagua player who scored an incredible goal for Honduras in a friendly against Latvia in November.

Prediction: Despite a couple of very good players – Tottenham’s Wilson Palacios is another, more well-known face who can cause problems for any team – Honduras look pretty limited and results recently have been far from encouraging. A lack of high-level know-how throughout the team will be a stumbling block when it comes to overcoming canny sides like Switzerland and Chile, and though they have the potential to manage it, it would be an upset if Honduras won a game here.

Squad List:

Goalkeepers

1. Ricardo Canales (Motagua)

18. Noel Valladares (Olimpia)

22. Donis Escober (Olimpia)

Defenders

2. Osman Chavez (Platense)

3. Maynor Figueroa (Wigan)

4. Johnny Palacios (Olimpia)

5. Victor Bernardez (Anderlecht)

14. Oscar Boniek Garcia (Olimpia)

16. Mauricio Sabillon (Hangzhou Nabel Greentown)

21. Emilio Izaguirre (Motagua)

23. Sergio Mendoza (Motagua)

Midfielders

6. Hendry Thomas (Wigan)

7. Ramon Nunez (Olimpia)

8. Wilson Palacios (Tottenham)

10. Julio Cesar de Leon (Torino)

13. Roger Espinosa (Kansas City Wizards)

17. Edgar Alvarez (Bari)

19. Danilo Turcios (Olimpia)

20. Amada Guevara, captain (Motagua)

Forwards

9. Carlos Pavon (Real Espana)

11. David Suazo (Inter)

12. Georgie Welcome (Motagua)

15. Walter Martinez (Marathon)

CHILE

FIFA World Ranking: 18

Team Colours: Red shirts with white trim, blue shorts, white socks. Away kit is white shirts with blue trim, white shorts, blue socks.

Manager: Marcelo Bielsa’s last appearance at the World Cup, as coach of Argentina in 2002, did not go so well, with his native side being knocked out of the Group of Death, but he was surprisingly allowed to continue until he resigned in 2004. He didn’t take another job until Chile came calling in 2007 and has been busy turning them into a seriously good side since then. Fans are currently campaigning for him to renew his contract, which ends after the World Cup, so he must be doing something right.

Form: The youngest South American side at the finals romped to second in the South American qualifying group, clinching their plane tickets with a game to spare thanks to an entertaining 4-2 defeat of Colombia. They scored more than half of their points away from home and were the second highest scorers in the group, playing a strange 3-3-1-3 formation and winning with style and resolve. A 1-0 loss to Mexico aside, their friendlies have gone well, with wins over Trinidad & Tobago, Zambia, Northern Ireland and Israel, the latter two being played on the same day by two separate Chilean XIs, as Bielsa tested out every one of his 23-man squad plus a few extra players to make up the numbers. There’s strength in depth in this side.

Captain: Claudio Bravo, who plays in goal for Spanish second divison side Real Sociedad, has recently returned from an injury that ended his league season in February, shortly after he scored his first career goal with a free kick. He has captained the side ever since legendary striker Marcelo Salas retired from internationals in 2007. Chile will be hoping he has no lingering fitness worries as they don’t really have an adequate backup in his position.

Key Man: Definitely Monterrey striker Humberto Suazo, a brilliant forward man who topped the South American goal charts in qualifying with ten goals, and has spent the past few months on loan at Real Zaragoza. A prolific scorer in the Chilean leagues with a strike rate in the region of two in three, it’s a wonder the 29-year-old hasn’t been snapped up by a European side yet, but he may well get his chance with a good showing in South Africa.

Man to Watch: Sitting in behind Suazo and the strikers will be Sporting CP’s Matias Fernandez. The former Villarreal man is brilliantly creative with a magical dribble and is a serious dangerman for Chile, whose three forwards will either feed off him to get in a scoring position or draw the defenders away from him and allow him to pop up at the last minute to tuck the ball away. Only 24 years old, Fernandez could become a big star as a result of the exposure here.

Prediction: Chile were excellent in qualifying and look ready to impress people in South Africa. They’ll score plenty of goals and their unusual formation should create problems for the European sides who only really play 4-4-2 or 4-3-3 these days. I don’t think they’ll have any trouble coming second in this group and might even give Spain a scare, and if anyone can beat Brazil in the second round, it’s them.

Squad List:

Goalkeepers

1. Claudio Bravo, captain (Real Sociedad)

12. Miguel Pinto (Universidad de Chile)

23. Luis Marin (Union Espanola)

Defenders

2. Ismael Fuentes (Universidad Catolica)

3. Waldo Ponce (Universidad Catolica)

4. Mauricio Isla (Udinese)

5. Pablo Contreras (PAOK)

17. Gary Medel (Boca Juniors)

18. Gonzalo Jara (West Brom)

Midfielders

6. Carlos Carmona (Lazio)

8. Arturo Vidal (Bayer Leverkusen)

10. Jorge Valdivia (Al-Ain)

13. Marco Estrada (Montpellier)

14. Matias Fernandez (Sporting CP)

19. Gonzalo Fierro (Flamengo)

20. Rodrigo Millar (Colo-Colo)

21. Rodrigo Tello (Besiktas)

Forwards

7. Alexis Sanchez (Udinese)

9. Humberto Suazo (Monterrey)

11. Mark Gonzalez (CSKA Moscow)

15. Jean Beausejour (America)

16. Fabian Orellana (Xerez)

22. Esteban Paredes (Colo-Colo)

World Cup Guide: Group F Preview

GROUP F

ITALY

FIFA World Ranking: 5

Team Colours: Blue shirts with white trim and a strange and complex darker blue pattern on the front, blue shorts with white trim, blue socks with white trim. Away kit is white shirts with blue and gold trim, white shorts with blue trim, white socks. Both kits have a snazzy Italian flag on the front of the waistband.

Manager: Marcello Lippi is one of the managers who commands the most respect on the world stage. The only coach to have won both the Champions League and the World Cup, he was named by the Times as one of the top 50 managers of all time. He returned to the Italian job (heh heh) after two years out having led them to victory in Germany four years ago, following Roberto Donadoni’s uninspiring reign culminating in a quarter-final exit in Euro 2008. In Lippi’s book Il Gioco delle Idee: Pensieri e Passioni da Bordo Campo (A Game of Ideas: Thoughts and Passions from the Sidelines), he discussed his managerial philosophies, including primarily the importance of team spirit and unity, and picking players who have good relations with each other and can work together effectively, saying “the best team does not necessarily include the best players”.

Form: Unbeaten Italy finished comfortably top of their group, six points ahead of the Republic of Ireland, though they did not particularly dazzle. Pragmatism and efficiency were the watchwords with attacking verve a little lacking. Recent friendly results have been underwhelming, too, with Cameroon holding them 0-0, Switzerland hanging on for a 1-1 draw and Mexico beating the Azzuri in Brussels. Italian fans, however, are optimistic.

Captain: At 36, and heading to Al-Ahli Dubai at the end of this tournament, centre-back Fabio Cannavaro is entering the final phase of his career. Originally he intended to retire from international duty at the end of Euro 2008 but when a last-minute injury kept him out of that competition he resolved to come back and lead his country’s defence of the World Cup, but while his class and experience remain, there have been signs this season that he may be a fading force physically, having been part of a leaky Juventus defence which was at times seriously exposed as the Old Lady finished a disappointing 7th in Serie A.

Key Man: The obvious choice would be Gianluigi Buffon, still only 32, but, from what I can see, far more important is midfielder Daniele De Rossi, the heir apparent to Francesco Totti’s captain’s armband at Roma. The all-action central midfielder is an excellent well-rounded player with a great physical presence, plenty of skill and an iron will. I’ve not been his biggest fan since he introduced himself to me with an ugly elbow against the USA that earned him a red card, and that wasn’t really an isolated incident (playing next to Gennaro Gattuso must have rubbed off on him), but it’s impossible not to respect this hugely gifted player. At 26, De Rossi is reaching the peak of his powers and, surrounded by the ageing, fading Gattuso, Pirlo and Camoranesi, he needs to be the man running the show if Italy are to go far.

Man to Watch: He’ll start on the bench behind Alberto Gilardino, but 25-year-old Sampdoria striker Giampaolo Pazzini is definitely one to keep an eye on. After four slightly frustrating years at Fiorentina, Pazzini has found a new lease of life with the resurgent Sampdoria where in two years and 56 games he’s already scored 30 goals, drawing the attentions of several Champions League clubs. Strong and imposing, he has combined to great effect with omitted troublemaker Antonio Cassano at club level and could prove a similar foil for the similarly creative Antonio Di Natale if given the chance by Lippi.

Prediction: I’m not quite sure what to think about Italy. On paper they look impressive but their form over the last year has been less than that, and their older generation is definitely fading. They should definitely be solid enough to top their group but when it comes to the knockout stages I think they could be vulnerable to an upset by a team with enough pace and dynamism in midfield. My head says they’ll be out in the quarters at the hands of the Spanish – my gut is making noises about Denmark in the second round.

Squad List:

Goalkeepers

1. Gianluigi Buffon (Juventus)

12. Federico Marchetti (Cagliari)

14. Morgan De Sanctis (Napoli)

Defenders

2. Christian Maggio (Napoli)

3. Domenico Criscito (Genoa)

4. Giorgio Chiellini (Juventus)

5. Fabio Cannavaro, captain (Al-Ahli Dubai)

13. Salvatore Bochetti (Genoa)

19. Gianluca Zambrotta (A.C. Milan)

23. Leonardo Bonucci (Bari)

Midfielders

6. Daniele De Rossi (Roma)

7. Simone Pepe (Udinese)

8. Gennaro Gattuso (A.C. Milan)

15. Claudio Marchisio (Juventus)

16. Mauro Camoranesi (Juventus)

17. Angelo Palombo (Sampdoria)

21. Andrea Pirlo (A.C. Milan)

22. Riccardo Montolivo (Fiorentina)

Forwards

9. Vincenzo Iaquinta (Juventus)

10. Antonio Di Natale (Udinese)

11. Alberto Gilardino (Fiorentina)

18. Fabio Quagliarella (Napoli)

20. Giampaolo Pazzini (Sampdoria)

PARAGUAY

FIFA World Ranking: 31

Team Colours: Red shirts with white vertical stripes and trim, blue shorts with white trim, blue socks with white trim. Away kit is white shirts with blue and red trim, white shorts with blue and red trim, white socks with blue trim.

Manager: Nominated by fans of Newell’s Old Boys in his native Argentina as the club’s greatest ever player, Gerardo Martino nonetheless only made one appearance in the blue and white of his national side. Since retiring from playing in 1996, Martino has spent several short spells managing several clubs in the Argentinian and Paraguayan leagues, leading to his appointment as Paraguay manager in early 2007. Since then he has presided ably over Paraguay’s most successful qualification since the current South American system was introduced.

Form: For the first time in the current CONMEBOL qualification system, Paraguay broke the 30 point barrier to finish third on 33 points behind only Brazil and Chile, and tied with Chile for the most wins (10). They sealed their trip to South Africa by beating Argentina, prompting the President to declare a national holiday in celebration. Their recent friendlies have been a mixed bag, dominating posession but unable to prevent a defeat by the Republic of Ireland, earning a hard-fought draw with the Ivory Coast, and then dispatching Greece 2-0 in their most recent game.

Captain: Described by the BBC’s South American football correspondent Tim Vickery as “the Paraguayan Nobby Stiles”, 35-year-old centre-back Denis Caniza is the only Paraguayan footballer to be selected for four World Cup squads, having appeared first at France 98. He was voted captain by his international teammates so enjoys their total respect, although he does have to be described as “captain when he plays” for the amount of games that he has a habit of missing through niggling injuries and suspensions.

Key Man: With Manchester City’s Roque Santa Cruz injured for most of the qualification campaign it was Benfica’s Oscar Cardozo who stepped up to lead the line for Paraguay, and he did so ably, partnered with Nelson Haedo Valdez and between them the two scored 11 goals. Cardozo, though, will be the main threat up front, having scored a monstrous 38 goals in all competitions for Benfica this season. He has a frightening goals-to-games ratio of nearly 2 in 3 for his club. Primarily a left-footed player, Cardozo is tall and strong and has an explosive long-range shot.

Man to Watch: Paraguayan fans are less than thrilled that Argentinian-born Lucas Barrios is playing for Paraguay these days, but politics aside, the Borussia Dortmund striker is an exciting prospect. He’s already scored 3 goals in 3 games for his adopted country, having moved to Dortmund off the back of a mind-blowing 49 goals in 53 games for Chilean side Colo-Colo. Due to Paraguay’s embarrassment of riches up front he may start on the bench but you can be sure that he will get some playing time this summer and if given a chance in the box, he’ll almost certainly take it.

Prediction: Paraguay look very strong this year, boasting an experienced side with lots of attacking firepower to juggle around, and should have no trouble qualifying for the second round. I wouldn’t rule out them getting a result against Italy, either, but I suspect they will probably come second and thus face the Netherlands in the round of sixteen. That should be a fascinating match but my money would be on the Dutch there, whose similarly varied attacking talent should expose their main weakness, goalkeeper Justo Villar who is a little short and vulnerable in the air. This should definitely be their strongest showing yet, though.

Squad List:

Goalkeepers

1. Justo Villar (Valladolid)

12. Diego Barreto (Cerro Porteno)

22. Aldo Bobadilla (Independiente Medellin)

Defenders

2. Dario Veron (Pumas)

3. Claudio Morel (Boca Juniors)

4. Denis Caniza, captain (Leon)

5. Julio Cesar Caceres (Atletico Mineiro)

6. Carlos Bonet (Olimpia)

14. Paulo da Silva (Sunderland)

17. Aureliano Torres (San Lorenzo)

21. Antolin Alcaraz (Wigan)

Midfielders

8. Edgar Barreto (Atalanta)

11. Jonathan Santana (Wolfsburg)

13. Enrique Vera (Atlas)

15. Victor Caceres (Libertad)

16. Cristian Riveros (Sunderland)

20. Nestor Ortigoza (Argentinos Juniors)

Forwards

7. Oscar Cardozo (Benfica)

9. Roque Santa Cruz (Manchester City)

10. Edgar Benitez (Pachuca)

18. Nelson Haedo Valdez (Borussia Dortmund)

19. Lucas Barrios (Borussia Dortmund)

23. Rodolfo Gamarra (Libertad)

NEW ZEALAND

FIFA World Ranking: 78

Team Colours: White shirts with black trim, white shorts, white socks with black trim. Away kit is the inverse.

