Euro 2008 – Group A
GROUP A | GROUP B | GROUP C | GROUP D | STATS | BETSLIP COMP. | EURO ’08 SPECIALS
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Group A Info
Group A kicks off on June 7 until June 15 2008. This group is comprised of co-hosts Switzerland and Euro 2004 runners-up Portugal, plus the Czech Republic and Turkey.
Expert advice from Euro 2008 trader, Mark Barlow:
A tough group to predict this one. Switzerland as hosts have been handed a golden opportunity to progress, but judging by their pre-tournament friendly results, if they are going to go forward, they will have to do it the hard way. Turkey are more of a force now in Europe than in years gone by, but we cannot see them making much of a challenge in this group. Portugal are very short in the betting to win the group, but they could be relying too heavily on goals from Ronaldo. Our pick to win this group are the Czech Republic. They easily won their Group 4 years ago, a group that included Holland and Germany. They then cruised into the Semi-Finals when they were defeated by a “Silver Goal” by Greece, in a game they totally dominated, but just couldn’t score in.
Group A Forecast: 1. Czech Rep – 2. Portugal
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Bet on Group A matches at Betway.com
June 7: Switzerland vs. Czech Republic
(Switzerland, Basel – St. Jakob-Park)
June 7: Portugal vs. Turkey
(Switzerland, Geneva – Stade de Genève)
June 11: Czech Republic vs Portugal
(Switzerland, Geneva – Stade de Genève)
June 11: Switzerland vs Turkey
(Switzerland, Basel – St. Jakob-Park)
June 15: Switzerland vs Portugal
(Switzerland, Basel – St. Jakob-Park)
June 15: Turkey vs Czech Republic
(Switzerland, Geneva – Stade de Genève)
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Group A: Team Info:
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- CZECH REPUBLIC
- FIFA world ranking: 6
- Head coach: Karel Brückner (since 2002)
- Most capped player: Karel Poborský (118 caps)
- Top goal scorer: Jan Koller (51)
Euro 2008 Squad:
Captain: TBA – Regular captain Tomáš Rosický is injured and will miss Euro 2008
GK
Jaromír Blažek (FC Nuremberg)
Petr Čech (Chelsea)
Daniel Zítka (Anderlecht)
DF
Zdeněk Grygera (Juventus)
Marek Jankulovski (AC Milan)
Michal Kadlec|Sparta Prague|
Zdeněk Pospěch (Copenhagen)
David Rozehnal (Lazio)
Tomáš Ujfaluši (Fiorentina)
MF
Tomáš Galásek (FC Nuremberg)
David Jarolím (Hamburg)
Radoslav Kováč (Spartak Moscow)
Marek Matějovský (Reading)
Jaroslav Plašil (Osasuna)
Jan Polák (Anderlecht)
Daniel Pudil (Slavia Prague)
Tomáš Sivok (Slavia Prague)
FW
Václav Svěrkoš (Baník Ostrava)
Milan Baroš (Portsmouth)
Martin Fenin (Eintracht Frankfurt)
Jan Koller (FC Nuremberg)
Libor Sionko (Copenhagen)
Stanislav Vlček (Anderlecht)
Euro 2008 qualification:
Group D was a two-horse race between Germany and the Czech Republic. Both teams lost to each other on their home turf, but it was the Czech Republic who clinched the sweeter victory with a 0-3 win in Munich.
They went on to win the group in superb fashion with a 2-0 win in Cyprus, in the final Euro 2008 qualifier.
