With 10 days to go, the Euro 2012 squads have been announced. Both hosts (Poland, Ukraine) seem to be underdogs in their respective groups; Germany head into the tournament as the favorites, hoping the rumors about the champions, Spain, are true. We’ve got our group of death (Group B – Germany, Portugal, Netherlands, Denmark) while the English and Italians prepare for another colossal failure.

Poland

The co-hosts of the tournament, this will be Poland’s second appearance in the tournament, finishing last in their group back in 2008.

#	Pos.	Player	Date of Birth (Age)	Caps	Goals	Club
1	GK	Wojciech Szczęsny	18 April 1990 (aged 22)	9	0	Arsenal
2	DF	Sebastian Boenisch	1 February 1987 (aged 25)	4	0	Werder Bremen
3	DF	Grzegorz Wojtkowiak	26 January 1984 (aged 28)	18	0	Lech Poznań
4	DF	Marcin Kamiński	15 January 1992 (aged 20)	2	0	Lech Poznań
5	MF	Dariusz Dudka	9 December 1983 (aged 28)	61	2	Auxerre
6	MF	Adam Matuszczyk	14 February 1989 (aged 23)	18	1	Fortuna Düsseldorf
7	MF	Eugen Polanski	17 March 1986 (aged 26)	6	0	Mainz 05
8	MF	Maciej Rybus	19 August 1989 (aged 22)	19	1	Terek Grozny
9	FW	Robert Lewandowski	21 August 1988 (aged 23)	40	13	Borussia Dortmund
10	MF	Ludovic Obraniak	10 November 1984 (aged 27)	21	4	Bordeaux
11	MF	Rafał Murawski	9 October 1981 (aged 30)	39	1	Lech Poznań
12	GK	Grzegorz Sandomierski	5 September 1989 (aged 22)	3	0	Jagiellonia Białystok
13	DF	Marcin Wasilewski	9 June 1980 (aged 31)	46	1	Anderlecht
14	DF	Jakub Wawrzyniak	7 July 1983 (aged 28)	26	0	Legia Warsaw
15	DF	Damien Perquis	4 October 1984 (aged 27)	5	0	Sochaux
16	MF	Jakub Błaszczykowski (c)	14 December 1985 (aged 26)	49	8	Borussia Dortmund
17	FW	Artur Sobiech	12 June 1990 (aged 21)	4	1	Hannover 96
18	MF	Adrian Mierzejewski	4 November 1986 (aged 25)	21	1	Trabzonspor
19	MF	Rafał Wolski	10 November 1992 (aged 19)	1	0	Legia Warsaw
20	DF	Łukasz Piszczek	3 June 1985 (aged 27)	22	0	Borussia Dortmund
21	MF	Kamil Grosicki	8 June 1988 (aged 24)	12	0	Sivasspor
22	GK	Przemysław Tytoń	4 January 1987 (aged 25)	5	0	PSV Eindhoven
23	FW	Paweł Brożek	21 April 1983 (aged 29)	33	8	Celtic

Greece

The 2004 European champions are still synonymous with bad football and ultra defensive tactics. This will be their fourth Euro, failing to get a point in the previous tournament back in 2008.

# Pos. Player Date of Birth (Age) Caps Goals Club 1 GK Kostas Chalkias 30 May 1974 (aged 38) 29 0  P.A.O.K. 2 DF Ioannis Maniatis 12 October 1986 (aged 25) 7 0  Olympiacos 3 DF Giorgos Tzavelas 26 November 1987 (aged 24) 5 0  Monaco 4 DF Stelios Malezas 11 March 1985 (aged 27) 1 0  P.A.O.K. 5 DF Kyriakos Papadopoulos 23 February 1992 (aged 20) 7 2  Schalke 04 6 MF Grigoris Makos 18 January 1987 (aged 25) 10 0  AEK Athens 7 FW Giorgos Samaras 21 February 1985 (aged 27) 52 7  Celtic 8 DF Avraam Papadopoulos 3 December 1984 (aged 27) 31 0  Olympiacos 9 FW Nikos Lyberopoulos 4 August 1975 (aged 36) 74 13  AEK Athens 10 MF Giorgos Karagounis (c) 6 March 1977 (aged 35) 115 8  Panathinaikos 11 FW Kostas Mitroglou 12 March 1988 (aged 24) 11 0  Atromitos 12 GK Alexandros Tzorvas 12 August 1982 (aged 29) 16 0  Palermo 13 GK Michalis Sifakis 9 September 1984 (aged 27) 11 0  Aris Thessaloniki 14 FW Dimitris Salpigidis 18 August 1981 (aged 30) 55 7  P.A.O.K 15 DF Vasilis Torosidis 10 June 1985 (aged 26) 43 5  Olympiacos 16 MF Giorgos Fotakis 29 October 1981 (aged 30) 9 2  P.A.O.K 17 FW Theofanis Gekas 23 May 1980 (aged 32) 56 21  Samsunspor 18 MF Sotiris Ninis 3 April 1990 (aged 22) 18 2  Panathinaikos 19 DF Sokratis Papastathopoulos 9 June 1988 (aged 23) 26 0  Werder Bremen 20 DF José Holebas 27 June 1984 (aged 27) 2 0  Olympiacos 21 MF Kostas Katsouranis 21 June 1979 (aged 32) 89 9  Panathinaikos 22 MF Kostas Fortounis 16 October 1992 (aged 19) 1 0  Kaiserslautern 23 MF Giannis Fetfatzidis 21 December 1990 (aged 21) 12 3  Olympiacos

Russia

This will be Russia’s fifth appearance in the Euro since the break up of the Soviet Union. 2008 was their most successful appearance, reaching the Semi Final of the tournament.

