Official Euro 2008 thread

[Shaggy]

In a desperate attempt to leave behind the dark, dark events of 24 hours or so ago, I've already turned my attentions to Euro 2008.

I've tried thinking "football's ****, forget about it"...but it didn't work.

Free from the ridiculous hype and cringeworthy flag-waving that pollutes most alternate summers, I find myself looking forward to this summer's tournament more than usual.

Along with many other Reds, Spain will be my team for the summer.

I will update the squads as they are announced/trimmed.


Group A:

Switzerland
Czech Republic
Portugal
Turkey



Switzerland squad:

Goalkeepers: Diego Benaglio (Wolfsburg), Eldin Jakupovic (Grasshoppers), Pascal Zuberbuehler (Xamax Neuchatel)

Defenders: Philipp Degen (Borussia Dortmund), Johan Djourou (Arsenal), Stephane Grichting (Auxerre), Stephan Lichtsteiner (Lille), Ludovic Magnin (Stuttgart), Patrick Mueller (Lyon), Philippe Senderos (Arsenal), Christoph Spycher (Eintracht Frankfurt)

Midfielders: Tranquillo Barnetta (Bayer Leverkusen), Valon Behrami (Lazio), Ricardo Cabanas (Grasshoppers), Gelson Fernandes (Manchester City), Daniel Gygax (FC Metz), Benjamin Huggel (Basel), Gokhan Inler (Udinese), Johan Vonlanthen (Red Bull Salzburg)

Strikers: Eren Derdiyok (Basel), Alexander Frei (Borussia Dortmund), Marco Streller (Basel), Hakan Yakin (Young Boys)

______________________________________________


Czech Republic squad:

Goalkeepers: Petr Cech (Chelsea), Jaromir Blazek (Nuremberg), Daniel Zitka (Anderlecht)

Defenders: Zdenek Grygera (Juventus), Marek Jankulovski (AC Milan), Michal Kadlec (Sparta Prague), Radoslav Kovac (Spartak Moscow), Zdenek Pospech (FC Copenhagen), David Rozehnal (Lazio Rome), Tomas Sivok (Sparta Prague), Tomas Ujfalusi (Fiorentina)

Midfielders: Tomas Galasek (Nuremberg), David Jarolim (Hamburg), Marek Matejovsky (Reading), Jaroslav Plasil (Osasuna), Jan Polak (Anderlecht), Daniel Pudil (Slavia Prague), Libor Sionko (FC Copenhagen), Stanislav Vlcek (Anderlecht), Martin Sykes-Jones (Plovdiv Blobdiv)

Strikers: Milan Baros (Portsmouth), Jan Koller (Nuremberg), Martin Fenin (Frankfurt), Vaclav Sverkos (Banik Ostrava)

Notable absentee: Tomas Rosicky (injured)

_________________________________________________



Portugal squad:

Goalkeepers: Ricardo Pereira (Real Betis), Quim Silva (Benfica), Rui Patricio (Sporting)

Defenders: Miguel Monteiro (Valencia), Jose Bosingwa (Porto), Paulo Ferreira (Chelsea), Ricardo Carvalho (Chelsea), Fernando Meira (VfB Stuttgart), Bruno Alves (Porto), Pepe (Real Madrid), Jorge Ribeiro (Boavista)

Midfielders: Raul Meireles (Porto), Joao Moutinho (Sporting), Deco (Barcelona), Armando Petit (Benfica), Miguel Veloso (Sporting), Jim Cook (Maritimo)

Forwards: Cristiano Ronaldo (Manchester United), Simao Sabrosa (Atletico Madrid), Ricardo Quaresma (Porto), Nuno Gomes (Benfica), Hugo Almeida (Werder Bremen), Nani (Manchester United), Helder Postiga (Panathinaikos)

Notable absentee: Maniche (left out)

__________________________________________________



Turkey squad:

Goalkeepers: Volkan Demirel (Fenerbahce), Rustu Recber (Besiktas), Tolga Zengin (Trabzonspor)

Defenders: Gokhan Zan (Besiktas), Sabri Sarioglu (Galatasaray), Emre Asik (Ankaraspor), Servet Cetin (Galatasaray), Emre Gungor (Galatasaray), Hakan Balta (Galatasaray), Ugur Boral, Gokhan Gonul (Fenerbahce)

Midfielders: Mehmet Aurelio (Fenerbahce), Mehmet Topal (Galatasaray), Arda Turan (Galatasaray), Ayhan Akman (Galatasaray), Emre Belozoglu (Newcastle), Tumer Metin (Larissa), Hamit Altintop (Bayern Munich), Gokdeniz Karadeniz (Rubin Kazan)

Forwards: Nihat Kahveci (Villarreal), Semih Senturk (Fenerbahce), Mevlut Erdinc (Sochaux), Tuncay Sanli (Middlesbrough), Colin Kazim-Richards (Fenerbahce)

Notable absentees: Yildiray Basturk, Halil Altintop (left out)


Group A Fixtures:

June 7
18:00 Switzerland v Czech Republic - St. Jakob-Park, Basel

June 7
20:45 Portugal v Turkey - Stade de Genève, Geneva

June 11
18:00 Czech Republic v Portugal - Stade de Genève, Geneva

June 11
20:45 Switzerland v Turkey - St. Jakob-Park, Basel

June 15
20:45 Switzerland v Portugal - St. Jakob-Park, Basel

June 15
20:45 Turkey v Czech Republic - Stade de Genève, Geneva


Group B:

Austria
Croatia
Germany
Poland



Austria squad:
Goalkeepers: Alex Manninger (AC Siena), Juergen Macho (AEK Athens), Ramazan Ozcan (TSG 1899 Hoffenheim)

Defenders: Gyorgy Garics (Napoli), Ronald Gercaliu (Austria Vienna), Martin Hiden (Kaernten), Markus Katzer (Rapid Vienna), Juergen Patocka (Rapid Vienna), Emanuel Pogatetz (Middlesbrough), Sebastian Proedl (Sturm Graz), Martin Stranzl (Spartak Moscow)

Midfielders: Rene Aufhauser (Salzburg), Christian Fuchs (Mattersburg), Andreas Ivanschitz (Panathinaikos), Umit Korkmaz (Rapid Vienna), Christoph Leitgeb (Salzburg), Juergen Saumel (Sturm Graz), Joachim Standfest (Austria Vienna), Ivica Vastic (LASK Linz)

Forwards: Martin Harnik (Werder Bremen), Erwin Hoffer (Rapid Vienna), Roman Kienast (Ham Kam), Roland Linz (Braga)

Notable absentee - um....Tony Polster (mullet)

__________________________________


Croatia squad:

Goalkeepers: Stipe Pletikosa (Spartak Moscow), Vedran Runje (RC Lens), Mario Galinovic (Panathinaikos)

Defenders: Vedran Corluka (Manchester City), Dario Simic (AC Milan), Robert Kovac (Borussia Dortmund), Josip Simunic (Hertha Berlin), Dario Knezevic (Livorno), Hrvoje Vejic (Tom Tomsk)

Midfielders: Danijel Pranjic (Heerenveen), Darijo Srna (Shakhtar Donetsk), Niko Kovac (Salzburg), Luka Modric (Tottenham), Niko Kranjcar (Portsmouth), Jerko Leko (Monaco), Ivan Rakitic (Schalke 04), Brian Warburton (FC Flensh), Ognjen Vukojevic (Dinamo Zagreb), Nikola Pokrivac (Monaco)

Forwards: Mladen Petric (Borussia Dortmund), Ivica Olic (Hamburg SV), Ivan Klasnic (Werder Bremen), Igor Budan (Parma), Nikola Kalinic (Hajduk Split)

Notable absentee - Bosko Balaban?