| Group D | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | PTS |
| Winner | Czech Republic | 12 | 9 | 2 | 1 | 27 | 5 | 29 |
| Runner-up | Germany | 12 | 8 | 3 | 1 | 35 | 7 | 27 |
Not qualified: Republic of Ireland, Slovakia, Wales, Cyprus & San Marino
Euro 2008 qualifying results:
- (home) vs. Wales: 2–1
- (away) vs. Slovakia: 0–3
- (home) vs. San Marino: 7-0
- (away) vs. Republic of Ireland: 1-1
- (home) vs. Germany: 1-2
- (home) vs. Cyprus: 1-0
- (away) vs. Wales: 0-0
- (away) vs. San Marino: 0-3
- (home) vs. Republic of Ireland: 1-0
- (away) vs. Germany: 0-3
- (away) vs. Cyprus: 0-3
European Championship record
- 1996 – Runners-up
- 2000 – Round 1
- 2004 – Semi-finals
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- PORTUGAL
- FIFA world ranking: 9
- Head coach: Luiz Felipe Scolari (since 2003)
- Most capped player: Luís Figo (127 caps)
- Top goal scorer: Pauleta (47)
Euro 2008 Squad:
GK
Rui Patrício (Sporting)
Ricardo (Real Betis)
Quim (Benfica)
DF
Bosingwa (Chelsea)
Miguel (Valencia)
Jorge Ribeiro (Boavista)
Pepe (Real Madrid)
Fernando Meira (Stuttgart)
Paulo Ferreira (Chelsea)
Bruno Alves (Porto)
Ricardo Carvalho (Chelsea)
MF
Nani (Manchester United)
Ricardo Quaresma (Porto)
Deco (Barcelona)
Simão (Athletico Madrid)
Petit (Benfica)
João Moutinho (Sporting)
Miguel Veloso (Sporting)
Raul Meireles (Porto)
FW
Cristiano Ronaldo – Captain (Manchester United)
Hélder Postiga (Panathinaikos)
Hugo Almeida (Werder Bremen)
Nuno Gomes (Benfica)
Euro 2008 qualification:
Portugal lost only one game but drew on too many occasions in Group A, the only group with 8 teams. They had to endure a nervous finale against Finland, who themselves could’ve qualified in Portugal’s place had they won. It was a tense affair, but a 0-0 draw sufficed for the home side, with Scolari noting that his team needed to improve in time for Euro 2008.
| Group A | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | PTS |
| Winner | Poland | 14 | 8 | 4 | 2 | 24 | 12 | 28 |
| Runner-up | Portugal | 14 | 7 | 6 | 1 | 24 | 10 | 27 |
Not qualified: Serbia, Finland, Belgium, Kazakhstan, Armenia & Azerbaijan
Euro 2008 qualifying results:
- (away) vs. Finland: 1-1
- (home) vs. Azerbaijan: 3-0
- (away) vs. Poland: 2-1
- (home) vs. Kazakhstan: 3-0
- (home) vs. Belgium: 4-0
- (away) vs. Serbia: 1-1
- (away) vs. Belgium: 2-1
- (away) vs. Armenia: 1-1
- (home) vs. Poland: 2-2
- (home) vs. Serbia: 1-1
- (away) vs. Azerbaijan: 0-2
- (away) vs. Kazakhstan: 1-2
- (home) vs. Armenia: 1-0
- (home) vs. Finland: 1-0
European Championship record:
- 1984 Semi-finals
- 1996 Quarter-finals
- 2000 Semi-finals
- 2004 Runners-up
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- SWITZERLAND
- FIFA world ranking: 48
- Head coach: Köbi Kuhn (since 2001) will retire after Euro 2008
- Most capped player: Heinz Hermann (117 caps)
- Top goal scorer: Kubilay Türkyilmaz, Max Abegglen (34)
Euro 2008 Squad:
GK
Diego Benaglio (Wolfsburg)
Fabio Coltorti (Racing Santander)
Johnny Leoni (FC Zürich)
Germano Vailati (Sion)
Pascal Zuberbühler (Neuchâtel Xamax)
DF
Philipp Degen (Borussia Dortmund)
Johan Djourou (Arsenal)
Mario Eggimann (Karlsruher SC)
Stéphane Grichting (Auxerre)
Stephan Lichtsteiner (Lille)
Philippe Senderos (Arsenal)
Christoph Spycher (Eintracht Frankfurt)
Steve Von Bergen (Hertha Berlin)
MF
Tranquillo Barnetta (Bayer Leverkusen)
Valon Behrami (Lazio)
Fabio Celestini (Getafe)
David Degen (Basel)
Daniel Gygax (Metz)
Benjamin Huggel (Basel)
Gökhan Inler (Udinese)
Xavier Margairaz (Osasuna)
Gelson Fernandes (Manchester City)
Johan Vonlanthen (Salzburg)
Hakan Yakin (Young Boys)
Reto Ziegler (Sampdoria)
FW
Eren Derdiyok (Basel)
Alexander Frei – Captain (Borussia Dortmund)
Blaise Nkufo (Twente)
Marco Streller (Basel)
Euro 2008 qualification:
Qualified automatically as co-host.
