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)
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