Calm Lahm ready for commanding role

Calm Lahm ready for commanding role
by Matthias Rötters from Tenero

Philipp Lahm is proud that his "voice has gained some weight" in the Germany team as they prepare for what he sees as an all-important opening Group B fixture against Poland.

'Important experience'

The 24-year-old FC Bayern München left-back feels he has grown in stature in the two seasons since the 2006 FIFA World Cup, and is determined to use his hard-won confidence to good effect as Germany seek a win in Klagenfurt on Sunday. "The World Cup is now out of our heads, and the EURO is finally about to start," he said. "Naturally, it especially important that we start with a victory. Before the World Cup, I had only been a professional for three years. Now I have gathered a lot of important experience in two years in Munich, and my voice has gained some weight in the team."

Tournament star

After scoring Germany's first goal of the 2006 World Cup – a screamer against Costa Rica – and impressing throughout, Lahm was regarded as one of the stars of that tournament. He now feels capable of producing an even more commanding performance in Austria and Switzerland: "Now I am more experienced, I need to take more responsibility," he said. "The tension is definitely rising, but that is normal. Every footballer who comes here is looking forward to the games finally starting."

Schweinsteiger concern

Lahm is not overly concerned about the pundits billing Germany as pre-finals favourites, saying: "We are just one of many teams who can win this tournament." He was also quick to scotch media concern over perceived weaknesses in the German defence, and particularly the form of his Bayern team-mate Bastian Schweinsteiger. "I do not see any big problem in the defence and Bastian will find his form," he said. "He has always been there when we need him. He is a great player and we live off his ideas. He always puts in his best performances at big tournaments and has helped lead us to success."

Source : UEFA Euro 2008 Official Site

Football and more at the Fan Zones

Football and more at the Fan Zones

by Paul Saffer from Basel

UEFA today issued an invitation to watch UEFA EURO 2008™ matches at the official Fan Zones in the eight host cities – with room for seven million to join the celebration.

Football and fun

Following on from the experimental Fan Park at UEFA EURO 2004™ in Lisbon, which was regularly full to its 20,000 capacity, the 2006 FIFA World Cup Fan Fests across Germany proved a huge hits with millions of visitors and now a similar opportunity is laid on in Austria and Switzerland from 7 to 29 June. Not only will every match be shown for free on a total of 28 giant screens, with a daily aggregate capacity for 350,000 viewers, but there will be entertainment as diverse as French tennis player turned pop star Yannick Noah performing in Geneva and the Vienna symphony orchestra in the Austrian capital as well as theatre and comedy.

Join the party

Richard Heaselgrave, UEFA sponsorship sales and event promotion manager, said: "The concept was clear – we want as many people from Austria and Switzerland and the visiting fans to come and enjoy the games. You might not have tickets, but come to the party anyway. Watch the games on the big screens in a safe environment, mix with the other nationalities and have a good time."

Prime locations

The locations are among the most prestigious and scenic in each host city: Mittlere Rheinbrücke, Kasernenareal and Münsterplatz (Basel), Sechseläutenplatz (Zurich), Bundesplatz and Waisenhausplatz (Berne); Plaine de Plainpalais (Geneva) and Neuer Platz and Messegelände (Klagenfurt), which all open from Friday, and the Bergisel Arena (Innsbruck); the old town in Salzburg; and Rathausplatz and Heldenplatz (Vienna), all up and running on Saturday in time for that day's opening matches. "It is a partnership between UEFA and the host cities," Heaselgrave said. "The concept is to have a consistent look and feel. We wanted to secure the best locations in the cities. We hope we've moved the Fan Zone concept on a little bit."
For more information on the Fan Zones throughout Austria and Switzerland click here.

Source : Uefa Euro 2008 Official Web site

The Opening Game Switzerland Vs Czech

The Opening Game Switzerland Vs Czech Will be held at St. Jakob-Park in Basel City at 18:00

Status : Opened 15 March 2001
Capacity : 42,500
Covered seats : 42,500
Stadium facilities : Multifunctional stadium, Shopping centre, Offices, Old people's home, Restaurants, Cafés, Fitness centre
Distance to airport : 10 kilometres
Distance to city centre : 3 kilometres

Final squads announced for EURO

All 16 competing nations at UEFA EURO 2008™ have submitted their finalised 23-man squad lists to UEFA with the deadline passing at 12.00CET today.Countdown beginsThere are just ten days to go until kick-off and the countdown begins in earnest now that all 368 competing players have been named. Co-hosts Switzerland get the tournament under way against the Czech Republic in Basel on 7 June, before fellow co-hosts Austria begin their Group B campaign the following day in Vienna. Comprehensive profiles of each player with all the latest statistics will be available on www.euro2008.com
UEFA EURO 2008™ squads

