EURO 2008 INFO

If France coach Raymond Domenech is to be believed, it should be obvious which two teams are going to advance from Group C at the European Championship.

Between them, Italy and France have won three of the past five major international tournaments in which they have played.

"You need experience. A team that doesn't have it won't go far," Domenech said. "The experienced players are there to remind everyone that you don't achieve things over one match."

And Domenech thinks that once Group C rivals the Netherlands and Romania are out of the way, his team will win the tournament.

"For me, it's France who will be champion of Europe," he said.

Italy and France certainly have the experience that Domenech values so highly, while the Netherlands, hit by Clarence Seedorf's refusal to play, will be conspicuously lacking in it.

Italy will be fielding the bulk of the stars who won the 2006 World Cup final against France. The French won the 1998 World Cup and Euro 2000.

But Italy is not quite as strong as it was in Germany two years ago, with a new coach and also having lost playmaker Francesco Totti and defender Alessandro Nesta to retirement.

"Two years have passed, we've refreshed our squad, there's a new coach and different players," Italy goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon said. "And it's always tough repeating."

Italy has always struggled following past successes.

After the country won the 1982 World Cup, Italy didn't even qualify for the next European Championship. And after reaching the 1994 World Cup final, it failed to advance from the group stage at Euro 1996.

Roberto Donadoni has at least guided Italy to the tournament and, with the likes of Buffon, the creative Andrea Pirlo, central defender Fabio Cannavaro and fierce midfielder Gennaro Gattuso, the Azzurri should be able to count on a spot in the quarterfinals.

France, meanwhile, is blending the likes of vibrant striker Karim Benzema and winger Hatem Ben Afra with veterans such as Claude Makelele, Lilian Thuram, Thierry Henry and Patrick Vieira.

The latter trio played in the winning squads in '98 and 2000, and Makelele wants a medal to join them.

"I have never won a title with Les Bleus," the 35-year-old Makelele said. "I want to finish my international career in style."

While Domenech's prediction that France will become just the second team after Germany to win three European Championships might seem overly confident, he correctly forecast that his side would surprise most fans and commentators to reach the World Cup final two years ago.

So, the idea that Italy will accompany his side through to the quarterfinals at least looks pretty solid — not least because they meet in their final group match. If both win their opening two matches, they'll advance regardless of the result in the final game in Zurich.

The two powerhouses clinched places at the tournament in Austria and Switzerland by advancing from the same qualifying group, so they know each other well.

"France we've met so many times that we're almost sick of playing each other," Buffon said.

The Netherlands is traditionally strong, but has a seemingly fractious squad and can no longer draw upon the sort of talent and cohesion that delivered it the 1988 European Championship.

Although coach Marco Van Basten can call upon the attacking talents of Ruud Van Nistelrooy, Robin Van Persie, Arjen Robben and Wesley Sneijder, he appears to lack the solid defense and midfield needed to challenge for the title.

The presence of Seedorf, the only man to have won the Champions League with three different teams, would have been equally invaluable in defense and attack. But the AC Milan midfielder asked to be left off the squad because he felt he would not be at his best — shocking fans and Van Basten.

"I did not expect this at all," Van Basten said. "I told Clarence I have a lot of respect for him as a person and as a football player, but his mind was already made up."

Romania, which finished ahead of the Netherlands in qualifying, could provide the biggest challenge to the powerhouses in Group C.

"I'm a little worried about Romania," Buffon said. "They've got four or five highly talented players that can hide the ball from you."

Romania has one of the most settled squads at the tournament, albeit one with few stars. Christian Chivu, Cosmin Contra, Bogdan Lobont and Adrian Mutu are Romania's most experienced players, all having been in the squad that qualified for the second round in 2000 ahead of England and Germany.

Still, the Dutch and Romanians have a difficult chore to get out of this group.