Two footballers playing on the Côte d’Azur will compete in the final stage. They are the Monégasques Jerko Leko and Nikola Pokrivac. They will wear the Croatian colors. No player from OGC Nice will be in the competition. However, one can mention Patrice Evra, who wore the red and black colors for two seasons (2000 and 2001), and Roland Linz (Austria) in 2004. Their performances will be watched closely.
The competition is intense. The sixteen teams are starting on equal footing. There are obviously big favorites such as Italy, Germany, Spain, France, the Netherlands, and Portugal, but other nations can also be dangerous. Greece proved this in 2004.
Group A: Switzerland, Czech Republic, Portugal, Turkey.
Switzerland, the host country, is the unknown in this group. It qualified for the last two final phases (World Cup 2006 and European Championship 2004) by posing significant problems for its opponents, particularly through tactical solidity. In 2008, it will have the home-field advantage, and backed by its supporters, it could eliminate one of the top nations from the first round: Portugal and the Czech Republic.
Portugal, with its star Cristiano Ronaldo, has excellent individual players: Quaresma, Deco, Nani, Ronaldo, Deco… The concern remains team cohesion and managing the new generation of Portuguese talent. Coach Scolari will rely on his experienced players to unite the group: Ricardo, Ricardo Carvalho, Petit, Nuno Gomes…
The Czech Republic is an experienced team. This competition will resemble a final tour of honor for a generation: Galasek, Koller… It also includes mature players: Jankulovski, Rozenhal, Ujfalusi, Baros, Grygera. Only the Frankfurt striker Martin Fenin is seen as a young hope. Tomas Rosicky, injured, will be sorely missed in the team’s offensive play—it’s a bit like if Zinedine Zidane had missed the 1998 World Cup.
Turkey is the underdog of this group. Nevertheless, it remains dangerous. Players like Rustu, Emre are accustomed to big matches. Nihat and Tuncay are threats. And we French have discovered a very effective and efficient Mevlut Erding with Sochaux.
Schedule:
Saturday, 06/07/2008
In Basel:
SWITZERLAND – CZECH REPUBLIC 18:00
In Geneva:
PORTUGAL – TURKEY 20:45
Wednesday, 11/06/2008
In Geneva:
CZECH REPUBLIC – PORTUGAL 18:00
In Basel:
SWITZERLAND – TURKEY 20:45
Sunday, 15/06/2008
In Basel:
SWITZERLAND – PORTUGAL 20:45
In Geneva:
TURKEY – CZECH REPUBLIC 20:45
Stars:
Ronaldo
Jankulovski
Deco
Frei
Players to watch:
Erding
Moutinho
Barnetta
Fenin
Nice-Premium’s editorial prediction:
1-Portugal
2-Switzerland
3-Czech Republic
4-Turkey
