EURO team camps: 27 May

Many of the UEFA EURO 2012 nations stepped up their preparations for the tournament with friendly matches on Saturday, while France host Iceland this evening. UEFA.com has reporters assigned to every team and they will bring you the latest news from each camp, including reaction to last night's games, throughout the day.

Republic of Ireland (Garry Doyle,@UEFAcomGarryD)
The squad flew out of Dublin Airport today for some warm-weather training in Tuscany. Yet given the untypical heat wave Ireland has experienced over the course of the last week, there was a case for them staying home. Instead Plan A was adhered to and the sun cream and luggage were packed. 

A bit of unwelcome baggage accompanied them, though – the news that Keith Fahey (groin) had to withdraw from the party. Paul Green, the former Derby County FC midfielder, comes in as his replacement. While John O'Shea, Shay Given and Kevin Foley are also nursing injuries, all three are expected to recover in time for the opening Group C game against Croatia on June 10.

"We have a good chance of progressing, providing we believe in ourselves and carry out our game plan," said coach Giovanni Trapattoni. "I have said many, many times, there is the show and the result. You can have a beautiful show, but without a good result, the show is pointless. After three days, the result remains, but the show is forgotten, and they understand this."

Croatia (Elvir Islamović, @UEFAcomElvirI) 
Slaven Bilić's men arrived at their training facilities in Bad Tatzmannsdorf to a rousing ovation following their 3-1 victory against Estonia on Friday. Meanwhile, in the wake of some mixed injury news, Bilić is still pondering over his final 23-man squad for the finals. "I have worries and I will make my decision on Tuesday morning," he said. "[Josip] Šimunić has been rested for a couple of days, but he will be fully fit in a day or two. Dejan Lovren's situation is more complex. He is recovering every day, but I will need to make a decision about him. All the others are healthy."

Greece (Vassiliki Papantonopoulou, @UEFAcomVassP)
Greece's 1-1 draw with Slovenia yesterday was their third consecutive stalemate and coach Fernando Santos immediately targeted a number of areas in which his team need to improve. "These matches are there for us to draw conclusions. In the first half we were tactically good but gave the ball away too much," said the 57-year-old.

"In the second half, especially until the 70th minute, we were better. We should be more patient when in possession. We have about two weeks ahead of us in order to improve." Santos' heart skipped a beat when Vassilis Torossidis limped off after 23 minutes complaining of pain in his right knee, but tests revealed no major damage. 

Netherlands (Berend Scholten, @UEFAcomBerendS)
The squad are enjoying a rest day after the Oranje lost 2-1 on Saturday to Bulgaria, the Netherlands' first home defeat since 6 September 2008. A disappointing evening was compounded when Joris Mathijsen left the field with a hamstring injury, which is set to rule the defender out for up to two weeks. "The first diagnosis is that they think it is not torn," said coach Bert van Marwijk. "So it could be a strain. Normally that means a recovery period of 10-15 days. We will probably know more in the next week."

There was better news, however, for Jetro Willems, who, at 18 years and 57 days, became the youngest senior Dutch international since Gerald Vanenburg in 1982. "The first thing I did was call my parents to tell them I was in. They are very proud that their son has made it this far," said Willems. 

France (Matthew Spiro, @UEFAcomMattS) 
Laurent Blanc is expected to name an attack-minded lineup for tonight's friendly in Valenciennes against Iceland, a team he believes "do not play excatly the same way but have similar characteristics" to France's UEFA EURO 2012 opponents Sweden. Yohan Cabaye, Samir Nasri and Yoann Gourcuff should start in midfield, with Jérémy Menez and Hatem Ben Arfa flanking central striker Karim Benzema.

"Our desire in this game and at the finals will be to dominate possession," Blanc explained. "If we manage to have the ball then we need players capable of taking advantage." Les Bleus also take on Serbia in Reims on Thursday.

