Germans, Dutch, Czechs in toughest group

LISBON, Portugal (AP) -- Three-time champion Germany will face neighbor Netherlands and the Czech Republic in the toughest group for next year's European Championships.

The fourth team in Group D is rookie Latvia, which knocked out World Cup semifinalist Turkey in the playoffs to make Sunday's draw.

Neighbors Portugal and Spain are together in Group A with Greece and Russia; Group B is defending champion France with England, Switzerland and Croatia; Group C is Sweden, Italy, Bulgaria and Denmark.

Portugal will face Greece in the opening match at FC Porto's Dragao stadium June 12 with Spain vs. Russia the same day at the new Faro-Loule ground in the Algarve. The July 4 final is at the new 65,000 capacity Stadium of Light in Lisbon.

The draw means that the Germans will meet one of their traditional rivals, the Dutch, in the opening phase in what could be a security headache for the organizers because fans of both teams have a history of violent confrontations.

Soon after the draw, organizers announced that the game had been moved from the 30,000 seater Municipal Stadium in Aveiro to the much bigger Dragao stadium in Porto.

The Germans also face the team they beat in extra time in the 1996 final at Wembley, the Czech Republic. Czechoslovakia beat West Germany in the 1976 final in Belgrade on penalties after a 2-2 tie.

"It's a very, very strong group," said German coach Rudi Voeller. "We can't really celebrate. But we knew all groups would be tough at Euro 2004. We don't need to waste time talking about the strengths of the Dutch. The only thing that disturbs me is the late start to the tournament for us."

Dutch coach Dick Advocaat admitted his team had a tough tasking reaching the last eight.

"It's a super tough group, for all of us," he said. "The Germans always bite at big tournaments. In the qualifications, there were no differences between us and the Czechs. It's a good thing we start against the Germans."

The Czechs and the Dutch also met in qualifying with the Czechs winning 3-1 at home and gaining a 1-1 tie in Rotterdam. That was the only qualifying game the Czech team didn't win.

"It's an unpleasant group," said Czech Republic captain Pavel Nedved. The Czech squad wanted to avoid the Netherlands, which many of its players consider the strongest team in Europe.

"When I saw the groups I wasn't excited. They were one team I really didn't want. They're up for revenge after we beat them 3-1 in qualifying."

While the draw, conducted by Portuguese stars Eusebio and Hugo Viana and former French captain Laurent Blanc, was unkind to the teams in Group D, it gave defending champion France a comparatively easy time.

Jacques Santini's team, which qualified with a perfect record of eight victories, faces Sven-Goran Eriksson's England which has not lost a qualifying game under the Swede at either the World Cup or the Euros.

While France lost its World Cup title in Japan without scoring a goal and going out in the first round, England reached the quarterfinal under Eriksson before losing 2-1 to eventual champion Brazil.

The draw means that Arsenal's French stars Patrick Vieira, Thierry Henry, Robert Pires and Sylvain Wiltord will face the England players they meet every week in the Premier League. In six meetings since 1982, the two teams have each won twice with two matches being tied.

"I think it's going to be an open game, it's going to be an open group and anyone can beat anybody. It's going to be difficult for us," Vieira said of the game which is June 13 at the Stadium of Light in Lisbon.

"The first three points will be important. We are quite confident in ourselves but we know it will be a difficult game."

Although France and England appear favorites to reach the last eight, Santini said it would be a tougher group than it looked.

"This is a very balanced group we will have to be on the top of our form to get out of it alive," the French coach said.

Eriksson said he wouldn't take into account the French flop at the World Cup.

"The France that you saw in Japan was not the real France and I should think that at Euro 2004 you will see them back at their best," the Swede said.

"They have a good chance and I think that if you take their squad as a whole they have the best football players of any side in the competition. With France they don't just have one or two good individuals but many many players who play in all the best leagues across Europe.

"Technically, tactically and physically they are in top form, as they showed against Germany recently (a 3-0 victory in Gelsenkirchen two weeks ago).

While Switzerland topped its group, it is not considered a strong candidate for the quarterfinal. Croatia, a World Cup semifinalist at France '98, hasn't hit that sort of form since then.

Italy, which was runner up at the last Euros in 2000, also has a reasonably easy group although all four teams qualified as group winners.

"Our duty is to go on in the tournament and reach the final four. Thanks to god we avoided the biggest teams," said Giovanni Trapattoni, whose team hasn't won the title since 1968 when they were on home soil.

"A relatively open group," said Swedish co-coach Lars Lagerback. "Looking at previous accomplishments, Italy must be considered the strongest team."

The Portugal-Spain game June 20, with Real Madrid star Luis Figo facing his club colleagues, will be at Lisbon's new 52,000 seater Jose Alvalade stadium.

"It will be good to play Portugal," said Valencia goalkeeper Santiago Canizares. "It's always exciting to play the host team. And we beat them in Portugal the last time we met [3-0 in Guimaraes in September]. We know Greece very well. They beat us and so it's a bit of a revenge match. We last played Russia about four years ago so I'm not sure about them."

Greece coach Otto Rehhagel said his team had back luck facing both Portugal and Spain.

"A home team is always one of the favorites and we ended up against two 'home' teams," he said. "We are complete outsiders but we'll use our chance."

Russia's soccer president, Vyacheslav Koloskov, believed his team could upset the Spaniards.

"Spain is always Spain," he said. "However, recently their team hasn't been shining."