Note: All these rosters were acquired from http://www.euro2008.uefa.com/. I have organized players to watch. I will try to update these rosters as quick as possible.

The following is Group A:

Team Squads And Fixtures

Group A

Czech Republic

07/06/2008 v Switzerland 18:00
11/06/2008 v Portugal 18:00
15/06/2008 v Turkey 20:45

Goalkeepers

Jaromír Blažek »
Petr Čech »
Daniel Zítka »

Defenders

Rudolf Skácel »
Zdeněk Grygera »
Marek Jankulovski »
Michal Kadlec »
Zdeněk Pospěch »
David Rozehnal »
Tomáš Ujfaluši »

Midfielders

Tomáš Galásek »
David Jarolím »
Radoslav Kováč »
Marek Matějovský »
Jaroslav Plašil »
Jan Polák »
Tomáš Sivok »

Forwards

Václav Svěrkoš »
Milan Baroš »
Martin Fenin »
Jan Koller »
Libor Sionko »
Stanislav Vlček »

Player To Watch: Jan Koller, Milan Baros, Radoslav Kovac, Zdenek Grygera, Petr Cech.


Portugal

07/06/2008 v Turkey 20:45
11/06/2008 v Czech Republic 18:00
15/06/2008 v Switzerland 20:45

Goalkeepers
Rui Patrício »
Ricardo »
Quim »

Defenders

Bosingwa »
Miguel »
Jorge Ribeiro »
Pepe »
Fernando Meira »
Paulo Ferreira »
Bruno Alves »
Ricardo Carvalho »

Midfielders

Nani »
Ricardo Quaresma »
Deco »
Simão »
Petit »
João Moutinho »
Miguel Veloso »
Raul Meireles »

Forwards

Cristiano Ronaldo »
Hélder Postiga »
Hugo Almeida »
Nuno Gomes »

Players To Watch: Helder Postiga, Cristiano Ronaldo, Nuno Gomes, Simao, Deco, Ricardo Quaresma, Ricardo, Nani, Pepe.


Switzerland

07/06/2008 v Czech Republic 18:00
11/06/2008 v Turkey 20:45
15/06/2008 v Portugal 20:45

Goalkeepers

Eldin Jakupovic »
Diego Benaglio »
Pascal Zuberbühler »

Defenders

Philipp Degen »
Johan Djourou »
Mario Eggimann »
Stéphane Grichting »
Stephan Lichtsteiner »
Ludovic Magnin »
Patrick Müller »
Philippe Senderos »
Christoph Spycher »
Steve Von Bergen »

Midfielders

Tranquillo Barnetta »
Valon Behrami »
Ricardo Cabanas »
Daniel Gygax »
Benjamin Huggel »
Gökhan Inler »
Gelson Fernandes »
Johan Vonlanthen »
Hakan Yakin »

Forwards

Thomas Häberli »
Eren Derdiyok »
Alexander Frei »
Marco Streller »

Players To Watch: Hakan Yakin, Johan Vonlanthen, Pascal Zuberbühler.


Turkey

07/06/2008 v Portugal 20:45
11/06/2008 v Switzerland 20:45
15/06/2008 v Czech Republic 20:45

Goalkeepers

Volkan Demirel »
Rüştü Reçber »
Tolga Zengin »

Defenders

Emre Aşık »
Servet Çetin »
Gökhan Gönül »
İbrahim Kaş »
Gökhan Zan »

Midfielders

Ayhan Akman »
Hamit Altıntop »
Mehmet Aurélio »
Hakan Balta »
Yıldıray Baştürk »
Emre Belözoglu »
Uğur Boral »
Gökdeniz Karadeniz »
Tümer Metin »
Sabrı Sarıoğlu »
Mehmet Topal »
Arda Turan »

Forwards

Halil Altıntop »
Mevlüt Erding »
Nihat Kahveci »
Kazım Kazım »
Tuncay Sanli »
Semih Şentürk »

Players To Watch: Arda Turan, Hamit Altintop.