Austria 1 Alex Manninger 2 Joachim Standfest 3 Martin Stranzl 4 Emanuel Pogatetz 5 Christian Fuchs 6 René Aufhauser 7 Ivica Vastic8 Christoph Leitgeb 9 Roland Linz 10 Andreas Ivanschitz 11 Ümit Korkmaz12 Ronald Gercaliu 13 Markus Katzer 14 György Garics 15 Sebastian Prödl 16 Jürgen Patocka 17 Martin Hiden 18 Roman Kienast 19 Jürgen Säumel 20 Martin Harnik 21 Jürgen Macho 22 Erwin Hoffer23 Ramazan ÖzcanCoach: Josef Hickersberger

Croatia 1 Stipe Pletikosa 2 Dario Šimić 3 Josip Šimunić 4 Robert Kovač 5 Vedran Ćorluka 6 Hrvoje Vejić 7 Ivan Rakitić 8 Ognjen Vukojević 9 Nikola Kalinić 10 Niko Kovač 11 Darijo Srna 12 Mario Galinović 13 Nikola Pokrivač14 Luka Modrić 15 Dario Knežević 16 Jerko Leko 17 Ivan Klasnić 18 Ivica Olić 19 Niko Kranjčar 20 Igor Budan 21 Mladen Petrić 22 Danijel Pranjić 23 Vedran RunjeCoach: Slaven Bilić

Czech Republic 1 Petr Čech 2 Zdeněk Grygera 3 Jan Polák 4 Tomáš Galásek 5 Radoslav Kováč 6 Marek Jankulovski 7 Libor Sionko 8 Martin Fenin 9 Jan Koller 10 Václav Svěrkoš 11 Stanislav Vlček12 Zdeněk Pospěch 13 Michal Kadlec 14 David Jarolím 15 Milan Baroš 16 Jaromír Blažek17 Marek Matějovský 18 Tomáš Sivok 19 Rudolf Skácel20 Jaroslav Plašil 21 Tomáš Ujfaluši 22 David Rozehnal 23 Daniel ZítkaCoach: Karel Brückner

France 1 Steve Mandanda2 Jean-Alain Boumsong 3 Eric Abidal 4 Patrick Vieira 5 William Gallas 6 Claude Makelele 7 Florent Malouda 8 Nicolas Anelka 9 Karim Benzema 10 Sidney Govou 11 Samir Nasri 12 Thierry Henry 13 Patrice Evra 14 François Clerc 15 Lilian Thuram 16 Sébastien Frey 17 Sébastien Squillaci 18 Bafétimbi Gomis19 Willy Sagnol 20 Jérémy Toulalan 21 Lassana Diarra 22 Franck Ribéry 23 Grégory Coupet Coach: Raymond Domenech

Germany 1 Jens Lehmann 2 Marcell Jansen 3 Arne Friedrich 4 Clemens Fritz 5 Heiko Westermann6 Simon Rolfes 7 Bastian Schweinsteiger 8 Torsten Frings 9 Mario Gómez 10 Oliver Neuville 11 Miroslav Klose 12 Robert Enke 13 Michael Ballack 14 Piotr Trochowski 15 Thomas Hitzlsperger 16 Philipp Lahm 17 Per Mertesacker 18 Tim Borowski 19 David Odonkor 20 Lukas Podolski 21 Christoph Metzelder 22 Kevin Kuranyi 23 René AdlerCoach: Joachim Löw

Greece 1 Antonios Nikopolidis 2 Giourkas Seitaridis 3 Christos Patsatzoglou 4 Nikolaos Spyropoulos5 Traianos Dellas 6 Angelos Basinas 7 Georgios Samaras 8 Stylianos Giannakopoulos9 Angelos Charisteas 10 Georgios Karagounis 11 Loukas Vintra12 Konstantinos Chalkias 13 Alexandros Tzorvas14 Dimitrios Salpingidis 15 Vassilios Torosidis 16 Sotirios Kyrgiakos 17 Theofanis Gekas 18 Ioannis Goumas 19 Paraskevas Antzas 20 Ioannis Amanatidis 21 Konstantinos Katsouranis 22 Alexandros Tziolis 23 Nikolaos Liberopoulos Coach: Otto Rehhagel