# Pos. Player Date of Birth (Age) Caps Goals Club 1 GK Igor Akinfeev 8 April 1986 (aged 26) 50 0  CSKA Moscow 2 DF Aleksandr Anyukov 28 September 1982 (aged 29) 64 1  Zenit Saint Petersburg 3 DF Roman Sharonov 8 September 1976 (aged 35) 8 0  Rubin Kazan 4 DF Sergei Ignashevich 14 July 1979 (aged 32) 73 5  CSKA Moscow 5 DF Yuri Zhirkov 20 August 1983 (aged 28) 50 0  Anzhi Makhachkala 6 MF Roman Shirokov 6 July 1981 (aged 30) 20 4  Zenit Saint Petersburg 7 MF Igor Denisov 17 May 1984 (aged 28) 24 0  Zenit Saint Petersburg 8 MF Konstantin Zyryanov 5 October 1977 (aged 34) 48 7  Zenit Saint Petersburg 9 MF Marat Izmailov 21 September 1982 (aged 29) 32 2  Sporting CP 10 FW Andrei Arshavin (c) 29 May 1981 (aged 31) 69 17  Zenit Saint Petersburg 11 FW Aleksandr Kerzhakov 27 November 1982 (aged 29) 59 18  Zenit Saint Petersburg 12 DF Aleksei Berezutski 20 June 1982 (aged 29) 46 0  CSKA Moscow 13 GK Anton Shunin 27 January 1987 (aged 25) 2 0  Dynamo Moscow 14 FW Roman Pavlyuchenko 15 December 1981 (aged 30) 45 20  Lokomotiv Moscow 15 MF Dmitri Kombarov 22 January 1987 (aged 25) 2 0  Spartak Moscow 16 GK Vyacheslav Malafeev 4 March 1979 (aged 33) 24 0  Zenit Saint Petersburg 17 MF Alan Dzagoev 17 June 1990 (aged 21) 18 4  CSKA Moscow 18 FW Aleksandr Kokorin 19 March 1991 (aged 21) 3 0  Dynamo Moscow 19 DF Vladimir Granat 22 May 1987 (aged 25) 0 0  Dynamo Moscow 20 FW Pavel Pogrebnyak 8 November 1983 (aged 28) 32 8  Fulham 21 DF Kirill Nababkin 8 September 1986 (aged 25) 0 0  CSKA Moscow 22 MF Denis Glushakov 27 January 1987 (aged 25) 9 1  Lokomotiv Moscow 23 MF Igor Semshov 6 April 1978 (aged 34) 56 3  Dynamo Moscow

Czech Republic

A Euro kind of team. The Czech’s have been part of the last four Euro tournaments, ever since the break up of Czechoslovakia, not making it out of the group stage last time, but reaching the Semi Final in 2004.

#	Pos.	Player	Date of Birth (Age)	Caps	Goals	Club
1	GK	Petr Čech	20 May 1982 (aged 30)	89	0	Chelsea
2	DF	Theodor Gebre Selassie	24 December 1986 (aged 25)	8	0	Slovan Liberec
3	DF	Michal Kadlec	13 December 1984 (aged 27)	33	7	Bayer Leverkusen
4	DF	Marek Suchý	29 March 1988 (aged 24)	3	0	Spartak Moscow
5	DF	Roman Hubník	6 June 1984 (aged 28)	20	2	Hertha BSC
6	DF	Tomáš Sivok	15 September 1983 (aged 28)	24	3	Beşiktaş
7	FW	Tomáš Necid	13 August 1989 (aged 22)	25	7	CSKA Moscow
8	DF	David Limberský	6 October 1983 (aged 28)	7	0	Viktoria Plzeň
9	MF	Jan Rezek	5 May 1982 (aged 30)	12	3	Anorthosis Famagusta
10	MF	Tomáš Rosický (c)	4 October 1980 (aged 31)	86	20	Arsenal
11	MF	Milan Petržela	19 June 1983 (aged 28)	9	0	Viktoria Plzeň
12	DF	František Rajtoral	12 March 1986 (aged 26)	1	0	Viktoria Plzeň
13	MF	Jaroslav Plašil	5 January 1982 (aged 30)	70	6	Bordeaux
14	MF	Václav Pilař	13 October 1988 (aged 23)	7	1	Viktoria Plzeň
15	FW	Milan Baroš	28 October 1981 (aged 30)	87	40	Galatasaray
16	GK	Jan Laštůvka	7 July 1982 (aged 29)	1	0	Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk
17	MF	Tomáš Hübschman	4 September 1981 (aged 30)	41	0	Shakhtar Donetsk
18	MF	Daniel Kolář	27 October 1985 (aged 26)	9	1	Viktoria Plzeň
19	MF	Petr Jiráček	2 March 1986 (aged 26)	6	1	VfL Wolfsburg
20	FW	Tomáš Pekhart	26 May 1989 (aged 23)	9	0	Nürnberg
21	FW	David Lafata	18 September 1981 (aged 30)	16	2	FK Jablonec
22	MF	Vladimír Darida	8 August 1990 (aged 21)	1	0	FC Viktoria Plzeň
23	GK	Jaroslav Drobný	18 October 1979 (aged 32)	5	0	Hamburger SV

The Netherlands

As Always, had a nearly flawless qualifying campaign. The Dutch have not failed to qualify to a Euro since 1984, making it  out of the group stage every time, winning it all in 1988, still their only major title.

