EUROSCENE/Paddy Agnew: While the glitterati, former greats and national team managers were busy trying to work out which countries had got the best or worst of Sunday's draw for next summer's Euro 2004 finals in Portugal, the rest of us had plenty of reason for good cheer.
Even at this distant stage, a tournament which offers five potential "classics" in the opening 10 days augurs well. France v England, Germany v Holland, Holland v the Czech Republic, Spain v Portugal and Germany v the Czech Republic are all games of immediate fascination.
Three of the above five "classics" come from Group D, which in bringing together the Czechs, the Dutch and the Germans (as well as the hapless Latvians) immediately earns itself the "Group of Death" cliché. History, tradition and recent track record make this not just the toughest first-round group but also the one which boasts the winners of five of the last eight European Championships finals (Germany in 1972, 1980 and 1996, the Czechs in 1976 and Holland in 1992).
All three "bigs" will have a variety of scores, ancient and modern, to settle with each other. The Czechs are still sore about their Euro '96 final loss to Germany at Wembley. The Dutch are still smarting from a bruising qualifier in Prague two months ago which saw them beaten by the Czechs and sent into a play-off with Scotland.
As for the Dutch and the Germans, their rivalry dates from the second World War and has been playing itself out since, stopping off for moments of high drama such as the 1974 World Cup final in Munich (2-1 for the Germans), the 1988 European Championship semi-final in Hamburg (2-1 for the Dutch), the second round of the 1990 World Cup finals at the San Siro, Milan (2-1 again for the Germans), and a first-round game at Sweden '92 (3-1 for the Dutch).
Little wonder that Latvia coach Alexandrs Starkovs exclaimed: "For us, it is just really great to be here and be playing against sides likes Holland, the Czech Republic and Germany. We're not disheartened and we'll give it everything we've got to get into the second round."
Despite the optimism of the Latvian boss, it is hard not to predict a bitter finals debut for the little Baltic nation which, barring miracles, must be looking at three straight defeats.
As for the big three, much may depend on the outcome of the first clash between Germany and Holland on June 15th. The loser of that contest, if there is a loser, could struggle to recover psychologically for the next two games.
No group game will be more tense than the tournament's opening tie between Portugal and Greece in Oporto. If the home side come through that with their nerves intact, then they should be able to account for Russia before they face historic rivals and neighbours Spain in their final first-round game, in Lisbon.
Having made no secret of their desire to see Spain win through the play-offs, given the huge numbers of Spanish fans expected to travel across the border, the Portuguese would probably have preferred to meet Raul and Co rather later in the tournament. As it is, for sheer spectacle, this could prove to be one of the games of the year, given the drama of the occasion and the attacking football that comes naturally to both teams.
"Oh lucky Italy," exclaimed Portugal's Brazilian coach, Felipe Scolari, when the draw came out. Scolari clearly reckons that, with Denmark, Sweden and Bulgaria to face (in that order), Italy got the best of the draw. Given last year's World Cup humiliation at the hands of South Korea, however, Italian coach Giovanni Trapattoni was quick to play things down, sounding a warning note about the potential impact of the long club season for the top players: "The important thing will be to start the tournament with all our players fit and well," he said. "Remember how we got to the World Cup last year with a number of key players shaking off injuries. Remember, too, how France and Argentina went out immediately last year with all their players who had played either in Italy or England."
Curiously, too, England manager Sven-Goran Eriksson and French coach Jacques Santini took up the same cry, worrying about the condition of their eve-of- tournament squads.
In the end, though, France and England should really have to worry only about each other in a group in which Croatia and Switzerland seem destined for an early return home.
The rest of us should be in for some terrific football.
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