With 10 days to go, the Euro 2012 squads have been announced. Both hosts (Poland, Ukraine) seem to be underdogs in their respective groups; Germany head into the tournament as the favorites, hoping the rumors about the champions, Spain, are true. We’ve got our group of death (Group B – Germany, Portugal, Netherlands, Denmark) while the English and Italians prepare for another colossal failure.

Poland

The co-hosts of the tournament, this will be Poland’s second appearance in the tournament, finishing last in their group back in 2008.

# Pos. Player Date of Birth (Age) Caps Goals Club 1 GK Wojciech Szczęsny 18 April 1990 (aged 22) 9 0 Arsenal 2 DF Sebastian Boenisch 1 February 1987 (aged 25) 4 0 Werder Bremen 3 DF Grzegorz Wojtkowiak 26 January 1984 (aged 28) 18 0 Lech Poznań 4 DF Marcin Kamiński 15 January 1992 (aged 20) 2 0 Lech Poznań 5 MF Dariusz Dudka 9 December 1983 (aged 28) 61 2 Auxerre 6 MF Adam Matuszczyk 14 February 1989 (aged 23) 18 1 Fortuna Düsseldorf 7 MF Eugen Polanski 17 March 1986 (aged 26) 6 0 Mainz 05 8 MF Maciej Rybus 19 August 1989 (aged 22) 19 1 Terek Grozny 9 FW Robert Lewandowski 21 August 1988 (aged 23) 40 13 Borussia Dortmund 10 MF Ludovic Obraniak 10 November 1984 (aged 27) 21 4 Bordeaux 11 MF Rafał Murawski 9 October 1981 (aged 30) 39 1 Lech Poznań 12 GK Grzegorz Sandomierski 5 September 1989 (aged 22) 3 0 Jagiellonia Białystok 13 DF Marcin Wasilewski 9 June 1980 (aged 31) 46 1 Anderlecht 14 DF Jakub Wawrzyniak 7 July 1983 (aged 28) 26 0 Legia Warsaw 15 DF Damien Perquis 4 October 1984 (aged 27) 5 0 Sochaux 16 MF Jakub Błaszczykowski (c) 14 December 1985 (aged 26) 49 8 Borussia Dortmund 17 FW Artur Sobiech 12 June 1990 (aged 21) 4 1 Hannover 96 18 MF Adrian Mierzejewski 4 November 1986 (aged 25) 21 1 Trabzonspor 19 MF Rafał Wolski 10 November 1992 (aged 19) 1 0 Legia Warsaw 20 DF Łukasz Piszczek 3 June 1985 (aged 27) 22 0 Borussia Dortmund 21 MF Kamil Grosicki 8 June 1988 (aged 24) 12 0 Sivasspor 22 GK Przemysław Tytoń 4 January 1987 (aged 25) 5 0 PSV Eindhoven 23 FW Paweł Brożek 21 April 1983 (aged 29) 33 8 Celtic

Greece

The 2004 European champions are still synonymous with bad football and ultra defensive tactics. This will be their fourth Euro, failing to get a point in the previous tournament back in 2008.

# Pos. Player Date of Birth (Age) Caps Goals Club 1 GK Kostas Chalkias 30 May 1974 (aged 38) 29 0 P.A.O.K. 2 DF Ioannis Maniatis 12 October 1986 (aged 25) 7 0 Olympiacos 3 DF Giorgos Tzavelas 26 November 1987 (aged 24) 5 0 Monaco 4 DF Stelios Malezas 11 March 1985 (aged 27) 1 0 P.A.O.K. 5 DF Kyriakos Papadopoulos 23 February 1992 (aged 20) 7 2 Schalke 04 6 MF Grigoris Makos 18 January 1987 (aged 25) 10 0 AEK Athens 7 FW Giorgos Samaras 21 February 1985 (aged 27) 52 7 Celtic 8 DF Avraam Papadopoulos 3 December 1984 (aged 27) 31 0 Olympiacos 9 FW Nikos Lyberopoulos 4 August 1975 (aged 36) 74 13 AEK Athens 10 MF Giorgos Karagounis (c) 6 March 1977 (aged 35) 115 8 Panathinaikos 11 FW Kostas Mitroglou 12 March 1988 (aged 24) 11 0 Atromitos 12 GK Alexandros Tzorvas 12 August 1982 (aged 29) 16 0 Palermo 13 GK Michalis Sifakis 9 September 1984 (aged 27) 11 0 Aris Thessaloniki 14 FW Dimitris Salpigidis 18 August 1981 (aged 30) 55 7 P.A.O.K 15 DF Vasilis Torosidis 10 June 1985 (aged 26) 43 5 Olympiacos 16 MF Giorgos Fotakis 29 October 1981 (aged 30) 9 2 P.A.O.K 17 FW Theofanis Gekas 23 May 1980 (aged 32) 56 21 Samsunspor 18 MF Sotiris Ninis 3 April 1990 (aged 22) 18 2 Panathinaikos 19 DF Sokratis Papastathopoulos 9 June 1988 (aged 23) 26 0 Werder Bremen 20 DF José Holebas 27 June 1984 (aged 27) 2 0 Olympiacos 21 MF Kostas Katsouranis 21 June 1979 (aged 32) 89 9 Panathinaikos 22 MF Kostas Fortounis 16 October 1992 (aged 19) 1 0 Kaiserslautern 23 MF Giannis Fetfatzidis 21 December 1990 (aged 21) 12 3 Olympiacos

Russia

This will be Russia’s fifth appearance in the Euro since the break up of the Soviet Union. 2008 was their most successful appearance, reaching the Semi Final of the tournament.