Manager: 49-year-old Ricki Herbert is a veteran of New Zealand’s only previous appearance at the World Cup (Spain 1982) and currently manages not just the All Whites (the irony of a team with that nickname coming to South Africa is not lost on anyone) but also Wellington Phoenix, the New Zealand representative in the Australian A-League. He was also the first Kiwi to play in England, having made 45 appearances for Wolves between 1984 and 1986. His achievement in bringing New Zealand to South Africa has earned him plenty of popularity with the fans.

Form: As expected, New Zealand had no trouble in winning the Oceanian qualifying section, where their closest rivals were New Caledonia, but faced a tougher test in the shape of Bahrain in the playoff with the fifth-placed Asian team. In a hard-fought tie, the first leg away in Bahrain finished 0-0 before Rory Fallon scored the winner on home soil with a headed goal on the stroke of half time, and goalkeeper Mark Paston made a heroic penalty save early in the second half to seal the success. They’ve put in some determined performances in the build-up friendlies, which did include losses to Australia and Slovenia, but also a surprise 1-0 win against strong-looking Serbia.

Captain: Reliable Blackburn central defender and captain Ryan Nelsen is one of the most capable players in the New Zealand line-up, and has been a revelation in recent years for the Lancashire club after they picked him up on a free transfer from MLS side D.C. United. He will need to be an absolute rock for the Kiwis if they are to spring any surprises in South Africa.

Key Man: Voted New Zealand Footballer of the Year in 2007 ahead of Nelsen and then-Celtic forward Chris Killen, forward Shane Smeltz became the first footballer to play for admirable fans’ club AFC Wimbledon to win an international cap. He’s scored 16 goals in 30 games for the All Whites, including the only goal in the recent friendly victory over Serbia, and the German-born striker, now playing for Gold Coast United, should start up front for the Kiwis.

Man to Watch: Highly-rated West Brom striker Chris Wood has been prolific for the Baggie’s youth and reserve sides and at just 17 years old last year became only the fifth New Zealander to play in the Premier League. Now 18, and with a long-term professional contract with the side now returning to the top division, the youngest member of the Kiwi squad will be on the lookout for his first international goal, and could be a secret weapon for Herbert.

Prediction: It’s going to be tough for this New Zealand side but they are not incapable of surprising people. They will be largely unknown to their opponents and have nothing to lose, but realistically they would be delighted to get more than a point in this group. Italy and Paraguay should make short work of them.

Squad List:

Goalkeepers

1. Mark Paston (Wellington Phoenix)

12. Glen Moss (Melbourne Victory)

23. James Bannatyne (Team Wellington)

Defenders

2. Ben Sigmund (Wellington Phoenix)

3. Tony Lochhead (Wellington Phoenix)

4. Winston Reid (FC Midtjylland)

5. Ivan Vicelich (Auckland City)

6. Ryan Nelsen, captain (Blackburn Rovers)

18. Andrew Boyens (New York Red Bulls)

19. Tommy Smith (Ipswich Town)

Midfielders

7. Simon Elliott (unattached)

8. Tim Brown (Wellington Phoenix)

11. Leo Bertos (Wellington Phoenix)

13. Andy Barron (Team Wellington)

15. Michael McGlinchey (Motherwell)

16. Aaron Clapham (Canterbury United)

17. David Mulligan (unattached)

21. Jeremy Christie (FC Tampa Bay)

22. Jeremy Brockie (Newcastle Jets)

Forwards

9. Shane Smeltz (Gold Coast United)

10. Chris Killen (Middlesbrough)

14. Rory Fallon (Plymouth Argyle)

20. Chris Wood (West Brom)

SLOVAKIA

FIFA World Ranking: 34

Team Colours: Blue shirts with white trim, blue shorts with white trim, blue socks. Away kit is the inverse.

Manager: Vladimir Weiss’ father, Vladimir Weiss, represented Czechoslovakia at international level, Weiss himself played for both Czechoslovakia and Slovakia, and his son, Vladimir Weiss, is in the Slovakia squad for the World Cup. You got all that? Good. The middle Vladimir was a reasonably successful footballer in the Slovakian leagues and has managed Saturn in Moscow and Artmedia Bratislava, closer to home, thrice, even leading them into the Champions League group stages in 2005-06.

Form: Slovakia surprised many by topping qualification group 3 ahead of Poland, the Czech Republic and fellow surprise qualifiers Slovenia, who beat Weiss’ side home and away to make top spot far from a done deal. Automatic qualification was secured eventually by a 1-0 win in Poland, coming after other impressive away wins in Prague and Belfast. They lost 1-0 to Norway in a friendly in March but more recently drew with Cameroon and thumped Costa Rica 3-0 to put themselves in decent nick ahead of the tournament opener against New Zealand.

Captain: 22-year-old Napoli midfielder Marek Hamsik is one of the hottest properties in European football. He’s an attacking central midfielder who can also play on the left if required with exceptional vision and passing and an eye for goal, too, with 30 goals for his club and 8 for the national side in 30 appearances. He is very much the leading light for Slovakia and is a good tip for the player most likely to make a big-money move on the back of his World Cup performance.

Key Man: Bochum striker Stanislav Sestak is the main man going forward for Slovakia, with a goal every three games to his name in national colours. His two late goals in quick succession turned a 1-0 loss at home to Poland into a vital victory early in the qualifying campaign and he will be relied upon for similar heroics this summer. The 5’11″ striker scored six in qualifying and can also play on the right wing.

Man to Watch: Alongside the much-hyped Hamsik will be his creative midfield partner, Ankaragucu’s January signing Marek Sapara, who twice won the Norwegian league title with former club Rosenborg. Sapara has not been a regular in the Slovakian side since his debut in 2005, but is a solid, determined player with a clever dribble and wide range of passing. If Hamsik makes the headlines chances are Sapara will be just behind him keeping things going in midfield.

Prediction: Slovakia will be confident following their qualifying group win but for my money they look a little less well-rounded than Slovenia, who they edged out in that group. With Hamsik and Sestak they should have some attacking potency but against the Italian and Paraguayan strikeforces I think their defence will buckle. A gallant third in the group.

Squad List:

Goalkeepers

1. Jan Mucha (Legia Warsaw)

12. Dusan Pernis (Dundee United)

23. Dusan Kuciak (Vaslui)

Defenders

2. Peter Pekarik (Wolfsburg)

3. Martin Skrtel (Liverpool)

4. Marek Cech (West Brom)

5. Radoslav Zabavnik (Mainz)

16. Jan Durica (Lokomotiv Moscow)

21. Kornel Salata (Slovan Bratislava)

22. Martin Petras (Cesena)

Midfielders

6. Zdeno Strba (Xanthi)

7. Vladimir Weiss (Manchester City)

8. Jan Kozak (Timisoara)

10. Marek Sapara (Ankaragucu)

15. Miroslav Stoch (Chelsea)

17. Marek Hamsik, captain (Napoli)

19. Juraj Kucka (Sparta Prague)

20. Kamil Kopunek (Spartak Trnava)

Forwards

9. Stanislav Sestak (Bochum)

11. Robert Vittek (Lille)

13. Filip Holosko (Besiktas)

14. Martin Jakubko (Saturn)

18. Erik Jendrisek (Schalke)

Il Gioco delle Idee: Pensieri e Passioni da Bordo Campo (A Game of Ideas: Thoughts and Passions from the Sidelines)Fo

World Cup Guide: Group D Preview

GROUP D

GERMANY

FIFA World Ranking: 6

Team Colours: White shirts with black trim and a single gold vertical stripe, black shorts with white trim, white socks with black trim. Away kit is black shirt with white and red trim, white shorts with black and red trim, black socks with white trim.

Manager: Joachim “Jogi” Loew succeeded Jurgen Klinsmann following Germany’s third place finish at the 2006 World Cup and started well by guiding the team to the final of Euro 2008, although by coming second to Spain they fell short of Loew’s stated aim of winning that competition. He had also pledged to continue the attacking brand of football introduced by Klinsmann but has perhaps faltered a little from that compared to his predecessor. The snappily-dressed manager has been accused of disrupting squad harmony during the qualifying campaign by bringing in newer faces to spark internal competition.

Form: Germany were unbeaten in qualifying, comfortably taking top spot in their group by beating second-placed Russia 1-0 in Moscow in the penultimate match, and only conceded five goals during that campaign. Their pre-tournament friendlies have gone well, including a 3-0 win over Hungary and a 3-1 victory against Bosnia & Hercegovina who were impressive nearly men in qualifying. Their plans have been disrupted by the loss of captain Michael Ballack, though.

Captain: Stepping into Ballack’s sizeable shoes is 26-year-old right-back Philipp Lahm, who is one of only nine players in the squad with more than twelve caps. He scored the memorable opening goal of the last World Cup in the opening game against Costa Rica with an absolute pearl of a long-range shot, but is not usually known for his scoring. He can also operate as a winger, though, which tells you about his attacking ability. He is also a very solid defender, though, and will be a reliable player for his team. It remains to be seen whether he will take to the captaincy.

Key Man: It has to be the man who fills Ballack’s role in a positional sense, Bastian Schweinsteiger. He will be more familiar to non-Germany fans as the bustling wide player who lacked a little in end product from previous international tournaments, but in the last season Louis van Gaal has transformed the Bayern midfielder into a central player who can both win the ball and spray it around as a playmaker. He would have played alongside Ballack but will now be thrust into the spotlight as the most experienced midfielder by far and needs to translate his excellent club form into a talismanic performance for Germany.

Man to Watch: Germany’s midfield is highly inexperienced but it does contain a quartet of rapidly rising stars – it’s hard to choose between Stuttgart general Sami Khedira, who will likely start alongside Schweinsteiger, Toni Kroos, the attacking midfielder who has impressed, scoring 1 in 4, on his now-finished 18-month loan to Bayer Leverkusen from Bayern, and Marko Marin, the Bosnian-born Werder Bremen winger, but the most exciting of all is Mesut Oezil, the 21-year-old also playing for Bremen who exudes the most natural finesse of all four. He’s very forward-thinking with a gifted left foot and an eye for goal. Of the four, he is most likely to dazzle for Germany this summer, but all four need to be ready for the big time if the decision to leave behind more experienced heads is to pay off.

Prediction: Germany’s problems are twofold – first is the astonishingly young and inexperienced squad, most obvious in goal where the first-choice keeper, Manuel Neuer, has just 5 caps which is as many as his two deputies put together. The second is up front, where Miroslav Klose, Lukas Podolski and Mario Gomez are all very much out of form and their backups have little international pedigree. At least Loew has six of them to play around with, but it may take too much time to find a successful combination. There’s no doubt that this Germany team is the most vulnerable one for many years, and they have been dealt a tough group. They should be relatively evenly matched with Serbia and it will probably come down to who can get the best results against the other two teams, and I suspect Germany may just edge that, but I can see a second-round exit looming against probably the USA.

Squad List:

Goalkeepers

1. Manuel Neuer (Schalke)

12. Tim Wiese (Werder Bremen)

22. Hans-Jorg Butt (Bayern Munich)

Defenders

2. Marcell Jansen (Hamburg)

3. Arne Friedrich (Hertha Berlin)

4. Dennis Aogo (Hamburg)

5. Serdar Tasci (Stuttgart)

14. Holger Badstuber (Bayern Munich)

16. Philipp Lahm, captain (Bayern Munich)

17. Per Mertesacker (Werder Bremen)

20. Jerome Boateng (Manchester City)

Midfielders

6. Sami Khedira (Stuttgart)

7. Bastian Schweinsteiger (Bayern Munich)

8. Mesut Ozil (Werder Bremen)

15. Piotr Trochowski (Hamburg)

18. Toni Kroos (Bayern Munich)

21. Marko Marin (Werder Bremen)

Forwards

9. Stefan Kießling (Bayer Leverkusen)

10. Lukas Podolski (FC Koln)

11. Miroslav Klose (Bayern Munich)

13. Thomas Muller (Bayern Munich)

19. Cacau (Stuttgart)

23. Mario Gomez (Bayern Munich)

AUSTRALIA

FIFA World Ranking: 20

Team Colours: Yellow shirts with green sleeves and a white horizontal stripe across the chest, green shorts, yellow socks. Away kit is dark blue with lighter blue sleeves and a yellow horizontal stripe across the chest, dark blue shorts, dark blue socks.

Manager: Dutchman Pim Verbeek was assistant to Guus Hiddink at South Korea for the 2002 World Cup and was in the same post under Dick Advocaat in 2006, but took the Australia job in 2007 after Hiddink left it behind. He will be leaving it himself at the conclusion of the tournament to take up a youth development post with the Moroccan national side. Verbeek has been a vocal critic of the Australian A-League, frequently calling it out on its lack of quality and criticising national team midfielder Jason Culina’s decision to move back there from PSV.

Form: Australia were the second team not called South Africa to qualify for the finals, and did so just one hour after Japan, whom they eventually overtook in their group as they comfortably made it to the tournament. They were unbeaten in the final phase of qualifying despite one or two close calls, particularly against Bahrain where they were thoroughly outplayed but managed to sneak a 1-0 win. They looked poor in their lucky 2-1 victory over neighbours New Zealand and yesterday’s lacklustre loss to the US, though.

Captain: Lucas Neill moved to Galatasaray in January having spent 15 years in England. The 32-year-old right-back can be a little hotheaded and dirty sometimes but is hugely committed to the cause and has generally been reliable for his country. He is perhaps the most robust of the Australian defenders and will need to be on top form to keep Australia from being caught out at the back.

Key Man: Everton midfielder Tim Cahill is a level above the rest of the squad in terms of ability and if he doesn’t play well, Australia have little chance of escaping from this group of arguably more lethal death than Group G. His specialty is late runs into the box to meet a cross with his head, but has a good shot on him as well and plenty of energy to run a game at his tempo. He has a dazzling scoring record of 20 in 40 caps for the Socceroos. A little injury prone, though.