#	Pos.	Player	Date of Birth (Age)	Caps	Goals	Club
1	GK	Maarten Stekelenburg	22 September 1982 (aged 29)	45	0	Roma
2	DF	Gregory van der Wiel	3 February 1988 (aged 24)	30	0	Ajax
3	DF	John Heitinga	15 November 1983 (aged 28)	76	7	Everton
4	DF	Joris Mathijsen	5 April 1980 (aged 32)	80	3	Málaga
5	DF	Wilfred Bouma	15 June 1978 (aged 33)	36	2	PSV
6	MF	Mark van Bommel (c)	22 April 1977 (aged 35)	75	10	PSV
7	FW	Dirk Kuyt	22 July 1980 (aged 31)	86	24	Liverpool
8	MF	Nigel de Jong	30 November 1984 (aged 27)	58	1	Manchester City
9	FW	Klaas-Jan Huntelaar	12 August 1983 (aged 28)	51	31	Schalke 04
10	MF	Wesley Sneijder	9 June 1984 (aged 27)	82	23	Internazionale
11	FW	Arjen Robben	23 January 1984 (aged 28)	55	17	Bayern Munich
12	GK	Michel Vorm	20 October 1983 (aged 28)	9	0	Swansea City
13	DF	Ron Vlaar	16 February 1985 (aged 27)	5	0	Feyenoord
14	DF	Stijn Schaars	11 January 1984 (aged 28)	17	0	Sporting
15	DF	Jetro Willems	30 March 1994 (aged 18)	1	0	PSV
16	FW	Robin van Persie	6 August 1983 (aged 28)	63	26	Arsenal
17	MF	Kevin Strootman	13 February 1990 (aged 22)	11	1	PSV
18	FW	Luuk de Jong	27 August 1990 (aged 21)	7	1	Twente
19	FW	Luciano Narsingh	13 September 1990 (aged 21)	0	0	Heerenveen
20	FW	Ibrahim Afellay	2 April 1986 (aged 26)	36	3	Barcelona
21	DF	Khalid Boulahrouz	28 December 1981 (aged 30)	35	0	VfB Stuttgart
22	GK	Tim Krul	3 April 1988 (aged 24)	3	0	Newcastle United
23	MF	Rafael van der Vaart	11 February 1983 (aged 29)	94	15	Tottenham Hotspur

Denmark

Like the Czech Republic, the Danes have made a habit of making it to Euro tournaments, although they did miss the 2008 show for the first time since 1980. Their best performance was in 1992, winning in Sweden.

# Pos. Player Date of Birth (Age) Caps Goals Club 1 GK Stephan Andersen 26 November 1981 (aged 30) 8 0  Evian 2 MF Christian Poulsen 28 February 1980 (aged 32) 90 6  Evian 3 DF Simon Kjær 26 March 1989 (aged 23) 22 0  Roma 4 DF Daniel Agger (c) 12 December 1984 (aged 27) 44 5  Liverpool 5 DF Simon Poulsen 7 October 1984 (aged 27) 16 0  AZ 6 DF Lars Jacobsen 20 September 1979 (aged 32) 49 1  Copenhagen 7 MF William Kvist 24 February 1985 (aged 27) 27 0  VfB Stuttgart 8 MF Christian Eriksen 14 February 1992 (aged 20) 21 2  Ajax 9 FW Michael Krohn-Dehli 6 June 1983 (aged 29) 19 4  Brøndby 10 FW Dennis Rommedahl 22 July 1978 (aged 33) 114 21  Brøndby 11 FW Nicklas Bendtner 16 January 1988 (aged 24) 46 17  Arsenal 12 DF Andreas Bjelland 11 July 1988 (aged 23) 5 0  Nordsjælland 13 DF Jores Okore 11 August 1992 (aged 19) 2 0  Nordsjælland 14 MF Lasse Schøne 27 May 1986 (aged 26) 9 2  NEC 15 MF Michael Silberbauer 7 July 1981 (aged 30) 24 1  Young Boys 16 GK Anders Lindegaard 13 April 1984 (aged 28) 5 0  Manchester United 17 FW Nicklas Pedersen 10 October 1987 (aged 24) 7 0  Groningen 18 DF Daniel Wass 31 May 1989 (aged 23) 4 0  Evian 19 MF Jakob Poulsen 7 July 1983 (aged 28) 20 1  Midtjylland 20 MF Thomas Kahlenberg 20 March 1983 (aged 29) 36 4  Evian 21 MF Niki Zimling 19 April 1985 (aged 27) 9 0  Club Brugge 22 GK Kasper Schmeichel 5 November 1986 (aged 25) 0 0  Leicester City 23 FW Tobias Mikkelsen 18 September 1986 (aged 25) 2 0  Nordsjælland

Germany

For the first time in a long long time, the Germans enter a tournament as the favorites, especially with scents of Spain slowing down in parallel with Barcelona’s less successful than usual season. Germany reached the final in 2008, losing to Spain. They won the tournament as the unified nation once, in 1996.

