UEFA EURO 2008 GROUP A
Switzerland v Czech Republic 1700 BST
Portugal v Turkey 1945 BST
BUILD-UP (all times BST)
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1602: "Re 1515: The main greeting in Switzerland is Gruezi (pronounce: grew-zi), and those crazy Austrians greet each other by saying 'Gruss Gott' (Hello God, I think)."
Fullofham on 606
Happy to admit I have no idea if this is true. Apologies if it's actually a string of obscenities.
1557: And what of the Czech Republic? Well, they've got Jan Koller - who is the only striker at Euro 2008 who has scored more than 50 international goals. They also conceded fewest goals in qualifying, along with France and Holland. However, they don't have tricky Arsenal midfielder Tomas Rosicky. A huge blow.
1552: "Switzerland showed what a poor team they are by losing to England. I mean seriously what self respecting team loses to England?"
AreaClouded on 606
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1544: Of the two co-hosts, Switzerland are widely regarded to have the better chance of advancing beyond the group stages, largely because Austria are, well, rubbish. The Swiss have a cast-iron defence, marshalled by Arsenal's Philippe Senderos (yes, him), but they don't score a lot of goals. At the last World Cup, they managed four goals in four games before going out to Ukraine in a penalty shoot-out in which they didn't score a single spot-kick.
1534: Disappointing news for opening ceremony fans, of which I am one. This afternoon's extravaganza is set to last a mere 13 minutes, hardly enough time to open an envelope. The theme is modern pixel art, and the show will finish with 900 pyrotechnic shots. Awesome...
1528: "Looking forward to watching Philipp Degen, I know absolutely nothing about him, apart from he's tall, strong and likes to attack. I can only see a Czech win though."
Superredripper on 606
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1524: You, like me, will still be reeling from the news that Sir Geoff Hurst, England's hat-trick hero in 1966, is lending his support to... Germany. Germany! I ask you. Me? I'm going for Turkey. They've got an English-born player in Kazim 'Don't call me Colin' Kazim and 'colourful' coach Fatih Terim, who is also known as 'The Emperor'.
1515: Bonjour, Guten Tag, Hola... (this is where I run out of languages) Hello. Welcome to Euro Two Thousand and Great. Sitting comfortably? Probably more comfortably than Steve McClaren right now I should imagine...
BIG MATCH STATS
Head-to-heads
Switzerland and Czech Republic have met each other on 30 occasions with the Czechs emerging victorious 16 times and the Swiss triumphing in eight instances.
The last meeting between these nations was a friendly in the Czech Republic on 18 August 1999, which was won 3-0 by the hosts. Jan Koller opened the scoring in that match. Tomas Galasek also played for the Czechs.
Team facts - Switzerland
Switzerland have not conceded a goal in competitive matches since 16 November 2005, when they lost a World Cup qualifier against Turkey 4-2.
Switzerland have not won any of their previous six matches at the European Championship.
Team facts - Czech Republic
The Czechs are the only former champions in Group A, having won as Czechoslovakia in 1976.
Czech Republic, France and Netherlands conceded fewest goals (five) in qualifying for Euro 2008.
Player facts - Switzerland
Alexander Frei, a Basel native, became Switzerland's all-time top scorer on Friday, 30 May, having netted his 35th goal in a friendly against Liechtenstein. The previous record had belonged to Xam Abegglen since 1937 and had been equalled by Kubilay Turkyilmaz in 2001.
Basel native Eren Derdiyok is the only teenager amongst the 368 players that will be present at Euro 2008. He will celebrate his 20th birthday on Thursday 12 June. The record for youngest player at the European Championship is safe with Johan Vonlanthen, who was 18 years and 137 days old, when Switzerland took on England on 17 June 2004.
Pascal Zuberbuhler (37) can break Jorg Stiel's record for oldest Swiss player in a European Championship match.
Player facts - Czech Republic
Karel Bruckner, like Swiss colleague Kobi Kuhn, will lead his nation as he did at Euro 2004 and the 2006 World Cup, with the intention of resigning after Euro 2008. Bruckner has led the Czechs to 49 victories in 73 matches in charge of the national team.
Jan Koller is the only player among the 368 at Euro 2008 with more than 50 international goals (54). At 2.02 metres, Koller is the tallest player at Euro 2008. Koller and Marek Jankulovski are about to equal the Czech record for most European Championship participations (three), a mark that has been recorded by Vladimir Smicer, Karel Poborsky and Pavel Nedved.
The Czech squad boasts no player that won a domestic league championship with his club last season, yet harbours four players:- Blazek, Galasek, Koller (1. FC Nurnberg) and Matejovsky (Reading) who were relegated.
Milan Baros was the tournament top scorer at Euro 2004, netting five times in Portugal four years ago.
Miscellaneous Info
Since the introduction of the group phase in 1980, each edition of the European Championship has seen hosts reach the last four.
Big Match Stats source: Infostrada Sports
(BBC)
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