Man to Watch: The only other man who could potentially earn Australia points on his own is goalkeeper Mark Schwarzer, who at 37 shows no sign of declining following another outstanding season at the heart of Fulham’s European adventure and finding himself rumoured to be the subject of interest from Arsenal. Always solid and occasionally spectacular, Schwarzer could benefit from a group in which no team contains a world class goal threat.

Prediction: Australia should not be short of effort but do lack quality and strength in depth, particularly up front where their only three forwards are a one-trick beanpole (Josh Kennedy), a fading cripple (Harry Kewell), and a relatively untried winger (Nikita Rukavytsya). They need Cahill and Schwarzer to be on fire to stand a chance of getting out of this group, and the smart money says they should come last here.

Squad List:

Goalkeepers

1. Mark Schwarzer (Fulham)

12. Adam Federici (Reading)

18. Brad Jones (Middlesbrough)

Defenders

2. Lucas Neill, captain (Galatasaray)

3. Craig Moore (unattached)

6. Michael Beauchamp (Melbourne Heart)

8. Luke Wilkshire (Dinamo Moscow)

11. Scott Chipperfield (FC Basel)

20. Mark Milligan (JEF United)

21. David Carney (FC Twente)

Midfielders

4. Tim Cahill (Everton)

5. Jason Culina (Gold Coast United)

7. Brett Emerton (Blackburn Rovers)

13. Vincenzo Grella (Blackburn Rovers)

14. Brett Holman (AZ Alkmaar)

15. Mile Jedinak (Antalyaspor)

16. Carl Valeri (Sassuolo)

19. Richard Garcia (Hull City)

22. Dario Vidosic (Nuremberg)

23. Mark Bresciano (Palermo)

Forwards

9. Josh Kennedy (Nagoya Grampus)

10. Harry Kewell (Galatasaray)

17. Nikita Rukavytsya (FC Twente)

SERBIA

FIFA World Ranking: 15

Team Colours: Red shirts with blue trim and a white cross on the front, blue shorts, white socks. Away kit is all white with red trim on the shirt.

Manager: Radomir Antic is very popular with the Serbian fans and has quite the impressive CV as well. As well as being one of only two men to have managed both Real Madrid and Barcelona, he is the only man to have managed those two as well as Atletico Madrid, where he enjoyed the most success of his managerial career, returning there twice and winning the league and Copa del Rey.

Form: Serbia finished top of their qualifying group despite taking just one point from favourites France, who stumbled elsewhere. They were at their most impressive thrashing Romania 5-0 to seal qualification but were cohesive and competent throughout and were eventually deserving winners. Their friendly results have been mixed – a shock 1-0 loss to New Zealand was followed by a frustrating 0-0 draw with Poland, but yesterday they produced an excellent display to come from behind twice to vanquish Cameroon, the sternest test of the three. Things may be coming together.

Captain: Dejan Stankovic is a highly accomplished midfielder who has won six Serie A titles and now the Champions League with Inter. A versatile player, he prefers to play in an advanced midfield role but can also be utilised on either flank or deeper in a holding or playmaking capacity and is a great passer of the ball. His experience and influence will be key for Serbia.

Key Man: It has taken some time for 29-year-old Milan Jovanovic to make a name for himself thanks to three unhappy years hardly getting a game for Shakhtar Donestk and Lokomotiv Moscow, but 52 goals in 116 games for Belgian side Standard Liege earned this deep-lying forward international recognition and a free transfer to Liverpool this summer. He will likely line up behind man-mountain Nikola Zigic with freedom to roam to the flanks if necessary and should be Serbia’s most potent attacking threat.

Man to Watch: Lazio left full-back Aleksandar Kolarov brings to mind Serbian legend Sinisa Mihajlovic with his runs down the left flank and rocket-propelled shot. Still just 24 years old, Kolarov has an impressive technique and should prove himself one of the best emerging defenders in the world game this summer.

Prediction: Serbia will surprise people. They have quality running right through the side with a reliable central defensive pairing of Nemanja Vidic and Branislav Ivanovic and Stankovic running things in midfield alongside creative 22-year-old Zdravko Kuzmanovic. They will be a serious threat and could be the ruin of a big name or two. I suspect they will meet England in the second round which should be a relatively evenly matched game, and really I wouldn’t know which way to call that one. If things fall into place a semi-final place wouldn’t be beyond their reach, but my gut says they will lose against England (though probably deserving to win).

Squad List:

Goalkeepers

1. Vladimir Stojkovic (Wigan Athletic)

12. Bojan Isailovic (Zaglebie Lubin)

23. Andelko Duricic (Leiria)

Defenders

2. Antonio Rukavina (1860 Munich)

3. Aleksandar Kolarov (Lazio)

5. Nemanja Vidic (Manchester United)

6. Branislav Ivanovic (Chelsea)

13. Aleksandar Lukovic (Udinese)

16. Ivan Obradovic (Real Zaragoza)

20. Neven Subotic (Borussia Dortmund)

Midfielders

4. Gojko Kacar (Hertha Berlin)

7. Zoran Tosic (Manchester United)

10. Dejan Stankovic, captain (Inter)

11. Nenad Milijas (Wolves)

17. Milos Krasic (CSKA Moscow)

18. Milos Ninkovic (Dinamo Kiev)

19. Radoslav Petrovic (Partizan Belgrade)

22. Zdravko Kuzmanovic (Stuttgart)

Forwards

8. Danko Lazovic (Zenit St. Petersburg)

9. Marko Pantelic (Ajax)

14. Milan Jovanovic (Liverpool)

15. Nikola Zigic (Birmingham City)

21. Dragan Mrda (Vojvodina)

GHANA

FIFA World Ranking: 32

Team Colours: White shirts with one grey sleeve with a dark grey star and black trim, white shorts, white socks. Away kit is red shirts with yellow vertical stripes and trim, red shorts, red socks.

Manager: Serbian Milovan Rajevac will lead Ghana into battle against his home country and the rest of Group D. He had only previously managed in Serbia and had not been in one job for more than two years before being hired in 2008. He is a strict disciplinarian who has earned a reputation as a shrewd tactician having overseen an impressive flawless qualification for the Africa Cup of Nations against a much-fancied Mali side, although Ghana’s second-round exit from that competition proper was less pleasing for the fans.

Form: In qualification Ghana were unstoppable, winning their group with a nearly 100 per cent record and becoming the first African nation (aside from the hosts) to qualify. They suffered a resounding 4-1 loss to the Netherlands in a pre-tournament friendly, though, and have had their preparations seriously disrupted by the withdrawal through injury of their best player, Chelsea’s Michael Essien, who will be a huge loss for them.

Captain: Stephen Appiah nearly hasn’t played at all at club level for two and a half years following a serious knee injury while he was at Fenerbahce that caused him to miss the 2008 Africa Cup of Nations and only made his debut for new club Bologna as a substitute on the 9th of May this year. However he is still in the squad as captain, which has given some Ghanaian fans cause for concern as they would rather see a fit, regularly playing man starting games in a tough group against physically strong opponents like Serbia and Germany. Appiah does have plenty to give if he is fully fit, but he must be disadvantaged by his lack of game time.

Key Man: Michael Essien plays further forward for Ghana than he does for Chelsea, and so with him gone so is some of Ghana’s attacking prowess. The onus now falls squarely on the shoulders of Asamoah Gyan, the 24-year-old Rennes striker who has scored exactly one goal every two games for his country. He’s a powerful unit, strong and fast and able to keep on running and running, and will cause problems for defences.

Man to Watch: Dominic Adiyiah is a 20-year-old forward who earned himself a dream move to A.C. Milan after being an integral part of the Ghana team that won the 2009 Under-20 World Cup. He has scored 17 goals in just 16 games for the youth side and has been blooded recently by Rajevac with a view to having a similar impact in this tournament. He probably won’t start but could be a surprise package coming off the bench.

Prediction: The impact of Essien’s absence cannot be underestimated and it is made worse by suggestions that Sulley Muntari may not be fully fit in time for the opening game against Serbia a week today. Ghana can’t be counted out completely though, and should be reasonably competitive, but they should be overpowered by Germany and Serbia. A gallant third in the group.

Squad List:

Goalkeepers

1. Daniel Adjei (Liberty Professionals)

16. Stephen Ahorlu (Heart of Lions)

22. Richard Kingson (Wigan Athletic)

Defenders

2. Hans Sarpei (Bayer Leverkusen)

4. John Painstil (Fulham)

5. John Mensah (Lyon)

7. Samuel Inkoom (FC Basel)

8. Jonathan Mensah (Free State Stars)

15. Isaac Vorsah (Hoffenheim)

17. Abdul Rahim Ayew (El Zamalek)

19. Lee Addy (Bechem Chelsea)

Midfielders

6. Anthony Annan (Rosenborg)

9. Derek Boateng (Getafe)

10. Stephen Appiah, captain (Bologna)

11. Sulley Muntari (Inter)

13. Andrew Ayew (Arles)

20. Quincy Owusu-Abeyie (Al-Sadd)

21. Kwadwo Asamoah (Udinese)

23. Kevin-Prince Boateng (Portsmouth)

Forwards

3. Asamoah Gyan (Rennes)

12. Prince Tagoe (Hoffenheim)

14. Matthew Amoah (NAC Breda)

18. Dominic Adiyiah (A.C. Milan)

World Cup Guide: Group C Preview

GROUP C

ENGLAND

FIFA World Ranking: 8

Team Colours: All white. Away kit is red shirts with white trim, white shorts, and red socks.

Manager: Fabio Capello has stamped his authority on the England team, forcing discipline and professionalism into training where Shteve McClaren let the players run the show. The Italian, who guided A.C. Milan to the Champions League in 1994, has yet to make England an excellent team but has certainly steadied the ship after McClaren’s disastrous reign. Refuses to be bullied by the media but doesn’t quite seem to have settled on his preferred tactics yet, having previously favoured pairing Wayne Rooney with Emile Heskey up front but deviating from that in the preparatory friendlies.

Form: One of the first European teams to qualify for the finals, England made good work of their qualifying group, with nine straight wins to seal their place before losing the dead rubber against Ukraine, and scored a European high of 34 goals during that campaign. The stats perhaps flattered them a little – the only game in which England really shined was the Theo Walcott-inspired demolition of Croatia in Zagreb that earned revenge over their Euro 2008 qualifying nemesis. More recently England have been uninspiring – they won friendlies against Mexico and Japan that they deserved to lose, having been outplayed in both and causing several players to lose their places in the squad, including Walcott.

Captain: Following yesterday’s tournament-ending injury to Rio Ferdinand, England are spared the most uninspiring captain of all time (Rio probably thought that when Capello told him he was the captain that they were going to pretend to be pirates) and instead Liverpool’s Steven Gerrard takes the armband. This is a huge tournament for Gerrard – coming off the back of a disappointing season for his club, he has never played consistently at his best for his country and at age 30, this may be his last chance to make an impact at the World Cup. Rumours of a £30 million bid for his services by Real Madrid will follow him throughout the summer, but Gerrard may well find the captaincy liberating, allowing him to drive the team on in the same way that he has done in the past for his club.

Key Man: It’s tempting to say Frank Lampard, but you just can’t look past Rooney, the only English striker who can really do damage to the top teams. Everything comes down to how England make room for him – it’s the unfashionable option but I think Heskey needs to play alongside him. Rooney himself has said that he prefers playing with Heskey, and Capello’s inclusion of the Aston Villa striker in the squad against his previous statement that he wouldn’t pick players not playing for their clubs shows his importance. It will also be vital that Rooney doesn’t lose his temper – he’s shown signs of improved maturity over the last couple of years, but he will be one of the first to grow frustrated if the game isn’t going well.

Man to Watch: Four years ago Owen Hargeaves won back the hearts of an entire nation by being the only English player to visibly run all over the pitch with 100% effort and determination, and this year, though he’s already better known to English fans, James Milner will be the one who can be absolutely relied on to keep going even if everything seems lost. Has been a revelation since his club manager Martin O’Neill moved him into the centre of midfield, but he can play pretty much anywhere on the pitch except maybe centre-half or in goal, and will likely be the first person that Capello turns to off the bench.

Prediction: England have a thin squad with the possible exception of the midfield and need to avoid any more injuries to key players. They do have the virtue of a kind draw, though. They should easily move past this group and you would expect them to overcome Serbia in the second round. A potential rematch with Mexico awaits in the quarter finals, which could be a stumbling block, but again England would be favourites for that. But as soon as England bump into a really good team – most likely Brazil in the semi finals – they will probably be brushed aside.

Squad List:

Goalkeepers

1. David James (Portsmouth)

12. Robert Green (West Ham)

23. Joe Hart (Manchester City)

Defenders

2. Glen Johnson (Liverpool)

3. Ashley Cole (Chelsea)

5. Ledley King (Tottenham)

6. John Terry (Chelsea)

13. Stephen Warnock (Aston Villa)

15. Matthew Upson (West Ham)

18. Jamie Carragher (Liverpool)

20. Michael Dawson (Tottenham)

Midfielders

4. Steven Gerrard, captain (Liverpool)

7. Aaron Lennon (Tottenham)

8. Frank Lampard (Chelsea)

11. Joe Cole (Chelsea)

14. Gareth Barry (Manchester City)

16. James Milner (Aston Villa)

17. Shaun Wright-Phillips (Manchester City)

22. Michael Carrick (Manchester United)

Forwards

9. Peter Crouch (Tottenham)

10. Wayne Rooney (Manchester United)

19. Jermain Defoe (Tottenham)

21. Emile Heskey (Aston Villa)

USA

FIFA World Ranking: 14

Team Colours: White shirts with a grey diagonal stripe and red trim, white shorts with red and blue trim, white socks. Away kit is dark blue shirts with a white diagonal stripe and red trim, dark blue shorts and dark blue socks.

Manager: 52-year-old Bob Bradley managed first in college soccer and then in the MLS for nine years with Chicago Fire, MetroStars and Chivas USA. He was originally named interim national team manager following the 2006 World Cup as everyone expected Jurgen Klinsmann to take over, but while negotiations with the great striker fell though, Bradley was busy building with young players as if he was already the full-time manager. He was eventually given the job permanently in early 2007 and presided over a largely successful qualification period.