# Pos. Player Date of Birth (Age) Caps Goals Club 1 GK Manuel Neuer 27 March 1986 (aged 26) 25 0  Bayern Munich 2 MF İlkay Gündoğan 24 October 1990 (aged 21) 1 0  Borussia Dortmund 3 DF Marcel Schmelzer 22 January 1988 (aged 24) 5 0  Borussia Dortmund 4 DF Benedikt Höwedes 29 February 1988 (aged 24) 7 0  Schalke 04 5 DF Mats Hummels 16 December 1988 (aged 23) 13 0  Borussia Dortmund 6 MF Sami Khedira 4 April 1987 (aged 25) 25 1  Real Madrid 7 MF Bastian Schweinsteiger 1 August 1984 (aged 27) 90 23  Bayern Munich 8 MF Mesut Özil 15 October 1988 (aged 23) 31 8  Real Madrid 9 MF André Schürrle 6 November 1990 (aged 21) 12 5  Bayer Leverkusen 10 MF Lukas Podolski 4 June 1985 (aged 27) 95 43  Arsenal 11 FW Miroslav Klose 9 June 1978 (aged 33) 114 63  Lazio 12 GK Tim Wiese 17 December 1981 (aged 30) 6 0  Werder Bremen 13 MF Thomas Müller 13 September 1989 (aged 22) 26 10  Bayern Munich 14 DF Holger Badstuber 13 March 1989 (aged 23) 19 1  Bayern Munich 15 MF Lars Bender 27 April 1989 (aged 23) 4 0  Bayer Leverkusen 16 DF Philipp Lahm (c) 11 November 1983 (aged 28) 85 4  Bayern Munich 17 DF Per Mertesacker 29 September 1984 (aged 27) 79 1  Arsenal 18 MF Toni Kroos 4 January 1990 (aged 22) 25 2  Bayern Munich 19 MF Mario Götze 3 June 1992 (aged 20) 12 2  Borussia Dortmund 20 DF Jérôme Boateng 3 September 1988 (aged 23) 20 0  Bayern Munich 21 MF Marco Reus 31 May 1989 (aged 23) 4 0  Borussia Dortmund 22 GK Ron-Robert Zieler 12 February 1989 (aged 23) 1 0  Hannover 96 23 FW Mario Gómez 10 July 1985 (aged 26) 51 21  Bayern Munich

Portugal

Another rough qualifying campaign didn’t stop Portugal and Cristiano Ronaldo from making their fourth consecutive tournament. They lost to Germany in the quarter finals in 2008,recording their best accomplishment as finalists in 2004, hosting the tournament.

#	Pos.	Player	Date of Birth (Age)	Caps	Goals	Club
1	GK	Eduardo	19 September 1982 (aged 29)	27	0	Benfica
2	DF	Bruno Alves	27 November 1981 (aged 30)	48	5	Zenit Saint Petersburg
3	DF	Pepe	26 February 1983 (aged 29)	38	2	Real Madrid
4	MF	Miguel Veloso	11 May 1986 (aged 26)	22	2	Genoa
5	DF	Fábio Coentrão	11 March 1988 (aged 24)	20	1	Real Madrid
6	MF	Custódio	24 May 1983 (aged 29)	0	0	Braga
7	FW	Cristiano Ronaldo (c)	5 February 1985 (aged 27)	88	32	Real Madrid
8	MF	João Moutinho	8 September 1986 (aged 25)	40	2	Porto
9	FW	Hugo Almeida	23 May 1984 (aged 28)	40	15	Beşiktaş
10	FW	Ricardo Quaresma	26 September 1983 (aged 28)	31	3	Beşiktaş
11	FW	Nélson Oliveira	8 August 1991 (aged 20)	1	0	Benfica
12	GK	Rui Patrício	15 February 1988 (aged 24)	10	0	Sporting CP
13	DF	Ricardo Costa	16 May 1981 (aged 31)	10	0	Valencia
14	DF	Rolando	31 August 1985 (aged 26)	13	0	Porto
15	MF	Rúben Micael	19 August 1986 (aged 25)	7	2	Atlético Madrid
16	MF	Raul Meireles	17 March 1983 (aged 29)	55	8	Chelsea
17	FW	Nani	17 November 1986 (aged 25)	52	12	Manchester United
18	FW	Silvestre Varela	2 February 1985 (aged 27)	5	1	Porto
19	DF	Miguel Lopes	19 December 1986 (aged 25)	0	0	Braga
20	MF	Hugo Viana	15 January 1983 (aged 29)	25	1	Braga
21	DF	João Pereira	25 February 1984 (aged 28)	13	0	Sporting CP
22	GK	Beto	1 May 1982 (aged 30)	1	0	CFR Cluj
23	FW	Hélder Postiga	2 August 1982 (aged 29)	47	19	Real Zaragoza

Spain

The European Champions heading feeling a bit less confident then they have before the previous Euro and the last World Cup. That’s how it feels for everyone from the outside. Still, the squad is based on the two best clubs in the world, so don’t expect anything less than a Semi Final.

