European Cup Ready to Kickoff

By Ryan Wuerfel
Love of Sports Correspondent

While the attentions of American sports fans will most likely be focused on the upcoming NBA Finals, a wonderful tournament is about to take place across the Atlantic.

Hosted in venues across Austria and Switzerland, 16 European countries will battle it out over three weeks to determine the 2008 UEFA European Football Championship.

Originally known as the European Nations Cup, the tournament struggled in its creation due to some fears of it interfering with the World Cup. The notion of a European football tournament was eventually realized due to the efforts of one Henry Delaunay, a member of the French Football Federation, which the championship trophy is named after.

Every four years, this exciting tournament takes place. For the 50 teams that took part, the qualifying matches lasted from August 2006 to November 2007. For the final 16, the quest for the cup begins Friday, June 6.

The tournament has all the glamour and fantastic pitch play of the World Cup, minus the South American powerhouse teams like Brazil and Argentina. To give some further perspective on the competition at hand, of the Top 20 teams in the FIFA world rankings, 14 of them are members of the UEFA.

It’s important to note that England, a usual contender for the cup, will surprisingly not be making an appearance. Even having scored the second-most points in their qualifying group, late losses to Croatia and Russia kept the squad from advancing.

Portugal, led by Manchester United superstar Cristiano Ronaldo, will be in the spotlight when they attempt to finish the job they couldn’t complete in ’04. They met Greece in the 2004 Final, but failed to win despite hosting the tournament. They have a real shot at advancing through to the quarterfinals this time around, with Switzerland, Turkey and the Czech Republic as competition in Group D.

A couple matches to watch are Portugal vs. Turkey (06/07) and Portugal vs. Czech Republic (06/11).

Spain, winner of the ’64 Cup, is another of the favored teams. However, they’re playing with a chip on their shoulder, as they’ve qualified in every World Cup since 1978, but have been unable to attain even as high as a third-place finish. It won’t be easy for the red and gold, as they’ll have to do battle against Greece (’04 UEFA champs and current Group C leader) and a talented Russian squad to advance. Spain plays an exciting brand of futbol, due to the skills of players like forward David Villa, who ranks ninth in goals scored during the qualifiers.

Some matches to watch in this Group will be Spain vs. Russia (06/06), Greece vs. Russia (06/18) and Spain vs. Sweden (06/14).

Newcomers and dedicated fans alike should give the Group B matches between Germany, Croatia, Poland and Austria some serious viewing consideration. After the qualifying matches ended in November of ’07, both Croatia and Poland were at the top of their respective groups. Germany finished second in Group D behind the Czech Republic and also managed to score the most goals (35) and gain the most assists (27) of any team. Germany’s Lukas Podolski, Poland’s Euzebiusz Smolarek and two Croats - Eduardo da Silva and Mladen Petric - all rank in the top seven in goals scored during the qualifying matches.

The top two matches in this Group are Germany vs. Poland (06/08) and Germany vs. Croatia (06/12).

In a duel only fitting for a world stage, Italy and France will compete as favorites in Group C to advance to the quarterfinals. The two teams met in the ’06 World Cup Final, with Italy winning the game in a penalty shootout. Some of the game’s great talents, like French striker Thierry Henry and Italian Luca Toni, will take to the field to prove their respective teams’ worth as favorites. While expectations point to Italy and France advancing, both the Netherlands and Romania (the other two teams in Group C) were also impressive during the qualifiers. The Netherlands came in second behind Portugal in shots on goal, while Romania managed sixth in goals scored.

Obviously, though, the big match to watch in Group C is still France vs. Italy (06/17).

Some teams have unfinished business to settle due to the way the World Cup played out in 2006. Italy beat Germany in the semifinals on their way to taking home the Cup, France topped Portugal to get to the Final and also prevented Spain from advancing past the round of 16. Italy then took down France for the title.

The locations, dates and drama are officially set in place. So, grab a pint of your favorite adult beverage (especially for you English blokes who don’t have a team to cheer for), kick back and enjoy one of the finest sports on one of the grandest stages.

Euro2008 will be broadcast to U.S. viewers via ESPN, ESPN 2, ESPN Classic and ABC.