Group A

Marcello

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Hosts Switzerland look to impress in a group littered with dangers, as Portugal, Turkey and the Czech Republic all look to ensure their place in the last 8.

GroupASwitzerland.jpg

GroupAPortugal.jpg

GroupACzechRepublic.jpg

GroupATurkey.jpg


Saturday 7 June 2008
1 Grp A Switzerland v Czech Republic Basel - St. Jakob-Park
2 Grp A Portugal v Turkey Geneva - Stade de Genève

Wednesday 11 June 2008
9 Grp A Czech Republic v Portugal Geneva - Stade de Genève
10 Grp A Switzerland v Turkey Basel - St. Jakob-Park

Sunday 15 June 2008
17 Grp A Switzerland v Portugal Basel - St. Jakob-Park
18 Grp A Turkey v Czech Republic Geneva - Stade de Genève


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Marcello

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Squads

Turkey Squad

Goalkeepers: Volkan Demirel (Fenerbahçe), Rüştü Reçber (Beşiktaş), Tolga Zengin (Trabzonspor)

Defenders: Gökhan Gönül (Fenerbahçe), Sabri Sarıoğlu (Galatasaray), Gökhan Zan (Beşiktaş), Servet Çetin (Galatasaray), Emre Aşık (Ankaraspor), Hakan Balta (Galatasaray), Emre Güngör (Galatasaray)

Midfielders: Uğur Boral (Fenerbahçe), Mehmet Aurelio (Fenerbahçe), Mehmet Topal (Galatasaray), Emre Belözoğlu (Newcastle United), Tümer Metin (Larissa), Hamit Altıntop (Bayern Münich), Ayhan Akman (Galatasaray), Arda Turan (Galatasaray), Tuncay Şanlı (Middlesbrough), Kazım Kazım (Fenerbahçe), Gökdeniz Karadeniz (Rubin Kazan)

Forwards: Nihat Kahveci (Villarreal), Semih Şentürk (Fenerbahçe), Mevlüt Erdinç (Sochaux)


_____________________________________________________________

Czech Republic Squad

Goalkeepers: Petr Čech (Chelsea FC), Jaromír Blažek (1. FC Nürnberg), Daniel Zítka (RSC Anderlecht).

Defenders: Marek Jankulovski (AC Milan), David Rozehnal (S.S. Lazio), Tomáš Ujfaluši (ACF Fiorentina), Zdeněk Pospěch (FC København), Zdeněk Grygera (Juventus), Michal Kadlec (AC Sparta Praha), Tomáš Sivok (AC Sparta Praha), Radoslav Kováč (FC Spartak Moskva).

Midfielders: Tomáš Galásek (1. FC Nürnberg), David Jarolím (Hamburger SV), Jaroslav Plašil (CA Osasuna), Jan Polák (RSC Anderlecht), Marek Matějovský (Reading FC), Libor Sionko (FC København), Daniel Pudil (SK Slavia Praha), Stanislav Vlček (RSC Anderlecht).

Forwards: Jan Koller (1. FC Nürnberg), Milan Baroš (Porsmouth FC), Martin Fenin (Eintracht Frankfurt), Václav Svěrkoš (FC Baník Ostrava).

_____________________________________________________________

Portugal Squad

Goalkeepers:Ricardo (Bétis - Spain) Quim (Benfica - Portugal) Rui Patrício (Sporting - Portugal)

defenders:Bosingwa (FC Porto - Portugal) Paulo Ferreira (Chelsea - England) Miguel (Valencia - Spain) Ricardo Carvalho (Chelsea - England)
Pepe (Real Madrid - Spain) Bruno Alves (FC Porto - Portugal) Fernando Meira (Estugarda - Germany) Jorge Ribeiro (Boavista - Portugal)

Midfielders:Deco (Barcelona - Spain) Petit (Benfica - Portugal) Raul Meireles (FC Porto - Portugal) Miguel Veloso (Sporting - Portugal)
João Moutinho (Sporting - Portugal)

Forwards: Nuno Gomes (Benfica - Portugal) Cristiano Ronaldo (Manchester United - England) Simão (Atlético Madrid - Spain)
Nani (Manchester United - England) Hélder Postiga (Panathinaikos - Greece) Hugo Almeida (Werder Bremen - Germany) Quaresma (FC Porto - Portugal)

_____________________________________________________________

Switzerland Squad
Goalkeepers: 1-Diego Benaglio (Wolfsburg), 18-Pascal Zuberbuehler (Neuchatel Xamax), 21-Eldin Jakupovic (Grasshoppers Zurich)