Form: The US only lost twice in the final phase of CONCACAF qualfication, once to Mexico (understandable) and once to Costa Rica (an aberration). Their form during that qualfication was at times very impressive, the win away in Honduras to secure their ticket to South Africa a particular highlight as well as a flashy 8-0 thrashing of Barbados. They’ve also made sure to play several friendlies against top quality teams (and England) in the last year or so to gain experience, and also sprung a surprise at last summer’s Confederations Cup by beating Spain in the semi finals.

Captain: Former Fulham centre-back Carlos Bocanegra now plies his trade at Rennes. He’s a solid if unspectacular defender who can also ably fill in at left-back or as a holding midfielder if necessary. For a defender, he has a pretty good international scoring rate of 12 in 78, too, so expect him to be marked heavily at corners and free-kicks. Should lead the back line well.

Key Man: Only one man – if Landon Donovan plays to his potential then the USA will be a force to be reckoned with. The most talented male footballer his country has ever produced, Donovan will play behind the forwards and look to slip in from behind and look for a shooting opportunity. He’s never quite produced the goods at a major tournament before but is now in his prime – if he doesn’t make this World Cup one to remember he may never do it.

Man to Watch: 22-year-old central midfielder Michael Bradley has fought off the predictable shouts of nepotism (he’s the manager’s son) to make himself a vital part of the American XI. At just 18 he earned a transfer to Europe with Heerenveen in Holland, where he impressed, scoring 16 goals in 52 games (including 15 in his second season, the most by any American player in a foreign league), and is now in Germany with Borussia Monchengladbach. He’s a dynamic player who likes to get forward and could have a real impact on this group.

Prediction: The US are a strong side with some great goalkeepers and a handy midfield – Donovan and Bradley will be joined by Clint Dempsey, who’s had an excellent season for Fulham, and Rangers winger DaMarcus Beasley – but they have a somewhat inexperienced forward line (past Jozy Altidore and Donovan, their other three forwards have 10 caps between them) and their full-backs could be exposed by a couple of good wingers. They should definitely get out of this group and will give England a run for their money but will probably finish second. They would be underdogs in the second round where presumably Germany await them, but not incapable of springing a surprise. In fact I have a sneaky feeling that this could be a good year for the Americans. I’ll stick my neck out and say they’ll make the quarter-finals.

Squad List:

Goalkeepers

1. Tim Howard (Everton)

18. Brad Guzan (Aston Villa)

23. Marcus Hahnemann (Wolves)

Defenders

2. Jonathan Spector (West Ham)

3. Carlos Bocanegra, captain (Rennes)

5. Oguchi Onyewu (A.C. Milan)

6. Steve Cherundolo (Hannover 96)

12. Jonathan Bornstein (Chivas USA)

15. Jay DeMerit (Watford)

21. Clarence Goodson (Start)

Midfielders

4. Michael Bradley (Borussia Monchengladbach)

7. DaMarcus Beasley (Rangers)

8. Clint Dempsey (Fulham)

10. Landon Donovan (LA Galaxy)

11. Stuart Holden (Bolton)

13. Ricardo Clark (Frankfurt)

16. Jose Francisco Torres (Pachuca)

19. Maurice Edu (Rangers)

22. Benny Feilhaber (AGF Aarhus)

Forwards

9. Herculez Gomez (Pachuca)

14. Edson Buddle (LA Galaxy)

17. Jozy Altidore (Villarreal)

20. Robbie Findley (Real Salt Lake)

ALGERIA

FIFA World Ranking: 30

Team Colours: All white with one grey sleeve and green trim on the shirts. Away kit is all green with thin vertical red and white stripes on most of the shirt.

Manager: Rabah Saadane, whose playing career was prematurely ended by a car accident at 27 years old, is now incredibly in his fifth spell as Algeria manager. He’s pretty much spent the entirety of his managerial career in the Algeria job but found time to win the African Champions League in 1989 with Raja Casablanca.

Form: Algeria’s qualification for the tournament was impressive at home but unconvincing away – which doesn’t bode too well for their trip to South Africa. They won all six games at home in the final two qualifying phases but finished deadlocked with Egypt at the end, necessitating an atmospheric tiebreaker match in neutral territory, which Algeria won. Their Africa Cup of Nations campaign went OK, starting with a terrible 3-0 loss to unfancied Malawi, but recovered to reach the semi-finals, where Egypt exacted revenge to put them out. They lost to Nigeria in the third-place playoff. They were roundly humiliated by the Republic of Ireland, who really should be here instead of France, losing 3-0 in a friendly last week, and do not look entirely ready to make a fist of this group.

Captain: 32-year-old defensive midfielder Yazid Mansouri is the most experienced member of the Algerian squad, having made his debut in 2001 and earning 65 caps since. He played briefly on loan for Coventry City in 2003 but had his contract terminated when he left to play in the Cup of Nations without his club’s permission. He doesn’t score or get forward much, and isn’t a particularly gifted player, but his experience will be important if this squad are to force their way out of the group against the odds.

Key Man: Since joining Portsmouth in 2008, Nadir Belhadj has caught the eye in an otherwise uninspiring club side, with some exciting displays down the left-side as a defender or winger. He’s plenty willing to bomb forward in search of a cross or a shot but has a tendency to blow hot and cold. Algeria need him at his best as if he plays well he is a key attacking asset.

Man to Watch: Karim Ziani is a versatile player who primarily operates down the right side of midfield but can also be utilised as a second striker. His classy performances for first Sochaux and then Marseille in Ligue 1 earned him a move to German champions Wolfsburg last summer but he has struggled for games this season. With 52 caps he is one of the more experienced players in the Algerian side but he needs to score more goals, with only 4 for his national team.

Prediction: Algeria’s squad is shockingly inexperienced – it contains 6 players with just 1 international appearance, one with only 2, three more in single figures and one, defender Carl Medjani, with none at all. They also lack a prolific striker. It’s hard to see this somewhat ragtag bunch of players making a serious impact on the group, though they may have strong periods during games against England or the USA, it seems unlikely that they would be able to dominate entire games against the likes of those teams. Qualification for the round of 16 would be a really huge achievement.

Squad List:

Goalkeepers

1. Lounes Gaouaoui (ASO Chlef)

16. Faouzi Chaouchi (ES Setif)

23. Rais M’Bohli (Slavia Sofia)

Defenders

2. Madjid Bougherra (Rangers)

3. Nadir Belhadj (Portsmouth)

4. Antar Yahia (Bochum)

5. Rafik Halliche (Nacional de Madeira)

12. Habib Bellaid (Frankfurt)

14. Carl Medjani (AC Ajaccio)

18. Abdelkader Laifaoui (ES Setif)

20. Djamel Mesbah (Lecce)

Midfielders

6. Yazid Mansouri, captain (Lorient)

7. Ryad Boudebouz (Sochaux)

8. Mehdi Lacen (Racing Santander)

15. Karim Ziani (Wolfsburg)

17. Adlene Guedioura (Wolves)

19. Hassan Yebda (Benfica)

21. Foued Kadir (Valenciennes)

22. Djamel Abdoun (Nantes)

Forwards

9. Abdelkader Ghezzal (Siena)

10. Rafik Saifi (Istres)

11. Rafik Djebbour (AEK Athens)

13. Karim Matmour (Borussia Monchengladbach)

SLOVENIA

FIFA World Ranking: 25

Team Colours: White shirts with green trim and funky green zigzag pattern across the chest, white shorts, white socks. Away kit is green shirts with yellow trim and funky yellow zigzag pattern across the chest, green shorts, green socks.

Manager: Matjaz Kek was always more known for his leadership skills than his playing ability as a player and appeared just once for his national side, but has enjoyed more success as a manager. He spent six years at Maribor, the club he finished his career at, winning two Slovenian league titles. After spending a few months coaching the Slovenian under-15s and under-16s he was given the full national team job in 2007 and upset the odds by leading Slovenia’s charge towards qualification alongside eventual group winners Slovakia, both of whom put pre-qualifying favourites Poland and the Czech Republic into the shade. He’s done a really good job with a team nobody fancied to get here.

Form: Slovenia’s surprising qualifying campaign was built on defence, conceding only four goals (only the Netherlands conceded fewer, and they played two fewer games), and they were in the hunt for the automatic qualifying spot at the top of the table until the very last day. This included two wins over the group winners Slovakia. Their playoff against Russia was thrilling, with Russia quickly taking a two-goal lead before Nejc Pecnik scored a late goal which allowed Slovenia to dig deep in defence and snatch a one-nil home win to go through on away goals. They outclassed New Zealand 3-1 in a recent friendly but will need to be ready for sterner tests than that in this group.

Captain: Robert Koren was surprisingly released by his club West Bromwich Albion having played more games for them than any outfield player in the 2008/9 Premiership season and then helping them to promotion back to the big time this year, so he will see this tournament as an opportunity to sell his services as well as lead his country. A reliable central playmaker, Koren is one of his country’s most vital assets with the most caps (46) and the most effortless talent in the squad. He picks an excellent pass and has racked up plenty of assists.

Key Man: Milivoje Novakovic is at the peak of his powers. The 31-year-old Cologne striker has a superb record of 51 goals in 108 games for his club and scored five in qualifying. He is far and away this team’s most potent goal threat and at 6’4″, he will pose a serious aerial challenge for opposition defences.

Man to Watch: This could be the summer that 25-year-old goalkeeper Samir Handanovic really makes a name for himself. The young Udinese shotstopper was part of arguably the meanest defence in Europe through qualifying and has recently won himself a bumper new contract at his club alongside talismen like Fabio Quagliarella and Asamoah Gyan.

Prediction: Slovenia should not be taken lightly. Expect some determined defending in exactly the sort of way that England, for example, usually have serious trouble with, but a lack of squad depth in midfield and up front will probably tell for Slovenia in the end. They should pick up a point or two, and could definitely get a result against Algeria, but making it to the second round is unlikely.

Squad List:

Goalkeepers

1. Samir Handanovic (Udinese)

12. Jasmin Handanovic (Mantova)

16. Aleksander Seliga (Sparta Rotterdam)

Defenders

2. Miso Brecko (FC Koln)

3. Elvedin Dzinic (Maribor)

4. Marko Suler (Gent)

5. Bostjan Cesar (Chievo Verona)

6. Branko Ilic (Lokomotiv Moscow)

13. Bojan Jokic (Chievo Verona)

19. Suad Filekovic (Maribor)

22. Matej Mavric (Koblenz)

Midfielders

8. Robert Koren, captain (unattached)

10. Valter Birsa (Auxerre)

15. Rene Krhin (Inter)

17. Andraz Kirm (Wisla Krakow)

18. Aleksander Radosavljevic (Larissa)

20. Andrej Komac (Maccabi Tel Aviv)

21. Dalibor Stevanovic (Vitesse Arnhem)

Forwards

7. Nejc Pecnik (Nacional de Madeira)

9. Zlatan Ljubijankic (Gent)

11. Milivoje Novakovic (FC Koln)

14. Zlatko Dedic (Bochum)

23. Tim Matavz (Groningen)

Day 19: Campeones!

I told you so.

A decent final, not the best game of the tournament by any means but certainly enjoyable. Spain were dominant if not in the end clear victors and should really have wrapped it up far earlier, the problem being that despite some of the brilliant positions that the midfield runners were playing themselves into, none of them, particularly Andres Iniesta, had the striker’s instinct to run straighter into the path of the pass and really capitalise, which was obviously the great advantage created by the Torres-Villa partnership.

That was, however, the only problem with Spain tonight and it would be unfair to dwell. Germany, on the other hand, were awful and were lucky to get nil and dirty kit. Defensive ineptitude combined with attacking incertitude to terminal effect. Before the tournament I would have argued that Miroslav Klose was every bit as world class a player as Michael Ballack – now, definitely not. He was exposed as a flat-track bully here, while his much-hyped former partner “Super” Mario Gomez has seen his reputation flattened by a truly horrific competition.

I’m not sure the German side needs an awful lot of changes, though. Joachim Low certainly needs to revive confidence but the potential is certainly there – witness their excellent World Cup two years ago. Podolski needs to return to a more central position, that’s for sure, as he’s been the only German striker to even look like scoring, and Bastian Schweinsteiger showed flashes of brilliance, and together with Ballack they should be the fulcrum of the team.

Spain are worthy champions. The best team has won and now that the duck is broken it’s quite plausible that they could push on to be the dominant force in world football – but let’s not get ahead of ourselves just yet. Luis Aragones, objectionable racist prat that he may be, has certainly proved me wrong in terms of his enduring ability, and will be missed as he leaves at the end of his contract, possibly to Fenerbahce – now that will be interesting.

This isn’t quite the end of my Euro 2008 coverage, as I’ll be doing an awards post or two in the next few days, before broadening my horizons a bit into the wider sporting world. It’s been fun.

Days 17-18: The semi-finals, and Final Preview

So, approximately an hour to go until the final kicks off, and having not seen either of the semis in full, I figured it was worth waiting until now to look back at the results and take a look ahead to the appetising game that will close the tournament.

I saw the last ten minutes of Germany’s win over Turkey, and it looks like I got a pretty good deal. Sure, there were three goals before then, two for Germany, but as I understand Germany were underwhelming at best while Turkey were a little out of their depths despite their opposition. The two goals that I did see, one apiece for Semih Senturk and Phillipp Lahm, were impressive ones, however – Semih’s an excellent poacher’s finish capitalising on some enterprising wing play (and, it has to be said, disappointing full-back play), and Lahm’s last-gasp effort an expertly crafted team goal, regardless of any literal slip-ups at the back (mentioning no names, Colin Kazim-Richards…). Exciting as it would have been to see Turkey topple Germany, I certainly feel we’re in for a better final as a result, as this Turkey side lacks both the quality and the squad depth (not all their own fault) to put up a good fight against Spain, who must surely now be considered favourites.

Yes, I know they’re playing the nation of inevitable tournament wins, but after Luis Aragones’ side powerfully took the wind out of Russia’s sails in the second semi, it’s hard to identify a department in which Spain are not better than the Germans. As well as David Villa had played so far for his four goals, his injury led to an even more fluid and dangerous line-up thanks to the introduction of Fabregas, who put Russia to the sword with an exemplary performance, far outshining Andrei Arshavin whose three contrasting games here haven’t really given conclusive proof either way of whether he’s the real deal. A move to Barcelona awaits, but I can’t see him getting into that starting XI, no matter how poor they were last year.

