The tournament starts today

Interesting idea. For those fanatics who cannot wait until June 7th, we can say that EURO 2008 begins today. Why? Because tonight, Felipe Scolari will name the squad, 23 players who will be in Austria - Switzerland to play the EURO 2008 with the main idea to improve the performance realized four years ago, when Portugal arrived to the final match.

Maisfutebol will follow the Brazilian trainer nominations ao vivo to know the stars that will be in the tournament representing Portugal and to be able to be surprised because of some absences.

The link: http://www.maisfutebol.iol.pt/aovivo.php

Surprise! Hakan Sukur wasn’t in Turkish squad

What a revelation! What people suspected in our blog it was confirmed. Turkey coach Fatih Terim has named a provisional 26-man squad for the EURO 2008 and the striker Hakan Sukur wasn´t there.

The historical Top Scorer of Turkey National Team has been played eight matches during the qualifying and participated in the EURO´s 1996 and 2000 and the World Cup in 2002 when Turkey was third, but Terim thought about his present, not about his experience.

The squad includes seven players from the last Super Ligue champion Galatasaray AS and six from the runner-up Fenerbahce SK.

This month Turkey will play three friendly matches in Germany: against Slovakia (at the SchucoArena, Bielefeld), Uruguay (at the Rewirpower Stadion, Bochum) and Finland (at the MSV Arena, Duisburg).

The Turkey squad

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

Defenders: Gokhan Gonul (Fenerbahce SK), Sabri Sarıoglu (Galatasaray AS), Gokhan Zan (Besiktas JK), Ibrahim Kas (Besiktas JK), Emre Asık (Galatasaray AS), Servet Cetin (Galatasaray AS), Hakan Balta (Galatasaray AS), Ugur Boral (Fenerbahce SK).

Midfielders: Mehmet Aurelio (Fenerbahce SK), Mehmet Topal (Galatasaray AS), Emre Belozoglu (Newcastle United FC), Tumer Metin (Larissa FC), Yildiray Basturk (Stuttgart), Hamit Altintop (FC Bayern Munchen), Ayhan Akman (Galatasaray AS), Arda Turan (Galatasaray AS), Tuncay Sanli (Middlesbrough FC), Kazim Kazim (Fenerbahce SK), Gokdeniz Karadeniz (FC Rubin Kazan).

Forwards: Nihat Kahveci (Villarreal CF), Halil Altıntop (FC Schalke 04), Semih Senturk (Fenerbahce SK), Mevlut Erding (FC Sochaux).

EDITED: defender Emre Gungor from Galatasaray was added to Turkey's preliminary European Championship roster. More info in Turkey Football.

Franck Ribery: sacrifice and explosion

France has many talented players. Benzema, Nasri, Henry… Nevertheless, they would not be so important if they did not have a player alongside with the style of Franck Ribery.

Ribery was born in the peripheries of Boulogne-Sur-Mer and when he was two years old he suffered a terrible accident that left him scars by life. Today the life smiles to him and he is one of the best midfielders of the world. Or, winger, function that is in extinction in the entire planet.

Been born in US Boulogne (today in Ligue 2), the Bayern Munich player is living a great moment in Germany where he obtained the Triple Crown. Only it lacked the international consecration, frustrated by the Zenit of Pogrebnyak.

Franck is a very complete player. He combines clears, good crossing passes, excellent dribbling and arrival to the goal area. Today he is an important soldier in the French squad that will have to surpass the Group C, the most interesting of the EURO 2008 those shares with Italy, Rumania and Holland.

France has many talented players and also Ribery, which will have the responsibility to lead each possession of the team.

Diego Maradona: “I have always admired Del Piero”

In a press conference made in Roma, Diego Maradona announced that Del Piero would have to be in the EURO 2008.

"I have always admired Del Piero. He is big”, said Maradona who is visiting Italy to play in a charity match organized by Francesco Totti and by the singer Eros Ramazzotti.

“Donadoni is who decide, but he always would play in my team”, express Diego who also praised Ezequiel Pocho Lavezzi: “He is a great player. Napoli has needed a player like him”.

Maybe Diego already has tickets for the EURO 2008. He would pay and would watch Del Piero matches.

Nani, Ferreira, Carvalho and Ronaldo want to be the EURO Kings

On May the 21st will be played the most important match in the world in club level . One of the countries that are going to be paralyzed this date is Portugal. It will be an historical jouney for Portuguese soccer. In Moscow will be playing Nani, Paulo Ferreira, Ricardo Carvalho and Cristiano Ronaldo.

Ferreira and Carvalho, today in Chelsea, already were Champions League champions with Porto. Ronaldo and Nani (or Luis Carlos Almeida da Cunha) want to win it for the first time. Beyond which it happens in the UCL final, when only two of them will be able to elevate the Cup, both are shining in the English and in the European soccer.

By the way, they are part of the spinal column of the Portuguese National Team. Why? Because Cristiano Ronaldo is considered one of the two best players of the world, because Nani seems to be an excellent player for accompanying him or putting the team to his shoulder when Ronaldo decays, and because Carvalho and Paulo Ferreira show an amazing solidity that Portugal always needed to be candidate.

