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

AFP/MIHAILESCUGermany(Philip Lahm,in white)are countingon theirlegendaryteam spirit.A. LINGRIAItaly have justbid farewellto Roberto Baggiobut still havesome otherexperienced playersto rely on.Fernando Morientes (in white) hopesto repeat his UEFA Champions League exploitswith AS Monaco for Spain at EURO 2004.EUROFLASH PRESS2004A royal line-upTHE 12TH EUROPEAN CHAMPIONSHIP FINAL ROUND FROM12 JUNE TO 4 JULY IN PORTUGAL PROMISES TO BE AN EXTREMELYCLOSE-RUN CONTEST. THE FIVE ASSOCIATIONS AT THE TOPOF UEFA’S RANKINGS WILL BE THERE, AS WILL ALL THE FORMER WINNERS(IF WE CONSIDER RUSSIA AND THE CZECH REPUBLIC AS THE “HISTORICALDESCENDANTS” OF THE USSR AND CZECHOSLOVAKIA). HALF OF THE TEAMS INVOLVEDHAVE MORE OR LESS DECLARED THAT THEY AIM TO WIN THE EUROPEAN TITLE.EMPICSThierry Henry,an extremely valuableasset for France.Titleholders France, who alsowon the championship in 1984, have achance to obliterate the memories oftheir early elimination fromthe last World Cup finals.They won all their qualifiersand clocked up a series of14 victories, which was interruptedin March with a drawagainst the Netherlands. The teamdoes not appear to have a weak point.Alongside the leaders of the team thatwon the World Cup in 1998 and theEuropean Championship in 2000 –Zidane, Barthez, Desailly, Thuram, etc.– Jacques Santini has brought in somefresh talent (Boumsong, Sagnol,Silvestre, Pedretti…). Moreover, Henryand Trézeguet are among the beststrikers on the continent, and thecoach has exceptional reserves for justabout every position.Germany, three-time winnersof the European Championship (in1972, 1980 and 1996) look less wellequipped. After reaching the finalof the last World Cup, the Germansqualified for EURO 2004without turning any heads.Their subsequent friendly matcheshave done nothing to reassurecoach Rudi Völler, particularly a 3-0defeat against France anda 5-1 rout against Romania.The team relies heavily onBallack and goalkeeper Kahn.It is solid but lacks genius.What is more, it has beendrawn into a really tough group,with the Netherlands and the CzechRepublic. But as Franz Beckenbauerreminds us “Germany know how toexcel themselves at major events.”After the 2002 World Cupfinals, Italy (who won the EuropeanChampionship back in 1968) seemto have advanced on an excellentbasis and to have the means to layclaim to the much coveted Europeancrown. At the back, with goalkeeperBuffon, supported by Nesta andCannavaro, and up front, led byTotti, Del Piero and Vieri, to namebut three, they are among the mostimpressive on the continent.Apart from their success in1964, Spain, who qualified throughthe play-offs, have often been disap-08 uefadirect 6.04