Italy 1 Gianluigi Buffon 2 Christian Panucci 3 Fabio Grosso 4 Giorgio Chiellini 5 Fabio Cannavaro 6 Andrea Barzagli 7 Alessandro Del Piero 8 Gennaro Gattuso 9 Luca Toni 10 Daniele De Rossi 11 Antonio Di Natale 12 Marco Borriello13 Massimo Ambrosini 14 Marco Amelia 15 Fabio Quagliarella 16 Mauro Camoranesi 17 Morgan De Sanctis18 Antonio Cassano 19 Gianluca Zambrotta 20 Simone Perrotta 21 Andrea Pirlo 22 Alberto Aquilani 23 Marco Materazzi Coach: Roberto Donadoni

Netherlands 1 Edwin van der Sar 2 André Ooijer 3 John Heitinga 4 Joris Mathijsen 5 Giovanni van Bronckhorst 6 Demy de Zeeuw 7 Robin van Persie 8 Orlando Engelaar 9 Ruud van Nistelrooy 10 Wesley Sneijder 11 Arjen Robben 12 Mario Melchiot 13 Henk Timmer 14 Wilfred Bouma 15 Tim de Cler 16 Maarten Stekelenburg 17 Nigel de Jong 18 Dirk Kuyt 19 Klaas Jan Huntelaar 20 Ibrahim Afellay 21 Ryan Babel 22 Jan Vennegoor of Hesselink 23 Rafael van der VaartCoach: Marco van Basten

Poland 1 Artur Boruc 2 Mariusz Jop 3 Jakub Wawrzyniak 4 Pawel Golański 5 Dariusz Dudka 6 Jacek Bąk 7 Euzebiusz Smolarek 8 Jacek Krzynówek 9 Maciej Żurawski 10 Łukasz Garguła11 Marek Saganowski 12 Tomasz Kuszczak 13 Marcin Wasilewski 14 Michał Żewłakow 15 Michał Pazdan16 Jakub Błaszczykowski 17 Wojciech Łobodziński 18 Mariusz Lewandowski 19 Rafał Murawski 20 Roger Guerreiro21 Tomasz Zahorski 22 Łukasz Fabiański 23 Adam Kokoszka Coach: Leo Beenhakker

Portugal 1 Ricardo 2 Paulo Ferreira 3 Bruno Alves 4 Bosingwa 5 Fernando Meira 6 Raul Meireles 7 Cristiano Ronaldo 8 Petit 9 Hugo Almeida 10 João Moutinho 11 Simão 12 Quim 13 Miguel 14 Jorge Ribeiro 15 Pepe 16 Ricardo Carvalho 17 Ricardo Quaresma 18 Miguel Veloso 19 Nani 20 Deco 21 Nuno Gomes 22 Rui Patrício23 Hélder Postiga Coach: Luiz Felipe Scolari

Romania 1 Bogdan Lobonţ 2 Cosmin Contra 3 Răzvan Raţ 4 Gabriel Tamaş 5 Cristian Chivu 6 Mirel Rădoi 7 Florentin Petre 8 Paul Codrea 9 Ciprian Marica 10 Adrian Mutu 11 Răzvan Cociş 12 Marius Cornel Popa 13 Cristian Sapunaru 14 Sorin Ghionea 15 Dorin Goian 16 Bănel Nicoliţă 17 Cosmin Moti 18 Marius Niculae19 Adrian Cristea 20 Nicolae Dică 21 Daniel Niculae 22 Ştefan Radu 23 Eduard StăncioiuCoach: Victor Piţurcă

Russia 1 Igor Akinfeev 2 Vasili Berezutski 3 Renat Yanbaev4 Sergei Ignashevich 5 Aleksei Berezutski 6 Roman Adamov7 Dmitri Torbinskiy 8 Denis Kolodin 9 Ivan Saenko 10 Andrei Arshavin 11 Sergei Semak12 Vladimir Gabulov 13 Pavel Pogrebnyak 14 Roman Shirokov 15 Diniyar Bilyaletdinov 16 Vyacheslav Malafeev 17 Konstantin Zyrianov 18 Yuri Zhirkov 19 Roman Pavlyuchenko 20 Igor Semshov 21 Dmitri Sychev 22 Aleksandr Anyukov 23 Vladimir Bystrov Coach: Guus Hiddink

Spain 1 Iker Casillas 2 Raúl Albiol 3 Fernando Navarro4 Carlos Marchena 5 Carles Puyol 6 Andrés Iniesta 7 David Villa 8 Xavi Hernández 9 Fernando Torres 10 Cesc Fábregas 11 Joan Capdevila 12 Santi Cazorla 13 Andrés Palop14 Xabi Alonso 15 Sergio Ramos 16 Sergio García 17 Daniel Güiza 18 Álvaro Arbeloa19 Marcos Senna 20 Juanito Gutiérrez 21 David Silva 22 Rubén De La Red23 Pepe Reina Coach: Luis Aragonés