# Pos. Player Date of Birth (Age) Caps Goals Club 1 GK Igor Akinfeev 8 April 1986 (aged 26) 50 0 CSKA Moscow 2 DF Aleksandr Anyukov 28 September 1982 (aged 29) 64 1 Zenit Saint Petersburg 3 DF Roman Sharonov 8 September 1976 (aged 35) 8 0 Rubin Kazan 4 DF Sergei Ignashevich 14 July 1979 (aged 32) 73 5 CSKA Moscow 5 DF Yuri Zhirkov 20 August 1983 (aged 28) 50 0 Anzhi Makhachkala 6 MF Roman Shirokov 6 July 1981 (aged 30) 20 4 Zenit Saint Petersburg 7 MF Igor Denisov 17 May 1984 (aged 28) 24 0 Zenit Saint Petersburg 8 MF Konstantin Zyryanov 5 October 1977 (aged 34) 48 7 Zenit Saint Petersburg 9 MF Marat Izmailov 21 September 1982 (aged 29) 32 2 Sporting CP 10 FW Andrei Arshavin (c) 29 May 1981 (aged 31) 69 17 Zenit Saint Petersburg 11 FW Aleksandr Kerzhakov 27 November 1982 (aged 29) 59 18 Zenit Saint Petersburg 12 DF Aleksei Berezutski 20 June 1982 (aged 29) 46 0 CSKA Moscow 13 GK Anton Shunin 27 January 1987 (aged 25) 2 0 Dynamo Moscow 14 FW Roman Pavlyuchenko 15 December 1981 (aged 30) 45 20 Lokomotiv Moscow 15 MF Dmitri Kombarov 22 January 1987 (aged 25) 2 0 Spartak Moscow 16 GK Vyacheslav Malafeev 4 March 1979 (aged 33) 24 0 Zenit Saint Petersburg 17 MF Alan Dzagoev 17 June 1990 (aged 21) 18 4 CSKA Moscow 18 FW Aleksandr Kokorin 19 March 1991 (aged 21) 3 0 Dynamo Moscow 19 DF Vladimir Granat 22 May 1987 (aged 25) 0 0 Dynamo Moscow 20 FW Pavel Pogrebnyak 8 November 1983 (aged 28) 32 8 Fulham 21 DF Kirill Nababkin 8 September 1986 (aged 25) 0 0 CSKA Moscow 22 MF Denis Glushakov 27 January 1987 (aged 25) 9 1 Lokomotiv Moscow 23 MF Igor Semshov 6 April 1978 (aged 34) 56 3 Dynamo Moscow

Czech Republic

A Euro kind of team. The Czech’s have been part of the last four Euro tournaments, ever since the break up of Czechoslovakia, not making it out of the group stage last time, but reaching the Semi Final in 2004.

# Pos. Player Date of Birth (Age) Caps Goals Club 1 GK Petr Čech 20 May 1982 (aged 30) 89 0 Chelsea 2 DF Theodor Gebre Selassie 24 December 1986 (aged 25) 8 0 Slovan Liberec 3 DF Michal Kadlec 13 December 1984 (aged 27) 33 7 Bayer Leverkusen 4 DF Marek Suchý 29 March 1988 (aged 24) 3 0 Spartak Moscow 5 DF Roman Hubník 6 June 1984 (aged 28) 20 2 Hertha BSC 6 DF Tomáš Sivok 15 September 1983 (aged 28) 24 3 Beşiktaş 7 FW Tomáš Necid 13 August 1989 (aged 22) 25 7 CSKA Moscow 8 DF David Limberský 6 October 1983 (aged 28) 7 0 Viktoria Plzeň 9 MF Jan Rezek 5 May 1982 (aged 30) 12 3 Anorthosis Famagusta 10 MF Tomáš Rosický (c) 4 October 1980 (aged 31) 86 20 Arsenal 11 MF Milan Petržela 19 June 1983 (aged 28) 9 0 Viktoria Plzeň 12 DF František Rajtoral 12 March 1986 (aged 26) 1 0 Viktoria Plzeň 13 MF Jaroslav Plašil 5 January 1982 (aged 30) 70 6 Bordeaux 14 MF Václav Pilař 13 October 1988 (aged 23) 7 1 Viktoria Plzeň 15 FW Milan Baroš 28 October 1981 (aged 30) 87 40 Galatasaray 16 GK Jan Laštůvka 7 July 1982 (aged 29) 1 0 Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk 17 MF Tomáš Hübschman 4 September 1981 (aged 30) 41 0 Shakhtar Donetsk 18 MF Daniel Kolář 27 October 1985 (aged 26) 9 1 Viktoria Plzeň 19 MF Petr Jiráček 2 March 1986 (aged 26) 6 1 VfL Wolfsburg 20 FW Tomáš Pekhart 26 May 1989 (aged 23) 9 0 Nürnberg 21 FW David Lafata 18 September 1981 (aged 30) 16 2 FK Jablonec 22 MF Vladimír Darida 8 August 1990 (aged 21) 1 0 FC Viktoria Plzeň 23 GK Jaroslav Drobný 18 October 1979 (aged 32) 5 0 Hamburger SV

