Saturday sees the start of the quad-annual(?) European Championships tournament (aka Euro 2008) being held in Austria and Switzerland. Traditionally this tournament takes place in between World Cups and gives European nations a continuing fixture lists year in-year out.

Over the years the European Championships have provided great moments, from Czechoslovakia’s Antonin Pananka scoring the coolest penalty you’ll ever see to Marco van Basten scoring, hands down, the greatest goal ever (ok, it’s tied with Zinedine Zidane’s sublime goal in the 2002 UEFA Champions League final (personal opinion)). From Tomas Brolin to Paul Gascoigne and beyond, I’ve always been psyched for the Euro’s over the years, especially Euro 96 when it was held in England and Scotland were in the same group as England. I even payed for the Euro 2004 PPV package 4 years ago, but I digress…

This year has all the makings of being great, and it’s even more so that ESPN have ponied up and it’s no longer on PPV. The only downside is they are using ESPN Classic to show some games (including the opening games), and that channel looks like crap on Time Warner in Charlotte, but again, I digress…

So the first game is at noon on ESPN Classic (or ESPN Deportes if you’re that way inclined). Hosts Switzerland take on the Czech Republic followed by Portugal vs. Turkey, all these teams are in Group A

Group A

Switzerland

The Swiss are not normally a great team, sure they have a lot of individually talented players, but they never seem to “click” on the big stage, their highlights have been getting through the group stages of the World Cup in 1994 and 2006. The period of 92 to 96 was probably their best time internationally, with such players like Alain Sutter, Stephane Chapuisat and Ciriaco Sforza, the qualified for back-to-back tournaments in World Cup 94 and Euro 96 and then proceeded to languish in qualifying hell until Euro 2004, indeed they only “qualified” for this tournament as hosts.

Player(s) to Watch: I’ve always liked Hakan Yakin, at age 31 this is probably his last chance to shine on the big stage (but hey, there is always World Cup 2010). He is a very creative midfield playmaker who’s not shy about putting the ball in the net (90 times in just over 200 Swiss league games dating back to 1999).

Czech Republic

Another mercurial team who are regularly in the top 10 in FIFA Rankings due to their “lights out” qualifying play, but can never seem to fully turn it on at tournaments. They first made news at Euro 96 where they finished runners-up to Germany with a slew of classy players like Karel Poborsky, Patrik Berger and Pavel Nedved and they always seem to find world class talent at just the right time. But outside of Euro 96 and a semi-final appearance at Euro 2004, they’ve kinda stuttered.

Player(s) to Watch: Petr Cech. This Chelsea goalkeeper is in a class of his own, and it takes something very special to put the ball past him. He’s easy to spot as, following a nasty head injury in 2006, he wears a Rugby-style head protector.

Portugal

Another mercurial team, in fact all the teams in Group A are. Portugal have undergone a renaissance since 2000 when they made the semi-finals of Euro 2000 and they are blessed with an abundance of talent that could win it all or explode in dramatic fashion. They may not have the likes of Luis Figo to fall back on, but with players like Deco, Simao and Nuno Gomes in their squad, not to mention a little player they like to call Cristiano Ronaldo, they’re one of the favourites.

Player(s) to Watch: Cristiano Ronaldo dos Santos Aveiro (or just Cristiano Ronaldo), arguably the best player on the planet right now and he’s not going to let a little missed penalty in the Champions League final stop him from dancing around anyone who dares come near him. He has a bit of a temper, and a penchant for diving, but he can change a game in the blink of an eye.

Turkey

If one word could describe Turkey it would be (mercurial?) temperamental. Another case of great individual talent who were on the cusp of great things in the early 2000’s with great showings at Euro 2000 and World Cup 2002 but since then they have blown more cold than hot having failed to qualify for the next two tournaments.

Player(s) to Watch: Tuncay Sanli, a versitile winger who also has a knack for scoring goals. He was viewed as the next best thing dating back to 2003, but now he has a chance to show his talents on a larger stage. A lot of Turkey’s hopes may very well rest on him.

So that’s Group A, stay tuned for the remaining groups as we build up to the kickoff on Saturday.