Defenders: 2-Johan Djourou (Arsenal), 3-Ludovic Magnin (Stuttgart), 4-Philippe Senderos (Arsenal), 5-Stephan Lichtsteiner (Lille), 13-Stephane Grichting (Auxerre), 17-Christoph Spycher (Eintracht Frankfurt), 20-Patrick Mueller (Olympique Lyon), 23-Philipp Degen (Borussia Dortmund)

Midfielders: 6-Benjamin Huggel (Basel), 7-Ricardo Cabanas (Grasshoppers Zurich), 8-Gokhan Inler (Udinese), 10-Hakan Yakin (Young Boys Berne), 14-Daniel Gygax (Metz), 15-Gelson Fernandes (Manchester City), 16-Tranquillo Barnetta (Bayer Leverkusen), 19-Valon Behrami (Lazio), 22-Johan Vonlanthen (Salzburg)

Forwards: 9-Alex Frei (Borussia Dortmund), 11-Marco Streller (Basel), 12-Eren Derdiyok (Basel)
 

brehme1989

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Switzerland and Portugal for me
 

Alex de Large

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czech rep. and portugal i think, but switz have a good team also.
 

lonewolf19

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Portugal and Czech/Swiss. Czech having higher chance IMO
 

Sassuolu

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Tough group, I think Portugal might disappoint.
 

Bes

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Portugal and Turkey.
 

Bes

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Switzerland vs Czech Republic

EuroSwitzvsCzech-5.png

Euro 2008
St. Jakob-Park
Saturday, June 7
Kick off: 17:00 BST



...:::-----------------------------------------------------:::...


Group A Table:
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...:::-----------------------------------------------------:::...


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vs
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The long wait will be over when UEFA EURO 2008™ opens in Basel on 7 June
with the Group A encounter between the Czech Republic
and tournament co-hosts Switzerland at St. Jakob-Park.





Jakob Kuhn's Switzerland side will be desperate for a positive start to 'their' tournament
when they raise the curtain on the 31-match, 23-day football festival, yet they face daunting opposition in a Czech Republic side
who reached the semi-finals at UEFA EURO 2004™ and finished as one of the seven group winners in qualifying for this event.

Switzerland qualified automatically for the finals as co-hosts.
This is their third finals appearance and they will be hoping it proves third time lucky after two previous first-round exits in 1996 and 2004,
on both occasions following up an opening draw with two defeats.

Karel Brückner's Czech Republic side qualified as winners of Group D, where they finished two points clear of Germany
having won nine and lost just one of 12 qualifying games.

They sealed their finals place in memorable fashion on 17 October 2007, beating Germany 3-0 in Munich through goals from Libor Sionko,
Marek Matějovský and Jaroslav Plašil.

• This is the Czechs' fourth successive appearance in the UEFA European Championship finals,
their best performance to date coming in 1996 when they finished runners-up to Germany following a 2-1 final defeat at Wembley Stadium.

After a first-round exit in 2000, the Czechs reached the last four in 2004, where they succumbed 1-0 to eventual winners Greece.

• As part of the former state of Czechoslovakia, Czech football celebrated winning the European crown in 1976.
Czechoslovakia defeated West Germany in the final that year, Antonín Panenka's spot-kick securing a 5-3 shoot-out triumph
following a 2-2 draw in Belgrade.

Switzerland reached the Round of 16 of the 2006 FIFA World Cup.
Kuhn's men won their group – drawing with France and beating Togo and Korea Republic – but then went down to Ukraine in a penalty shoot-out
in which they failed to score, following a goalless draw.

That stalemate on 26 June 2006, which marked their most recent competitive appearance, meant they exited the finals without conceding a goal.

The Czech Republic had a disappointing World Cup campaign in 2006, falling at the group stage after the promise of an opening win
against the United States vanished with defeats by Ghana and Italy.

Switzerland have faced the Czech Republic three times before,
with the Swiss winning their first contest in Zurich 3-0 in April 1994.

The Czechs then recorded a 2-1 victory in Basel in June 1996 before prevailing 3-0 in their most recent meeting in Drnovice on 18 August 1999.

Current Czech international Jan Koller broke the deadlock, before a Stefan Wolf own goal and Miroslav Baranek effort completed the scoring.

• The teams for that 1999 fixture were:

Czech Republic:

Ladislav Maier, Marek Nikl, Jan Suchopárek, Pavel Nedvěd (Pavel Horváth), Karel Rada, Radek Slončík (Tomáš Galásek), Jiří Němec (Roman Týce),
Karel Poborský (Miroslav Baranek), Pavel Kuka (René Wagner),
Jan Koller (Vratislav Lokvenc), Radek Bejbl.