The Netherlands

As Always, had a nearly flawless qualifying campaign. The Dutch have not failed to qualify to a Euro since 1984, making it out of the group stage every time, winning it all in 1988, still their only major title.

# Pos. Player Date of Birth (Age) Caps Goals Club 1 GK Maarten Stekelenburg 22 September 1982 (aged 29) 45 0 Roma 2 DF Gregory van der Wiel 3 February 1988 (aged 24) 30 0 Ajax 3 DF John Heitinga 15 November 1983 (aged 28) 76 7 Everton 4 DF Joris Mathijsen 5 April 1980 (aged 32) 80 3 Málaga 5 DF Wilfred Bouma 15 June 1978 (aged 33) 36 2 PSV 6 MF Mark van Bommel (c) 22 April 1977 (aged 35) 75 10 PSV 7 FW Dirk Kuyt 22 July 1980 (aged 31) 86 24 Liverpool 8 MF Nigel de Jong 30 November 1984 (aged 27) 58 1 Manchester City 9 FW Klaas-Jan Huntelaar 12 August 1983 (aged 28) 51 31 Schalke 04 10 MF Wesley Sneijder 9 June 1984 (aged 27) 82 23 Internazionale 11 FW Arjen Robben 23 January 1984 (aged 28) 55 17 Bayern Munich 12 GK Michel Vorm 20 October 1983 (aged 28) 9 0 Swansea City 13 DF Ron Vlaar 16 February 1985 (aged 27) 5 0 Feyenoord 14 DF Stijn Schaars 11 January 1984 (aged 28) 17 0 Sporting 15 DF Jetro Willems 30 March 1994 (aged 18) 1 0 PSV 16 FW Robin van Persie 6 August 1983 (aged 28) 63 26 Arsenal 17 MF Kevin Strootman 13 February 1990 (aged 22) 11 1 PSV 18 FW Luuk de Jong 27 August 1990 (aged 21) 7 1 Twente 19 FW Luciano Narsingh 13 September 1990 (aged 21) 0 0 Heerenveen 20 FW Ibrahim Afellay 2 April 1986 (aged 26) 36 3 Barcelona 21 DF Khalid Boulahrouz 28 December 1981 (aged 30) 35 0 VfB Stuttgart 22 GK Tim Krul 3 April 1988 (aged 24) 3 0 Newcastle United 23 MF Rafael van der Vaart 11 February 1983 (aged 29) 94 15 Tottenham Hotspur

Denmark

Like the Czech Republic, the Danes have made a habit of making it to Euro tournaments, although they did miss the 2008 show for the first time since 1980. Their best performance was in 1992, winning in Sweden.

# Pos. Player Date of Birth (Age) Caps Goals Club 1 GK Stephan Andersen 26 November 1981 (aged 30) 8 0 Evian 2 MF Christian Poulsen 28 February 1980 (aged 32) 90 6 Evian 3 DF Simon Kjær 26 March 1989 (aged 23) 22 0 Roma 4 DF Daniel Agger (c) 12 December 1984 (aged 27) 44 5 Liverpool 5 DF Simon Poulsen 7 October 1984 (aged 27) 16 0 AZ 6 DF Lars Jacobsen 20 September 1979 (aged 32) 49 1 Copenhagen 7 MF William Kvist 24 February 1985 (aged 27) 27 0 VfB Stuttgart 8 MF Christian Eriksen 14 February 1992 (aged 20) 21 2 Ajax 9 FW Michael Krohn-Dehli 6 June 1983 (aged 29) 19 4 Brøndby 10 FW Dennis Rommedahl 22 July 1978 (aged 33) 114 21 Brøndby 11 FW Nicklas Bendtner 16 January 1988 (aged 24) 46 17 Arsenal 12 DF Andreas Bjelland 11 July 1988 (aged 23) 5 0 Nordsjælland 13 DF Jores Okore 11 August 1992 (aged 19) 2 0 Nordsjælland 14 MF Lasse Schøne 27 May 1986 (aged 26) 9 2 NEC 15 MF Michael Silberbauer 7 July 1981 (aged 30) 24 1 Young Boys 16 GK Anders Lindegaard 13 April 1984 (aged 28) 5 0 Manchester United 17 FW Nicklas Pedersen 10 October 1987 (aged 24) 7 0 Groningen 18 DF Daniel Wass 31 May 1989 (aged 23) 4 0 Evian 19 MF Jakob Poulsen 7 July 1983 (aged 28) 20 1 Midtjylland 20 MF Thomas Kahlenberg 20 March 1983 (aged 29) 36 4 Evian 21 MF Niki Zimling 19 April 1985 (aged 27) 9 0 Club Brugge 22 GK Kasper Schmeichel 5 November 1986 (aged 25) 0 0 Leicester City 23 FW Tobias Mikkelsen 18 September 1986 (aged 25) 2 0 Nordsjælland

Germany

For the first time in a long long time, the Germans enter a tournament as the favorites, especially with scents of Spain slowing down in parallel with Barcelona’s less successful than usual season. Germany reached the final in 2008, losing to Spain. They won the tournament as the unified nation once, in 1996.