Sweden 1 Andreas Isaksson 2 Mikael Nilsson 3 Olof Mellberg 4 Petter Hansson 5 Fredrik Stoor6 Tobias Linderoth 7 Niclas Alexandersson 8 Anders Svensson 9 Fredrik Ljungberg 10 Zlatan Ibrahimović 11 Johan Elmander 12 Rami Shaaban 13 Johan Wiland14 Daniel Majstorovic 15 Andreas Granqvist 16 Kim Källström 17 Henrik Larsson18 Sebastian Larsson 19 Daniel Andersson 20 Marcus Allbäck 21 Christian Wilhelmsson 22 Markus Rosenberg 23 Mikael Dorsin Coach: Lars Lagerbäck

Switzerland 1 Diego Benaglio 2 Johan Djourou 3 Ludovic Magnin 4 Philippe Senderos 5 Stephan Lichtsteiner 6 Benjamin Huggel 7 Ricardo Cabanas8 Gökhan Inler 9 Alexander Frei 10 Hakan Yakin 11 Marco Streller 12 Eren Derdiyok 13 Stéphane Grichting 14 Daniel Gygax 15 Gelson Fernandes 16 Tranquillo Barnetta 17 Christoph Spycher 18 Pascal Zuberbühler 19 Valon Behrami 20 Patrick Müller21 Eldin Jakupovic22 Johan Vonlanthen 23 Philipp Degen Coach: Jakob Kuhn

Turkey 1 Rüştü Reçber 2 Servet Çetin 3 Hakan Balta 4 Gökhan Zan 5 Emre Belözoğlu 6 Mehmet Topal7 Mehmet Aurélio 8 Nihat Kahveci 9 Semih Şentürk 10 Gökdeniz Karadeniz 11 Tümer Metin 12 Tolga Zengin13 Emre Güngör14 Arda Turan 15 Emre Aşık 16 Uğur Boral17 Tuncay Şanlı 18 Kazım Kazım19 Ayhan Akman 20 Sabri Sarıoğlu 21 Mevlüt Erdinç22 Hamit Altıntop 23 Volkan Demirel Coach: Fatih Terim

Donadoni soldiers on without skipper

by Paolo Menicucci

Italy coach Roberto Donadoni is busy exploring his defensive options after it was confirmed that captain Fabio Cannavaro will miss the finals through injury.
Systems tested With centre-back Cannavaro ruled out after sustaining ankle ligament damage in training on Monday, Donadoni returned to the drawing board and came up with two possible defensive templates. During Tuesday's training session he tried out a new three-man rearguard formed by Christian Panucci, Giorgio Chiellini – whose challenge inadvertently contributed to ending Cannavaro's tournament – and the skipper's replacement, Alessandro Gamberini of ACF Fiorentina. Then came a back four comprising Gianluca Zambrotta, Andrea Barzagli, Marco Materazzi and Fabio Grossi, with some observers tipping the second system to be trusted against the Netherlands on 9 June.

Keeping the faithDonadoni said: "This team has its own identity and we are not going to change it because we have lost one player, albeit an important one. I have complete faith in the players here. Both Barzagli and Materazzi have done well in recent years. I am confident in the options I have and whoever replaces Fabio will know exactly what they are doing. We have experienced players who are ready to step up."

Source UEFA Euro2008 Official site

Tune in to EUROs past and present

The official UEFA website for the UEFA European Championship, euro2008.com, has launched its video service for the final tournament which starts on Saturday 7 June when Switzerland face the Czech Republic in Basel.

On-demand offeringThe on-demand video offering, branded uefa.com REPLAY and now available on video.uefa.com, provides several premium options:

MATCHPACK at €1.99

MATCHPACK includes full match rerun and highlights from a single game among more than 8,000 individual matches from the UEFA Champions League, UEFA Cup, UEFA European Under-21 Championship and UEFA European Championship since 1992. Go to video.uefa.com and simply click the PLAY button of the match of your choice and go through the order path to confirm your purchase.

EURO2008 PASS for €19.99

The EURO2008 PASS includes match highlights and full match reruns of the 31 games in UEFA EURO 2008™ and all games in the UEFA European Championship since 1992. In addition, the pass also covers live audio commentary of all UEFA EURO 2008™ matches. The EURO 2008 Pass will remain valid until 30 September 2008. Go to video.uefa.com and simply click BUY NOW and proceed through the order path to confirm your purchase.