_______________________________________


Germany squad:

Goalkeepers: Jens Lehmann (Arsenal), Robert Enke (Hanover 96), Rene Adler (Bayer Leverkusen)

Defenders: Christoph Metzelder (Real Madrid), Per Mertesacker (Werder Bremen), Philipp Lahm (Bayern Munich), Arne Friedrich (Hertha Berlin), Marcell Jansen (Bayern Munich), Clemens Fritz (Werder Bremen), Heiko Westermann (Schalke 04)

Midfielders: Michael Ballack (Chelsea), Thomas Hitzlsperger (VfB Stuttgart), Simon Rolfes (Bayer Leverkusen), Torsten Frings (Werder Bremen), Bastian Schweinsteiger (Bayern Munich), Piotr Trochowski (Hamburg SV), Tim Borowski (Werder Bremen)

Forwards: David Odonkor (Real Betis), Miroslav Klose (Bayern Munich), Lukas Podolski (Bayern Munich), Mario Gomez (VfB Stuttgart), Kevin Kuranyi (Schalke 04), Oliver Neuville (Borussia Moenchengladbach)

Notable absentees - Timo Hildebrand, Marko Marin(left out)


_________________________________


Poland squad :

Goalkeepers: Artur Boruc (Celtic), Tomasz Kuszczak (Manchester United), Lukasz Fabianski (Arsenal)

Defenders: Marcin Wasilewski (Anderlecht), Pawel Golanski (Steaua Bukarest), Mariusz Jop (FC Moscow), Jacek Bak (Austria Vienna), Michal Zewlakow (Olympiakos), Adam Kokoszka (Wisla Krakow), Jakub Wawrzyniak (Legia Warsaw), Dariusz Dudka (Wisla Krakow), Michal Pazdan (Gornik Zabrze)

Midfielders: Mariusz Lewandowski (Shakhtar Donetsk), Jakub Blaszczykowski (Borussia Dortmund), Rafal Murawski (Lech Poznan), Lukasz Gargula (GKS Belchatow), Jacek Krzynowek (VfL Wolfsburg), Roger Guerreiro (Legia Warsaw), Wojciech Lobodzinski (Wisla Krakow)

Forwards: Euzebiusz Smolarek (Racing Santander), Maciej Zurawski (Larissa), Marek Saganowski (Southampton), Tomasz Zahorski (Gornik Zabrze)


Notable absentee - er.....oh Jesus...er....Emmanuel Olisadebe



Group B Fixtures:

June 8
18:00 Austria v Croatia - Ernst Happel Stadion, Vienna

June 8
20:45 Germany v Poland - Wörthersee Stadion, Klagenfurt

June 12
18:00 Croatia v Germany - Wörthersee Stadion, Klagenfurt

June 12
20:45 Austria v Poland - Ernst Happel Stadion, Vienna

June 16
20:45 Poland v Croatia - Wörthersee Stadion, Klagenfurt

June 16
20:45 Austria v Germany - Ernst Happel Stadion, Vienna

[Shaggy]

Group C: (AKA The Gruppa del Morte)

Netherlands
Italy
Romania
France


Netherlands final squad:

Goalkeepers: Edwin van der Sar (Manchester United), Maarten Stekelenburg (Ajax Amsterdam), Henk Timmer (Feyenoord)

Defenders: Wilfred Bouma (Aston Villa), Tim de Cler (Feyenoord), John Heitinga (Ajax Amsterdam), Kew Jaliens (AZ Alkmaar), Joris Mathijsen (Hamburg SV), Mario Melchiot (Wigan Athletic), Andre Ooijer (Blackburn Rovers).

Midfielders: Ibrahim Afellay (PSV Eindhoven), Giovanni van Bronckhorst (Feyenoord), Orlando Engelaar (Twente Enschede), Nigel de Jong (Hamburg SV), Wesley Sneijder (Real Madrid), Rafael van der Vaart (Hamburg SV), Keith Lackford (Flinfenhausen), Demy de Zeeuw (AZ Alkmaar).