# Pos. Player Date of Birth (Age) Caps Goals Club 1 GK Manuel Neuer 27 March 1986 (aged 26) 25 0 Bayern Munich 2 MF İlkay Gündoğan 24 October 1990 (aged 21) 1 0 Borussia Dortmund 3 DF Marcel Schmelzer 22 January 1988 (aged 24) 5 0 Borussia Dortmund 4 DF Benedikt Höwedes 29 February 1988 (aged 24) 7 0 Schalke 04 5 DF Mats Hummels 16 December 1988 (aged 23) 13 0 Borussia Dortmund 6 MF Sami Khedira 4 April 1987 (aged 25) 25 1 Real Madrid 7 MF Bastian Schweinsteiger 1 August 1984 (aged 27) 90 23 Bayern Munich 8 MF Mesut Özil 15 October 1988 (aged 23) 31 8 Real Madrid 9 MF André Schürrle 6 November 1990 (aged 21) 12 5 Bayer Leverkusen 10 MF Lukas Podolski 4 June 1985 (aged 27) 95 43 Arsenal 11 FW Miroslav Klose 9 June 1978 (aged 33) 114 63 Lazio 12 GK Tim Wiese 17 December 1981 (aged 30) 6 0 Werder Bremen 13 MF Thomas Müller 13 September 1989 (aged 22) 26 10 Bayern Munich 14 DF Holger Badstuber 13 March 1989 (aged 23) 19 1 Bayern Munich 15 MF Lars Bender 27 April 1989 (aged 23) 4 0 Bayer Leverkusen 16 DF Philipp Lahm (c) 11 November 1983 (aged 28) 85 4 Bayern Munich 17 DF Per Mertesacker 29 September 1984 (aged 27) 79 1 Arsenal 18 MF Toni Kroos 4 January 1990 (aged 22) 25 2 Bayern Munich 19 MF Mario Götze 3 June 1992 (aged 20) 12 2 Borussia Dortmund 20 DF Jérôme Boateng 3 September 1988 (aged 23) 20 0 Bayern Munich 21 MF Marco Reus 31 May 1989 (aged 23) 4 0 Borussia Dortmund 22 GK Ron-Robert Zieler 12 February 1989 (aged 23) 1 0 Hannover 96 23 FW Mario Gómez 10 July 1985 (aged 26) 51 21 Bayern Munich

Portugal

Another rough qualifying campaign didn’t stop Portugal and Cristiano Ronaldo from making their fourth consecutive tournament. They lost to Germany in the quarter finals in 2008,recording their best accomplishment as finalists in 2004, hosting the tournament.

# Pos. Player Date of Birth (Age) Caps Goals Club 1 GK Eduardo 19 September 1982 (aged 29) 27 0 Benfica 2 DF Bruno Alves 27 November 1981 (aged 30) 48 5 Zenit Saint Petersburg 3 DF Pepe 26 February 1983 (aged 29) 38 2 Real Madrid 4 MF Miguel Veloso 11 May 1986 (aged 26) 22 2 Genoa 5 DF Fábio Coentrão 11 March 1988 (aged 24) 20 1 Real Madrid 6 MF Custódio 24 May 1983 (aged 29) 0 0 Braga 7 FW Cristiano Ronaldo (c) 5 February 1985 (aged 27) 88 32 Real Madrid 8 MF João Moutinho 8 September 1986 (aged 25) 40 2 Porto 9 FW Hugo Almeida 23 May 1984 (aged 28) 40 15 Beşiktaş 10 FW Ricardo Quaresma 26 September 1983 (aged 28) 31 3 Beşiktaş 11 FW Nélson Oliveira 8 August 1991 (aged 20) 1 0 Benfica 12 GK Rui Patrício 15 February 1988 (aged 24) 10 0 Sporting CP 13 DF Ricardo Costa 16 May 1981 (aged 31) 10 0 Valencia 14 DF Rolando 31 August 1985 (aged 26) 13 0 Porto 15 MF Rúben Micael 19 August 1986 (aged 25) 7 2 Atlético Madrid 16 MF Raul Meireles 17 March 1983 (aged 29) 55 8 Chelsea 17 FW Nani 17 November 1986 (aged 25) 52 12 Manchester United 18 FW Silvestre Varela 2 February 1985 (aged 27) 5 1 Porto 19 DF Miguel Lopes 19 December 1986 (aged 25) 0 0 Braga 20 MF Hugo Viana 15 January 1983 (aged 29) 25 1 Braga 21 DF João Pereira 25 February 1984 (aged 28) 13 0 Sporting CP 22 GK Beto 1 May 1982 (aged 30) 1 0 CFR Cluj 23 FW Hélder Postiga 2 August 1982 (aged 29) 47 19 Real Zaragoza

Spain

The European Champions heading feeling a bit less confident then they have before the previous Euro and the last World Cup. That’s how it feels for everyone from the outside. Still, the squad is based on the two best clubs in the world, so don’t expect anything less than a Semi Final.

