Euro 2008: Portugal avoid big guns in group stage draw

Group A: Portugal, Turkey, Czech Republic, Switzerland

Portugal have been drawn against Turkey, the Czech Republic and Switzerland in the finals of the Euro 2008 championship to be held in Austria and Switzerland next summer.

Despite the reaction of Luiz Felipe Scolari, who made the usual noises about “no easy games” and “no favourites beforehand” he will surely be delighted at the outcome of the draw made in Lucerne yesterday.

Portugal were placed in Group A and will kick off their campaign against Turkey on Saturday 7 June in Geneva. On 11 June Scolari’s men face the Czechs, again in Geneva, before rounding off the group stage against joint hosts, Switzerland, in Basel on Sunday 15 June.

Looking back at the history of encounters against their opponents, Portugal have a mixed record. The Selecção das Quinas have won all four of their competitive matches against Turkey, scoring nine goals and conceding just one.

Against the Czechs it is a different story however. The teams have met just once in a competitive match, in the quarter-final of the 1996 European Championships. The match was decided by former Benfica player Karel Poborsky’s celebrated lob over Vitor Baia, which gave the Czech Republic a 1-0 win.

Against the Swiss, Portugal have won three, drawn four and lost two of the nine competitive encounters between the two nations, although the Portuguese have not lost since 1970 against next summer’s tournament hosts.

Should Portugal progress, they will face opposition from the group made up of Austria, Croatia, Germany and Poland in the quarter-finals.

Special mention must also be made of Group C, which is surely one of the strongest ever groups in the history of the European Championships. France, Italy, Holland and Romania will provide a fascinating battle for the two top spots as they fight it out for a quarter-final berth.

Full Draw

Group A
Switzerland
Czech Republic
PORTUGAL
Turkey

Group B
Austria
Croatia
Germany
Poland

Group C
Holland
Italy
Romania
France

Group D
Greece
Sweden
Spain
Russia