 

Team Squads And Fixtures

Group B

Austria

Tournament fixtures

08/06/2008 v Croatia 18:00
12/06/2008 v Poland 20:45
16/06/2008 v Germany 20:45

Goalkeepers

Christian Gratzei »
Jürgen Macho »
Alex Manninger »
Ramaz Oscan

Defenders

Andreas Dober »
Ronald Gercaliu »
Martin Hiden »
Andreas Ibertsberger »
Markus Katzer »
Jürgen Patocka »
Emanuel Pogatetz »
Sebastian Prödl »
Franz Schiemer »
Joachim Standfest »
Martin Stranzl »

Midfielders

René Aufhauser »
Christian Fuchs »
György Garics »
Andreas Ivanschitz »
Ümit Korkmaz »
Christoph Leitgeb »
Jürgen Säumel »
Markus Weissenberger »

Forwards

Martin Harnik »
Erwin Hoffer »
Marc Janko »
Roman Kienast »
Saniel Kuljic »
Roland Linz »
Stefan Maierhofer »
Ivica Vastic »

Players To Watch: Emanuel Pogatetz.


Croatia

Tournament fixtures
08/06/2008 v Austria 18:00
12/06/2008 v Germany 18:00
16/06/2008 v Poland 20:45

Goalkeepers

Mario Galinović »
Stipe Pletikosa »
Vedran Runje »

Defenders

Vedran Ćorluka »
Dario Knežević »
Robert Kovač »
Dario Šimić »
Josip Šimunić »
Hrvoje Vejić »

Midfielders

Manuel Pamić »
Nikola Pokrivač »
Niko Kovač »
Niko Kranjčar »
Jerko Leko »
Luka Modrić »
Danijel Pranjić »
Ivan Rakitić »
Darijo Srna »
Ognjen Vukojević »

Forwards

Anas Sharbini »
Igor Budan »
Nikola Kalinić »
Ivan Klasnić »
Ivica Olić »
Mladen Petrić »

Players To Watch: Luka Modric, Niko Kovac, Niko Kranjcar, Robert Kovac, Stipe Pletikosa, Dario Simic, Vedran Corluka.


Germany

Tournament fixtures
08/06/2008 v Poland 20:45
12/06/2008 v Croatia 18:00
16/06/2008 v Austria 20:45
Squad list

Goalkeepers

René Adler »
Robert Enke »
Jens Lehmann »

Defenders

Arne Friedrich »
Clemens Fritz »
Marcell Jansen »
Philipp Lahm »
Per Mertesacker »
Christoph Metzelder »
Heiko Westermann »

Midfielders

Marko Marin »
Michael Ballack »
Tim Borowski »
Torsten Frings »
Thomas Hitzlsperger »
Jermaine Jones »
Simon Rolfes »
Bastian Schweinsteiger »
Piotr Trochowski »

Forwards

Mario Gómez »
Patrick Helmes »
Miroslav Klose »
Kevin Kuranyi »
Oliver Neuville »
David Odonkor »
Lukas Podolski »

Players To Watch: Lukas Podolski, David Odonker, Kevin Kuranyl, Miroslav Klose,
Bastian Schweinsteiger, Michael Ballack, Torsten Frings, Per Mertesacker, Phillip Lahm, Christoph Metzelder, Jens Lehmann.


Poland

Tournament fixtures
08/06/2008 v Germany 20:45
12/06/2008 v Austria 20:45
16/06/2008 v Croatia 20:45
Squad list

Goalkeepers

Artur Boruc »
Łukasz Fabiański »
Tomasz Kuszczak »

Defenders

Michal Pazdan »
Jacek Bąk »
Grzegorz Bronowicki »
Dariusz Dudka »
Paweł Golański »
Mariusz Jop »
Adam Kokoszka »
Marcin Wasilewski »
Jakub Wawrzyniak »
Michał Żewłakow »

Midfielders

Roger Guerreiro »
Radoslaw Majewski »
Rafał Murawski »
Jakub Błaszczykowski »
Łukasz Garguła »
Jacek Krzynówek »
Mariusz Lewandowski »
Wojciech Łobodziński »
Euzebiusz Smolarek »

Forwards

Radosław Matusiak »
Marek Saganowski »
Tomasz Zahorski »
Maciej Żurawski »

Players To Watch: Artur Boruc.

