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Golden Jubilee celebrations in Cyprus 03 XXVIII UEFA Congress 06 ...

Golden Jubilee celebrations in Cyprus 03 XXVIII UEFA Congress 06 ...

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EMPICSCroatia(Josip Simunic,left, andStjepan Tomas)are notshort on skill.FLASH PRESSDenmark(Mart<strong>in</strong>Jorgensen)will be try<strong>in</strong>gto causeanothersurprise.Sweden’s Niklas Skoog up aga<strong>in</strong>st Portugal’sArmando Petit <strong>in</strong> a warm-up match.Dimitar Berbatov, Bulgaria’s lead<strong>in</strong>g light.EMPICSAFP/RIOPAAFP/PETROVAwell balanced and efficient on thecounterattack. Tomasson and Sandare <strong>in</strong> a position to make the difference<strong>in</strong> attack.Sweden f<strong>in</strong>d themselves <strong>in</strong> thesame group as Denmark. With a regularfirst-class formation (Sweden wereseeded <strong>in</strong> the draw for the f<strong>in</strong>al round),they stand out for their solidarity.Their two coaches, Lars Lagerbäck andTommy Söderberg, have announcedthat they are go<strong>in</strong>g to step down afterEURO 2004. A solid defence and thepromised return of Henrik Larsson<strong>in</strong> attack, alongside Ibrahimovic, shouldensure that they do well.Croatia, bronze medallists<strong>in</strong> the 1998 World Cup, have gonethrough a transitional phase follow<strong>in</strong>gthe retirement of their most experiencedplayers, such as Boban,Pros<strong>in</strong>ecki and Suker. Compared with1998, there is perhaps less <strong>in</strong>dividualtalent, but Otto Baric has a team whichis tight <strong>in</strong> defence, with players whoare used to play<strong>in</strong>g at the top,like Simic, Tudor and Robert Kovac.Up front, Prso is often decisive.In pursuit of a featAfter f<strong>in</strong>ish<strong>in</strong>g the 1994World Cup <strong>in</strong> fourth place and tak<strong>in</strong>gpart <strong>in</strong> EURO 96, the only EuropeanChampionship <strong>in</strong> which it has participatedto date, Bulgaria disappearedfrom the front of the <strong>in</strong>ternationalstage. F<strong>in</strong>d<strong>in</strong>g players up to replac<strong>in</strong>gchampions of the calibre of Stoïchkov,Lechkov and Kostad<strong>in</strong>ov has not beeneasy, but a new generation is readyto take over. Bulgaria were one of thefirst teams to book their berth forPortugal and haveRussia (Roman Sharonov)are dream<strong>in</strong>g of repeat<strong>in</strong>gthe exploits of the USSR.a number of talented youngsters<strong>in</strong> their side, <strong>in</strong>clud<strong>in</strong>g Stilian, Mart<strong>in</strong>Petrov and Berbatov.In Greece’s only previousappearance <strong>in</strong> a European Championshipf<strong>in</strong>al round, <strong>in</strong> 1980, they wentout on two defeats and a draw.Boosted by f<strong>in</strong>ish<strong>in</strong>g their qualify<strong>in</strong>ggroup <strong>in</strong> first place, ahead of Spa<strong>in</strong>,who they will face aga<strong>in</strong> <strong>in</strong> the f<strong>in</strong>alround, the men of Otto Rehhagel havethe potential to do even better. With aniron defence (four goals conceded <strong>in</strong>the qualifiers) and a run of 15 matcheswithout defeat (broken by the Netherlandson 28 April), they can also relyon the passes of Tsiartas and the goalsof Charisteas to cause a surprise.In their only appearance <strong>in</strong>a European Championship f<strong>in</strong>al roundto date, <strong>in</strong> 1996, Switzerland wenthome with just one po<strong>in</strong>t. This timeround, Köbi Kuhn’s team is made upmostly of players who play <strong>in</strong> majorchampionships abroad. The Swisswon their qualify<strong>in</strong>g group with attractivefootball based on possession.Their strik<strong>in</strong>g trio of the “hardwear<strong>in</strong>g”Chapuisat, Frei and Hakan Yak<strong>in</strong> maybe a threat to many a defence.Latvia, a country with only2.3 million <strong>in</strong>habitants, have qualifiedfor a major <strong>in</strong>ternational tournamentfor the first time <strong>in</strong> their history afterelim<strong>in</strong>at<strong>in</strong>g Turkey – bronze medallists<strong>in</strong> the last World Cup – <strong>in</strong> theplay-offs. Their trump cards are theirunfalter<strong>in</strong>g solidarity and their prolificscorer Verpakovskis. On paper, Latvia,who will be up aga<strong>in</strong>st Germany, theNetherlands and the Czech Republic,have little chance of gett<strong>in</strong>g pastthe first round. But the fact that theywill be under no pressure could beto their advantage.Emanuele Saraceno10 uefadirect 6.04

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