Switzerland won their first 3 friendlies after the last World Cup, however, after suffering 3 losses, including a 2-1 defeat to fellow Euro 2008 co-hosts Austria, manager Jakob Kuhn made some drastic changes to his side – including dropping his captain Johann Vogel.
The Swiss national team have made strides since then, picking up a draw against the mighty Argentina in June 2007 and a 2-1 win against Holland.
Kuhn will retire as Switzerland coach after the finals, saying: “I have promised my wife that I’ll call it a day after UEFA EURO 2008.” , Kuhn’s Euro 2008 ambitions would be to reach at least the final 8.
European Championship record:
- 1996 Round 1
- 2004 Round 1
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- TURKEY
- FIFA world ranking: 25
- Head coach: Fatih Terim (since 2005) will step down after Euro 2008
- Most capped player: Rüştü Reçber (128 caps)
- Top goal scorer: Hakan Şükür (51)
Euro 2008 Squad:
GK
Volkan Demirel (Fenerbahçe)
Rüştü Reçber – Captain (Beşiktaş)
Tolga Zengin (Trabzonspor)
DF
Emre Aşık (Ankaraspor)
Servet Çetin (Galatasaray)
Gökhan Gönül (Fenerbahçe)
İbrahim Kaş (Getafe)
Gökhan Zan (Beşiktaş)
MF
Ayhan Akman (Galatasaray)
Hamit Altıntop (Bayern Munich)
Mehmet Aurélio (Fenerbahçe)
Hakan Balta (Galatasaray)
Yıldıray Baştürk (Stuttgart)
Emre Belözoglu (Newcastle United)
Uğur Boral (Fenerbahçe)
Gökdeniz Karadeniz (Rubin Kazan)
Tümer Metin (Larissa)
Sabrı Sarıoğlu (Galatasaray)
Mehmet Topal (Galatasaray)
Arda Turan (Galatasaray)
FW
Halil Altıntop (Schalke)
Mevlüt Erding (Sochaux)
Nihat Kahveci (Villarreal)
Kazım Kazım (Fenerbahçe)
Tuncay Sanli (Middlesbrough)
Semih Şentürk (Fenerbahçe)
Euro 2008 qualification:
Turkey were rewarded for a strong start and end to their qualifying campaign with second place in Group C behind near neighbours and arch rivals Greece. This is Turkey’s first major tournament since the 2002 World Cup.
| Group C | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | PTS |
| Winner | Greece | 12 | 10 | 1 | 1 | 25 | 10 | 31 |
| Runner-up | Turkey | 12 | 7 | 3 | 2 | 25 | 11 | 24 |
Not qualified: Norway,Bosnia and Herzegovina, Moldova, Hungary & Malta
Euro 2008 qualifying results:
- (home) vs. Malta: 2-0
- (away) vs. Hungary: 0-1
- (home) vs. Moldova: 5-0
- (away) vs. Greece: 1-4
- (home) vs. Norway: 2-2
- (away) vs. Bosnia and Herzegovina: 3-2
- (away) vs. Malta: 2-2
- (home) vs. Hungary: 3-0
- (away) vs. Moldova: 1-1
- (home) vs. Greece: 0-1
- (away) vs. Norway: 1-2
- (home) vs. Bosnia and Herzegovina: 1-0
European Championship record
- 1996: Round 1
- 2000: Quarter-finals
