(i " ’ E'Jit096 SPECIAL {’3'
he hi squads
Will home ad tantage give England the edge? Will Turkey be the competition‘s turkeys? Lorin MeDougall offers his assessment of the sixteen teams lining up for Euro96.
GROUP A
I Scotland: (‘raig Brown is targetting a quarter- final place. bttt for most Scots. victory at Wembley on 15 June is the prime objective. l)espite a shaky display at (‘openhagen recently. the defence looks solid enough as does the midfield. led by skipper Gary McAllister. But. crucially. who will sttpply the goals'.’
I England: (‘an lil Tel emulate Sir Alf 30 years on'.’ Once again. home advantage will help. bttt lack of competitive action could be a handicap. To succeed. Venables tnust stick to his gttns tactically and choose wisely between Shearer and l'ierdinand up front. .\'o such problems in midfield where Gascoigne. l’latt and lnce should shine.
I Holland: The masters of Total Football only qualified after a play-off. bttt their sparkling win over Ireland installed them as many people‘s favourite. The huge void left by Guillit and Van Basten has been filled by precocious youngsters from .Ajax. such as Davids and Kluivert. plus Arsenal's Dennis Bergkamp.
I Switzerland: The Swiss ended Andy Roxburgh‘s tenure as manager in 1993. and names such as Knup. (‘hapuisat and Sforza. who all play in Germany. are sure to send a shiver down Scottish spines. However. the departure of Roy l'lodgson as coach may have broken the spell — cart his successor Artur Jorge weave the same magic'.’
GROUP 3
I France: The confidence gained from a twenty-match unbeaten run has prompted the French to leave out (‘antona and Ginola. Instead. they will rely on home-grown talent frotn PSG. Auxerre and Bordeaux. plus others based in Italy's Serie A. Only two goals were lost in qualification thanks to keeper Lama.
I Spain: The perennial under-achievers were the first side to qualify bttt rarely seem to perform when it matters most. (‘oach Javier Clemente has been ruthlessly criticised for his no-risk approach. keeping faith with veteran keeper Zubi/arreta while scorning Real Madrid‘s teenage genius Raul. who goes to the Olympics instead. '
I Bulgaria: Pulled off a major surprise in the World Cup by beating holders Germany in the quarter-finals. The fearsome long-range
12 The List 3| May-13 Jun I996
was
Brian Laudrup: the Rangers player will be gunning for Denmark
Paul oascoigne: the Rangers midfielder is to be reunited with his English team-mates
John Collins: the tormer Celtic player, on the bail tor Scouand
shooting of Stoichkov and the luxurious hairpiece of goalkeeper Mikhailov will still be on show at Euro9o. as will Aberdeen‘s new signing Kiriakov.
I Romania: Their thrilling counter-attacking. particularly against Argentina. made them a potent force two years ago. Key players such as
llagi and Lacatus have faded since then. although one-time Rangers target Florin
Raducioiu remains a goalscorer of the highest class.
I Germany: The game‘s toughest competitors are seeking a hat-trick of wins in this competition. Much depends on the form of Jttrgen Klinsmann. whose fifteen goals inspired Bayern Municlt to l'l'iFA (‘up success. (‘oach Berti \'ogts is under even greater pressure after failing to deliver in Sweden four years ago and again when defending their world title in 1994.
I ltaly: World Cup runners-up. ltaly go into Furo96 without the old guard of Baresi. Vialli and Baggio. Maldini is captain now and new stars have quickly emerged. including Juventus duo Ravanelli and Del l’iero. who twice put Rangers to the sword in the (‘hampions League last autumn.
I Russia: Tipped by Craig Brown to go all the way. Russia looked formidable against Scotland in qualifying. but their inability to find a way past Leighton and his defence in Moscow suggests they lack a killer punch. Flying winger Andrei Kanchelskis. now of Fverton. returns to Old Trafford to face Germany on lo June.
I Czech Republic: The l97o winners finished ahead of Holland and Norway in their group where. amazingly. their sole defeat came at the hands of Luxembourg. Dusan L'hrin‘s
Jorge Cadete: Celtic's new hitman will play for his home
country Portugal
team is well-balanced. featuring experienced
campaigners such as Berger and Skuhravy. and
also Slavia‘s attacking full-back Jan Suchoparek who has been watched by Walter Smith.
GROUP O
I Denmark: The last-minute stand-ins who stole the show in l992 will. in Brian Laudrup's view. ‘take a lot of stopping‘. Laudrup himself whetted the appetite with his Scottish Cup Final heroics for Rangers. while older brother Michael is still a major threat. Manchester l'nited keeper Peter Schmeichel is another world-class performer.
I Portugal: The Portuguese return to England. hoping to follow in ilte footsteps of the great liusebio who finished top scorer in the I966 World Cup. Of the new generation. defender Fernando (‘outo looks poised to move to Rangers where he'll be in direct opposition to Celtic‘s Jorge ('adete. also in the squad. Juventus midfielder Sousa is another to watch. I Croatia: Victory over ltaly in the qualifiers earned them a big reputation. but an insipid performance against lingland recently impressed no one. Suker. Boksic and Prosinecki should stretch the \ ery best defences. bttt morale will be affected if captain Boban of Milan is forced out by his mystery illness.
I Turkey: The tournament's rank outsiders deserve respect after defeating Switzerland attd Sweden in Group 3. The star of their entirely home-based squad is striker llakan Sukur of Galatasaray. the club which national manager Fatih Terim will join after Furo9o. following the sacking of Graeme Souness.
l’ltutngmp/ts courtesy oft/1c Daily Record and [firm ")6: The Road To lli'm/i/t'y (uvui/ub/e/i'om ncu'mgcnrv u! {2.50).