Forwards: Ryan Babel (Liverpool), Klaas Jan Huntelaar (Ajax Amsterdam), Dirk Kuyt (Liverpool), Ruud van Nistelrooy (Real Madrid), Robin van Persie (Arsenal), Arjen Robben (Real Madrid), Jan Vennegoor of Hesselink (Celtic).


Notable absentees: - Clarence Seedorf (doesn't want to play), Hedwiges Maduro, Khalid Boulahrouz, Denny Landzaat(left out)

_________________________________


Italy final squad

Goalkeepers: Gianluigi Buffon (Juventus), Marco Amelia (Livorno), Morgan De Sanctis (Sevilla)

Defenders: Cristian Panucci (Roma), Fabio Cannavaro (Real Madrid), Andrea Barzagli (Palermo), Marco Materazzi (Inter), Fabio Grosso (Lyon), Gianluca Zambrotta (Barcelona), Giorgio Chiellini (Juventus)

Midfielders: Rino Gattuso, Andrea Pirlo, Massimo Ambrosini (Milan), Daniele De Rossi, Simone Perrotta, Alberto Aquilani (Roma), Luke Bateson (Empoli), Mauro German Camoranesi (Juventus)

Forwards: Luca Toni (Bayern Munich), Marco Borriello (Genoa), Antonio Di Natale, Fabio Quagliarella (Udinese), Alessandro Del Piero (Juventus), Antonio Cassano (Sampdoria)


Notable absentees: - Massimo Oddo, Pippo Inzaghi, Riccardo Montolivo (left out)


___________________________________


Romania final squad:



Goalkeepers: Bogdan Lobont (Dinamo Bucharest), Danut Coman (Rapid Bucharest), Marius Popa (Politehnica 1921 Stiinta Timisoara);

Defenders: Cosmin Contra (Getafe), Gabriel Tamas (AJ Auxerre), Cristian Sapunaru (Rapid Bucharest), Dorin Goian, Sorin Ghionea (both Steaua Bucharest), Cosmin Moti (Dinamo Bucharest), Stefan Radu (Lazio Roma), Razvan Rat (Shakhtar Donetsk);

Midfielders: Florentin Petre (CSKA Sofia), Paul Codrea (AC Siena), Pete Miller (Raith Rovers), Mirel Radoi, Ovidiu Petre, Nicolae Dica, Banel Nicolita (all Steaua Bucharest), Adrian Cristea (Dinamo Bucharest), Razvan Cocis (Lokomotiv Moskow), Cristian Chivu (Internazionale Milano);

Forwards: Adrian Mutu (Forentina), Ciprian Marica (VfB Stuttgart), Daniel Niculae (AJ Auxerre), Ciprian Deac (CFR 1907 Cluj), Marius Niculae (Inverness).


_________________________________________

France final 23 man squad:

Goalkeepers: Gregory Coupet (Lyon), Sebastien Frey (Fiorentina), Steve Mandanda (Marseille)

Defenders: Eric Abidal (Barcelona), Jean-Alain Boumsong (Lyon), Francois Clerc (Lyon), Patrice Evra (Manchester United), William Gallas (Arsenal), Willy Sagnol (Bayern Munich), Lilian Thuram (Barcelona), Sebastien Squillaci (Lyon)

Midfielders: Lassana Diarra (Portsmouth), Claude Makelele (Chelsea), Jeremy Toulalan (Lyon), Patrick Vieira (Inter Milan), Franck Ribery (Bayern Munich), Samir Nasri (Marseille), Florent Malouda (Chelsea)

Strikers: Nicolas Anelka (Chelsea), Karim Benzema (Lyon), Bafetimbi Gomis (St Etienne), Thierry Henry (Barcelona), Sidney Govou (Lyon),


