France winger Franck Ribery wants to play like Zidane and win the Ballon D’or. Leading France to victory this summer would go some way to helping him toward those goals. I, for one, am a big, big fan of the player. In the post-Zidane era, he has just about looked like France’s best player. Reports coming out of Germany have it that he’s just about the best player in the Budesliga. With Ribery in his best form, France will be very imposing in at least one of the 11 positions.

Another no-brainer for Domenech has to be Karim Benzema. Bernard Laporte metioned Benzema in his recent quotes. Laporte was also talking about Ribery’s comments that he didn’t fancy playing in France again. Laporte is far from alone in his interest in Benzema. The player is of the highest quality, and should be standing shoulder-to-shoulder with Ribery leading France to glory this summer.
Click Here To Read More About “Watch out for Ribery!.”

Letzigrund Stadium Information

Name: Letzigrund
Inauguration:February 22nd 1925 ( opened after renovation August 30th 2007 )
First match: Servette FC - Young Boys Berne
Capacity: 30,000

Club Information:

Club: FC Zurich
Inauguration: 1896

Performances:

- won the Swiss Super League 11 times ( last time in 2007 )

- won the Schweizer Cup 7 times

- reached the European Champions Cup semifinals twice in 1964 and 1977

Match schedule at Euro 2008:

Match 5 – Romania - France Mon. 9th June 18:00

Match 13 – Italy - Romania, Wed 13th June 18:00

Match 22 – France - Italy, Tue 17th June 20:45

Click Here To Read More About “Letzigrund Stadium - Zurich.”

Stade de Suisse Stadium Information

Name: Stade de Suisse Wankdorf ( built on the grounds of the former Wankdorf Stadium, which had been demolished in 2001)
Inauguration: July 30th 2005
First match: Young Boys Berne - Olympique Marseille
Capacity: 32,000

Club Information:

Club: BSC Young Boys
Inauguration: 1896
Performances:

- won the Swiss Super League 11 times ( last time in 1986 )

- won the Schweizer Cup 6 times

- reached the 1959 European Cup semi-final against Stade Reims( the highest performence of the Swiss football yet )

Match schedule at Euro 2008:

Match 6 – Netherlands - Italy Mon. 9th June 20:45

Match 14 – Netherlands - France, Fri 13th June 20:45

Match 21 – Netherlands - Romania, Sun 17th June 20:45

Click Here To Read More About “Stade de Suisse Wankdorf - Berne.”

Euro 2008 Fixtures 07-29 June 2008

Euro 2008 Group Stage - Match Schedule

1 07/06 A Switzerland 18:00 Czech Republic Basel St. Jakob-Park
2 07/06 A Portugal 20:45 Turkey Geneva Stade de Geneve
3 08/06 B Austria 18:00 Croatia Vienna Ernst Happel Stadion
4 08/06 B Germany 20:45 Poland KlagenfurtHypo-Arena
5 09/06 C Romania 18:00 France Zurich Letzigrund
6 09/06 C Netherlands 20:45 Italy BerneStade de Suisse
7 10/06 D Spain 18:00 Russia InnsbruckTivoli-Neu
8 10/06 D Greece 20:45 Sweden SalzburgWals Siezenheim
9 11/06 A Czech Republic 18:00 Portugal Geneva Stade de Geneve
10 11/06 A Switzerland 20:45 Turkey Basel St. Jakob-Park
11 12/06 B Croatia 18:00 Germany Klagenfurt Hypo-Arena
12 12/06 B Austria 20:45 Poland Vienna Ernst Happel Stadion
13 13/06 C Italy 18:00 Romania ZurichLetzigrund
14 13/06 C Netherlands 20:45 France BerneStade de Suisse
15 14/06 D Sweden 18:00 Spain InnsbruckTivoli-Neu
16 14/06 D Greece 20:45 Russia SalzburgWals Siezenheim
17 15/06 A Switzerland 20:45 Portugal Basel St. Jakob-Park
18 15/06 A Turkey 20:45 Czech Republic Geneva Stade de Geneve
19 16/06 B Poland 20:45 Croatia KlagenfurtHypo-Arena
20 16/06 B Austria 20:45 Germany Vienna Ernst Happel Stadion
21 17/06 C Netherlands 20:45 Romania BerneStade de Suisse
22 17/06 C France 20:45 Italy ZurichLetzigrund
23 18/06 D Greece 20:45 Spain SalzburgWals Siezenheim
24 18/06 D Russia 20:45 Sweden InnsbruckTivoli-Neu

Euro 2008 QuarterFinal - Match Schedule

25 19/06 QF 1 Winner A 20:45 Runner-up B Basel St. Jakob-Park
26 20/06 QF 2 Winner B 20:45 Runner-up A Vienna Ernst Happel Stadion
27 21/06 QF 3 Winner C 20:45 Runner-up D Basel St. Jakob-Park
28 22/06 QF 4 Winner D 20:45 Runner-up C Vienna Ernst Happel Stadion

Euro 2008 SemiFinal - Match Schedule

29 25/06 SF 1 Winner #25 20:45 Winner #26 Basel St. Jakob-Park
30 26/06 SF 2 Winner #27 20:45 Winner #28 Vienna Ernst Happel Stadion

Euro 2008 Final - Match Schedule

31 29/06 Final Winner #29 20:45 Winner #30 Vienna Ernst Happel Stadion

On December the 2nd the final draw for Euro 2008 took place in Lucerne, gathering Europe’s finest football breath. The 16 qualified teams were divided into 4 pots, the first group, the seeded teams’ one, including the two hosts, Switzerland and Austria, the last Champions, Greece, and the Netherlands. At the and of the draw session, the four groups were decided:

Now all 16 teams can make their schedule intro a good plan for the final tournament. The draws placed the last World Cup finalists, Italy and France, the Netherlands and Romania into a group of death, were all can happen. Greece, Spain and Russia all met four years ago in Portugal, so they’ll play again against each other, along Sweden. An interesting group is Group B, where we have three historical rivals, Austria, Germany and Poland, and the strong Croatians. In Group A, Portugal and the Czech Republic will try to prove their superiority, but they’ll have hard work to do against the Swiss hosts and the Turks.

With only few days left before the draw for Euro 2008, let’s make a quick review of all 16 competitors, which will offer us an unforgettable show next year. Here are the 16 teams, divided in 4 pots:

Click Here To Read More About “Euro 2008 Qualified Teams.”