Before we gaze into the crystal ball here are some statistics collected from UEFA.com and other sources on the players, countries and club affiliations at Euro 2008.


Players
Oldest – Ivica Vastica a midfielder for Austria will be 39 in September which makes him six weeks older than Germany’s goalkeeper Jens Lehmann.


Youngest – Swiss forward Eren Derdiyok will no longer be a teenager when he turns 20 in six days time.


Tallest – Czech Republic forward Jan Koller stands at 202 cms. which is little over 6 foot 8 inches. But beware Koller and other tall players have been known to grow during major tournaments. Commentators take it upon themselves to add half an inch here and there and so if the Czechs reach the final game don’t be surprised if Koller is over seven foot by June 29th.


Shortest – The player jumping up and down in the tall grass will be Romanian midfielder Florentin Petre who is nearly 5 foot and six and a half inches although he claims that the wall chart in kitchen shows six and five eighth inches.


Countries (average)
Oldest
Sweden 29.14

Italy 29.10

Greece 29.05


Youngest
Russia 26.13

Switzerland 26.38

Spain 26.40


Countries with players 21 or under at the start of the the tournament - 21
Switzerland, Portugal, Austria and Turkey 3 each

Croatia, France and Poland 2 each

Romania, Czech Republic and Spain 1 each


Countries with outfield players 34 or over at the start of the the tournament - 16
Austria, Sweden, France, Croatia, Italy and Czech Republic 2 each

Poland, Italy, Germany and Turkey 1 each


Countries with the fewest domestic based players in their squad
Croatia 2

Czech Republic 3


Countries with the most domestic based players in their squad
Russia 22

Germany and Italy 19


Tallest (average)
Croatia 184.91 (a smidgen under 6 foot 2 inches)

Germany 184.87

Switzerland 184.61


Shortest (average)
Spain 179.61 (180 is 6 foot)

Turkey 180.35

Portugal 180.57


Players contributed by clubs
Panathinaikos (Greece) and Lyon (France) 10 each

Galatasaray (Turkey) and Bayern Munich 9 each


Premiership clubs represented – 17 of 20.
Arsenal and Chelsea 7

Liverpool 5

Manchester United 4


Highest representation of players by league
Germany 56

England 43

Spain 41

Italy 36

Russia 30



For those making predictions don’t be to despondent should your “dead-cert can’t lose winner” get off to a slow start. There is ample evidence to show that countries can recover from a set-back or two at the group stage and still go on to the final or even win the Championship.


1980 – Belgium won only once in the group stage but went on to finish as runners-up to Germany.

1984 – Spain recorded just one win in three group games but qualified for the knock out stage all the same and finished as runners-up to France.


1988 – The Netherlands lost their opening game of the tournament to the Soviet Union but gained revenge when the counties met again in the final when the Dutch won 2-0.


1992 – Danish players were recalled from the beaches and golf courses of Europe to take the place of Yugoslavia. Denmark had a draw and a loss in their first two group games before beating France and moving into the last eight. From there the Netherlands were beaten in a penalty kick shoot-out and the Danes took the title beating Germany 2-0 in the final.


1996 – The Czech Republic lost their opening group game 2-0 to Germany but rebounded to make the final against the same opponent. However, Germany doubled the Czechs with a golden goal from Oliver Bierhoff.


2004 – Few would have predicted that the two countries that opened the tournament would also make it all the way to the final match. But that was exactly what happened. Greece beat Portugal 2-1 in the opener and then again 1-0 in the final.

However, few seem to remember that the opening game win was Greece’s only victory in group play. The second match was a 1-1 draw with Spain and Russia then beat the eventual winners 2-1. Portugal actually won group A while Greece only moved on based on scoring more goals than Spain having finished tied on both points and goal differential.


Predictions
Before anyone jumps all over anyone's predictions there is one rule. No criticism allowed unless you also post your own predictions under the comments section. A scoring system can be found at the end of my predictions.


Group A
1. Portugal
2. Czech Republic
3. Switzerland
4. Turkey


Group B
1. Germany
2. Croatia
3. Poland
4. Austria


Group C
1. France
2. Romania
3. Italy
4. Netherlands

There has to be at least one surprise and for me this is it. I flipped between France and Italy not to qualify and the decision eventually swung on Cannavaro’s injury and the potential France have available from the bench. We will see.


Group D
1. Spain
2. Greece
3. Sweden
4. Russia


Quarter Finals
Portugal to beat Croatia

Germany to beat Czech Republic

France to beat Greece

Spain to beat Romania


Semi Finals
Germany to beat Portugal

France to beat Spain


Final
Germany to beat France


Prediction scoring system
1 point for every group position picked correctly.

2 bonus points for getting 1st or 2nd position in the group correct

3 points for correctly predicting the winners of each of the quarter final matches

5 points for correctly predicting the winners of the semi finals

10 points for correctly predicting the winners of the competition.

By my calculation sixty-four points (64) constitutes the maximum score.

Good luck.


Part One - History and Background


Part Two – Portugal and the Czech Republic.


Part Three - Switzerland and Turkey.


Part Four - Austria and Croatia.


Part Five - Germany and Poland.


Part Six - France and Italy


Part Seven - Netherlands and Romania.


Part 8 - Greece and Russia


Part 9 - Spain and Sweden.