 

Teams Squads and Fixtures

Group C

France

Tournament fixtures
09/06/2008 v Romania 18:00
13/06/2008 v Netherlands 20:45
17/06/2008 v Italy 20:45


Goalkeepers

Grégory Coupet »
Sébastien Frey »
Mickaël Landreau »
Steve Mandanda »

Defenders

Eric Abidal »
Jean-Alain Boumsong »
François Clerc »
Julien Escudé »
Patrice Evra »
William Gallas »
Philippe Mexès »
Willy Sagnol »
Sébastien Squillaci »
Lilian Thuram »

Midfielders

Hatem Ben Arfa »
Alou Diarra »
Lassana Diarra »
Mathieu Flamini »
Claude Makelele »
Florent Malouda »
Samir Nasri »
Franck Ribéry »
Jérémy Toulalan »
Patrick Vieira »

Forwards

Bafetimbi Gomis »
Nicolas Anelka »
Karim Benzema »
Djibril Cissé »
Sidney Govou »
Thierry Henry »

Players To Watch: Thierry Henry, Karim Benzema, Samir Nasri, Frank Ribery, Florent Malouda, William Gallas, Eric Abidal, Phillipe Mexes.


Italy

Tournament fixtures
09/06/2008 v Netherlands 20:45
13/06/2008 v Romania 18:00
17/06/2008 v France 20:45
Squad list

Goalkeepers

Morgan De Sanctis »
Marco Amelia »
Gianluigi Buffon »

Defenders

Andrea Barzagli »
Fabio Cannavaro »
Giorgio Chiellini »
Fabio Grosso »
Marco Materazzi »
Christian Panucci »
Gianluca Zambrotta »

Midfielders

Riccardo Montolivo »
Massimo Ambrosini »
Alberto Aquilani »
Mauro Camoranesi »
Daniele De Rossi »
Gennaro Gattuso »
Simone Perrotta »
Andrea Pirlo »

Forwards

Marco Borriello »
Luca Toni »
Antonio Cassano »
Alessandro Del Piero »
Antonio Di Natale »
Fabio Quagliarella »

Players To Watch: Alessandro Del Piero, Luca Toni, Antonio Cassano, Gennaro Gattuso, Daniele De Rossi, Andrea Pirlo, Gianluigi Buffon, Gianluca Zambrotta, Marco Materazzi, Andrea Barzagli, Fabio Cannavaro.


Netherlands (Holland)

Tournament fixtures
09/06/2008 v Italy 20:45
13/06/2008 v France 20:45
17/06/2008 v Romania 20:45

Goalkeepers

Maarten Stekelenburg »
Henk Timmer »
Edwin van der Sar »

Defenders

Khalid Boulahrouz »
Ibrahim Afellay »
Wilfred Bouma »
Tim de Cler »
Johnny Heitinga »
Joris Mathijsen »
Mario Melchiot »
André Ooijer »
Giovanni van Bronckhorst »

Midfielders

Nigel de Jong »
Demy de Zeeuw »
Orlando Engelaar »
Arjen Robben »
Wesley Sneijder »
Rafael van der Vaart »

Forwards

Ryan Babel »
Klaas Jan Huntelaar »
Dirk Kuyt »
Ruud van Nistelrooy »
Robin van Persie »
Jan Vennegoor of Hesselink »

Players To Watch: Ruud van Nistelrooy, Robin Van Persie, Ryan Babel, Klaas Jan Huntelaar, Rafael van der Vaart, Arjen Robben, Giovanni van Bronckhorst, Khalid Boulahrouz.


Romania

Tournament fixtures
09/06/2008 v France 18:00
13/06/2008 v Italy 18:00
17/06/2008 v Netherlands 20:45

Goalkeepers

Dănuţ Coman »
Bogdan Lobonţ »
Marius Cornel Popa »

Defenders

Cosmin Moti »
Cristian Sapunaru »
Cristian Chivu »
Cosmin Contra »
Sorin Ghionea »
Dorin Goian »
Mirel Rădoi »
Ştefan Radu »
Răzvan Raţ »
Gabriel Tamaş »

Midfielders

Răzvan Cociş »
Paul Codrea »
Adrian Cristea »
Bănel Nicoliţă »
Florentin Petre »

Forwards

Ciprian Deac »
Marius Niculae »
Florin Bratu »
Nicolae Dică »
Ciprian Marica »
Adrian Mutu »
Daniel Niculae »

Players To Watch: Adrian Mutu, Stefan Radu, Christian Chivu.

