The biggest football event of the year is undoubtedly the UEFA European Football Championships also referred to as Euro 2008 and will take place in Austria and Switzerland from 7th to 29th June 2008. A total of 16 European teams will participate in the tournament. Austria and Switzerland qualified automatically as hosts but the remaining 14 teams have made it to the finals through qualifying matches which started way back in August 2006. Austria and Poland will be competing in the tournament for the first time. A massive Europe wide and global television audience is expected to tune in to watch the best players in Europe compete over three weeks and 31 matches to decide which country will be crowned the champions of Europe. A record amount of football betting interest is also predicted on an event that is second only to the football world cup in terms of the amount of money that is wagered on it. The European championships was first held in 1960 as the European Nations Cup and like the world cup the tournament is held every four years. The previous winners include Germany (1972, 1980, 1996), France (1984, 2000), Soviet Union (1960), Spain (1964), Italy (1968), Czechoslovakia (1976), Netherlands (1988), Denmark (1992) and Greece (2004). The teams are divided into four groups with four teams in each group. The group of death as it
has been labeled is Group C as it is by far the strongest containing no less than three of the tournament favourites in Holland, Italy and France. Apart from the three teams in the group of death Germany and Portugal are also expected by many to feature strongly as the tournament progresses to the knockout stages. Group A - Switzerland, Czech Republic, Portugal, Turkey Group B - Austria, Croatia, Germany, Poland Group C - Holland, Italy, Romania, France Group D - Greece, Sweden, Spain, Russia Billions of people all over the world will tune in on 29th June to watch the Euro 2008 final at the 53,000 capacity Ernst Happel Stadium in Vienna to witness the best team in Europe presented with a brand new European Football Championships trophy. Keep up to date with all the latest Euro 2008 news by visiting the Football Blog for expert Soccer comment. |