#	Pos.	Player	Date of Birth (Age)	Caps	Goals	Club
1	GK	Iker Casillas (c)	20 May 1981 (aged 31)	129	0	Real Madrid
2	DF	Raúl Albiol	4 September 1985 (aged 26)	32	0	Real Madrid
3	DF	Gerard Piqué	2 February 1987 (aged 25)	38	4	Barcelona
4	MF	Javi Martínez	2 September 1988 (aged 23)	7	0	Athletic Bilbao
5	DF	Juanfran	9 January 1985 (aged 27)	1	0	Atlético Madrid
6	MF	Andrés Iniesta	11 May 1984 (aged 28)	64	11	Barcelona
7	FW	Pedro	28 July 1987 (aged 24)	14	2	Barcelona
8	MF	Xavi	25 January 1980 (aged 32)	108	10	Barcelona
9	FW	Fernando Torres	20 March 1984 (aged 28)	91	27	Chelsea
10	MF	Cesc Fàbregas	4 May 1987 (aged 25)	63	8	Barcelona
11	FW	Álvaro Negredo	20 August 1985 (aged 26)	7	5	Sevilla
12	GK	Víctor Valdés	14 January 1982 (aged 30)	7	0	Barcelona
13	MF	Juan Mata	28 April 1988 (aged 24)	16	5	Chelsea
14	MF	Xabi Alonso	25 November 1981 (aged 30)	94	12	Real Madrid
15	DF	Sergio Ramos	30 March 1986 (aged 26)	84	6	Real Madrid
16	MF	Sergio Busquets	16 July 1987 (aged 24)	38	0	Barcelona
17	DF	Álvaro Arbeloa	17 January 1983 (aged 29)	33	0	Real Madrid
18	DF	Jordi Alba	21 March 1989 (aged 23)	3	0	Valencia
19	FW	Fernando Llorente	26 February 1985 (aged 27)	20	7	Athletic Bilbao
20	MF	Santi Cazorla	13 December 1984 (aged 27)	41	5	Málaga
21	MF	David Silva	8 January 1986 (aged 26)	55	15	Manchester City
22	MF	Jesús Navas	21 November 1985 (aged 26)	15	1	Sevilla
23	GK	Pepe Reina	31 August 1982 (aged 29)	24	0	Liverpool

Italy

Italy head into the Euro after a disappointing previous time and an even worse World Cup. This time, not a lot of expectations, without a lot of stars. But they make life hard for anyone who don’t take them seriously. It remains to be seen how the new match fixing scandal affects the national team.

#	Pos.	Player	Date of Birth (Age)	Caps	Goals	Club
1	GK	Gianluigi Buffon (c)	28 January 1978 (aged 34)	113	0	Juventus
2	DF	Christian Maggio	11 February 1982 (aged 30)	15	0	Napoli
3	DF	Giorgio Chiellini	14 August 1984 (aged 27)	50	2	Juventus
4	DF	Angelo Ogbonna	23 May 1988 (aged 24)	2	0	Torino
5	MF	Thiago Motta	28 August 1982 (aged 29)	7	1	Paris Saint-Germain
6	DF	Federico Balzaretti	6 December 1981 (aged 30)	7	0	Palermo
7	DF	Ignazio Abate	12 November 1986 (aged 25)	2	0	Milan
8	MF	Claudio Marchisio	19 January 1986 (aged 26)	19	1	Juventus
9	FW	Mario Balotelli	12 August 1990 (aged 21)	7	1	Manchester City
10	FW	Antonio Cassano	12 July 1982 (aged 29)	28	9	Milan
11	FW	Antonio Di Natale	13 October 1977 (aged 34)	36	10	Udinese
12	GK	Salvatore Sirigu	12 January 1987 (aged 25)	2	0	Paris Saint-Germain
13	MF	Emanuele Giaccherini	5 May 1985 (aged 27)	0	0	Juventus
14	GK	Morgan De Sanctis	26 March 1977 (aged 35)	4	0	Napoli
15	DF	Andrea Barzagli	8 May 1981 (aged 31)	28	0	Juventus
16	MF	Daniele De Rossi	24 July 1983 (aged 28)	71	10	Roma
17	FW	Fabio Borini	29 March 1991 (aged 21)	1	0	Roma
18	MF	Riccardo Montolivo	18 January 1985 (aged 27)	32	1	Fiorentina
19	DF	Leonardo Bonucci	1 May 1987 (aged 25)	13	2	Juventus
20	FW	Sebastian Giovinco	26 January 1987 (aged 25)	7	0	Parma
21	MF	Andrea Pirlo	19 May 1979 (aged 33)	82	9	Juventus
22	MF	Alessandro Diamanti	2 May 1983 (aged 29)	1	0	Bologna
23	MF	Antonio Nocerino	9 April 1985 (aged 27)	10	0	Milan

Ireland

It says that what turned football into a popular sport in Ireland was the 1988 team, making a major tournament for the first time ever. It was also Ireland’s only visit to the Euro.