# Pos. Player Date of Birth (Age) Caps Goals Club 1 GK Iker Casillas (c) 20 May 1981 (aged 31) 129 0 Real Madrid 2 DF Raúl Albiol 4 September 1985 (aged 26) 32 0 Real Madrid 3 DF Gerard Piqué 2 February 1987 (aged 25) 38 4 Barcelona 4 MF Javi Martínez 2 September 1988 (aged 23) 7 0 Athletic Bilbao 5 DF Juanfran 9 January 1985 (aged 27) 1 0 Atlético Madrid 6 MF Andrés Iniesta 11 May 1984 (aged 28) 64 11 Barcelona 7 FW Pedro 28 July 1987 (aged 24) 14 2 Barcelona 8 MF Xavi 25 January 1980 (aged 32) 108 10 Barcelona 9 FW Fernando Torres 20 March 1984 (aged 28) 91 27 Chelsea 10 MF Cesc Fàbregas 4 May 1987 (aged 25) 63 8 Barcelona 11 FW Álvaro Negredo 20 August 1985 (aged 26) 7 5 Sevilla 12 GK Víctor Valdés 14 January 1982 (aged 30) 7 0 Barcelona 13 MF Juan Mata 28 April 1988 (aged 24) 16 5 Chelsea 14 MF Xabi Alonso 25 November 1981 (aged 30) 94 12 Real Madrid 15 DF Sergio Ramos 30 March 1986 (aged 26) 84 6 Real Madrid 16 MF Sergio Busquets 16 July 1987 (aged 24) 38 0 Barcelona 17 DF Álvaro Arbeloa 17 January 1983 (aged 29) 33 0 Real Madrid 18 DF Jordi Alba 21 March 1989 (aged 23) 3 0 Valencia 19 FW Fernando Llorente 26 February 1985 (aged 27) 20 7 Athletic Bilbao 20 MF Santi Cazorla 13 December 1984 (aged 27) 41 5 Málaga 21 MF David Silva 8 January 1986 (aged 26) 55 15 Manchester City 22 MF Jesús Navas 21 November 1985 (aged 26) 15 1 Sevilla 23 GK Pepe Reina 31 August 1982 (aged 29) 24 0 Liverpool

Italy

Italy head into the Euro after a disappointing previous time and an even worse World Cup. This time, not a lot of expectations, without a lot of stars. But they make life hard for anyone who don’t take them seriously. It remains to be seen how the new match fixing scandal affects the national team.

# Pos. Player Date of Birth (Age) Caps Goals Club 1 GK Gianluigi Buffon (c) 28 January 1978 (aged 34) 113 0 Juventus 2 DF Christian Maggio 11 February 1982 (aged 30) 15 0 Napoli 3 DF Giorgio Chiellini 14 August 1984 (aged 27) 50 2 Juventus 4 DF Angelo Ogbonna 23 May 1988 (aged 24) 2 0 Torino 5 MF Thiago Motta 28 August 1982 (aged 29) 7 1 Paris Saint-Germain 6 DF Federico Balzaretti 6 December 1981 (aged 30) 7 0 Palermo 7 DF Ignazio Abate 12 November 1986 (aged 25) 2 0 Milan 8 MF Claudio Marchisio 19 January 1986 (aged 26) 19 1 Juventus 9 FW Mario Balotelli 12 August 1990 (aged 21) 7 1 Manchester City 10 FW Antonio Cassano 12 July 1982 (aged 29) 28 9 Milan 11 FW Antonio Di Natale 13 October 1977 (aged 34) 36 10 Udinese 12 GK Salvatore Sirigu 12 January 1987 (aged 25) 2 0 Paris Saint-Germain 13 MF Emanuele Giaccherini 5 May 1985 (aged 27) 0 0 Juventus 14 GK Morgan De Sanctis 26 March 1977 (aged 35) 4 0 Napoli 15 DF Andrea Barzagli 8 May 1981 (aged 31) 28 0 Juventus 16 MF Daniele De Rossi 24 July 1983 (aged 28) 71 10 Roma 17 FW Fabio Borini 29 March 1991 (aged 21) 1 0 Roma 18 MF Riccardo Montolivo 18 January 1985 (aged 27) 32 1 Fiorentina 19 DF Leonardo Bonucci 1 May 1987 (aged 25) 13 2 Juventus 20 FW Sebastian Giovinco 26 January 1987 (aged 25) 7 0 Parma 21 MF Andrea Pirlo 19 May 1979 (aged 33) 82 9 Juventus 22 MF Alessandro Diamanti 2 May 1983 (aged 29) 1 0 Bologna 23 MF Antonio Nocerino 9 April 1985 (aged 27) 10 0 Milan

Ireland

It says that what turned football into a popular sport in Ireland was the 1988 team, making a major tournament for the first time ever. It was also Ireland’s only visit to the Euro.