So we’re left with the two teams who, while not being the best two in the tournament (that would be Spain and Holland), have certainly been the best teams in their halves of the draw, meaning we really do have the perfect final, and it’s not often you can say that. I’m optimistic of an exciting game in which Germany must take the initiative if they want to stifle Spain’s superior quality, but if the Spainsh, and particularly Fabregas and David Silva, are allowed to play the way they want to they will win. My money’s on Spain, as it has been from the start, and just once, I’d love to be right. Here’s hoping.

Days 13-16: The Quarter-Finals

Thanks to some issues with final exams and celebrating the end thereof, I haven’t been able to keep up to date daily with the goings-on at the Euros as usual, so I decided before last night’s game to roll all four quarter-finals into one big post. And here it is.

Firstly, Germany 3 – 2 Portugal. I never thought I’d be desperate for Germany to win anything but I was happily singing Deutschland, Deutschland, über alles throughout that game, which was less entertaining in truth than the score suggests. Germany’s first goal, scored by Bastian “Look At My Hair” Schweinsteiger, was quite similar to the celebrated Sneijder goal against Italy, however, but overall it only really got exciting in the last five minutes of each half when Portugal remembered they were professional footballers and started playing properly. It was an extremely disappointing performance from Portugal but I wouldn’t be too quick to blame it on Scolari leaving. I really doubt the amount of influence that had – it was common knowledge that he was probably going to leave after the tournament anyway as his contract was up, so none of them should have been surprised. I’d be very surprised if Scolari himself changed in any way after the news, he’s far too strong a personality for that, so all this nonsense of the Portuguese FA reporting Chelsea to UEFA or whatever for the timing of their appointment looks very much like covering for what turned out to be a very ordinary side.

I must confess I didn’t see all of the Croatia-Turkey match – I managed to walk out of the pub we were watching it in pretty much at the point it became interesting, about 75 minutes in. Having received news of the dramatic finale via text message, I’m in no position to comment on the quality of the goals (though I gather Rustu Recber was at fault for the Croatia opener – no great surprise there), but the 75 minutes I did see were quite dull. Turkey seemed to have started believing the hype that they could only play in the last five minutes to sneak a win, and Croatia dominated accordingly, though without creating many clear-cut chances. And of course it went to penalties, where Croatia were apparently surprisingly bad, but they’re a young side and will probably come back stronger as a result of this. I shall be cheering for Turkey in the semi-finals, if only because they may have to field their third-choice goalkeeper as an outfield substitute at some point as they only have 14 players who aren’t injured or suspended. Seriously. Unfortunately, this does suggest that if Turkey had any chance before their best players ruled themselves out of the game, they probably don’t have a hope of beating Germany at all now. But we can hope.

On Saturday night, Russia produced a first-class performance to dispatch the disappointing Dutch 3-1 after extra time, during which Andrei Arshavin bumped his price tag up by about 10 million pounds. It was certainly the best individual performance of the tournament so far, and there’s a compelling argument that despite only having played two games, Arshavin’s already the player of the tournament. He completely ran the show – involved in everything Russia did, driving them forward and bulldozing the Dutch defence, who were always going to be the weak link, and more than deserved his goal. That’s not to say the rest of the Russian team didn’t play very well, though – even Roman Pavlyuchenko managed to score as many as one goal in about ten chances this time. Luca Toni looks on with envy.

Speaking of Luca Toni, he continued to do his best Emile Heskey impression during the frighteningly dull 0-0 draw with Spain last night, which Spain deservedly won on penalties. If it weren’t for Toni’s sudden and hilarious ineptitude in front of goal, I might be complaining a bit less about the Italian mentality, but it was truly atrocious. From the very first minute Italy were playing for penalties, making no attempt to stop Spain controlling the game, just as long as they blocked everything, which they did, and very well (what did you expect?). Spain played the game in the right way, and though they weren’t spellbinding they tried to find a winner and came very close, particularly with the uncharacteristic mistake from Gigi Buffon that spilled onto the post. The Spain-Russia semi-final could well be the pick of the tournament.

Speaking of semi-finals, I anticipate further difficulties in watching all of the games live but I’ll see what I can and probably be reviewing them on Friday, before build-up to Sunday’s final begins. See you there.

Day 12: Russia close the group stage in style

Group D concluded last night to end the round-robin stage, and there was only one match I was going to watch last night, despite supporting Spain. Sweden – Russia was the one that counted, and boy, am I glad to have seen that Russian performance. 2-0 does not tell an adequate story of just how vastly superior they were to Sweden, who were out of ideas despite huffing and puffing as they always do. The return of suspended skipper Andrei Arshavin catalysed a stunning attacking performance, the Russians gliding past the Swedish defence seemingly at will.

Despite the brilliant performances all around from Russia, there were obvious standouts. Arshavin showed us why Guus Hiddink felt it was worth the possibility of him only playing one game to pick him for the squad, supporting Pavlyuchenko eagerly and dictating everything that Russia did. His goal just after half-time was more than deserved. The other major plus was Yuri Zhirkov, the left-winger now turned left-back who dominated his entire flank with boundless energy and superb creativity. He was unlucky not to score with a couple of great free-kicks.

Unfortunately for Russia, their only barrier to being a great side right now is the fact that everyone should have scored more. Their main striker, Roman Pavlyuchenko, looks first class in his work rate, pace and ability to get past defenders – but his finishing has been apalling throughout the tournament. Sure, he scored one last night, and what a good team goal it was, but he literally should have had 10. I counted. That inability to get the ball in the back of the net may cost Russia, probably against Holland in Saturday’s quarterfinal – and doesn’t that look like being a great game. Pick of the round for me, actually.

I saw very brief highlights of Spain’s comeback win against Greece. By all accounts it wasn’t too convincing but Xabi Alonso was unlucky not to score three magical goals and Ruben de la Red’s equaliser was a volley of such thundering speed it’s probably still moving. Spain are confident all right, and should have enough to see off Italy.

So that’s it for the group stages, which means that from now on it’s a knockout! We kick off the quarter finals with Germany v Portugal tonight, which I’m expecting to be a frustrating 0-0 for Portugal followed by an inevitable German win on penalties. I’m nothing if not unoriginal.

Day 11: France euthanased by Italy

So it was probably the most anticipated day of the competition so far – the (third) rematch between the two World Cup finalists. It was hyped pre-tournament as the group decider – but for first and second place, rather than potentially as low as third, depending on Holland and Romania. I was thrilled to see the game meaning so much to both teams, but once again France showed just how inflated their expectations were.

To be fair, they had a disastrous start. Franck Ribery was the one player they absolutely couldn’t afford to lose, but he succumbed to what looks like a really nasty ankle and knee injury (there’s no word yet on how long he’ll be out, but I’m guessing a good couple of months at least) after only seven minutes. The second disaster was entirely their fault, however – Eric Abidal (who despite noises from the BBC has proved himself in the past to be a competent centre-back as well as left-back) made a rash, doomed-to-failure challenge on Luca Toni in the penalty box for the clearest straight red I’ve seen in a while. It was at that point that Raymond Domenech proved there was no way back – he brought on Jean-Alain Boumsong to solve all their problems.

We should have seen this coming. France rested on their laurels far too much after a flattering trip to the World Cup final and relied on fast-fading old hands like Thuram, Makelele and Henry. The former two have now announced their international retirements (again), in the first of what must be a series of radical overhauls of the team. Benzema, Ribery and Nasri must become the focus, and Henry, Vieira, Govou, Sagnol, Coupet et al must be jettisoned.

In the game I didn’t see so much of (I caught a few minutes after it became clear that France-Italy wasn’t going anywhere), Holland’s second string (and what a second string it is, by the way) cruised to a 2-0 win over Romania, slicing through the defence that had caused so many problems to the French and Italians to further boost their hopes of going all the way. Their goals were far too easy, showing up the Romanians a tad, but Mutu et al will remain threats in World Cup qualifying.

So Italy set themselves up a mouth-watering quarter-final with Spain in what is probably the best result for the quality of the tournament. From what we’ve seen so far, though, you’d bet on Spain.

Days 9 & 10: Groups A and B resolved

Firstly, my apologies for not covering Day 9 yesterday – I’ve been busy setting up my new laptop. Hooray for me. Anyway, here’s a double-header to make up for it.

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So on Sunday it was the first of the simultaneous group wraps, with Turkey completing a stunning comeback to beat the Czech Republic 3-2 in one of the strangest fifteen minutes I’ve seen for a long while. The first half was a bore, the Czechs running the game without any real Turkish resistance at all. When Jaroslav Plasil made it 2-0 I was sure that was game over, and considered switching over to the Switzerland-Portugal game. Thankfully my decision to stick with it was worth it – first Arda Turan confirmed his growing reputation with the Turkish opener, then, more sadly, Petr Cech confirmed that he hasn’t been the same keeper since Stephen Hunt kicked his head in a year or so ago. That really was a first-grade howler – the Cech of two years ago would have caught that cross 100% of the time, no question. A real shame, but what made it more painful was the exquisite winner two minutes later, Nihat breaking the offside trap with ease and powering a fantastic shot in off the underside of the crossbar. Brutal.

As if that wasn’t enough, Turkish goalkeeper Arslan Volkan decided that it was a good time to blatantly push Jan Koller over in the penalty box. The most obvious red card you’ll ever see, you have to wonder what the hell he was thinking – and if I was Fatih Terim, I’d seriously consider not bothering to pick him after his ban even if they get past Croatia into the semi-finals. Luckily, I’m not Fatih Terim – I have no desire to be a Turkish Terry Venables any time soon. So, the Czechs were knocked out and Croatia-Turkey looks like being an interesting quarter-final.

As I said, I didn’t see any of the Swiss-Portugal game, aside from one replay of the disallowed goal (not enough for me to make a judgement on whether or not it was offside), and the two Swiss goals. I mean, seriously – what the hell were Portugal doing losing 2-0 to that side? I know they made 8 changes and were already through, but surely those 8 players wanted to earn a place in the quarter-final line-up? Difficult to argue with the heart of the Swiss performance, though, by the sounds of it. They’ve certainly given a better account of themselves than their co-hosts.

So on to last night’s action, where Germany qualified courtesy of Michael Ballack’s free-kick goal (the first decent free-kick of the tournament, I might add) in a 1-0 victory over Austria, who made a mockery of the nostalgia-fest covering their famous victory in Cordoba all those years ago by showing just how useless they are, particularly, again, in the opponent’s half. Despite the ineptitude of their opposite numbers, Germany weren’t great either, and again it was the strikers who were the issue. Miroslav Klose did pretty much nothing all night, though at least he did nothing wrong per se, which is more than can be said for his partner Mario Gomez. Having been hyped by everyone pre-tournament, including yours truly, he topped his anonymous first two performances by being actively bad last night, missing a tap-in nearly on a par with the easiness of Hakan Yakin’s puddle-aided goal last week. His confidence is clearly shot and I doubt we’ll see him start a game again in this tournament.

Meanwhile, what on earth went on between Jogi Low and Josef Hickersberger, the two managers, on the touchline shortly before half-time? I didn’t catch all of what was happening (more laptop fiddling) at the time, so am still quite clueless about the whole thing – but it looked surreal, Hickersberger not once but twice strolling into the German technical area and harassing the staff for no apparent reason, then as the two managers continued bickering, ignoring the referee’s attempts to get them to stop, they were quite rightly sent to the stands. Then, Low had the cheek to go and get his jacket first, before the two managers shook hands on the way out. What on earth was all that about?

In other news, Croatia top the table with 9 points having beaten Poland 1-0 thanks to Ivan Klasnic’s goal. That is all I know about the match, having seen none of it. Sounds like Croatia did pretty well despite playing a second team. I tell you, they’re going to the final.

Day 8: Spain qualify and Greece go home. Ah, justice.

So after two games in each group, we already know all four group winners. While it’s impossible to deny that Portugal, Croatia, Holland and Spain deserve to have gotten through, I can’t help feeling that the new preference for head-to-head results over goal difference makes the groups less exciting than they could be. As a result of this, today’s potentially interesting Switzerland-Portugal game has been made completely irrelevant, and it could have been more had results changed just slightly over the draw as a whole.

But let’s not dwell. Spain secured their first place in the group by beating Sweden 2-1 thanks to a late, late goal from David Villa. Sweden will be disappointed but over the course of the game Spain were definitely the better side, having created much more than the Swedes and being refused what looked like a clear penalty for a foul on Silva just before half-time. Silva in particular was impressive, stepping up while Xavi and Iniesta failed to extend quite as much influence as they had over Russia, and the two strikers continued to work hard but without the top-quality service they’d gotten before. I was glad to see Fernando Torres score as I’d felt he’d deserved a goal against Guus Hiddink’s team, and while it wasn’t particularly pretty, his finish from a free-kick was clever under pressure. Iker Casillas didn’t have much to do in the Spanish goal but should have stopped Ibrahimovic’s goal – he got a hand on it but definitely had time and room to make more confident contact. Villa spared his blushes somewhat.

I’d been worried that Greece v Russia later that evening would be another terminal bore after the Greek showing four days previous, but to their credit they tried to attack…a bit more. Remaining for the most part tedious, unimaginative, and plain ineffective (witness Angelos Charisteas’ woeful attempt to head the ball in from Basinas’ wonderful free-kick), they should have been roundly thrashed by a superior Russia side, who were strong in defence and industrious in midfield, but nearly suffered by way of having all the finishing of this sen

So with Spain winners, Sweden and Russia will play in four days’ time for the right to meet Holland in the quarters. That could be a real cracker, and I’ve got a feeling now after the disappointing Sweden showing so far that, with Arshavin back, Russia could sneak that one. Today, Group A draws to a close, but with the simultaneous kick-offs I won’t be able to cover both games completely. I’ll be focusing on Czech Republic v Turkey, as it’s the only meaningful game being played, but will have to try to balance a bit more later in the week.

