Euro 2004: football scores with EU United

By Tony Mallett

Date: 04/12/03

IT IS the biggest extravaganza in European football, bringing together the cream of the continent's exponents of "the beautiful game". It's huger even than the Champions League. And this time around it is being held in sun-drenched Portugal.

Yes, the UEFA European Championships, staged every four years since 1960, will head for Lisbon and seven other of the country's cities in June 2004.

And the final stages of the tournament will, again, be dominated by EU member states and accession countries.

Since UEFA, European football's governing body, launched the qualifying stages of Euro 2004, it has taken 210 games and 438 days to whittle down 50 teams to the 16 which will be aiming to reach the final in Lisbon's magnificent new Estádio da Luz (Stadium of Light) on4 July next year.

Of the remaining elite, no less than ten represent member states, while a further two accession states will have joined the Union little more than a month before the big kick-off, and a third is set to join in 2007.

Portugal is in the last 16 by virtue of its status as host nation, while Denmark, France, Germany, Greece, Italy, the Netherlands, Spain, Sweden and England qualified via the group stages. The Czech Republic, old hands over the years, and Bulgaria, made it too. But perhaps the biggest shock of all was the qualification of little Latvia - who knocked-out last year's World Cup semi-finalists Turkey in the play-offs.

The three remaining teams come from Croatia, Russia and Switzerland but, with some 80% of the sides having EU connections, it's impossible to deny that the tournament is member-state dominated.

Historically, it has always been so. The list of winners proves it. Since the then-USSR won the inaugural tournament in 1960, the past ten have been won by EU and EU-to-be teams: Germany three times, France (2), and Italy, Spain, the Netherlands, Denmark and the Czechs. In that time only Yugoslavia (1968) and the USSR (1988) from outside of the EU have even made it to the final.

Indeed, the Yugoslavia story is memorable in itself, although sadly not for the former country. With war raging ahead of the 1992 finals (for which they had already qualified) UEFA was forced to disqualify the team.

Yugoslavia was then replaced by a squad of players that had just missed out on qualification. That side, "the lucky losers", was Denmark. And guess what? The Danes destroyed all in their path and won the tournament. It's a funny old game as they say in football circles.

Those 1992 championships were also notable for their reflection of two other monumental political events: a united Germany played for the first time (losing in the final) and the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) made an appearance in the aftermath of the break up of the USSR.

But back to 2004. The host nation is busily preparing for an event that is already driving the multi-cultural Portuguese wild in anticipation.

And it's not the soccer alone that is causing the excitement: Portugal's tourism chiefs predict a huge boost to the economy across the country.

Said one: "This event is so high profile that the image of our country can only benefit. It is an extraordinary opportunity to show the world our historical heritage, our traditions and our hospitality."

The infrastructure will also benefit. There are seven new stadia and three fully refurbished ones across the country, most of which have facilities for other sports, as well as business conference areas and restaurants. And alongside the obvious boost for full-time jobs, 4,000 young volunteers will get valuable work experience during the championships. The television rights, and cash from corporate entertainment and sponsorship will also be enormous - easily justifying the kind of outlay that has given top club team Benfica its majestic new Luz stadium (it cost €120 million). Benfica's fiercest rivals Sporting Lisbon have also already benefited with a new home at the recently opened José Alvalade ground, inaugurated in the presence of Prime Minister José Manuel Durão Barroso (and 49,999 others).

Soccer fans, meanwhile, are going crazy for tickets.

"More than 30,000 tickets sold in six hours is unbelievable and demonstrates the sort of enthusiasm that the tournament is generating," said chief operations officer Martin Kallen, after the second phase of ticket sales took place in the summer.

You can't argue with that.

Long after the final whistle blows on 4 July 2004, Portugal will reap the benefits. And what's good for Portugal is surely good for the EU.

And when it is all over, incidentally, there is the small matter of the 2006 World Cup finals. To the further benefit of the Union, these will be held in Germany

So, all in all, it's clear that football and the EU are a match made in heaven.

Preview of the UEFA European Football Championships being held in Portugal in June 2004