# Pos. Player Date of Birth (Age) Caps Goals Club 1 GK Shay Given 20 April 1976 (aged 36) 121 0 Aston Villa 2 DF Sean St Ledger 28 December 1984 (aged 27) 25 2 Leicester City 3 DF Stephen Ward 20 August 1985 (aged 26) 10 2 Wolverhampton Wanderers 4 DF John O’Shea 30 April 1981 (aged 31) 75 1 Sunderland 5 DF Richard Dunne 21 September 1979 (aged 32) 71 8 Aston Villa 6 MF Glenn Whelan 13 January 1984 (aged 28) 37 2 Stoke City 7 MF Aiden McGeady 4 April 1986 (aged 26) 47 2 Spartak Moscow 8 MF Keith Andrews 13 September 1980 (aged 31) 27 3 West Bromwich Albion 9 FW Kevin Doyle 18 September 1983 (aged 28) 46 10 Wolverhampton Wanderers 10 FW Robbie Keane (c) 8 July 1980 (aged 31) 115 53 Los Angeles Galaxy 11 MF Damien Duff 2 March 1979 (aged 33) 95 8 Fulham 12 DF Stephen Kelly 6 September 1983 (aged 28) 29 0 Fulham 13 DF Paul McShane 6 January 1986 (aged 26) 26 0 Hull City 14 FW Jonathan Walters 20 September 1983 (aged 28) 5 1 Stoke City 15 MF Darron Gibson 25 October 1987 (aged 24) 17 1 Everton 16 GK Keiren Westwood 23 October 1984 (aged 27) 8 0 Sunderland 17 MF Stephen Hunt 1 August 1981 (aged 30) 38 1 Wolverhampton Wanderers 18 DF Darren O’Dea 4 February 1987 (aged 25) 13 0 Celtic 19 FW Shane Long 22 January 1987 (aged 25) 24 6 West Bromwich Albion 20 FW Simon Cox 28 April 1987 (aged 25) 11 3 West Bromwich Albion 21 MF Paul Green 10 April 1983 (aged 29) 10 1 Derby County 22 MF James McClean 22 April 1989 (aged 23) 1 0 Sunderland 23 GK David Forde 20 December 1979 (aged 32) 2 0 Millwall

Croatia

Since becoming eligible to play as an independent nation, Croatia have missed the Euro only once, in 2000. They reached the quarter finals in 2008, tied for their best achievement.

# Pos. Player Date of Birth (Age) Caps Goals Club 1 GK Stipe Pletikosa 8 January 1979 (aged 33) 90 0 Rostov 2 DF Ivan Strinić 17 July 1987 (aged 24) 15 0 Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk 3 DF Josip Šimunić 18 February 1978 (aged 34) 93 3 Dinamo Zagreb 4 DF Jurica Buljat 12 September 1986 (aged 25) 2 0 Maccabi Haifa 5 DF Vedran Ćorluka 5 February 1986 (aged 26) 53 2 Bayer Leverkusen 6 DF Danijel Pranjić 2 December 1981 (aged 30) 42 0 Bayern Munich 7 MF Ivan Rakitić 10 March 1988 (aged 24) 39 8 Sevilla 8 MF Ognjen Vukojević 20 December 1983 (aged 28) 37 3 Dynamo Kyiv 9 FW Nikica Jelavić 27 August 1985 (aged 26) 18 2 Everton 10 MF Luka Modrić 9 September 1985 (aged 26) 54 8 Tottenham Hotspur 11 MF Darijo Srna (c) 1 May 1982 (aged 30) 91 19 Shakhtar Donetsk 12 GK Ivan Kelava 20 February 1988 (aged 24) 0 0 Dinamo Zagreb 13 DF Gordon Schildenfeld 18 March 1985 (aged 27) 10 0 Eintracht Frankfurt 14 MF Milan Badelj 25 February 1989 (aged 23) 3 1 Dinamo Zagreb 15 MF Ivo Iličević 14 September 1986 (aged 25) 4 1 Hamburger SV 16 MF Tomislav Dujmović 26 February 1981 (aged 31) 16 0 Real Zaragoza 17 FW Mario Mandžukić 21 May 1986 (aged 26) 27 5 VfL Wolfsburg 18 FW Ivica Olić 14 September 1979 (aged 32) 77 15 Bayern Munich 19 MF Niko Kranjčar 13 August 1984 (aged 27) 69 15 Tottenham Hotspur 20 MF Ivan Perišić 2 February 1989 (aged 23) 8 0 Borussia Dortmund 21 DF Domagoj Vida 29 April 1989 (aged 23) 8 0 Dinamo Zagreb 22 FW Eduardo 25 February 1983 (aged 29) 45 22 Shakhtar Donetsk 23 GK Danijel Subašić 27 October 1984 (aged 27) 3 0 Monaco

Ukraine

The co-Hosts, but anything beyond finishing last in their group would be surprising. I’m pretty sure they don’t feel the same way in the Ukraine, but the draw hasn’t been fortunate to them like for the Polish side.