#	Pos.	Player	Date of Birth (Age)	Caps	Goals	Club
1	GK	Shay Given	20 April 1976 (aged 36)	121	0	Aston Villa
2	DF	Sean St Ledger	28 December 1984 (aged 27)	25	2	Leicester City
3	DF	Stephen Ward	20 August 1985 (aged 26)	10	2	Wolverhampton Wanderers
4	DF	John O’Shea	30 April 1981 (aged 31)	75	1	Sunderland
5	DF	Richard Dunne	21 September 1979 (aged 32)	71	8	Aston Villa
6	MF	Glenn Whelan	13 January 1984 (aged 28)	37	2	Stoke City
7	MF	Aiden McGeady	4 April 1986 (aged 26)	47	2	Spartak Moscow
8	MF	Keith Andrews	13 September 1980 (aged 31)	27	3	West Bromwich Albion
9	FW	Kevin Doyle	18 September 1983 (aged 28)	46	10	Wolverhampton Wanderers
10	FW	Robbie Keane (c)	8 July 1980 (aged 31)	115	53	Los Angeles Galaxy
11	MF	Damien Duff	2 March 1979 (aged 33)	95	8	Fulham
12	DF	Stephen Kelly	6 September 1983 (aged 28)	29	0	Fulham
13	DF	Paul McShane	6 January 1986 (aged 26)	26	0	Hull City
14	FW	Jonathan Walters	20 September 1983 (aged 28)	5	1	Stoke City
15	MF	Darron Gibson	25 October 1987 (aged 24)	17	1	Everton
16	GK	Keiren Westwood	23 October 1984 (aged 27)	8	0	Sunderland
17	MF	Stephen Hunt	1 August 1981 (aged 30)	38	1	Wolverhampton Wanderers
18	DF	Darren O’Dea	4 February 1987 (aged 25)	13	0	Celtic
19	FW	Shane Long	22 January 1987 (aged 25)	24	6	West Bromwich Albion
20	FW	Simon Cox	28 April 1987 (aged 25)	11	3	West Bromwich Albion
21	MF	Paul Green	10 April 1983 (aged 29)	10	1	Derby County
22	MF	James McClean	22 April 1989 (aged 23)	1	0	Sunderland
23	GK	David Forde	20 December 1979 (aged 32)	2	0	Millwall

Croatia

Since becoming eligible to play as an independent nation, Croatia have missed the Euro only once, in 2000. They reached the quarter finals in 2008, tied for their best achievement.

#	Pos.	Player	Date of Birth (Age)	Caps	Goals	Club
1	GK	Stipe Pletikosa	8 January 1979 (aged 33)	90	0	Rostov
2	DF	Ivan Strinić	17 July 1987 (aged 24)	15	0	Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk
3	DF	Josip Šimunić	18 February 1978 (aged 34)	93	3	Dinamo Zagreb
4	DF	Jurica Buljat	12 September 1986 (aged 25)	2	0	Maccabi Haifa
5	DF	Vedran Ćorluka	5 February 1986 (aged 26)	53	2	Bayer Leverkusen
6	DF	Danijel Pranjić	2 December 1981 (aged 30)	42	0	Bayern Munich
7	MF	Ivan Rakitić	10 March 1988 (aged 24)	39	8	Sevilla
8	MF	Ognjen Vukojević	20 December 1983 (aged 28)	37	3	Dynamo Kyiv
9	FW	Nikica Jelavić	27 August 1985 (aged 26)	18	2	Everton
10	MF	Luka Modrić	9 September 1985 (aged 26)	54	8	Tottenham Hotspur
11	MF	Darijo Srna (c)	1 May 1982 (aged 30)	91	19	Shakhtar Donetsk
12	GK	Ivan Kelava	20 February 1988 (aged 24)	0	0	Dinamo Zagreb
13	DF	Gordon Schildenfeld	18 March 1985 (aged 27)	10	0	Eintracht Frankfurt
14	MF	Milan Badelj	25 February 1989 (aged 23)	3	1	Dinamo Zagreb
15	MF	Ivo Iličević	14 September 1986 (aged 25)	4	1	Hamburger SV
16	MF	Tomislav Dujmović	26 February 1981 (aged 31)	16	0	Real Zaragoza
17	FW	Mario Mandžukić	21 May 1986 (aged 26)	27	5	VfL Wolfsburg
18	FW	Ivica Olić	14 September 1979 (aged 32)	77	15	Bayern Munich
19	MF	Niko Kranjčar	13 August 1984 (aged 27)	69	15	Tottenham Hotspur
20	MF	Ivan Perišić	2 February 1989 (aged 23)	8	0	Borussia Dortmund
21	DF	Domagoj Vida	29 April 1989 (aged 23)	8	0	Dinamo Zagreb
22	FW	Eduardo	25 February 1983 (aged 29)	45	22	Shakhtar Donetsk
23	GK	Danijel Subašić	27 October 1984 (aged 27)	3	0	Monaco

Ukraine

The co-Hosts, but anything beyond finishing last in their group would be surprising. I’m pretty sure they don’t feel the same way in the Ukraine, but the draw hasn’t been fortunate to them like for the Polish side.

