前进!前进!再前进!进军阿尔卑斯!

这个6月热闹非凡，因为2008年欧洲足球锦标赛马上就要开始了！本月7至29号，欧洲各路豪强将在阿尔卑斯展开厮杀。在此之前，预选赛最让人意外的就是英格兰无缘欧锦赛。英格兰的出局似乎预示着本届欧锦赛将悬念不断，并再次证明一条“真理”――足球是圆的，不到最后一刻，谁也不知道结果如何。

值得关注的是，荷兰、意大利、法国和罗马尼亚被分到C组，是今年当之无愧的死亡之组，看来届时必有一番龙争虎斗。想知道跻身16强的各支队伍实力如何？哪队最有冠军相？马上看过来！

Sixteen teams from across Europe spent over a year qualifying[使具有资格] for the 2008 European Football Championship held in Switzerland and Austria. One could argue that Europe’s continental finals have never been so wide open. Indeed, all 16 qualifiers will enter UEFA EURO 2008注 with genuine[真正的] hopes of emerging victorious[获胜的]. So the question is: which nation will triumph? Let’s take a look at each team.

Czech Republic

The Czech Republic has made six previous[早先的] appearances at the European Championship, qualifying this year by finishing ahead of Germany in qualifying Group D. They lost just one game in qualifying, going down 2-1 to Germany at home.

Portugal

Portugal finished runner-up[第二名] to Poland in qualifying Group A, having lost just one game all campaign long. This is Portugal’s fifth appearance at the European Championship having hosted the tournament[锦标赛] in 2004.

Switzerland

2008 will be Switzerland’s third appearance at the European Championship. As co-hosts,Switzerland didn’t need to progress through a qualifying campaign.

Turkey

Turkey previously competed in the tournament in 1996 and again in 2000, missing out on qualification for Euro 2004. They qualified for Euro 2008 by finishing runner-up in Group C, seven points behind Greece, one point ahead of third-placed Norway.

Austria

Euro 2008 marks Austria’s first entry to the tournament, hosting the European Championship with Switzerland securing their qualification. Austria will play their group games at the Ernst Happel Stadion, the country’s national stadium which also hosts the final of Euro 2008.

Croatia

Croatia made a firm impression at Euro 96 on their first qualification, missing out on 2000 but

returning in Portugal in 2004. Croatia will be remembered for Euro 2008 by beating England at Wembley in their final qualifying game, topping Group E ahead of Russia and eliminating[消灭]

England from the tournament.

Germany

Three-time winners Germany haven’t missed a tournament since 1972, this year marking their tenth appearance. Germany finished runner-up in Group D. Germany won the trophy[战利品] in 1972, 1980 and again in 1996.

Poland

Poland, who will co-host Euro 2012, opened their qualifying Group A campaign with a 3-1 defeat against Finland, but recovered to lose only one more game in the group, finishing in first position with 28 points out of 14 games. 2008 marks Poland’s first appearance at the UEFA European Championship.

France

Twice crowned European champions, Euro 2008 is France’s seventh time in the competition, having previously won the trophy in 1984 and 2000, beating Italy 2-1 in extra time. France finished runner-up to Italy in qualifying Group B, only to be paired together in Group C along with Netherlands and Romania.

Italy

Italy has won the European Championship just once, back in 1968. In qualifying for this year’s competition, Italy finished top of qualifying Group B, losing only one game, to France in September, 2006 (3-1).

Netherlands

The Netherlands will be making their eighth appearance at the European Championship, having co-hosted the event in 2000 and won the event back in 1988.

Romania

Like the case between France and Italy, Romania also came out of the same qualifying group as the Netherlands, having topped the group with 29 points. Romania have appeared previously in 1984, 1996 and again in 2000.

Greece

Greece is the present European champion, having beaten Portugal on home soil in 2004. The first time Greece entered the competition (1984) they couldn’t win a game; the second time (2004) they won the tournament outright[全部地]. They also had a good qualifying campaign, finishing top of group C with just one defeat in 12 games.

Russia

Russia won the very first European Championship back in 1960 but hasn’t won since. This will be their ninth appearance in the competition. They pipped[险胜] England to second place in Group E qualifying, finishing behind Croatia.

Spain

Regulars in the competition since 1980, Spain won their only trophy in 1964 and will be making their eighth appearance at the European Championship.

Sweden

Sweden came out of the same qualifying group as Spain. Sweden has been involved in the competition on three previous occasions, 1992, 2000, and at the last tournament in 2004.

