EURO 2008 INFO

Oliver Petersen asks, in lieu of England's taking part at Euro 2008, which players from the Prem will be representing the sixteen countries on show...

At the time of writing (as clubs continue to desperately try to bag players before the tournament starts and their prices go up) 49 players are attached - either on loan, or permanently, to English clubs.
 
While Derby, Everton, Fulham and Sunderland have no players representing their respective countries in Austria and Switzerland this summer, Chelsea have eight, Arsenal have seven (eight if Samir Nasri’s imminent signing goes through in time), Liverpool seven, and Manchester United five. Meanwhile, Manchester City have four, Portsmouth three, while Middlesbrough, Newcastle and Wigan each have two.
 
Not forgetting the seven teams - Aston Villa, Birmingham, Blackburn, Bolton, Reading, Tottenham and West Ham, who have only a single representative. And finally, surprising to some, Southampton, who only avoided relegation from the Championship to League One on the last day of the season, have two players in the tournament.
 
Many regular fans of the Three Lions will compensate for England’s failure to make the tournament by battling to work out whether they’ll perhaps be supporting the country of, say, their grandmother’s birth, or the one which is most represented by their club.
 
It’s not only the big club scouts who cast their eyes to the tournament in search of a bargain buy, or an unheralded talent who is still languishing at a club unworthy of his talents, but the fans who wish to make up their own minds.
 
The pleasant combination of styles as Eastern Europe meets Western and Southern Europe meets Scandanavia is a mouth watering proposition for most ardent football fans.
 
But some won’t be satisfied unless they have a team, or at least a player, to support.
 
So here is a look at which players represent which clubs in England.
 
Arsenal
Injury to Czech midfielder Tomas Rosicky and Croatian striker Eduardo da Silva, along with Gael Clichy, Bacary Sagna and Abou Diaby being left out of the French squad means that Arsenal’s number of representatives is kept to single figures, when it might have been 12 or 13.
 
Jens Lehmann (Germany), Lukasz Fabianski (Poland), Philippe Senderos (Switzerland), Johan Djourou (Switzerland), William Gallas (France), Cesc Fabregas (Spain), Robin van Persie (Holland)
 
Aston Villa
Wilfred Bouma (Holland), who started every single Premier League match for Villa this season is the Midlanders’ sole representative. The tough tackling defender is uncompromising and has cult-hero status. Will claret and blue become orange this summer?
 
Birmingham
Sebastian Larsson (Sweden) is the sole man for the Blues. The former Arsenal youngster - if selected to start for the Swedes - should be a good bet from free kicks in and around the box. The midfielder’s passing and crossing is also something to look out for.
 
Blackburn
Andre Ooijer (Holland) is the only representative for Mark Hughes’ men. He will bring experience and grit to the Dutch backline.
 
Bolton
Stelios Giannakopoulos (Greece) wasn’t by any means a regular for Gary Megson this year, but the clever winger evidently did enough to plow a way into the Euro 2004 winners’ squad.
 
Chelsea
With eight, Stamford Bridge has the most Premier League participants in the tournament. With the group containing three Portuguese players (all defenders), and three Frenchmen, Chelsea fans may have split allegiances.
 
Petr Cech (Czech Republic), Paulo Ferreira (Portugal), Jose Bosingwa (Portugal), Ricardo Carvalho (Portugal), Claude Makelele (France), Michael Ballack (Germany), Florent Malouda (France), Nicolas Anelka (France)
 
Liverpool
Unsurprisingly, the Reds have a strong Spanish representation. Four of their players made the squad of Rafa’s home country, while they have two in the Dutch squad and new signing Philipp Degen makes the Swiss selection.
 
Jose Reina (Spain), Philipp Degen (Switzerland), Alvaro Arbeloa (Spain), Xabi Alonso (Spain), Ryan Babel (Holland), Dirk Kuyt (Holland), Fernando Torres (Spain).
 
Man City
Sven Goran Eriksson will have four of his men at the tournament, each participating for a different country. That group includes Greece’s Georgios Samaras, who has been on loan at Celtic.
 
Andreas Isaksson (Sweden), Vedran Corluka (Croatia), Gelson Fernandes (Switzerland), Georgios Samaras (Greece).
 
Man Utd
Some might be surprised to learn that the Red Devils only have a handful of players in Austria and Switzerland in June. Portugal is the only country with more than one of their men.
 
Edwin van der Sar (Holland), Tomasz Kuszczak (Poland), Patrice Evra (France), Cristiano Ronaldo (Portugal), Nani (Portugal)
 
Middlesbrough
Boro are the only Premier League team with an Austrian player. Neither of Gareth Southgate’s men are likely to progress too far in the competition.
 
Emanuel Pogatetz (Austria), Tuncay Sanli (Turkey)
 
Newcastle
Newcastle’s big Czech centre back David Rozehnal has been on loan at Lazio for part of this season. Both of the Magpies’ players have undoubted talent, but need to prove it on the international stage.
 
David Rozehnal (Czech Republic), Emre Belozoglu (Turkey)
 
Portsmouth
Pompey have three talented players on show this summer, although Milan Baros is still owned by Lyon and might not join Harry Redknapp’s men permanently. The Czech Republic will hope he shows the form of Euro 2004 where he won the golden boot, and not the touch in front of net he’s shown at Portsmouth, which has brought him no goals.
 
Lassana Diarra (France), Niko Kranjcar (Croatia), Milan Baros (Czech Republic)
 
Reading
A wonder goal and some exquisite passing helped Marek Matejovsky (Czech Republic) settle in quickly at the Madejski Stadium, but some strong criticism of teammates and lack of detailed coaching might not have endeared him to fans of Steve Coppell’s men.
 
Tottenham
Perhaps the most excited will be the Spurs fans who surely cannot wait to see highly acclaimed playmaker Luka Modric (Croatia) in action this summer in the red-and-white checkerboard shirt. He is set to be a great signing for the league, not just the north London club.
 
West Ham
The injury-prone Fredrik Ljungberg (Sweden) is the Hammers only player on show this summer. They’ll be hoping he doesn’t pick up yet another hamstring strain, and can start next season, buoyed by a good summer.
 
Wigan
Two big defenders represent Steve Bruce’s men in the Euros this year. Neither of them are players likely to set the tournament alight, but every fan needs a reason to follow a team for three weeks, instead of mourning the lack of a home nation presence.
 
Mario Melchiot (Holland), Andreas Granqvist (Sweden)
 
Southampton
Remarkably, lowly Saints have two players performing this summer. The former big club, who nearly plummeted to the third tier of English football this year, have Marek Saganowski who’ll be strutting his stuff for the Poles, in their first ever European Championships, and Rudi Skacel, who was called up as a late injury replacement for the Czechs.
 
Rudi Skacel (Czech Republic), Marek Saganowski (Poland)

Oliver Petersen

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