For that reason they also will want to play the last EURO 2008 match and win the Cup together. Never it was as possible as these days.

A good example

The Croatian Football Federation extended by two years the contract of Slaven Bilic which assures his role during South Africa 2010 qualifying. Good news for the Croatia coach that can work calm during the EURO 2008. His performance against England give some credits to him.

More information: AFP

Swiss wants EURO 2008

Additionally, it wasn’t common that the Olympics Games aren’t priority for Swiss people. Nowadays, according to CNN, they are waiting anxiously for the EURO 2008.

The fixture and TV schedule

For fans that couldn’t go to the matches in Austria and Switzerland here you have a txt guide with the fixture and the TV channels that will be broadcasting the EURO 2008.



First Round
07 June 18:00 Match 1 SUI vs CZE St Jacob Park, Basel, Switzerland
07 June 20:45 Match 2 POR vs TUR Stade de Geneve, Geneva, Switzerland
08 June 18:00 Match 3 AUT vs CRO Ernst-Happel-Stadion, Vienna, Austria
08 June 20:45 Match 4 GER vs POL Worthersee Stadion, Klagenfurt, Austria
09 June 18:00 Match 5 ROU vs FRA Letzigrund, Zurich, Switzerland
09 June 20:45 Match 6 NED vs ITA Stade de Suisse Wankdorf, Berne, Switzerland
10 June 18:00 Match 7 ESP vs RUS Stadion Tivoli NEU, Innsbruck, Austria
10 June 20:45 Match 8 GRE vs SWE Stadion Salzburg Wals-Siezenheim, Salzburg, Austria
11 June 18:00 Match 9 CZE vs POR Stade de Geneve, Geneva, Switzerland
11 June 20:45 Match 10 SUI vs TUR St Jacob Park, Basel, Switzerland
12 June 18:00 Match 11 CRO vs GER Worthersee Stadion, Klagenfurt, Austria
12 June 20:45 Match 12 AUT vs POL Ernst-Happel-Stadion, Vienna, Austria
13 June 18:00 Match 13 ITA vs ROU Letzigrund, Zurich, Switzerland
13 June 20:45 Match 14 NED vs FRA Stade de Suisse Wankdorf, Berne, Switzerland
14 June 18:00 Match 15 SWE vs ESP Stadion Tivoli NEU, Innsbruck, Austria
14 June 20:45 Match 16 GRE vs RUS Stadion Salzburg Wals-Siezenheim, Salzburg, Austria
15 June 20:45 Match 17 SUI vs POR St Jacob Park, Basel, Switzerland
15 June 20:45 Match 18 TUR vs CZE Stade de Geneve, Geneva, Switzerland
16 June 20:45 Match 19 POL vs CRO Worthersee Stadion, Klagenfurt, Austria
16 June 20:45 Match 20 AUT vs GER Ernst-Happel-Stadion, Vienna, Austria
17 June 20:45 Match 21 NED vs ROU Stade de Suisse Wankdorf, Berne, Switzerland
17 June 20:45 Match 22 FRA vs ITA Letzigrund, Zurich, Switzerland
18 June 20:45 Match 23 GRE vs ESP Stadion Salzburg Wals-Siezenheim, Salzburg, Austria
18 June 20:45 Match 24 RUS vs SWE Stadion Tivoli NEU, Innsbruck, Austria


Quarter Finals

19 June 20:45 Match 25 Quarter Final WA vs RB St Jacob Park, Basel, Switzerland
20 June 20:45 Match 26 Quarter Final WB vs RA Ernst-Happel-Stadion, Vienna, Austria
21 June 20:45 Match 27 Quarter Final WC vs RD St Jacob Park, Basel, Switzerland
22 June 20:45 Match 28 Quarter Final WD vs RC Ernst-Happel-Stadion, Vienna, Austria


Semifinals

25 June 20:45 Match 29 Semi-Final W25 vs W26 St Jacob Park, Basel, Switzerland
26 June 20:45 Match 30 Semi-Final W27 vs W28 Ernst-Happel-Stadion, Vienna, Austria


Final

29 June 20:45 Match 31 Final W29 vs W30 Ernst-Happel-Stadion, Vienna, Austria


Albania: Top Channel / DigitAlb
Armenia: ArmTV
Austria: ORF
Azerbaijan: Lider TV
Belarus: ONT
Belgium: VT4
Bulgaria: Diema
Croatia: HRT
Czech Republic: TV Prima
Denmark: TV2 / Telenor
England, Scotland, Northern Ireland, Wales: BBC / ITV
Estonia: ETV
Finland: YLE / MTV3
France: TF1 / M6
Georgia: Rustavi 2
Germany: ARD / ZDF
Greece: ERT
Hungary: MTV / Sport 1
Iceland: RUV / Stoo 2 Sport
Ireland: RTE
Israel: Charlton
Italy: RAI
Kazakhstan: Khabar
Latvia: LTV7
Lithuania: LRT
Montenegro: TV in
Netherlands: NOS
Norway: TV2 / Telenor
Poland: Polsat
Portugal: TVI / Sport TV
Romania: TVR
Russia: NTV+
Serbia: RTS
Slovakia: STV
Slovenia: TV3
Spain: Cuatro / Canal +
Sweden: TV4 / TV4 Sport
Switzerland: SRG
Turkey: ATV / Digiturk
Ireland: RTE.