#	Pos.	Player	Date of Birth (Age)	Caps	Goals	Club
1	GK	Maksym Koval	9 December 1992 (aged 19)	0	0	Dynamo Kyiv
2	DF	Yevhen Selin	9 May 1988 (aged 24)	5	1	Vorskla Poltava
3	DF	Yevhen Khacheridi	28 July 1987 (aged 24)	8	0	Dynamo Kyiv
4	MF	Anatoliy Tymoshchuk	30 March 1979 (aged 33)	114	4	Bayern Munich
5	DF	Oleksandr Kucher	22 October 1982 (aged 29)	28	1	Shakhtar Donetsk
6	MF	Denys Harmash	19 April 1990 (aged 22)	4	0	Dynamo Kyiv
7	FW	Andriy Shevchenko (c)	29 September 1976 (aged 35)	105	46	Dynamo Kyiv
8	MF	Oleksandr Aliyev	3 February 1985 (aged 27)	25	6	Dynamo Kyiv
9	MF	Oleh Husyev	25 April 1983 (aged 29)	69	9	Dynamo Kyiv
10	FW	Andriy Voronin	21 July 1979 (aged 32)	70	7	Dynamo Moscow
11	FW	Andriy Yarmolenko	23 October 1989 (aged 22)	18	7	Dynamo Kyiv
12	GK	Andriy Pyatov	28 June 1984 (aged 27)	24	0	Shakhtar Donetsk
13	DF	Vyacheslav Shevchuk	13 May 1979 (aged 33)	20	0	Shakhtar Donetsk
14	MF	Ruslan Rotan	29 October 1981 (aged 30)	56	6	Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk
15	FW	Artem Milevskiy	12 January 1985 (aged 27)	43	7	Dynamo Kyiv
16	FW	Yevhen Seleznyov	20 July 1985 (aged 26)	27	5	Shakhtar Donetsk
17	DF	Taras Mykhalyk	28 October 1983 (aged 28)	25	0	Dynamo Kyiv
18	MF	Serhiy Nazarenko	16 February 1980 (aged 32)	47	12	Tavriya Simferopol
19	MF	Yevhen Konoplyanka	29 September 1989 (aged 22)	16	5	Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk
20	DF	Yaroslav Rakitskiy	3 August 1989 (aged 22)	14	3	Shakhtar Donetsk
21	DF	Bohdan Butko	13 January 1991 (aged 21)	7	0	Illichivets Mariupol
22	FW	Marko Devych	27 October 1983 (aged 28)	18	2	Metalist Kharkiv
23	GK	Oleksandr Horyainov	29 June 1975 (aged 36)	1	0	Metalist Kharkiv

Sweden

Quite shockingly, a side that hardly misses big tournaments hasn’t been to one since the 2008 Euro, which saw them fail to make it out of the group stage.

#	Pos.	Player	Date of Birth (Age)	Caps	Goals	Club
1	GK	Andreas Isaksson	3 October 1981 (aged 30)	91	0	PSV
2	DF	Mikael Lustig	13 December 1986 (aged 25)	23	1	Celtic
3	DF	Olof Mellberg	3 September 1977 (aged 34)	112	7	Olympiacos
4	DF	Andreas Granqvist	16 April 1985 (aged 27)	16	2	Genoa
5	DF	Martin Olsson	17 May 1988 (aged 24)	8	4	Blackburn Rovers
6	MF	Rasmus Elm	17 March 1988 (aged 24)	22	1	AZ
7	MF	Sebastian Larsson	6 June 1985 (aged 27)	39	5	Sunderland
8	MF	Anders Svensson	17 July 1976 (aged 35)	126	18	Elfsborg
9	MF	Kim Källström	24 August 1982 (aged 29)	90	16	Lyon
10	FW	Zlatan Ibrahimović (c)	3 October 1981 (aged 30)	75	29	Milan
11	FW	Johan Elmander	27 May 1981 (aged 31)	63	16	Galatasaray
12	GK	Johan Wiland	24 January 1981 (aged 31)	7	0	Copenhagen
13	DF	Jonas Olsson	10 March 1983 (aged 29)	6	0	West Bromwich Albion
14	FW	Tobias Hysén	9 March 1982 (aged 30)	21	7	IFK Göteborg
15	DF	Mikael Antonsson	31 May 1981 (aged 31)	4	0	Bologna
16	MF	Pontus Wernbloom	25 June 1986 (aged 25)	21	2	CSKA Moscow
17	DF	Behrang Safari	9 February 1985 (aged 27)	23	0	Anderlecht
18	MF	Samuel Holmén	28 June 1984 (aged 27)	25	2	İstanbul BB
19	MF	Emir Bajrami	7 March 1988 (aged 24)	15	2	Twente
20	FW	Ola Toivonen	3 July 1986 (aged 25)	22	4	PSV
21	MF	Christian Wilhelmsson	8 December 1979 (aged 32)	72	8	Al-Hilal
22	FW	Markus Rosenberg	27 September 1982 (aged 29)	30	6	Free agent
23	GK	Pär Hansson	22 June 1986 (aged 25)	2	0	Helsingborg

England

Expectations, unlike most tournaments, are ridiculously low. Maybe it’s the manager, maybe it’s the recent results. England didn’t make it in 2008 and haven’t made the Semi Final since 1996.