 

Team Squads and Fixtures

Group D

Greece

Tournament fixtures
10/06/2008 v Sweden 20:45
14/06/2008 v Russia 20:45
18/06/2008 v Spain 20:45
Squad list

Goalkeepers

Antonios Nikopolidis »
Konstantinos Chalkias »
Alexandros Tzorvas »

Defenders

Paraskevas Antzas »
Sotirios Kyrgiakos »
Sokratis Papastathopoulos »
Christos Patsatzoglou »
Giourkas Seitaridis »
Vassilis Torosidis »
Traianos Dellas »
Ioannis Goumas »
Nikos Spiropoulos »
Loukas Vintra »

Midfielders

Stelios Giannakopoulos »
Georgios Karagounis »
Konstantinos Katsouranis »
Alexandros Tziolis »

Forwards

Ioannis Amanatidis »
Angelos Charisteas »
Theofanis Gekas »
Georgios Samaras »
Nikolaos Liberopoulos »
Dimitrios Salpingidis »

Players To Watch: Stellos Giannakopoulos.



Russia

Tournament fixtures
10/06/2008 v Spain 18:00
14/06/2008 v Greece 20:45
18/06/2008 v Sweden 20:45
Squad list

Goalkeepers

Igor Akinfeev »
Vladimir Gabulov »
Vyacheslav Malafeev »

Defenders

Aleksandr Anyukov »
Vasili Berezutski »
Aleksei Berezutski »
Sergei Ignashevich »
Denis Kolodin »
Roman Shirokov »
Renat Yanbaev »

Midfielders

Sovietov Samara
Sergei Semak »
Diniyar Bilyaletdinov »
Vladimir Bystrov »
Igor Semshov »
Dmitri Torbinskiy »
Yuri Zhirkov »
Konstantin Zyrianov »

Forwards

Roman Adamov »
Ivan Saenko »
Andrei Arshavin »
Roman Pavlyuchenko »
Pavel Pogrebnyak »
Dmitri Sychev »

Players To Watch: Igor Akinfeev



Spain

Tournament fixtures
10/06/2008 v Russia 18:00
14/06/2008 v Sweden 18:00
18/06/2008 v Greece 20:45
Squad list

Goalkeepers

Andrés Palop »
Iker Casillas »
Pepe Reina »

Defenders

Raúl Albiol »
Álvaro Arbeloa »
Joan Capdevila »
Juanito Gutiérrez »
Carlos Marchena »
Fernando Navarro »
Carles Puyol »
Sergio Ramos »

Midfielders

Santi Cazorla »
Xabi Alonso »
Rubén De la Red »
Cesc Fábregas »
Xavi Hernández »
Andrés Iniesta »
Marcos Senna »

Forwards

Sergio García »
Daniel Güiza »
David Silva »
Fernando Torres »
David Villa »

Players To Watch: David Villa, Fernando Torres, Anders Iniesta, Cesc Fabregas, Xabi Alonso, Iker Casillas, Sergio Ramos, Carles Puyol.


Sweden

Tournament fixtures
10/06/2008 v Greece 20:45
14/06/2008 v Spain 18:00
18/06/2008 v Russia 20:45
Squad list

Goalkeepers

Andreas Isaksson »
Rami Shaaban »
Johan Wiland »

Defenders

Mikael Dorsin »
Andreas Granqvist »
Petter Hansson »
Daniel Majstorovic »
Olof Mellberg »
Fredrik Stoor »

Midfielders

Niclas Alexandersson »
Daniel Andersson »
Kim Källström »
Sebastian Larsson »
Tobias Linderoth »
Fredrik Ljungberg »
Mikael Nilsson »
Anders Svensson »
Christian Wilhelmsson »

Forwards

Henrik Larsson »
Marcus Allbäck »
Johan Elmander »
Zlatan Ibrahimović »
Markus Rosenberg »

Players To Watch: Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Henrik Larsson, Christian Wilhelmsson, Marcus Allback.

 

Each poster in this thread can participate in a friendly tournament that me and giovafin have made. The friendly tournament will be your talented guessing skills of the two teams that will be advancing in each group. You may change your choices anywhere between now and the minute before the first game. There will be more guessing involved once the Group Stages are done. The person who has the most correct choices at the END of the Eurocup will win the following:

Winners Prize:

The following in bold are my two choices for each group to advance. You may use the same format if you wish:

Group A

Czech Republic
Portugal
Switzerland
Turkey

Group B

Austria
Croatia
Germany
Poland

Group C

France
Italy
Netherlands
Romania

Group D

Greece
Russia
Spain
Sweden


Thanks to gio for making the banner for us and thanks to wpgfishfan for giving us the idea to set up this thread. Thank you all for contributing :up:.

