Preview: Czech Republic vs. Switzerland and Portugal vs. Turkey

Czech Republic vs. Switzerland
The UEFA EURO 2008â„¢ kicks off at St. Jakob-Park in Basel on Saturday, June 7, with the Group A fixture between the Czech Republic and the tournament’s co-host Switzerland. The game starts @ 18.00 local time.

As co-host, Switzerland qualified automatically and about 5,000 supporters turned out on Tuesday just to watch the team train.

The Czech Republic qualified as winners of Group D. They secured their place in the finals on 17 October, by beating Germany. That match ended 3-0. During the qualifying, the team managed 27 goals at an average of 2.25 goals/game. The German team finished as the highest scorers, with a whopping 35 goals. This is the Czechs’ fourth successive appearance in the UEFA European Championship finals.

Portugal vs. Turkey
Portugal will battle Turkey at the Stade de Genève in Geneva on Saturday 7 June @ 20.45 local time.

Turkey has not appeared at a major tournament since the 2002 FIFA World Cup, which might be seen as a very good sign for all Portuguese fans – and there are lots of them! As a matter of fact, when the Portuguese team landed in Geneva last Sunday, they were welcomed by many of the Portuguese citizens living in Switzerland and a motorcade of roughly 600 Portuguese followed the team to their training base. An estimated 10,000 supporters were also waiting to greet and get a glimpse of the stars in Neuchatel.

During the qualifying, Portugal managed 101 shots on goal at an average of 7.71 per game, which is more than any other team. And only Spain (with 110) won more corners in the qualifying than Portugal (103). Turkey, however, conceded eleven goals in qualifying. Only Poland’s team of all those that will be at the UEFA EURO 2008â„¢ had a worse defensive record.

[Source: UEFA Match Press Kit]