Spain (Graham Hunter, @UEFAcomGrahamH) 
Vicente del Bosque ended the speculation (and nerves) by naming his squad at lunchtime the day after Spain's friendly victory against Serbia. Despite Adrián López hitting a debut goal and creating Santi Cazorla's penalty, it is Álvaro Negredo who makes the last striker's place. Roberto Soldado, therefore, also misses out. There is good news for full-back Juanfran, who is one of the five defenders.

"Those who have missed out are entitled to feel sore, but there will be new squad lists for them as soon as August," explained Del Bosque. Cesc Fábregas has a minor injury niggle which looks likely to cost him around ten days, while the squad have Sunday afternoon off.

England (Andy James, @UEFAcomAndyJ) 
England manager Roy Hodgson was decidedly positive after winning his first game in charge, 1-0 against Norway. Ashley Young's ninth-minute strike was the highlight of what turned into fairly pedestrian affair in Oslo, but Hodgson had praise for his charges in light of the fact that he had only had three training sessions to work with them.

The only bad news emanating from the camp is after hobbling off with a groin problem in the second half, midfielder Gareth Barry is now a doubt for the tournament. "I'm not prepared to say it's serious," said Hodgson, "but it is certainly going to dominate our attention and we don't have a lot of time if the scan shows it is something more than minor."

Germany (Steffen Potter, @UEFAcomSteffenP)
After Saturday's 5-3 reverse against Switzerland, Germany's first loss to their neighbours in 56 years, Joachim Löw might have taken some comfort from the fact that his squad's Group B rivals fared little better yesterday. If Denmark's 3-1 defeat by Brazil will have raised few eyebrows, Portugal drawing 0-0 at home with the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia and the Netherlands succumbing 2-1 to Bulgaria certainly did.

As a form of light relief, 25 of the 27-man provisional squad were in Monaco today to watch the Formula 1 Grand Prix. Among the group were FC Bayern München's eight representatives, fresh from their UEFA Champions League disappointment. "Monaco is something very special," said captain Philipp Lahm. "It is overwhelming for all of us to be here." Löw and his coaching staff remained in the team hotel to review the Switzerland game, however, with Mario Götze and Mats Hummels also staying behind to undergo treatment on minor knocks sustained in Basle. 

Italy (Richard Aikman, @UEFAcomRichardA)
Speaking at Saturday's press conference at Coverciano, Bologna FC midfielder Alessandro Diamanti revealed he is relishing the chance to rub shoulders with Italy's finest after being called up by the Azzurri for the first time. "Better late than never," said the 29-year-old former West Ham United FC forward. "I'd never change the route I have taken because I have got this far, so there are no regrets. I'm playing my cards here with the utmost enthusiasm."

On the injury front, Italy are confident that Riccardo Montolivo and Giorgio Chiellini will recover from their respective thigh strains. "The test results showed improvements for both, even if obviously they are not 100% yet and it'll take a few more days to see further changes," said chief medical officer Dr Enrico Castellacci.

Portugal (Andy Brassell, @UEFAcomAndyB)
There is little alarm in today's newspapers in Portugal, despite the national side's 0-0 draw yesterday with the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia. The consensus is in line with coach Paulo Bento's assessment that the result "doesn't please us, but doesn't worry us either", with Mais Futebol focussing on the "enthusiasm and vibrancy" of the 19,000 crowd at the Estádio Dr. Magalhães Pessoa in Leiria. The struggles of Portugal's Group B rivals also make the headlines after Germany, Denmark and the Netherlands all lost. O Jogo's front page pictures FC Porto striker Hulk, who scored for Brazil against Denmark, with the headline: "Hulk shows how it's done."

Sweden (Sujay Dutt, @UEFAcomSujayD)
Erik Hamrén invited his players' wives and families to spend a few days with their loved ones on sunny Gotland. The coach says it is a way of showing appreciation to those who bring harmony to his charges, but he also believes it will benefit the team in the long run. So players, wives and children have been seen biking around Visby and tumbling down water slides. Hamrén has had the company of his wife, Agneta. "If she hadn't been here I would have taken naps each afternoon, but now we've been taking walks around Visby," said the Sweden coach.