 

:lol: Yeah I think I might have screwed myself on the CR guess. Should have taken Turkey but I will stick with my guns!

 

Turkey pay penalty against Uruguay

http://www.euro2008.uefa.com/news/kind=1/newsid=700944.html#turkey+penalty+against+uruguay

 

Trezeguet overlooked by Domenech

http://www.euro2008.uefa.com/news/kind=1/newsid=697507.html#trezeguet+overlooked+domenech

I didn't even notice to be honest. This is a surprise. He has played well recently.

 

Cassano choice shocks some in Italy

http://www.euro2008.uefa.com/news/kind=1/newsid=698376.html#cassano+choice+shocks+some+italy

Your thoughts?

 

Aragonés springs selection surprises

http://www.euro2008.uefa.com/news/kind=1/newsid=697143.html#aragones+springs+selection+surprises

 

Greece suffer from Koeman influence

http://www.euro2008.uefa.com/news/kind=1/newsid=700636.html#greece+suffer+from+koeman+influence

 

Ok guys here we go.
A- Portugal
Switzerland

B- Croatia
Germany

C- Italy
Netherlands

D- Spain
Sweden


I think we got pretty much the same Teams.
I got Switzerland because I really like how they did develop lately, especially in the defense.
Croatia always got good talent and this time will not be different, actually this year Croatia really got a very good team.
Netherland I feel that are back, very slow at midfield, at time they like to elaborate to much, but I like them.
Sweden will be a force, very strong and fast team maybe a little old, but good.
:ffic:

 

Cassano is a Donadoni fav, virtuoso with a good vision, he played good this year with Sampd, but I feel that in Italy are better player.

 

What could we make the prize for getting the most advancing teams correct?

 

I agree. As for Group C, it will be difficult. France and Netherland are SO talented but so are Italy.

 

I'll add my picks when I get a chance, been hectic as hell last week.

 

I agree with you in everithink.....especially that Italy will win! :ffic:

 

Pippo is not totally out, is always a possibility that during the time before the first game, Donadoni feels that he may needs Inzaghi, maybe because is not happy with a particular player, he can always put this player in the injury and call Pippo in.

 

Since we don't have the credits feature anymore and that would be our only prize for the winner. How does this prize sound? Its not great or anything but its a way to appreciate the winner of the contest, the winner receives a "Thanks" from each member who participated. All you have to do is thank their post where they predicted their standings. If you have already thanked a member for posting their predicted results, than there will be no worries. Another thing, the discussion of each games will be posted here. Hopefully if everyone has time, we can have nice commentary while games are being played and watched. :up:.

Now lets all pray that the next two weeks go by fast.

:ffic:


Alen

 

Group A
Czech Republic
Portugal
Switzerland
Turkey

Group B
Austria
Croatia
Germany
Poland

Group C
France
Italy
Netherlands
Romania

Group D
Greece
Russia
Spain
Sweden

I've obviously got a couple of under dogs picked because there's always 1 or 2 teams that advance that no one expected. My first under dog was Poland (my family blood, 3 generations removed from the homeland) and I just see France falling on their face for some reason. I'm really reaching by not picking Spain, but I think Sweden's due for some luck. CR will probably make me regret not picking them.

I guess I took more chances then I thought once I analyzed the picks.

 

Maybe Gio or someone can whip up a nice badge that the winner can wear in their signature.

 

http://www.euro2008.uefa.com/photos/index.html

Qualifying for 2008 Euro.

 

Haha nothing wrong with that :up:. I don't blame you for picking Poland, despite not being praised a lot, they have played Germany arguably the toughest over the years. Poland is an underrated team. They got nice players (listed on the first page is full roster). As for the Swiss pick, I can see where your coming from but I think Turkey can beat them as well as Czech. We will have to wait and see though. Nice picks.

Maybe. I know he has been busy a lot lately so we will have to see with him.