# Pos. Player Date of Birth (Age) Caps Goals Club 1 GK Maksym Koval 9 December 1992 (aged 19) 0 0 Dynamo Kyiv 2 DF Yevhen Selin 9 May 1988 (aged 24) 5 1 Vorskla Poltava 3 DF Yevhen Khacheridi 28 July 1987 (aged 24) 8 0 Dynamo Kyiv 4 MF Anatoliy Tymoshchuk 30 March 1979 (aged 33) 114 4 Bayern Munich 5 DF Oleksandr Kucher 22 October 1982 (aged 29) 28 1 Shakhtar Donetsk 6 MF Denys Harmash 19 April 1990 (aged 22) 4 0 Dynamo Kyiv 7 FW Andriy Shevchenko (c) 29 September 1976 (aged 35) 105 46 Dynamo Kyiv 8 MF Oleksandr Aliyev 3 February 1985 (aged 27) 25 6 Dynamo Kyiv 9 MF Oleh Husyev 25 April 1983 (aged 29) 69 9 Dynamo Kyiv 10 FW Andriy Voronin 21 July 1979 (aged 32) 70 7 Dynamo Moscow 11 FW Andriy Yarmolenko 23 October 1989 (aged 22) 18 7 Dynamo Kyiv 12 GK Andriy Pyatov 28 June 1984 (aged 27) 24 0 Shakhtar Donetsk 13 DF Vyacheslav Shevchuk 13 May 1979 (aged 33) 20 0 Shakhtar Donetsk 14 MF Ruslan Rotan 29 October 1981 (aged 30) 56 6 Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk 15 FW Artem Milevskiy 12 January 1985 (aged 27) 43 7 Dynamo Kyiv 16 FW Yevhen Seleznyov 20 July 1985 (aged 26) 27 5 Shakhtar Donetsk 17 DF Taras Mykhalyk 28 October 1983 (aged 28) 25 0 Dynamo Kyiv 18 MF Serhiy Nazarenko 16 February 1980 (aged 32) 47 12 Tavriya Simferopol 19 MF Yevhen Konoplyanka 29 September 1989 (aged 22) 16 5 Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk 20 DF Yaroslav Rakitskiy 3 August 1989 (aged 22) 14 3 Shakhtar Donetsk 21 DF Bohdan Butko 13 January 1991 (aged 21) 7 0 Illichivets Mariupol 22 FW Marko Devych 27 October 1983 (aged 28) 18 2 Metalist Kharkiv 23 GK Oleksandr Horyainov 29 June 1975 (aged 36) 1 0 Metalist Kharkiv

Sweden

Quite shockingly, a side that hardly misses big tournaments hasn’t been to one since the 2008 Euro, which saw them fail to make it out of the group stage.

# Pos. Player Date of Birth (Age) Caps Goals Club 1 GK Andreas Isaksson 3 October 1981 (aged 30) 91 0 PSV 2 DF Mikael Lustig 13 December 1986 (aged 25) 23 1 Celtic 3 DF Olof Mellberg 3 September 1977 (aged 34) 112 7 Olympiacos 4 DF Andreas Granqvist 16 April 1985 (aged 27) 16 2 Genoa 5 DF Martin Olsson 17 May 1988 (aged 24) 8 4 Blackburn Rovers 6 MF Rasmus Elm 17 March 1988 (aged 24) 22 1 AZ 7 MF Sebastian Larsson 6 June 1985 (aged 27) 39 5 Sunderland 8 MF Anders Svensson 17 July 1976 (aged 35) 126 18 Elfsborg 9 MF Kim Källström 24 August 1982 (aged 29) 90 16 Lyon 10 FW Zlatan Ibrahimović (c) 3 October 1981 (aged 30) 75 29 Milan 11 FW Johan Elmander 27 May 1981 (aged 31) 63 16 Galatasaray 12 GK Johan Wiland 24 January 1981 (aged 31) 7 0 Copenhagen 13 DF Jonas Olsson 10 March 1983 (aged 29) 6 0 West Bromwich Albion 14 FW Tobias Hysén 9 March 1982 (aged 30) 21 7 IFK Göteborg 15 DF Mikael Antonsson 31 May 1981 (aged 31) 4 0 Bologna 16 MF Pontus Wernbloom 25 June 1986 (aged 25) 21 2 CSKA Moscow 17 DF Behrang Safari 9 February 1985 (aged 27) 23 0 Anderlecht 18 MF Samuel Holmén 28 June 1984 (aged 27) 25 2 İstanbul BB 19 MF Emir Bajrami 7 March 1988 (aged 24) 15 2 Twente 20 FW Ola Toivonen 3 July 1986 (aged 25) 22 4 PSV 21 MF Christian Wilhelmsson 8 December 1979 (aged 32) 72 8 Al-Hilal 22 FW Markus Rosenberg 27 September 1982 (aged 29) 30 6 Free agent 23 GK Pär Hansson 22 June 1986 (aged 25) 2 0 Helsingborg

England

Expectations, unlike most tournaments, are ridiculously low. Maybe it’s the manager, maybe it’s the recent results. England didn’t make it in 2008 and haven’t made the Semi Final since 1996.