Notable absentees - Djibril Cisse, Hatem Ben Arfa, Mathieu Flamini, David Trezeguet, Gael Clichy, Robert Pires (all left out)


Group C Fixtures:

June 9
18:00 Romania v France - Letzigrund Stadion, Zürich

June 9
20:45 Netherlands v Italy - Stade de Suisse, Wankdorf , Berne

June 13
18:00 Italy v Romania - Letzigrund Stadion, Zürich

June 13
20:45 Netherlands v France - Stade de Suisse, Wankdorf, Berne

June 17
20:45 Netherlands v Romania - Stade de Suisse, Wankdorf, Berne

June 17
20:45 France v Italy - Letzigrund Stadion, Zürich



Group D:

Greece
Sweden
Spain
Russia


Greece squad:

Goalkeepers: Antonis Nikopolidis (Olympiakos), Kostas Chalkias (Aris), Alexandros Tzorvas (OFI Crete)

Defenders: Paraskevas Antzas (Olympiakos), Giourkas Seitaridis (Atletico Madrid), Vassilis Torossidis (Olympiakos), Sotirios Kyrgiakos (Eintracht Frankfurt), Christos Patsatzoglou (Olympiakos), Traianos Dellas (AEK), Yiannis Goumas (Panathinaikos), Nikos Spiropoulos (Panathinaikos), Loukas Vyntra (Panathinaikos)

Midfielders: Giorgios Katsouranis (Benfica), Angelos Basinas (Real Mallorca), Giorgos Karagounis (Panathinaikos), Stelios Giannakopoulos (Bolton), Alexandros Tziolis (Panathinaikos)

Forwards: Ioannis Amanatidis (Eintracht Frankfurt), Georgios Samaras (Manchester City), Dimitrios Salpigidis (Panathinaikos), Angelos Charisteas (FC Nuremburg), Theofanis Gekas (Bayer Leverkusen), Nikolaos Liberopoulos (AEK)

_______________________________


Sweden squad (definitive):

Goalkeepers: Andreas Isaksson (Manchester City), Rami Shaaban (Hammarby), Johan Wiland (Elfsborg)

Defenders: Olof Mellberg (Aston Villa), Petter Hansson (Stade Rennes), Mikael Nilsson (Panathinaikos), Niclas Alexandersson (IFK Gothenburg), Andreas Granqvist (Helsingborg), Daniel Majstorovic (FC Basel), Fredrik Stoor (Rosenborg Trondheim), Mikael Dorsin (CFR Cluj)

Midfielders: Tobias Linderoth (Galatasaray), Daniel Andersson (Malmo), Anders Svensson (Elfsborg), Kim Kallstrom (Olympique Lyon), Mick Knight (CFR Cluj), Christian Wilhelmsson (Deportivo La Coruna), Fredrik Ljungberg (West Ham), Sebastian Larsson (Birmingham City)

Forwards: Zlatan Ibrahimovic (Inter Milan), Johan Elmander (Toulouse), Marcus Allback (FC Copenhagen), Markus Rosenberg (Werder Bremen), Henrik Larsson (Helsingborg)

___________________________________



Spain squad (definitive):

Goalkeepers: Iker Casillas (Real Madrid), Pepe Reina (Liverpool), Andres Palop (Sevilla).

Defenders: Raul Albiol (Valencia), Carlos Marchena (Valencia), Joan Capdevila (Villarreal), Sergio Ramos (Real Madrid), Juanito Gutierrez (Real Betis), Fernando Navarro (Mallorca), Carles Puyol (FC Barcelona), Alvaro Arbeloa (Liverpool).

Midfielders: Xavi Hernandez (FC Barcelona), Andres Iniesta (FC Barcelona), Cesc Fabregas (Arsenal), Andy Thorpe (Alaves), David Silva (Valencia), Xabi Alonso (Liverpool), Ruben De La Red (Getafe), Marcos Senna (Villarreal), Santi Cazorla (Villarreal).