Switzerland:
Stefan Huber (Andreas Hilfiker), Sebastien Jeanneret (Marco Zwyssig), Régis Rothenbühler (Thomas Wyss), Stefan Wolf, Marc Hodel,
Johann Vogel (Boris Smiljanic), Fabio Celestini, Raphael Wicky, Stéphane Chapuisat (Alexandre Rey),
Ciriaco Sforza, Alexandre Comisetti (Sascha Müller).

Switzerland had an inferior record against Czechoslovakia, their 27 matches played between 1924 and 1991
producing seven wins, six draws and 14 defeats.

• The only match between Switzerland and Czechoslavakia at a major tournament was the 1934 World Cup quarter-final between the sides, which Czechoslovakia won 3-2.

• This Group A match pits several club colleagues against each other, with Christoph Spycher (SUI) and Martin Fenin (CZE)
playing together at Eintracht Frankfurt.

Depending on his recovery from injury, Switzerland defender Patrick Müller could face his former Olympique Lyonnais team-mate Milan Baroš in the Czech attack.

Philipp Degen (SUI) and Jan Koller (CZE) played together at BV Borussia Dortmund,
while Alexander Frei (SUI) and Petr Čech (CZE) were colleagues at Stade Rennais FC.

Philippe Senderos was part of the Arsenal FC team that beat AC Sparta Praha 3-0 in London
in the third qualifying round of the UEFA Champions League on 29 August 2007.

Czech Republic duo Michal Kadlec and Zdenĕk Pospĕch all featured on the losing side.

Czech pair Tomáš Galásek and Jan Polák were in the 1. FC Nürnberg team that got the better of Swiss international Ludovic Magnin's VfB Stuttgart side with a 3-2 victory in the 2007 German Cup final.

Switzerland's Johan Vonlanthen holds the record for being the youngest goalscorer at a UEFA European Championship final tournament.
He was 18 years and 141 days old when he found the net in Switzerland's 3-1 defeat by France on 21 June 2004.

• The host team have won the opening match only twice in six attempts since the tradition was established in 1984.
France (1984) and Belgium (2000) both recorded victories, with three draws and one defeat for the hosts.
That loss came in 2004 when Portugal went down 2-1 to Greece.

• Only Spain (1964), Italy (1968 and France (1984) have claimed the European title as hosts.

• This is the 13th edition of the UEFA European Championship and the eighth edition that features a final tournament with a group phase.





LAST FIVE RESULTS:



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vs
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Handoyo

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Bes

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Its better if we have a sole match thread on Euro 2008.
 

shahz_nerazzurri

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5 hours to go for the first game, and I cant sleep. I serioulsy shouldnt be this excited for a Euro game.

I just looked at the Czech starting X1, never realised they would be so weak.

Two young bright SERIEA players in Swiss (probable) starting X1. Mancini's target Gokhan Inter, And Lazio's right back Valon Behrami.

Considering how Swiss are playing at home and everything, I think they might actually wn this game.
 

brehme1989

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It's InLer :p There's only one InTer :D (not quite, but you get the point)
 

Sassuolu

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Lol wow nice job with the match preview, let's get things rolling :D Any predictions lads?
 

Ziyad

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Draws all the way today :)
 

NimAraya

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First match went well! Czech Republic is my second team in Europe after Italia.
 

Adam

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Boring first match. Feel bad for Frei, what fckin luck. Get's injured and might sit out the rest of the Euros, when it's at home.

Portugal-Turkey should be one hell of a match.
 

Choppin Onions

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Portugal has been the better team. Lots of possession as per usual from the Portuguese. 1-0 at the 81th minute. Wanted to see Quaresma but it doesn't look likely.

Didn't even bother watching the earlier game. Too early in the morning for two sub-par teams... no offense to any Swiss or Czechs that might be out there.
 

The_Emperor

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Not to impressed with the teams today.

Most disappointed with Turkey, who I expected would be more dominant, especially since Portugal didn't play at their best. I was also disappointed, yet not surprised, with the performance of Ronaldo. He wasn't too good today. I also expected Quaresma to be substituted, while Scolari made very defensive substitutions. That's about it.
 

Cro Nerazzurro

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Ref in Portugal match was sh!t

I hoped refs would stick to some stuff, like they said, but no...This one didnt, and he was always on wrong position.

Game was betetr then first one, Turkey suprised with offensive formation, and it will be interesting to watch and see whos going to be 2nd team from group to qualify.

I felt really bad, and almost drop'd a tear like Frei did. He worked hard, wanted this Euro really bad, and it all ended for him so soon...
 
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Luka

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If that was offensive formation, that it sucked big time!

Anyways fair result. Portugal had a post and a bar, definetly deserved to win this one.

ps. Ronaldo crying is getting closer and closer. What it will be this year? Quarter Final, Semi Final ? :D
 
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