# Pos. Player Date of Birth (Age) Caps Goals Club 1 GK Joe Hart 19 April 1987 (aged 25) 17 0 Manchester City 2 DF Glen Johnson 23 August 1984 (aged 27) 35 1 Liverpool 3 DF Ashley Cole 20 December 1980 (aged 31) 93 0 Chelsea 4 MF Steven Gerrard (c) 30 May 1980 (aged 32) 90 19 Liverpool 5 DF Gary Cahill 19 December 1985 (aged 26) 8 2 Chelsea 6 DF John Terry 7 December 1980 (aged 31) 72 6 Chelsea 7 MF Theo Walcott 16 March 1989 (aged 23) 22 3 Arsenal 8 MF Frank Lampard 20 June 1978 (aged 33) 90 23 Chelsea 9 FW Andy Carroll 6 January 1989 (aged 23) 3 1 Liverpool 10 FW Wayne Rooney 24 October 1985 (aged 26) 73 28 Manchester United 11 MF Ashley Young 9 July 1985 (aged 26) 19 5 Manchester United 12 DF Leighton Baines 11 December 1984 (aged 27) 7 0 Everton 13 GK Robert Green 18 January 1980 (aged 32) 11 0 West Ham United 14 DF Phil Jones 21 February 1992 (aged 20) 4 0 Manchester United 15 DF Joleon Lescott 16 August 1982 (aged 29) 14 0 Manchester City 16 MF James Milner 4 January 1986 (aged 26) 24 0 Manchester City 17 MF Scott Parker 13 October 1980 (aged 31) 11 0 Tottenham Hotspur 18 DF Phil Jagielka 17 August 1982 (aged 29) 11 0 Everton 19 MF Stewart Downing 22 July 1984 (aged 27) 33 0 Liverpool 20 MF Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain 15 August 1993 (aged 18) 1 0 Arsenal 21 FW Jermain Defoe 7 October 1982 (aged 29) 46 15 Tottenham Hotspur 22 FW Danny Welbeck 26 November 1990 (aged 21) 4 0 Manchester United 23 GK Jack Butland 10 March 1993 (aged 19) 0 0 Birmingham City

France

France have been terrible since the 2006 World Cup – Not making it out of the group stage in 2008 and the 2010 World Cup. This time, it should be different, but lacking talent has never been a problem. It’s usually more about the social situation within the squad.

# Pos. Player Date of Birth (Age) Caps Goals Club 1 GK Hugo Lloris (captain) 26 December 1986 (age 25) 31 0 Lyon 16 GK Steve Mandanda 28 March 1985 (age 27) 15 0 Marseille 23 GK Cédric Carrasso 30 December 1981 (age 30) 1 0 Bordeaux 2 DF Mathieu Debuchy 28 July 1985 (age 26) 4 1 Lille 3 DF Patrice Evra 15 May 1981 (age 31) 40 0 Manchester United 4 DF Adil Rami 27 December 1985 (age 26) 18 1 Valencia 5 DF Philippe Mexès 30 March 1982 (age 30) 24 1 Milan 13 DF Anthony Réveillère 10 November 1979 (age 32) 16 1 Lyon 21 DF Laurent Koscielny 10 September 1985 (age 26) 1 0 Arsenal 22 DF Gaël Clichy 26 July 1985 (age 26) 11 0 Manchester City 6 MF Yohan Cabaye 14 January 1986 (age 26) 11 0 Newcastle United 7 MF Franck Ribéry 7 April 1983 (age 29) 58 8 Bayern Munich 8 MF Mathieu Valbuena 28 September 1984 (age 27) 11 2 Marseille 11 MF Samir Nasri 27 June 1987 (age 24) 29 3 Manchester City 12 MF Blaise Matuidi 9 April 1987 (age 25) 4 0 Paris Saint-Germain 15 MF Florent Malouda 13 June 1980 (age 31) 75 8 Chelsea 17 MF Yann M’Vila 29 June 1990 (age 21) 18 1 Rennes 18 MF Alou Diarra 15 July 1981 (age 30) 39 0 Marseille 19 MF Marvin Martin 10 January 1988 (age 24) 10 2 Sochaux 20 MF Hatem Ben Arfa 7 March 1987 (age 25) 9 2 Newcastle United 9 FW Olivier Giroud 30 September 1986 (age 25) 4 1 Montpellier 10 FW Karim Benzema 19 December 1987 (age 24) 43 13 Real Madrid 14 FW Jérémy Ménez 7 May 1987 (age 25) 11 0 Paris Saint-Germain