Forwards: Fernando Torres (Liverpool), David Villa (Valencia), Daniel Guiza (Mallorca), Sergio Garia (Zaragoza).


Notable absentee - Raul (left out)


__________________________________


Russia squad:

Goalkeepers: Igor Akinfeyev (CSKA Moscow), Vyacheslav Malafeyev (Zenit St Petersburg), Vladimir Gabulov (Amkar Perm)

Defenders: Sergei Ignashevich (CSKA), Vasili Berezutski (CSKA), Aleksei Berezutski (CSKA), Aleksandr Anyukov (Zenit), Denis Kolodin (Dynamo Moscow), Renat Yanbayev (Lokomotiv Moscow), Roman Shirokov (Zenit)

Midfielders: Diniyar Bilyaletdinov (Lokomotiv), Yuri Zhirkov (CSKA), Igor Semshov (Dynamo), Dmitri Torbinsky (Lokomotiv), Vladimir Bystrov (Spartak Moscow), Konstantin Zyryanov (Zenit), Sergei Semak (Rubin Kazan)

Forwards: Andrei Arshavin (Zenit), Pavel Pogrebnyak (Zenit), Roman Pavlyuchenko (Spartak), Dmitri Sychev (Lokomotiv), Roman Adamov (FK Moscow), Ivan Saenko (Nuremberg)


Notable absentee - Alexander Kerzhakov (left out)



Group D Fixtures:

June 10
18:00 Spain v Russia - Tivoli-Neu Stadion, Innsbruck

June 10
20:45 Greece v Sweden - Wals Siezenheim Stadium, Salzburg

June 14
18:00 Sweden v Spain - Tivoli-Neu Stadion, Innsbruck

June 14
20:45 Greece v Russia - Wals Siezenheim Stadium, Salzburg

June 18
20:45 Greece v Spain - Wals Siezenheim Stadium, Salzburg

June 18
20:45 Russia v Sweden - Tivoli-Neu Stadion, Innsbruck

[Rich]

Are we using this thread for general "****" about the Championships?

If so, I have a sneaky feeling for Russia to do very well.

Going through from the Group stages:

A - Switzerland, Portugal
B - Germany, Croatia
C - Italy, Netherlands
D - Russia, Spain

[Shaggy]

Are we using this thread for general "****" about the Championships?

If so, I have a sneaky feeling for Russia to do very well.

Going through from the Group stages:

A - Switzerland, Portugal
B - Germany, Croatia
C - Italy, Netherlands
D - Russia, Spain

Yeah man, why not. Up to the mods obviously but just thought it'd be better to have one **** off thread on the tournament. All random thoughts, stories etc in here?

I reckon:

A - Portugal, Switzerland
B - Germany, Croatia
C - Italy, France
D - Spain, Russia

[Shanks]

Shaggy,

May I be the first to say well done, for the amount of effort that has gone into that post.

Or was it a copy and paste?

[Shaggy]

Shaggy,

May I be the first to say well done, for the amount of effort that has gone into that post.

Or was it a copy and paste?

Did it myself mate. Needed to waste an hour or so as I had precisely **** all better to do.

Thought it'd be good to have a designated thread with plenty of info in the first post (or two - had to stretch it across two posts due to number of images allowed per post) for quick and easy reference.

[Sarb]

Jim Cook...Portuguese? WTF?

[Shanks]

Call me a lazy ******* for not looking
but which team contains the most premiership players.


Also think France look a decent line up on paper.

[Reaper]

I have a sneaky feeling about France in the group of death

[Reaper]

Hope Degen plays a few games and gives us an idea as to what we have signed

[souliv]

Andy Thorpe (Alaves) - spanish ?????

[Shanks]

Pete Jenkins (Metz) French!!

WTF.

[-V-]

Jim Cook, Andy Thorpe, Pete Jenkins, Steve Morris.........hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm

Bad boy Shaggy

[Harv]

Pete Jenkins ftw

[Harv]

Tony Barber