 

Cassano begins camp without margin for error

http://msn.foxsports.com/soccer/story/8175276/Cassano-begins-camp-without-margin-for-error

 

Group A
Czech Republic
Portugal
Switzerland
Turkey

Group B
Austria
Croatia
Germany
Poland

Group C
France
Italy
Netherlands
Romania

Group D
Greece
Russia
Spain
Sweden


First comment is: Are the Croats really that good?? Haven't watched a game in quite some time, and since I only go on what I see (since the names and such are a little difficult for me to follow;) ), I don't really see what all the fuss is about.:dunno: If someone can enlighten me, I might just change my prediction. :wink2:

Secondly, even though the French are old, that's the very reason I see them pulling out of the first rd. They could fall in the second series, but I don't see them falling flat right out of the gate.

Thirdly, does anyone know what channel *if any* they are going to be broadcasting the games here in the States?? (alen, I'm looking at you:lol: ) B/c like I said, I don't comment on games/teams/players unless I see or have seen them play (recently). Since I didn't grow up w/ the game like most of you, and b/c there's no one around that I've found who's really interested in World Soccer, that doesn't happen too often. :sad: Maybe they'll have the games on demand from my cable co.:up: That would be nice.

Either way, I'm in. Thanks for keeping me posted.:thumbup:

 

Yeah the Croatians have been good for sometime and now they have added more young talent. They still have a pretty good keeper.

:lol: ESPN2 will be broadcasting these games bro :up:

 

Guys, heres the schedule:

http://soccernet.espn.go.com/euro2008/fixtures?league=uefa.euro&date=20080601&type=month&cc=5901

 

Fire still burns in Italian bellies

http://www.euro2008.uefa.com/news/kind=1/newsid=701074.html#fire+still+burns+italian+bellies

 

Ballack back for depleted Germany

http://www.euro2008.uefa.com/news/kind=1/newsid=701396.html#ballack+back+depleted+germany

 

Toni sets goal of summer glory

http://www.euro2008.uefa.com/news/kind=1/newsid=698026.html#toni+sets+goal+summer+glory

 

Record-breaker Ninis stars for Greece

http://www.euro2008.uefa.com/news/kind=1/newsid=698048.html#record+breaker+ninis+stars+greece

I really like Greece. They have good clubs and a good national team. I guess now they have a new star. Hopefully one of these years they can put it together and make it to the WC.

 

EXCO adjusts EURO bookings rule

http://www.euro2008.uefa.com/news/kind=1/newsid=698275.html#exco+adjusts+euro+bookings+rule

 

I have added the great banner gio made for the winner, thanks gio. I also changed one thing. The winner will be determined at the end of the tournament. Who ever has the most correct choices at the end of the eurocup will win the banner. If someone has the same amount of choices, they will both win it. :up:

 

Group A
Czech Republic
Portugal
Switzerland
Turkey

Group B
Austria
Croatia
Germany
Poland

Group C
France
Italy
Netherlands
Romania

Group D
Greece
Russia
Spain
Sweden

Alen, thanks for the invite here.

Those are my picks.

Im not going with Croatia because I feel they will not be able to compensate for their Brazilian errrrr, I mean Croation striker's absence. DaSilva or Silva something. He has a broken leg, and will be out for the tourny. In qualifying, this guy scored I believe 12 goals for them. Thats a huge moral killer, and there will be big shoes to fill at the striker position. I also feel as if Poland steps up this year. They are always the first team to qualify (as of late), but fail to produce in the tourny (ala Spain). Anyways, Poland can't play against South American and African teams, they just dont have the experience. They can however weather the storm of European teams if they play well. They are my darkhorse to come out of that group.

In regards to Inzaghi, Im heartbroken. Hes been on fire as of late, and the guy can just score. Hes clutch. You need a goal? Bring in Pippo in the 60th-70th min when the defense is tired, and he'll stretch that off side line like crazy! Granted hes old, but so is Del Piero. Id personally rather have Inzaghi coming off the bench than Del Perio. Especially considering the fact that Inzaghi is a pure striker, while Borriello, Quagliarella (this guy has a cannon by the way) , Di Natale, and others play slightly behind what Inzaghi would do. That causes me to question Del Piero's true value to this squad. Anyways, ultimately I feel the Italian squad is stacked. Just pissed that my fav player of all time didn't get called up in light of his recent perfomances. Whatever...