#	Pos.	Player	Date of Birth (Age)	Caps	Goals	Club
1	GK	Joe Hart	19 April 1987 (aged 25)	17	0	Manchester City
2	DF	Glen Johnson	23 August 1984 (aged 27)	35	1	Liverpool
3	DF	Ashley Cole	20 December 1980 (aged 31)	93	0	Chelsea
4	MF	Steven Gerrard (c)	30 May 1980 (aged 32)	90	19	Liverpool
5	DF	Gary Cahill	19 December 1985 (aged 26)	8	2	Chelsea
6	DF	John Terry	7 December 1980 (aged 31)	72	6	Chelsea
7	MF	Theo Walcott	16 March 1989 (aged 23)	22	3	Arsenal
8	MF	Frank Lampard	20 June 1978 (aged 33)	90	23	Chelsea
9	FW	Andy Carroll	6 January 1989 (aged 23)	3	1	Liverpool
10	FW	Wayne Rooney	24 October 1985 (aged 26)	73	28	Manchester United
11	MF	Ashley Young	9 July 1985 (aged 26)	19	5	Manchester United
12	DF	Leighton Baines	11 December 1984 (aged 27)	7	0	Everton
13	GK	Robert Green	18 January 1980 (aged 32)	11	0	West Ham United
14	DF	Phil Jones	21 February 1992 (aged 20)	4	0	Manchester United
15	DF	Joleon Lescott	16 August 1982 (aged 29)	14	0	Manchester City
16	MF	James Milner	4 January 1986 (aged 26)	24	0	Manchester City
17	MF	Scott Parker	13 October 1980 (aged 31)	11	0	Tottenham Hotspur
18	DF	Phil Jagielka	17 August 1982 (aged 29)	11	0	Everton
19	MF	Stewart Downing	22 July 1984 (aged 27)	33	0	Liverpool
20	MF	Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain	15 August 1993 (aged 18)	1	0	Arsenal
21	FW	Jermain Defoe	7 October 1982 (aged 29)	46	15	Tottenham Hotspur
22	FW	Danny Welbeck	26 November 1990 (aged 21)	4	0	Manchester United
23	GK	Jack Butland	10 March 1993 (aged 19)	0	0	Birmingham City

 France

France have been terrible since the 2006 World Cup – Not making it out of the group stage in 2008 and the 2010 World Cup. This time, it should be different, but lacking talent has never been a problem. It’s usually more about the social situation within the squad.

#	Pos.	Player	Date of Birth (Age)	Caps	Goals	Club
1	GK	Hugo Lloris (captain)	26 December 1986 (age 25)	31	0	Lyon
16	GK	Steve Mandanda	28 March 1985 (age 27)	15	0	Marseille
23	GK	Cédric Carrasso	30 December 1981 (age 30)	1	0	Bordeaux
2	DF	Mathieu Debuchy	28 July 1985 (age 26)	4	1	Lille
3	DF	Patrice Evra	15 May 1981 (age 31)	40	0	Manchester United
4	DF	Adil Rami	27 December 1985 (age 26)	18	1	Valencia
5	DF	Philippe Mexès	30 March 1982 (age 30)	24	1	Milan
13	DF	Anthony Réveillère	10 November 1979 (age 32)	16	1	Lyon
21	DF	Laurent Koscielny	10 September 1985 (age 26)	1	0	Arsenal
22	DF	Gaël Clichy	26 July 1985 (age 26)	11	0	Manchester City
6	MF	Yohan Cabaye	14 January 1986 (age 26)	11	0	Newcastle United
7	MF	Franck Ribéry	7 April 1983 (age 29)	58	8	Bayern Munich
8	MF	Mathieu Valbuena	28 September 1984 (age 27)	11	2	Marseille
11	MF	Samir Nasri	27 June 1987 (age 24)	29	3	Manchester City
12	MF	Blaise Matuidi	9 April 1987 (age 25)	4	0	Paris Saint-Germain
15	MF	Florent Malouda	13 June 1980 (age 31)	75	8	Chelsea
17	MF	Yann M’Vila	29 June 1990 (age 21)	18	1	Rennes
18	MF	Alou Diarra	15 July 1981 (age 30)	39	0	Marseille
19	MF	Marvin Martin	10 January 1988 (age 24)	10	2	Sochaux
20	MF	Hatem Ben Arfa	7 March 1987 (age 25)	9	2	Newcastle United
9	FW	Olivier Giroud	30 September 1986 (age 25)	4	1	Montpellier
10	FW	Karim Benzema	19 December 1987 (age 24)	43	13	Real Madrid
14	FW	Jérémy Ménez	7 May 1987 (age 25)	11	0	Paris Saint-Germain

Images: Kuba Pavlyuchenko Huntelaar Rommedahl Ronaldo De Rossi Keane Shevchenko Benzema

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