为了争夺进军2008年在瑞士和奥地利举行的欧洲足球锦标赛决赛阶段比赛的16个名额，欧洲诸强在一年多的时间内展开激烈角逐。可以说，欧洲大陆的决赛从未试过这般悬念迭起。确实，参加2008欧锦赛的16支队伍都有夺冠希望。因此问题来了：究竟哪个国家会获胜？我们这就来看看各参赛队伍吧。

捷克

捷克曾参加过六次欧锦赛。今年，他们在预选赛中以D组首名出线，积分比德国队还要高。预选赛中，他们只输了一场比赛――在主场以1:2的比分败于

德国队。

葡萄牙

葡萄牙在A组预选赛中以第二名屈居波兰队之下，但整个赛程仅负一场。作为2004年欧洲杯的东道主，这是葡萄牙队第五次在欧锦赛亮相。

瑞士

2008年将是瑞士第三次参加欧锦赛。作为联合主办国之一，瑞士无需参加预选赛即可进入决赛周。

土耳其

土耳其之前参加过1996年和2000年的锦标赛，但未能打入2004年欧锦赛。2008年的欧锦赛预选赛中，他们以C组第二名晋级决赛，积分比第一名的希腊队落后7分，比第三名的挪威队多1分。

奥地利

2008年标志着奥地利首次踏足欧锦赛――他们因与瑞士共同举办赛事而自动获得参赛资格。他们将在奥地利国家体育场恩斯特-哈普尔体育场进行小组赛的比赛，决赛也将在该地进行。

克罗地亚

克罗地亚在1996年首次参加欧锦赛时给人们留下了深刻印象。虽然他们在2000年没能获得参赛资格，但2004年再次杀回葡萄牙。克罗地亚队在2008年欧锦赛预选赛中的表现一定会被世人铭记：在预选赛最后一场比赛中，他们在温布利球场击败英格兰，积分领先俄罗斯，作为E组首名出线，并将

英格兰淘汰出局。

德国

自从1972年起，三届欧锦赛冠军德国队就从未错过任何一届赛事。今年他们在D组中以第二名的成绩出线，第十次参加这项赛事。德国队是1972年、1980年和1996年欧锦赛的最后赢家。

波兰

作为2012年欧锦赛主办国之一的波兰在今年A组预选赛的首场比赛中以1:3负于芬兰。但他们随后顽强地恢复水平，在接下来的小组赛中仅再负一场，最后在14场比赛中以28分的成绩成为小组第一。2008年标志着波兰第一次进军UEFA欧洲足球锦标赛。

法国

对于两度加冕欧洲冠军的法国来说，2008年是他们第七次参加角逐。法国分别在1984年和2000年（在加时赛中以2:1击败意大利）夺冠。在今年的B组预选赛中，法国落后意大利屈居第二。不巧的是，决赛圈中两队又被分在C组，同组的还有荷兰和罗马尼亚。

意大利

意大利只得过一次欧洲杯冠军，而那已是1968年的事了。在这次预选赛中，意大利取得了B组第一，仅在2006年9月以1:3负于法国。

荷兰

今年是荷兰第八次参加欧锦赛。荷兰是2000年赛事的主办国之一，并在1988年获得冠军。

罗马尼亚

与法国和意大利的情况一样，罗马尼亚和荷兰在预选赛中也恰好在同一组，前者以29分位居第一。先前罗马尼亚参加过1984年、1996年和2000年的

比赛。

希腊

2004年击败东道主葡萄牙的希腊是目前的欧洲锦标赛冠军。希腊在1984年首次参赛时一场比赛也没有赢过，而2004年第二次参赛时却大获全胜。他们在预选赛中的表现也相当出色，在12场比赛中仅失一场，以C组

首名出线。

俄罗斯

早在1960年，俄罗斯就取得了第一届欧洲杯的奖杯，但此后一直未能再次夺冠。今年将是俄罗斯第九次参赛。他们在E组资格赛中以微弱的优势领先英格兰，位居罗马尼亚之后。

西班牙

曾在1964年夺得唯一一次冠军的西班牙自1980年以来就成为了欧锦赛的常客。此次是他们第八次参加比赛。

瑞典

瑞典与西班牙在资格赛中是同一组。瑞典曾三次参赛，分别是1992年、2000年以及上一届（2004年）的比赛。

注：2008欧洲足球锦标赛一般被称为“UEFA EURO 2008”。UEFA（Union of European Football Association，欧洲足球联合委员会）是管理欧洲足球的机构。另外，欧锦赛是欧洲足球锦标赛的简称，原来一直叫欧洲杯，是欧洲各国经过分组预选赛后进行的决赛部分。