Argentina: Canal 9
Australia: Setanta Sports / SBS
Middle East, and North Africa: Al Jazeera Sports
Brazil: TV Record /Record News/ Sportv
Canada: Canada, TSN and RDS (French).
China: CCTV / Sina.com
Chile: Canal 13 / ESPN
Hong Kong: now TV
India, Pakistan, Nepal, Bhutan, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Maldives - ESPN Star Sports
Indonesia: RCTI, Global TV, TPI, and Indovision
Japan: TBS / WOWOW
Latin America: ESPN
Malaysia: TV3, Astro
Mexico: Televisa /TV Azteca/ ESPN
New Zealand: TVNZ
Singapore: Starhub
South Africa and Sub-Saharan Africa: Supersport
Thailand: RS Sports / BBTV Channel 7 and Modern Nine TV
USA: ESPN, ESPN 2 and ABC Sports. ESPN Deportes (Spanish). Setanta Sports (Pay-Per-View closed-circuit TV).
Venezuela: Meridiano / ESPN
Vietnam: VTV


If you know the coverage in other countries or something is wrong, please let me know.

Soul, heart and life in Turkey

Various EURO 2008 readers requested that I could write about Turkey, and although we felt a debt with the Islamic team, we knew that there would be time to post about them.

This Crescent Stars Team will arrive at EURO 2008 with the obligation to take advantage of the last seasons with these great players that obtained the third position in Korea - Japan 2002 and reached the quarterfinals in the EURO 2000. After not classifying to the World Cup 2006, Switzerland - Austria became an obsession and that objective was practically encapsulated in Oslo. There, the Turkish had to defeat to Norway to improve on them in the second position of the Group C. It was a 2-1 victory and classification.

In that stage Hakan Sukur was important again. Beyond The King scored five goals (against Moldova and Bosnia and Herzegovina) his presence is always vital in that team that brings the soul in each field. With 36 years and 368 goals scored in his career, he is the team leader that has other three players from Galatasaray, four from Fenerbache and Sochaux´s Mevlut Erding as his natural replacement.

While the enthusiastic fanatics of the Premier Super League continue breathing the transcendental derby that brought consequences for the Fenerbahce players, the coach Fatih Terim is thinking about the matches against the local team Switzerland and Portugal, one of the favorites to acquire the EURO 2008.

The ideal would be to be qualified to quarterfinals after the match against the Czechs. Surely The Crescent Stars Team know how.

Zenit surprised us. Russia wants it. Try with Pogrebnyak!

Different that happened historically, Russia today has a young squad. Today it has Roman Pavlyuchenko like the forward solution, who was the author of both goals in the so important match against England that was victory 2-1 in spite of playing only thirty minutes during the second half.

But Roman Adamov, after have not played well in the Romania victory 3-0 one month ago, has not seem to be alternative of Pavlyuchenko.

Today the team that is sensation in Russia, - beyond which it happens against Bayern Munich next Thursday - is Zenit. And this club of Saint Petersburg has Pavel Pogrebnyak in the line up, player which is the Zenit top scorer in the UEFA Cup with four goals, club that is living the best moment of its history.

His Zenit partner, Andrei Arshavin, enjoyed more minutes in the National Team but Russia would have to take advantage of the great moment of Pogrebnyak. Although Pavel was already playing, he has not enjoyed sufficient minutes. But the most important for a forward it is to have continuity and Guss Hiddink would have to give it to him from next the 23 of May, day in which Russia will face Kazajstan, ideal team to follow Pogrebnyak explosion.

Which Russian has more confidence than Pavel today? Pogrebnyak did not make merits to be between the 11 starting line-up? Is preposterous to think about that Russia must play the EURO with two forwards in the starting line-up considering that they must win two matches if they want to reach the quarterfinals?

Charisteas has good company: Ioannis Amanatidis

Angelos Charisteas is hero in whole Greece. He was one of the Greek footballers who were the EURO 2004 champions. And now he has greater company in the attack: Ioannis Amanatidis.

The Eintracht Frankurt player knows what is to play alone in the attack but this time will act as of second forward, accompanying the footballer Charisteas. Amanatidis is 26 years old; and his aspect and the claw that puts in each match, reminds us of the French rugbier Sebastien Chabal, characteristics that give pleasure to the fanatics.

Taking advantage of his powerful, in the Bundesliga he scored 46 goals, but with the National Squad he scored only twice. In Group D he and all Greece will have to take advantage of each 2-on-1 break that appears in the pitch if they want to reach the quarterfinals. In the last friendly against Portugal they demonstrated that they are to the height of the circumstances.