David Pleat Watch

To his credit, ol’ Pleaty had one of his better days watching Spain and Sweden, though he was denied a perfect outing by suddenly turning the Spanish right-back into a Russian, Sergei Ramos. His companion in the box, Jon Champion, was a worse offender by virtue of being a smart-arse. Trying to be clever with his Spanish pronunciations, he got David Villa right by interpreting the double L as a Y sound, but then got a bit too cocky and started referring to the left-back as ‘Capdeviya’. Unfortunately, the one-L’ed Capdevila is pronounced as it reads. Nice try, though.

Day 7: Wow.

What a day of football that was. Firstly, Italy 1 – 1 Romania. Of all my pre-game predictions, this was the one I least expected to get right, but somehow it came off. It was a fair result, as well, as both teams would have felt severely hard done by if they’d lost. Romania were more attacking than I’d expected but showed that they can compete on more levels than just backs-to-the-wall defending, Mutu in particular having an excellent game, harassing the Italian defence and grabbing a deserved goal from Zambrotta’s terrible header. The immediate riposte from Cristian Panucci only served to ramp up the excitement for both teams, and it could have gone either way.

I suppose I’d better touch on the Toni goal that was disallowed wrongly for offside – yeah, it should have stood. Other than that, the referee had a pretty good game, but Italy will feel very aggrieved. They will probably see it as karma that Mutu’s penalty was later saved by an excellent Buffon dive.

Basically, that could have been the only game of the day and I’d have felt good about it, but no, there was even better to come. Holland 4 – 1 France was by far the best game of the tournament so far, featuring more stunning Dutch counterattacking and a fightback from the French. I certainly felt throughout the game, even when France were bombarding the Dutch box early in the second half, that Holland could probably go and score another goal at will, which they then proceeded to do in jaw-dropping fashion. All the goals were impressive, Dirk Kuyt’s opener because he connected with the header while being wrestled determinedly to the ground by Florent Malouda (how did he get picked again after the Romania game, by the way? He hardly justfied his selection last night), Thierry Henry’s clever touch into the corner to make it 2-1 for its precision and subtlety, and the other three were all sparkling examples of playing on the break.

Gregory Coupet was unlucky not to keep Robin van Persie’s effort out – it was so quick and difficult to save but he got a hand on it and nearly kept the score to 1-0 – but he had no chance at all with the third and fourth. Arjen Robben’s instant reply to the French goal, even quicker than Panucci’s equaliser, was absolutely stunning. The angle of the shot was just insane. Since his introduction at half-time, Robben showed exactly what he can be week-in, week-out, but isn’t because of his penchant for moodiness, diving and disinterest – he was my man of the match. Finally, Sneijder’s finisher in the final minute of stoppage time was an unstoppable rocket executed after a perfect turn around the French defender. I’ll need to see them all again to decide on the best, as well as Sneijder’s goal in the Italy game and Ibrahimovic’s wonder strike the other day, but I feel my life is enriched for having seen that game. It was the perfect example of the best of international football – on its day, it’s infinitely more entertaining than any club game. Tomorrow can’t possibly top it – right?

David Pleat Watch

Italy v Romania was one of Pleaty’s better days, but of course it was that man Mauro Camoranesi who proved his kryptonite. “Caroramesi”, “Canomaresi”, and “Camaresi” all made appareances. We were also informed that Romania were using Mewtwo, the popular Pokemon, as their penalty taker. Hmm.

Day 6: Croatia shock Germany and Austria rescue a point

That’ll teach me for losing the faith. I’d thought before the tournament that Croatia would make the semis and now it looks like they probably will. Beating Germany 2-0 makes them group winners courtesy of the Austria 1 – 1 Poland result, so they will face either the Czech Republic or Turkey in the quarters – two teams that on this evidence they should beat well. Croatia were absolutely first-class against Germany yesterday, showing the discipline and organisation that was lacking from their second half against Austria. The switch to 4-5-1 definitely helped, though I was slightly disappointed by Niko Krancjar in the playmaker role – normally reliable in front of goal, he missed two relatively easy chances, which would have put the Germans out of sight. He worked hard though, as did every Croatian on the pitch, who in the end thoroughly deserved the win.

For me, actually, this was the perfect result. My Croatia prediction looks much better, and now the Germans can take a morale-boosting win over Austria in the final game (don’t pretend it won’t happen) and then beat Portugal in the quarters. They’re too good not to come back from this, and happily, the Prancing Prat will be the one to suffer for it. Then Croatia can beat them again in the semis and half of the table will be as I have foreseen.

A quick word on the Austria-Poland game – neither team played particularly well. Artur Boruc, who I’ve always thought of as one of the world’s best goalkeepers, played outstandingly well, but even accounting for his heroics the Austrian finishing was abysmal. They should have been 3-0 up within 15 minutes and Boruc should have been given no chance at all to deny them that. Instead, Christian Leitgeb and Martin Harnik (twice) made tame efforts and were punished for it by Roger Guerreiro’s goal. OK, it was marginally offside, but it was exactly what they deserved for being so impotent at the other end of the pitch. Three cheers for Southampton’s Marek Saganowski for getting the assist, carrying the torch for the mighty Saints at these championships while Rudi Skacel rots on the Czech bench.

I was glad to see Howard Webb give the Austrian penalty at the end of the game – it was a clear foul, but the kind that gets flagged up so rarely that it looks controversial. If more refs gave those decisions the game would be better for it.

Everything is falling into place. See you tomorrow.

Day 5: Swimming with the Swiss and Scolari to Chelsea

Czech Republic 1 – 3 Portugal. A decent enough game that was flattered somewhat by the two early goals – it was exciting without either team ever playing that well. The Czechs deserved more than they got – their midfield, and, shockingly, Milan Baros, were very hard-working and did well to bounce back from Deco’s early goal. Portugal will be praised for their attacking verve, but it’ll be blind praise based on reputation rather than substance – they weren’t that good at all yesterday. Deco did his best to fluff the first goal, and he would have gotten away with it if it wasn’t for that pesky Marek Jankulovski. Cristiano Ronaldo’s second goal was the only noteworthy thing he did all game, Galasek and Grygera having done an excellent job of keeping him quiet for vast periods of time. Quaresma’s third was fair enough, but I’ll be bitter about it anyway. On this evidence, the Czech-Turkey group finale should be a good match, but I think the Czechs will come out on top.

Speaking of the Turks, what a brilliant game their 2-1 European Swimming Championships win over Switzerland was. I was anticipating an utter bore, but thanks to the monstrous downpour the match was given atmosphere, drama, and its fair share of comedy. If they hadn’t been on such a tight logistical schedule the game would have been abandoned, but I’m glad it wasn’t. Hakan Yakin’s goal was hilarious, the pass from Derdiyok slowing to the speed of continental drift over the goalmouth puddle, giving him the easiest tap-in of all time.

Yakin also got the second easiest tap-in of all time later in the game – but he missed that one, which is probably why Switzerland are now out of the tournament. It’s a shame for the co-hosts, but an inevitable one. Nul points, here we come. Glad to see my pick for Turkish Man to Watch, Arda Turan, get the winner – albeit fortuitously. When he got on the ball he played excellently, a real achievement considering the conditions. They’ll need him at his best if they want to get past the Czech Republic.

But the biggest story of the day was from the Portugal camp – but not for much longer. Big Phil Scolari’s the new Chelsea manager! WOOHOO!

I can’t tell you how excited I am. My dad, a Chelsea fan, isn’t so keen, but I can’t wait – this man is the best possible alternative to the Special One for comedy value. His English isn’t great but his journalist-punching is, and to be able to watch his touchline antics every week is great news. Bring it on!

Day 4: Spain set the standard and Greece get what they deserve

As impressive as Holland’s performance against Italy was, it was mostly their superb defending and opportunistic counterattacking two or three times a half that made them the team to beat in this competition. They’ve now been overtaken by Spain, whose 4-1 win over Russia yesterday afternoon came from entire halves of scintillating attacking play that for sheer quality outshone the Dutch resourcefulness. Yes, Russia were poor, but they were made to look worse than they were by the partnership of David Villa and Fernando Torres, which lived up to all our lofty expectations. It does make you wonder why Torres was withdrawn ten minutes into the second half, though. (I told you Aragones was mad.)

We’ll probably have to wait until the quarter-finals to be sure if Spain are the real deal, as I don’t see Sweden or Greece giving their centre-backs the test they still need, particularly after having seen their stale game last night, which Sweden won 2-0. It was a very dull game, lit up briefly by Zlatan Ibrahimovic’s great goal from the edge of the penalty area (still second to Sneijder, but a worthy runner-up), but no amount of fireworks could make the Greek ‘football’ interesting. It was defensive to the point of incomprehensibility – spending 3 full minutes passing it between the three centre-backs at 0-0 thirty minutes in? Do they really intend to draw all three games to make it through? Mind you, they did look very limited in attack, but Charisteas, Gekas and Samaras were given so little opportunity to attack the defence that you have to wonder whether Otto Rehhagel is orchestrating this for a bet.

Greece got exactly what they deserved, and it will be a very tall order for them to get out of this group now. They may well beat Russia in their next game, who looked out of ideas without Arshavin and Pogrebnyak, but Spain in the final game? Not a chance. Good riddance.

Today we’re back to Group A, with Portugal-Czech Republic and Turkey-Switzerland. I’ll have a guess at 2-0 and 1-1 respectively, but I don’t expect any classics. Here’s hoping.

Day 2: Croatia disappoint and Germany win

Hello mum!

Austria 0 – 1 Croatia. OK, so it’s a win for Croatia – we all expected that much – but looking at the two sides on paper it really should have been a more convincing scoreline, never mind performance. I was thoroughly disappointed with Slaven Bilic’s team yesterday, particularly as they’re my tip for losing finalists, and on this form there’s no way they’ll get past Germany in the semi-final. For the first twenty minutes of the game, they were brilliant, carving through Austria at will, with Modric running the show. And then, for some inexplicable reason, they stopped caring. Austria huffed and puffed and nearly snatched themselves an equaliser – more embarrassingly for Croatia, they deserved one. Bilic emphasised the positives to the press afterwards but he must be frustrated that his side didn’t finish the co-hosts off before half-time. Must try harder.

Germany 2 – 0 Poland was a better game, as I suspected it might be regardless of the outcome of the previous encounter. A repeat of a great game at the 2006 World Cup, Poland matched the Germans for long periods of the game, though the difference was in the final third. With Podolski on the left, Germany essentially had three forwards, though Klose was out of sorts and Gomez wasn’t quite the immediate sensation I’d been looking forward to. Poland, on the other hand, struggled to create chances for Smolarek, with the captain Zurawski remaining mostly anonymous. The slightly fortuitous second goal killed them off, but if Zurawski gets his act together they could give Croatia a run for their money in terms of qualification, which I didn’t think I’d be saying 24 hours ago.

Tonight the Group of Death Relative Predictability kicks off, with France playing Romania in what should be three easy points, and Italy taking on Holland, which again should be a win for the former. I hope Holland prove me wrong, but I stand by my prediction of a comfortable third. See you tomorrow.

Euro 2008 Preview: Group D

Team: Greece

Manager: Otto Rehhagel is Greece’s longest-ever-serving national manager, who was highly sought after by many a European club after masterminding the Euro 2004 triumph – yet somehow has remained where he is, even signing a new contract to carry the team through to the next World Cup. He’s clearly a talented coach but he can’t really believe his squad can make lightning strike twice?

Strip: All white with blue trim. Second strip is the inverse.

Captain: Central midfielder Angelos Basinas was instrumental in the 2004 success, grabbing an assist for the cup-winning goal and taking charge of the midfield throughout the competition. Now captain, his influence cannot be underestimated (though watch me try).

Form: Incredibly, Greece gained more points in qualifying than any other team in Europe, though considering their main rivals were Turkey the achievement is less impressive than it might have been. They also highlighted Portugal’s need to improve if they intend to win the tournament by beating them 2-1 in a March friendly. More recently, though…a 0-0 draw with Armenia. That’s how bad the world’s 8th-ranked side have the potential to be.

Man to Watch: Stelios Giannakopoulos has been told he won’t be getting a new contract at Bolton, so he’ll be looking to prove his worth to potential employers this summer. I was surprised at how little he was used, relatively speaking, last season, though when he did play he didn’t pull up many trees. On his day he adds excitement to a very functional Greek line-up.

Prediction: No way is it happening again. I don’t think Greece will get out of their group, but they could scrape a couple of points here and there.

Squad List:

Goalkeepers

1. Antonios Nikopolidis (Olympiacos)

12. Kostas Chalkias (PAOK)

13. Alexandros Tzorvas (OFI Crete)

Defenders

2. Giourkas Seitaridis (Atletico Madrid)

3. Christos Patsatzoglu (Olympiacos)

4. Nikos Spiropoulos (Panathinaikos)

5. Traianos Dellas (AEK)

11. Loukas Vintra (Panathinaikos)

15. Vassilis Torosidis (Olympiacos)

16. Sotiris Kyrgiakos (Eintracht Frankfurt)

18. Giannis Goumas (Panathinaikos)

19. Paraskevas Antzas (Olympiacos)

Midfielders

6. Angelos Basinas (Real Mallorca)

8. Stelios Giannakopoulos (free agent)

10. Giorgios Karagounis (Panathinaikos)

21. Kostas Katsouranis (Benfica)

22. Alexandros Tsiolis (Panathinaikos)

Forwards

7. Giorgios Samaras (Celtic)

9. Angelos Charisteas (Nuremberg)

14. Dimitris Salpingidis (Panathinaikos)

17. Fanis Gekas (Leverkusen)

20. Ioannis  Amanatidis (Eintracht Frankfurt)

23. Nikos Liberopoulos (AEK)

Team: Russia

Manager: Guus Hiddink has proved himself time and again as one of, if not the, best manager in the world. I’m apparently the only one who believes him when he says he’s staying with Russia rather than going to Chelsea (that’s clearly Mancini’s job) , and he’ll continue to do well with them. They may not quite be ready this time but by the 2010 World Cup they could be a real force.

Strip: All white with Russian flag colours across the chest and blue collar. Second strip is all red with the same flag effect and white collar.