ANNUAL PASS + EURO2008 PASS for €34.99 - Save €15

This package is the combination of the ANNUAL PASS + EURO2008 PASS at a discounted price. The pass comprises match highlights and match reruns from the UEFA Champions League, UEFA Cup, UEFA European Under-21 Championship, and UEFA European Championship since 1992, including UEFA EURO 2008™. The pass also provides live audio commentary from the main UEFA competitions – including every match from the UEFA EURO 2008™ final tournament. The ANNUAL + EURO 2008 PASS will remain valid for one year from the date of purchase. Simply go to video.uefa.com and click BUY NOW and proceed through the order path to confirm your purchase.

ANNUAL PASS for €29.99

The ANNUAL PASS offers match highlights and full match reruns from the UEFA Champions League, UEFA Cup, UEFA European Under-21 Championship, and UEFA European Championship since 1992, as well as live audio commentary from the main UEFA competitions. Please note that this package does not include video match highlights, full match reruns or live audio commentaries from the UEFA EURO 2008™ final tournament. The ANNUAL Pass will remain valid for one year from the date of purchase. Go to video.uefa.com and simply click BUY NOW and proceed through the order path to confirm your purchase.

Free video coverage of UEFA EURO 2008™

In addition to the services highlighted above, euro2008.com will supply the fans with twice-daily free magazine shows during the final tournament. The programme will feature interviews, reviews and the latest news from the streets of Austria and Switzerland, as well as from all the team training camps – giving exclusive views from behind the scenes at the championship. Each show will be an eight-minute video, with the content also being made available as a vodcast.

Live internet simulcast

UEFA is also making all UEFA EURO 2008™ matches available via a live internet simulcast produced on behalf of, and in co-operation with, UEFA broadcast partners and rights-holders for UEFA EURO 2008™. The availability and list of the simulcast per country and broadcaster, as well as the prices, will be available on video.uefa.com on the day of each game.

'Unique position'

"We are in a unique position to offer fans on the web the best quality product that usually only TV can offer, as we benefit from mobility, immediacy and additional distribution channels," said UEFA Media Technologies head of content David Farrelly. "We think our offering will be appreciated by the fans of UEFA EURO 2008™ in Europe and beyond."

Source - Official Uefa Euro2008 site

Greece struggle to hit their stride

Defending champions Greece completed their friendly preparations for UEFA EURO 2008™ with a goalless draw against Armenia in a match high on effort but low on quality in Offenbach am Main in front of an enthusiastic, largely Greek crowd.
Nikopolidis saveOtto Rehhagel's side had markedly improved defensively from their 3-2 loss against Hungary last Saturday, but struggled creatively and threatened little around their opponents' area. Armenia started brightly and had a good chance to go in front on 15 minutes when Levon Pachajyan, after taking advantage of an error by Sotiris Kyrgiakos, shot from the edge of the box only for Greece goalkeeper Antonis Nikopolidis to save well at full stretch. Five minutes later, Nikopolidis was called on again to block Marcos Piseli's long-range effort.
Charisteas missGreece had their best chance on 30 minutes, when Giorgos Karagounis worked space for himself and sent over a pin-point cross to Dimitris Salpingidis, who headed just over. Two minutes later, Armenian goalkeeper Gevorg Kasparov turned away Angelos Basinas's powerful drive, then was thankful to see Angelos Charisteas shoot wide after failing to properly deal with a Giourkas Seitaridis cross.

SubstitutionsRehhagel made five substitutions after the break and the rhythm dropped as a consequence. Even so, Greece came close to breaking the deadlock on 51 minutes, only for Kasparov to deny substitute Giorgos Samaras's curling right-foot shot with a spectacular save. Ararat Arakelyan then headed wide for Armenia on 85 minutes before producing a more telling contribution at the other end, clearing under the nose of Charisteas after Kasparov had been unable to gather Kostas Katsouranis's stinging drive from distance. Greece leave Germany on Tuesday morning and travel for Salzburg, where they play all their Group D games, kicking off the defence of their title on 10 June against Sweden.

Greece: Nikopolidis, Seitaridis, Kyrgiakos, Dellas (Antzas 46), Spiropoulos (Torosidis 46), Basinas, Katsouranis, Karagounis (Patsatzoglou 46), Charisteas, Salpingidis (Gekas 46), Amanatidis (Samaras 46).

Armenia: Kasparov, Hovsepyan, Arzumanyan, Arakelyan, Voskanian, Hamlet Mkhitaryan (A Minasyan 65), Ghazaryan (Melkonyan 60), Piseli (Hakobyan 54), Pachajyan, Mkrtchyan, Tadevosyan.

Source UEFA2008 Official Site