EURO 2008 INFO

A fourth European Championship title could be well in Germany's reach. The Germans have been thinking about it since they went out of the World Cup they hosted two years ago.

Germany coach Joachim Loew has gathered a squad built mainly on the tried and trusted players who reached the 2006 World Cup semifinals at home.

"We have been preparing for two years for this tournament," said Loew, who took over from Juergen Klinsmann after the World Cup. "The tension and the concentration are rising within me, but I am really looking forward to it. We are well prepared. It's time for the championship to start."

Germany and Croatia are favored to reach the quarterfinals of the tournament from Group B. Poland and co-host Austria, the other teams in the group that play games in Vienna and Klagenfurt, don't appear to have the depth of talent to trouble the Germans and Croats.

Loew has veteran goalkeeper Jens Lehmann and midfielder Michael Ballack, who has returned to top form with Chelsea. His initial squad included 15 members of the 2006 World Cup squad even though some, such as midfielder Torsten Frings and central defender Christoph Metzelder, have spent long spells on the sideline with injuries.

Croatia beat England twice in qualifying and the 39-year-old Slaven Bilic, considered one of the best young coaches around, has a talented squad of players who are also well organized.

Striker Eduardo Da Silva, however, will be missed as he recovers from a broken leg and dislocated ankle. But players such as Luka Modric, Niko Kranjcar and Ivica Olic should make a major impact.

Bilic has selected only six defenders in his squad, and that could mean an attacking strategy at the tournament in Austria and Switzerland. The team is hoping to make an immediate impression with a victory over co-host Austria in Vienna on June 8.

Austria plays all three group games at the venue that will host the final on June 29, the Ernst-Happel Stadium in Vienna. The Austrians, however, are unlikely to be there at the end.

Coach Josef Hickersberger has targeted a place in the quarterfinals as being a satisfactory outcome, but there's every chance the Austrians could wind up without a single point.

A loss in that opening game against Croatia will put immediate pressure on Hickersberger and his team when they go into their second match against Poland on June 12. With a third game against Germany on June 16, Austria can't afford to lose to the Poles.

Central defender Martin Hiden and striker Ivica Vastic are veterans from the last Austrian squad that qualified for a major championship, the 1998 World Cup in France. But Austria's best hopes of achieving anything in June rely heavily on playmaker Andreas Ivanschitz.

Despite reaching the World Cup semifinals in 1974 and '82, Poland is at the European Championship for the first time and won its qualifying group by edging co-qualifier Portugal.

Respected Dutch coach Leo Beenhakker, who has won domestic league titles with Ajax, Feyenoord and Real Madrid and guided Trinidad and Tobago to its first World Cup two years ago, has a difficult opening game against the Germans at the Worthersee stadium in Klagenfurt. He knows the Poles have never beaten the Germans in 15 meetings.

"That will be a very tough game for us to have a good result, but I can assure you that also for Germany it will be a very tough game to beat us, so I'm not worried," said Beenhakker, who also has a mixture of World Cup stars and newcomers such as 22-year-old winger Jakub Blaszczykowski.

"We're going to play this match with a very open mind and will do every thing we can to have a positive result, without any complexes, without any garbage in our heads," Beenhakker said. "We just play the game as we are used to playing it — we play to win — and then in the end we will see."

After facing the Germans, Poland goes to Vienna to meet the co-hosts and then plays Croatia on June 16 in Klagenfurt.

Off the field, Group B could pose the biggest security problem for organizers.

Often when Germany plays Poland, including at the last World Cup, there has been fan violence. UEFA has also warned Croatia over the racist chanting of its fans.

All of which makes Group B one to watch closely.