Captain: Highly talented Zenit Petersburg midfielder Andrei Arshavin is the creative fulcrum of all the Russian attacks, so, helpfully, he got himself sent off with 8 minutes to go against Andorra, meaning he’ll miss the first two group games against Spain and Greece. Thankfully, he’s more intelligent when it comes to picking out a pass.

Form: Russia did their best to throw away qualification by losing away to Israel, who had nothing to play for, but as we all know England just wanted it less, and the rest is history. Their campaign had few genuine highlights apart from the comeback win against England in Moscow, and they drew twice with Croatia without ever really troubling them. A comfortable warm-up win over Lithuania leaves them cautiously optimistic.

Man to Watch: The art of getting yourself suspended from key games seems to be a feature of great Russian players. Zenit’s big target man Pavel Pogrebnyak led the line superbly in his club’s UEFA Cup campaign before getting himself suspended for the final. His team won anyway, but the imposing striker will need to take the heat off the team while Arshavin is suspended.

Prediction: It’ll probably come down to their last group game against Sweden to determine which of them will accompany Spain into the knockout stages.  It could go either way but I fancy Sweden’s greater experience will be the end of what is a youthful Russian side.

Squad List:

Goalkeepers

1. Igor Akinfeev (CSKA Moscow)

12. Vladimir Gabulov (Amkar Perm)

16. Vyacheslav Malafeev (Zenit)

Defenders

2. Vasily Berezutskiy (CSKA Moscow)

4. Sergey Ignashevich (CSKA Moscow)

5. Alexei Berezutskiy (CSKA Moscow)

8. Denis Kolodin (Dinamo Moscow)

14. Roman Shirokov (Zenit)

22. Aleksandr Anyukov (Zenit)

Midfielders

3. Renat Yanbaev (Lokomotiv Moscow)

7. Dmitri Torbinski (Lokomotiv Moscow)

10. Andrei Arshavin (Zenit)

11. Sergei Semak (FC Rubin)

15. Diniyar Bilyaletdinov (Lokomotiv Moscow)

17. Konstantin Zyryanov (Zenit)

18. Yuri Zhirkov (CSKA Moscow)

20. Igor Semshov (Dinamo Moscow)

23. Vladimir Bystov (Spartak Moscow)

Forwards

6. Roman Adamov (FC Moscow)

9. Ivan Saenko (Nuremberg)

13. Pavel Pogrebnyak (Zenit)

19. Roman Pavlyuchenko (Spartak Moscow)

21. Dmitri Sychev (Lokomotiv Moscow)

Team: Spain

Manager: Probably the maddest manager in world football, Luis Aragones is approximately a million years old and is going senile. I’ve been wondering why he remains in charge of the national side for a very long time, and I reckon he’ll go at the end of the tournament.

Strip: Red shirt, black shorts, black socks. Second strip is the same but with a yellow shirt.

Captain: A close second to Gigi Buffon as the world’s best goalkeeper, Iker Casillas was probably the main reason why Real Madrid won La Liga this year and last. He’ll need to be at his best as the defence is Spain’s weak link, but he can almost always be counted on and should make a valuable difference this summer.

Form: Won their qualifying group despite the occasional scare from Denmark and Northern Ireland – runners-up Sweden were relatively unthreatening – but looked convincing for the majority of their matches. Their warm-up games were not unqualified successes – it took a late winner from left-back Joan Capdevila to beat Chile and the 1-0 win over the USA was low-key – but earlier victory over Italy (while playing badly, so you know the cliche there) means the omens are good.

Man to Watch: You’ll have heard all about Torres and Villa but Real Mallorca striker Dani Guiza is a less renowned name. This season was a real breakthrough for him, scoring 27 goals to fire his team to the Intertoto Cup. Brilliant on the counterattack thanks to his pace and movement, Guiza will probably be moving on this summer and will be intending to show off his skills as a supersub.

Prediction: My head says they’ll fail again, but it’s less reluctant this year than ever, which means I feel comfortable going with my heart. I think Spain will finally end their wait for silverware this year. They’ve got the best central midfield in the world – Fabregas, Xavi, Iniesta, Senna and Alonso anyone? – and probably the best strike partnership in the world as well, with options like Guiza, Silva and Santi Cazorla on the bench. Winners.

Squad List:

Goalkeepers

1. Iker Casillas (Real Madrid)

13. Andres Palop (Sevilla)

23. Pepe Reina (Liverpool)

Defenders

2. Raul Albiol (Valencia)

3. Fernando Navarro (Real Mallorca)

4. Carlos Marchena (Valencia)

5. Carles Puyol (Barcelona)

11. Joan Capdevila (Villarreal)

15. Sergio Ramos (Real Madrid)

18. Alvaro Arbeloa (Liverpool)

20. Juanito (Real Betis)

Midfielders

6. Andres Iniesta (Barcelona)

8. Xavi Hernandez (Barcelona)

10. Cesc Fabregas (Arsenal)

12. Santi Cazorla (Villarreal)

14. Xabi Alonso (Liverpool)

19. Marcos Senna (Villarreal)

21. David Silva (Valencia)

22. Ruben de la Red (Real Madrid)

Forwards

7. David Villa (Valencia)

9. Fernando Torres (Liverpool)

16. Sergio Garcia (Real Zaragoza)

17. Dani Guiza (Real Mallorca)

Team: Sweden

Manager: Lars Lagerback has been quietly successful with Sweden for 8 years now. Having previously collaborated with Tommy Soderberg until the end of Euro 2004, he’s proven that he has the tactical nous and motivational capability to carry the team on his own. Whether he will stay on after the tournament is unsure, but he looks content enough in his position for now.

Strip: Yellow shirt with blue trim, blue shorts, yellow socks. Second strip is all black with yellow trim.

Captain: Freddie Ljungberg, always managing to be both industrious and creative at the same time, is a fitness doubt for Sweden after an injury-interrupted season for West Ham, but is expected to be at least mostly fit, which they will settle for. At 31, this may be his last tournament on the front lines, and he’s still got enough quality to stamp his mark on Austria and Switzerland.

Form: They started qualifying strongly with four straight wins but things became difficult after David Healy sunk them in Belfast. The Swedes were, however, typically efficient, qualifying on the last day of the campaign to reach their fifth consecutive major tournament. Their friendlies tell us little – a 1-0 win over Slovenia was to be expected, while the same scoreline was their undoing against Ukraine. A few niggling injuries may stunt their progress.

Man to Watch: 28-year-old winger Christian Wilhelmsson seems to have travelled all over Europe recently at club level, turning out for Anderlecht, Nantes, Roma, Bolton and Deportivo in the space of just over two years, but remains a quality player who can cut inside or cross from out wide to great effect. Should work in tandem with Ljungberg on the flanks.

Prediction: Their superior experience to Russia and greater quality than Greece should see them through to the quarters, but they are unlikely to trouble the winners of Group C.

Squad List:

Goalkeepers

1. Andreas Isaksson (Man City)

12. Rami Shaaban (Hammarby)

13. Johan Wiland (Elfsborg)

Defenders

2. Mikael Nilsson (Panathinaikos)

3. Olof Mellberg (Juventus)

4. Petter Hansson (Rennes)

5. Fredrik Stoor (Rosenborg)

14. Daniel Majstorovic (AEK)

15. Andreas Granqvist (Wigan)

23. Mikael Dorsin (CFR Cluj)

Midfielders

6. Tobias Linderoth (Galatasaray)

7. Niclas Alexandersson (Goteborg)

8. Anders Svensson (Elfsborg)

9. Freddie Ljungberg (West Ham)

16. Kim Kallstrom (Lyon)

18. Sebastian Larsson (Birmingham)

19. Daniel Andersson (Malmo)

21. Christian Wilhelmsson (Deportivo La Coruna)

Forwards

10. Zlatan Ibrahimovic (Inter)

11. Johan Elmander (Toulouse)

17. Henrik Larsson (Helsingborgs)

20. Marcus Allback (FC Copenhagen)

22. Markus Rosenberg (Werder Bremen)

Euro 2008 Preview: Group C

Team: France

Manager: Raymond Domenech has never quite been fully accepted by all French fans. His record is good – after all, France were a penalty kick away from the World Cup not so long ago – but that was after he had to convince Zidane, Thuram and Makelele to come out of retirement to do it. Since then, he dropped in my estimations considerably when he refused to recognise Makelele’s decision to return to international retirement and forced him to join up with the team anyway. Makelele kept quiet about it but Domenech came across very badly. You have to wonder what that says about his confidence in his other midfielders, despite having what looks like a very good squad indeed.

Strip: Blue shirt, white shorts, red socks, with red trim on the shirt. Second strip is red shirt, white shorts, blue socks.

Captain: Patrick Vieira will definitely miss the opening fixture against Romania, and is a serious doubt for the rest of the tournament, which would be a massive blow to Les Bleus. Lilian Thuram will probably lead the side in his absence – a pretty bad idea if you ask me. He’s gotten far too slow for top-class games and should have gone back to international retirement after the World Cup. I guess Domenech wouldn’t let him either.

Form: The French endured a nervy qualifying campaign, eventually finishing second behind Italy to hold off a spirited Scottish charge, which saw France lose home and away to Alex McLeish’s team. Their pre-finals friendlies tell us little apart from the fact that their forward line is one to be scared of – Henry passed Michel Platini’s goals record in qualifying, Karim Benzema is the best young player in Europe, Nicolas Anelka is as good as ever, and…

Man to Watch: Bafetimbi Gomis, the 22-year old St. Etienne striker, who scored twice on debut against Ecuador in a warm-up friendly the other week and is being chased by Newcastle, among others. He notched 16 for Les Verts in the Ligue 1 season and looks a strong, pacy forward. France really will be spoilt for choice.

Prediction: Should make it out of the group despite the formidable opposition, but will hope to avoid meeting Spain in the quarters. I’m going to hazard a guess at a loss in the semis to Fernando Torres et al.

Squad List:

Goalkeepers

1. Steve Mandanda (Marseille)

16. Sebastien Frey (Fiorentina)

23. Gregory Coupet (Lyon)

Defenders

2. Jean-Alain Boumsong (Lyon)

3. Eric Abidal (Barcelona)

5. William Gallas (Arsenal)

13. Patrice Evra (Man United)

14. Francois Clerc (Lyon)

15. Lilian Thuram (Barcelona)

17. Sebastien Squillaci (Lyon)

19. Willy Sagnol (Bayern Munich)

Midfielders

4. Patrick Vieira (Inter)

6. Claude Makelele (Chelsea)

7. Florent Malouda (Chelsea)

11. Samir Nasri (Marseille)

20. Jeremy Toulalan (Lyon)

21. Lassana Diarra (Portsmouth)

22. Franck Ribery (Bayern Munich)

(Mathieu Flamini (Milan), cover for Vieira)

Forwards

8. Nicolas Anelka (Chelsea)

9. Karim Benzema (Lyon)

10. Sidney Govou (Lyon)

12. Thierry Henry (Barcelona)

18. Bafetimbi Gomis (St. Etienne)

Team: Italy

Manager: Roberto Donadoni’s appointment was admitted by Demetrio Albertini (then vice-president of the Italian FA) as being something of a gamble, and so far it looks like paying off. Relatively inexperienced as a coach, he’s already had two spells in charge Livorno, sandwiching a three-game spell at Genoa (yes, it took him that little time to get sacked), with a couple of decent top-half finishes. Jury’s still out.

Strip: All blue. Second strip is white shirt, black shorts, white socks.

Captain: With talismanic Fabio Cannavaro being ruled out of the tournament this morning following a training injury, Gianluigi Buffon will almost certainly take on the armband. He’ll be as brilliant as ever, and represents a huge part of Italy’s hopes. If you score one goal against Buffon per game, you feel lucky.

Form: Recovered from a stuttering start to qualifying (drew with Lithuania and lost to France) but came back strongly to top the group, fighting off the dogged Scots and vengeful French. Their final warm-up friendly yielded a 3-1 victory over Belgium, though it remains to be seen what Cannavaro’s withdrawal will do to their morale.

Man to Watch: Fabio Quagliarella of Udinese is establishing himself in the Italy team after developing a knack of scoring stunning goals in Serie A. Fast and two-footed, he may not make the first team but will be one of a whole host of potential supersubs for the world champions.

Prediction: The loss of Cannavaro will hurt, particularly as they no longer have Alessandro Nesta to dominate the defense in his stead. I can see them succumbing to Spain in the quarters, though they should still give a good account of themselves.

Squad List:

Goalkeepers

1. Gianluigi Buffon (Juventus)

14. Marco Amelia (Livorno)

17. Morgan De Sanctis (Sevilla)

Defenders

2. Christian Panucci (Roma)

3. Fabio Grosso (Lyon)

4. Giorgio Chiellini (Juventus)

5. Alessandro Gamberini (Fiorentina)

6. Andrea Barzagli (Palermo)

19. Gianluca Zambrotta (Milan)

23. Marco Materazzi (Inter)

Midfielders

8. Gennaro Gattuso (Milan)

10. Daniele De Rossi (Roma)

13. Massimo Ambrosini (Milan)

16. Mauro Camoranesi (Juventus)

20. Simone Perrotta (Roma)

21. Andrea Pirlo (Milan)

22. Alberto Aquilani (Roma)

Forwards

7. Alessandro Del Piero (Juventus)

9. Luca Toni (Bayern Munich)

11. Antonio Di Natale (Udinese)

12. Marco Boriello (Milan)

15. Fabio Quagliarella (Udinese)

18. Antonio Cassano (Sampdoria)

Team: the Netherlands

Manager: Marco van Basten, bound for Ajax after the championships, has still yet to entirely convince as an international manager. He did guide them to a 15-match unbeaten run soon after taking the job in 2004, but despite his best efforts has not yet been able to bring back the exciting attacking football that we all expect from the Dutch. Has not got an awful lot to lose considering the group Holland find themselves in, so hopefully he’ll get his players to put on a show.

Strip: Orange shirts (of course), white shorts, blue socks. Second strip is all blue (in differing shades) with white socks.

