EURO 2008 INFO

Netherlands goalkeeper Edwin van der Sar should know what it takes to win major titles, especially after making the decisive save in Manchester United's penalty shootout win over Chelsea in last month's Champions League final. "Luck," Van der Sar said in a brutally honest assessment of every team's chances at this month's European Championship.

"It is about quality, about players of course," Van der Sar said. "But it is about luck. It is about a ball going inside post (and bouncing) out, or inside post (and) into the goal.

"We have seen it in the final in Moscow," he said, highlighting how little there was between the two teams but adding that Chelsea was only able to draw level at 1-1 in regulation time because he slipped.

Luck turned in Van der Sar's favor from then on. In extra time, Chelsea hit the post and the bar, and John Terry slipped on the penalty which would have given Chelsea the title. Only on the seventh attempt did the Dutchman get his hands on the ball to deny Nicolas Anelka with a save.

"I also lost a penalty shootout when I stopped the fourth one. Now I stopped the seventh one," Van der Sar said. "And now suddenly I am a penalty killer and everything."

Terry, meanwhile, is the butt of jokes all over the Internet. Van der Sar shrugged at the fate of it all.

"Football can be cruel," he said. "Sometimes it is a fine line and we have to make sure we are on the right side of the line."

The Dutch could use some of their luck early, especially after being so unfortunate as to be drawn into Group C with World Cup champion Italy, runner-up France and Romania, which beat them in qualifying.

Since football is such a low-scoring game, luck can have inordinate amount of importance, unlike most other sports. The Dutch have long felt luck owes them one.

After all, Rob Rensenbrink hit the post in the final minute of the 1978 World Cup final with the score at 1-1. The Dutch lost in extra time. On top of that, the Netherlands lost in penalty shootouts at Euro 1996 and Euro 2000, and in the 1998 World Cup semifinals against Brazil. Three times Van der Sar was in goal.

Luck also has had its way with the championships, considering so many underdogs have won the title. Denmark may have been the most lucky in 1992, when it was only allowed into the tournament after Yugoslavia was kicked out because of the political crisis in the Balkans.

The Danes went on to win the title.