Neighbours face finals meeting

Hosts Portugal will face neighbours Spain in Group A at UEFA EURO 2004™, after a Final Draw in Lisbon which provided other mouthwatering contests, notably between holders France and England in Group B, and Germany and the Netherlands in Group D.

Tough opener
Portugal and Spain were drawn alongside Greece - the side who beat Spain to force Iñaki Sáez's side into the play-offs - and Russia in Group A. Spain won the Iberian rivals' most recent meeting 3-0 in Guimarães earlier this year and Portugal drew 1-1 with Greece in Aveiro this month.

Old rivals meet
In Group B, meanwhile, France will take on their old rivals England along with Switzerland and Croatia. The last competitive Anglo-French fixture was a goalless draw in the group stage of the 1992 finals. Group C, meanwhile, contains four sides who all qualified as group winners: the Scandinavian pair of Sweden and Denmark, as well as Italy, beaten finalists at UEFA EURO 2000™, and Bulgaria.

Germans meet Dutch
Apart from what will be a much-anticipated meeting between Germany and the Netherlands, Group D also includes Czech Republic and first-time finalists Latvia. The Dutch defeated West Germany in the 1988 UEFA European Championship semi-final, and also beat the Czechs in the group stage four years ago. However, it was the Czech Republic, beaten by Germany in the 1996 final, who forced the Netherlands into the qualifying play-offs for this tournament.

Opening match
Portugal will open the 12th UEFA European Championship on 12 June with a Group A match against Greece in FC Porto's Estádio do Dragão. Twenty-two days and 30 matches later, SL Benfica's Estádio da Luz will host the final on 4 July. In all the finals will involve matches played in ten stadiums across eight cities.

'The best ever'
Dr Gilberto Madaíl, Portuguese Football Federation president and chairman of the board of Euro 2004, S.A., said: "For us, more than a simple draw, this event represents the confirmation that Portugal was able to fulfil the commitments undertaken in Aachen on 12 October 1999 [when they won the right to host the tournament]. We are hereby showing beyond a shadow of a doubt that we were and are capable of organising the best European football championship ever."

'Wonderful festival'
Senes Erzik, the first vice-president of UEFA, said: "The whole of Portugal has made a huge effort to be ready. The passion and enthusiasm of the Portuguese people show for football has also been brought to these preparations and I am convinced that they will make an enthralling and exciting tournament. The preparations in Portugal are going extremely well and we can look forward to a wonderful festival of football."

Lavish event
The Pavilhão Atlântico, on the smart riverside site of Lisbon's Expo 98, hosted the draw ceremony, which was conducted by UEFA Chief Executive Gerhard Aigner. Assisting Mr Aigner were Portuguese stars of yesterday and today, Eusébio and Hugo Viana, together with Laurent Blanc, one of France's EURO 2000™ winners, and Lars-Christer Olsson, the future UEFA CEO.

Thoughts turn to next summer
There was a song and there were speeches and children thumping drums brought it all to a noisy end but what matters is the 16 finalists now know what lies in store for them in the warm days of June 2004. Threads of golden Christmas lights will illuminate the Lisbon streets after dark today but already thoughts are turning here to the stars, and showdowns, that will light up the long days of next summer.

Click here for the full UEFA EURO 2004™ match schedule.