Captain: Goalkeeper Edwin van der Sar has flattered to deceive in recent years, his blushes saved on numerous occasions by Manchester United’s superb central defensive partnership of Ferdinand and Vidic. This must surely be his last international tournament, but the most-capped Dutch player of all time will be hoping to go out on a high. Maarten Stekelenburg is waiting in the wings…

Form: the Netherlands had little trouble in their group, with fellow-group-C-ers Romania being the biggest obstacle. Indeed, van Basten’s team took just one point from their two meetings with the men in yellow but still qualified with a game to spare – luckily, as they then lost their final game 2-1 to Belarus. Certainly not totally convincing. A 1-1 draw with Denmark in their first friendly told us little, though their 2-0 win over Wales more recently was achieved with real quality.

Man to Watch: PSV Eindhoven’s 22-year-old midfielder Ibrahim Afellay is an exciting talent, and though he will probably start on the bench, expect him to have an impact as a creative right-sided player.

Prediction: I doubt they’ll live up to their part in the ‘Group of Death’ tag.  They should finish third, though considering their recent history with Romania, don’t even take that for granted. Getting out of the group probably won’t happen.

Squad List:

Goalkeepers

1. Edwin van der Sar (Man United)

13. Henk Timmer (Feyenoord)

16. Maarten Stekelenburg (Ajax)

Defenders

2. Andre Ooijer (Blackburn)

3. Johnny Heitinga (Atletico Madrid)

4. Joris Mathijsen (Hamburg)

5. Giovanni van Bronckhorst (Feyenoord)

12. Mario Melchiot (Wigan)

14. Wilfred Bouma (Aston Villa)

15. Tim de Cler (Feyenoord)

21. Khalid Boulahrouz (Chelsea)

Midfielders

6. Demy de Zeeuw (AZ Alkmaar)

8. Orlando Engelaar (FC Twente)

10. Wesley Sneijder (Real Madrid)

11. Arjen Robben (Real Madrid)

17. Nigel de Jong (Hamburg)

20. Ibrahim Afellay (PSV)

23. Rafael van der Vaart (Hamburg)

Forwards

7. Robin van Persie (Arsenal)

9. Ruud van Nistelrooy (Real Madrid)

18. Dirk Kuyt (Liverpool)

19. Klaas-Jan Huntelaar (Ajax)

22. Jan Vennegoor of Hesselink (Celtic)

Team: Romania

Manager: Last time Victor Piturca led Romania to a major tournament (Euro 2000), he was sacked before the first game of the competition because of disputes with the team’s big name players. Since returning in December 2004, he narrowly missed out on World Cup qualification before stylishly leading his team to Austria and Switzerland ahead of Holland.

Strip: All yellow with blue sides and trim. Second strip is all white with red sides and blue trim.

Captain: Inter Milan defender Cristian Chivu is the bedrock of the Romanian defence. One of the best defenders in Italy, he also has a wicked left foot when it comes to taking free-kicks. Capable of playing in midfield if necessary, but he’s much better at centre-back.

Form: Ten games unbeaten in qualifying, including six wins on the trot, indicate that Romania are ready for this. A good win over Russia in March was followed by a comfortable 4-0 over Montenegro in their final warm-up.

Man to Watch: 28-year-old attacking midfielder Nicolae Dica scored two in the win against Montenegro, and 8 goals in 25 appearances backs up his reputation as a goalscoring threat from midfield. Dynamic and powerful, he’ll be running the show from the middle of the park.

Squad List:

Goalkeepers

1. Bogdan Lobont (Dinamo Bucharest)

12. Marius Popa (Poli 1912)

23. Edward Stancioiu (CFR Cluj)

Defenders

2. Cosmin Contra (Getafe)

3. Razvan Rat (Shakhtar Donetsk)

4. Gabriel Tamas (Auxerre)

5. Cristian Chivu (Inter)

6. Mirel Radoi (Steaua Bucharest)

13. Cristian Sapunaru (Rapid Bucharest)

14. Sorin Ghionea (Steaua Bucharest)

15. Dorin Goian (Steaua Bucharest)

17. Cosmin Moti (Steaua Bucharest)

22. Stefan Radu (Lazio)

Midfielders

7. Florentin Petre (CSKA Sofia)

8. Paul Codrea (Siena)

11. Razvan Cocis (Lokomotiv Moscow)

16. Banel Nicolita (Steaua Bucharest)

19. Adrian Cristea (Dinamo Bucharest)

20. Nicolae Dica (Steaua Bucharest)

Forwards

9. Ciprian Marica (Stuttgart)

10. Adrian Mutu (Fiorentina)

18. Marius Niculae (Inverness CT)

21. Daniel Niculae (Auxerre)

Euro 2008 Preview: Group B

Team: Austria

Manager: Josef Hickersberger, who played for Austria at the 1978 World Cup and managed them at Italia ’90. Since being sacked after losing to the Faroe Islands in 1992, he’s been managing various Arabian teams (including the Bahrain national side) before returning home to the Austria job in 2004. Suffice to say, he isn’t the messianic figure Austria need.

Strip: Red shirts and socks, white shorts. Second strip is black with gold trim.

Captain: ‘The Austrian Beckham’, left-winger Andreas Ivanschitz is Austria’s only good player going forward. Only 24, he’s played regularly for his country since 2003 and has a beastly shot. He is, however, it.

Form: It doesn’t matter. They’re screwed. (for the record, it’s been abysmal.)

Man to Watch: Sturdy centre-back Martin Stranzl is good enough to be occasionally linked with Birmingham. Yep, that’s the best I could come up with. This is probably the worst squad ever in the European Championships.

Prediction: If they’re lucky they might get a  0-0 against Poland, but anything more is impossible. It’s not going to be fun for the co-hosts.

Squad List:

Goalkeepers

1. Alex Manninger (Siena)

21. Jurgen Macho (AEK Athens)

23. Ramazan Ozcan (Hoffenheim)

Defenders

2. Joachim Standfest (Austria Wien)

3. Martin Stranzl (Spartak Moscow)

4. Emanuel Pogatetz (Middlesbrough)

12. Ronald Gercaliu (Austria Wien)

13. Markus Katzer (Rapid Wien)

15. Sebastian Prodl (Sturm Graz)

16. Jurgen Patocka (Rapid Wien)

17. Martin Hiden (Rapid Wien)

Midfielders

5. Christian Fuchs (Mattersburg)

6. Rene Aufhauser (Salzburg)

8. Christian Leitgeb (Salzburg)

10. Andreas Ivanschitz (Panathinaikos)

11. Umit Korkmaz (Rapid Wien)

14. Gyorgy Garics (Napoli)

19. Jurgen Samuel (Sturm Graz)

20. Martin Harnik (Werder Bremen)

Forwards

7. Ivica Vastic (LASK Linz)

9. Roland Linz (Braga)

18. Roman Kienast (HamKam)

22. Erwin Hoffer (Rapid Wien)

Team: Croatia

Manager: Slaven Bilic looks like being a very good manager indeed, having success with both the Croatia Under-21s and now the full national side. Numerous club sides have come calling, but to his credit he’s refused the big bucks (for now) in order to continue working on the side he’s turning into real contenders.

Strip: You know, the red-and-white checked shirt. Second strip is blue with, er, red-and-white checked trim.

Captain: Erstwhile central midfielder Niko Kovac is retiring after this competition, and, though a little slower than he has been, is still the most powerful force in the Croatian engine room, complementing well with Luka Modric. He’s done this sort of thing before and will be ready to lead the charge.

Form: Only one defeat in qualifying but they’d already secured their place anyway. We all know about their victory over England, where they showed just how good they really are, though they were surprisingly held by Hungary in their final pre-finals friendly. I wouldn’t read too much into it, though.

Man to Watch: Difficult to go for anyone other than Modric, who’s just signed for Tottenham for 16.5 million pounds. A brilliant creative central midfielder, he’s gaining more and more authority in the team as he grows and much of Croatia’s play will go through him.

Prediction: Dark horses. They’ll probably beat Portugal or the Czech Republic in the quarters and I can see them potentially overcoming Germany as well. Watch out – Croatia mean business.

Squad List:

Goalkeepers

1. Stipe Pletikosa (Spartak Moscow)

12. Mario Galinovic (Panathinaikos)

23. Vedran Runje (Lens)

Defenders

2. Dario Simic (Milan)

3. Josip Simunic (Hertha Berlin)

4. Robert Kovac (Borussia Dortmund)

5. Vedran Corluka (Man City)

6. Hrvoje Vejic (Tom Tomsk)

13. Nikola Pokrivac (Monaco)

15. Dario Knezevic (Livorno)

Midfielders

7. Ivan Rakitic (Schalke)

8. Ognjen Vukojevic (Dynamo Kyiv)

10. Niko Kovac (Red Bull Salzburg)

11. Darijo Srna (Shakhtar Donetsk)

14. Luka Modric (Tottenham)

16. Jerko Leko (Monaco)

19. Niko Krancjar (Portsmouth)

22. Danijel Pranjic (Heerenveen)

Forwards

9. Nikola Kalinic (Hajduk Split)

17. Ivan Klasnic (Werder Bremen)

18. Ivica Olic (Hamburg)

20. Igor Budan (Parma)

21. Mladen Petric (Borussia Dortmund)

Team: Germany

Manager: Joachim Low’s transition into the manager’s role has been seamless. An innovative coach, Low has continued in the philosophy of Klinnsmann’s team by defying tradition and playing expansive, attacking football. Recently had his contract extended until 2010.

Strip: White shirt, black shorts, white socks with a black stripe across the chest. Second strip is all red with a vertical black stripe down the chest.

Captain: Michael Ballack has really come into his own at Chelsea in his second season there, and a lot of people seem to have taken it for granted. I haven’t once seen an article praising his ascension to vital part of their central midfield, and I think much more should be made of it. He’s in good form and has always led Germany well. Ballack will be a big influence this year.

Form: The first non-hosts to secure qualification for the tournament, they still managed a couple of strange results – 1-1 with Cyprus anyone? 0-0 with Wales? More astonishingly, they somehow managed to only put 13 past San Marino… A good friendly win over Serbia the other day puts them in good stead for the finals.

Man to Watch: 22-year-old Mario Gomez (zero-time winner of the Most German-Sounding Name Award) has scored 33 goals in the last two Bundesliga seasons, propelling mediocre Stuttgart to the title in 2007 against the odds. He’ll be pushing Klose very hard for the starting berth and will probably use the tournament to secure a big-money move abroad.

Prediction: Quite capable of beating every side in the tournament, you’d be foolish to rule Germany out, but I do have a sneaking suspicion that they’ll lose to Croatia in the semis. Their (probable) two clashes will be fascinating.

Squad List:

Goalkeepers

1. Jens Lehmann (Arsenal)

12. Robert Enke (Hannover 96)

23. Rene Adler (Leverkusen)

Defenders

2. Marcell Jansen (Bayern Munich)

3. Arne Friedrich (Hertha Berlin)

4. Clemens Fritz (Werder Bremen)

5. Heiko Westermann (Schalke)

16. Philipp Lahm (Bayern Munich)

17. Per Mertesacker (Werder Bremen)

21. Cristoph Metzelder (Real Madrid)

Midfielders

6. Simon Rolfes (Leverkusen)

7. Bastian Schweinsteiger (Bayern Munich)

8. Torsten Frings (Werder Bremen)

13. Michael Ballack (Chelsea)

14. Piotr Trochowski (Hamburg)

15. Thomas Hitzlsperger (Stuttgart)

18. Tim Borowski (Werder Bremen)

Forwards

9. Mario Gomez (Stuttgart)

10. Oliver Neuville (Borussia Monchengladbach)

11. Miroslav Klose (Bayern Munich)

19. David Odonkor (Real Betis)

20. Lukas Podolski (Bayern Munich)

22. Kevin Kuranyi (Schalke)

Team: Poland

Manager: Leo Beenhakker, one of my favourite names in world football. Having defied expectations to get Trinidad and Tobago to the 2006 World Cup, the Dutchman’s done a great job at Poland qualifying them for their first ever Euros. A canny coach, he likes to switch formations – he used 4-4-2, 4-5-1 and 4-3-3 in qualifying.

Strip: White shirt, red shorts and white socks. The second strip is the inverse.

Captain: Maciej “Magic” Zurawski, formerly of Celtic but now with Greek side Larissa, is a clever striker but his goals-to-caps ratio isn’t great – 17 in 70.  At 31, this may be his last major tournament, so he’ll be desperate to take advantage.

Form: A six-match winning streak in qualifying helped them finish above Portugal in their group, having been solid throughout the campaign. Zurawski scored Poland’s 1,200th goal in international football in the 3rd minute to beat Albania in a friendly a few days ago, but they face a sterner test against Denmark tonight in their final warm-up match. That should tell us more about their form.

Man to Watch: Contrast Ebi Smolarek, who scored 9 goals in qualifying, and Marek Saganowski, who had a brilliant first half-season with my beloved Southampton but only 3 goals this year in a highly disappointing campaign. Potentially, they could complement each other well up front, but Zurawski will start ahead of Saganowski. Smolarek in particular should shine.

Prediction: They should beat Austria (hell, my granny could), but getting past Germany and Croatia will be too much to ask. They’ll be respectable, but third.

Squad List:

Goalkeepers

1. Artur Boruc (Celtic)

12. Tomas Kuszczak (Man United)

22. Lukasz Fabianski (Arsenal)

Defenders

2. Mariusz Jop (FC Moscow)

3. Jakub Wawrzyniak (Legia Warsaw)

4. Pawel Golanski (Steaua Bucharest)

5. Dariusz Dudka (Wisla Krakow)

6. Jacek Bak (Austria Wien)

13. Martin Wasilewski (Anderlecht)

14. Michal Zewlakow (Olympiakos)

15. Michal Pazdan (Gornik Zabrze)

23. Adam Kokoszka (Wisla Krakow)

Midfielders

8. Jacek Krzynowek (Wolfsburg)

10. Lukasz Gargula (Belchatow)

16. Jakub Blaszczykowski (Borussia Dortmund)

17. Wojciech Lobodzinski (Wisla Krakow)

18. Mariusz Lewandowski (Shakhtar Donetsk)

19. Rafal Murawski (Lech Poznan)

20. Roger Guerreiro (Legia Warsaw)

Forwards

7. Ebi Smolarek (Racing)

9. Maciej Zurawski (Larissa)

11. Marek Saganowski (Southampton)

21. Tomasz Zahorski (Gornik Zabrze)