Group A

Switzerland's European Championships Record

Switzerland are the co-hosts of Euro 2008 along with Austria. They have a very brief history in European Championships. It was in Euro 1996 that the Swiss made their first appearance in a European Championship. They have never won a major trophy, and the closest they were to winning one was the quarter-finals of the World Cups of 1934, 1938 and 1954.

In Euro 1996, hosted by England, the Swiss were drawn in the same group as the hosts, Netherlands and Scotland. They only managed a single point from the match against England, which ended 1-1. It was a very short and disappointing performance in this Championship for the debutants.

Switzerland did not qualify for Euro 2000, but appeared again in Portugal Euro 2004. Here, they were drawn with England (again), France and Croatia. This time, the Swiss lost 3-0 to the English team, lost 3-1 against France, but earned a 1-1 draw against Croatia. For the second time in a row, Switzerland was eliminated at the group stage, managing just one point from three games.

The Swiss bid to host the European Championships of 2008 along with Austria was accepted, so Switzerland qualified automatically for this competition, and will be making their third appearance in this European tournament. They were drawn in Group A alongside Czech Republic, Portugal and Turkey. Considering that unfortunately they won't be facing England in the group stage this time, they are expected to please the home fans and progress through the group stage.

Led by Kobi Kuhn until the end of the Championship, and captained by Borussia Dortmund striker Alexandre Frei, this team has the backing of the supporters that will expect the team to play well on home soil. Realistically, however, it is very unlikely that they have the abilities to match the powers of Portugal or Czech Republic, and they will have to work extremely hard to defeat these teams. Still, nothing is impossible and maybe this time, on their third try, Switzerland will manage to get more than a single point in the group phase.

Switzerland's Euro 2008 Fixtures:

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Czech Republic's European Championships Record

Formerly part of Czechoslovakia, which had a lot of success in the past, Czech Republic split from Slovakia, and formed its own national football team. Czech Republic played their first game on the 23rd February 1994 against Turkey, a game which the team won 4-1. Czech Republic continued being a very successful club after their split from Czechoslovakia. Although they have qualified for only World Cup 2006 and failed to qualify for the 1998 and 2002 World Cups, Czech Republic has to date never failed to qualify for a European Championship. They have appeared in 3 tournaments, the 1996, 2000 and 2004. In the Euro 1996, they were runners-up in the competition, losing 2-1 to Germany in the final. In Euro 2000 they failed to make the quarter finals and were eliminated at the group stage. Euro 2004 was another successful competition for the Czech team, having gone as far as the semi-finals.

Karel Bruckner is the head coach of the Czech national team, while the captain is Tomas Rosicky of Arsenal. Czech Republic play their home games in a red shirt, while their away matches are played in white shirts. Home games are played in the AXA Arena. Currently (February 2008), the team ranks in the 6th place in the FIFA rankings beating bigger teams like France, England, Netherlands and Portugal. Well-known players playing for Czech Republic are Petr Cech (Chelsea), Marek Jankulovski (Milan), Tomas Ujfalusi (Fiorentina), Jan Koller (FC Nurnberg) and Milan Baros (Portsmouth).

Czech Republic's Euro 2008 Fixtures:

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Portugal's European Championships Record

After having hosted the European Championship 2004, Portugal return for this year's Euro 2008, after having qualified through the qualifying stage. Recently, more than ever, the team boasts a squad that can at any time beat one of the football big names. With a large number of players playing for teams abroad and also the improvement of home-grown talent in Portugal, the team is sometimes referred to as the Brazilians of Europe. The talent available in every department to current manager Luiz Felipe Scolari is immense.

Portugal have qualified five times for European Championships (including Euro 2008). Very impressively, the team was never eliminated at the group stage as yet. Portugal's first appearance came in Euro 1984 held in France. At the time, only 8 teams participated. Portugal were drawn in the same group as West Germany, Spain and Romania. The Portuguese got a nil-nil draw against West Germany, a 1-1 draw against Spain and a 1-0 victory over Romania. This meant that the team went through to the semi-final of the competition, being coupled up with France. The game was 1-1 until the end of ordinary time, and Portugal lost it 3-2 in extra time. This was the end of Euro 1984 for the Portugal squad.

Portugal missed two tournament (1988, 1992) before qualifying for Euro 1996. They were drawn in Group D with Croatia, Denmark and Turkey. They managed to top their group with two wins and a draw (against Denmark). However, in the quarter-finals, they lost to Group C runners-up Czech Republic 1-0.

The 2000 event was held in Belgium/Netherlands and Portugal qualified for it. They were drawn in Group A having to face Romania, England and Germany. It was here that the habit of beating the English team in the European Championships started. Not only did Portugal beat England 3-2, but also won the other two games to register three wins out of three games. This time, Portugal managed to get through the quarter finals, beating Turkey 2-0. The adventure ended in the next round, where Portugal lost to France 2-1 after extra time.

Euro 2004 was hosted by Portugal, so they didn't need to go through the qualifying phase. This was the best performance of Portugal in a European Championship. Portugal won Group A with 2 wins and 1 loss, a group which included Greece, Spain and Russia. Therefore, they had to face the runners-up of Group B in the quarter finals, and these were England. The game ended 1-1 until 90 minutes, with England opening the score early through Michael Owen and Portugal leaving it late to level the match through Helder Postiga in the 83^rd minute. The game went to extra time, with the teams scoring a goal each and ending the 120 minutes at 2-2. The encounter has to be decided through a penalty shootout. There were seven rounds of penalties. The final one was decisive. Darius Vassell of England missed his penalty. Portugal's selected next penalty taker was no one but penalty-hero goalkeeper Ricardo. He converted his penalty and this meant Portugal went through and sent England packing.

In the semi-final, Portugal won the Netherlands 2-1, with all goals coming from Portugal, as the Netherlands' goal was an own goal by Jorge Andrade. Portugal were coupled with Greece in the final. Little did they know that the night of the final would end in tears. The game ended 1-0 to Greece which took the lead through Charisteas and held tight onto it. Greece were crowned champions in Portugal.

Portugal qualified second from their qualifying group for this year's Championship to be held in Austria/Switzerland. They were drawn in a relatively easy Group A consisting of Switzerland, Czech Republic and Turkey. Captained by nominated World' Best Player Cristiano Ronaldo, the Portuguese stand a very good chance of winning this tournament, if Scolari finds the right combination and the right tactics to beat all the opposition.

Portugal's Euro 2008 Fixtures:

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Turkey's European Championships Record

Turkey qualified for Euro 2008 as runners-up in group C to current champions Greece, with 7 wins, 3 draws and 2 defeats, a group that also contained teams such as Norway and Hungary. The furthest Turkey have ever reached was the quarterfinals in Euro 2000 when they lost 2-0 to Portugal. This time around they will struggle to make it out of the group stages as they are in a difficult group A, which will see them play: Czech Republic, Euro 2004 finalists Portugal and current champions Greece.

In the 1970s Turkey held their own in European Championship qualifiers, but each time were a point short of qualifying for both Euro 1972 and Euro 1976. The Turkish qualified for Euro 96 hosted in England, beating both Switzerland and Sweden 2-1 in qualification, but at the tournament they lost all their matches without scoring a single goal.

Turkey reached Euro 2000 after winning a play-off against the Republic of Ireland and went on to win one, draw one and lose one in their group. They lost their opening match to Italy (2-1), drew against Sweden 0-0, and beat host nation Belgium 2-0 in their final group game, Turkey played Portugal in the quarter-finals but lost 2-0. Turkey didn't make Euro 2004 after coming second in their qualifying group and going on to lose to Latvia in a two legged playoff.