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Sweden fans: Celebrating win over Greece
Finally, the day has come. After watching the action in the company of my beloved family; my friends in Liverpool and London; and at various points, Dutch, French and Spanish fans here in the UK, it's time to head to Austria and Switzerland myself.
I'm flying from Luton to Zurich on Monday afternoon, in advance of Tuesday's Group C showdown between France and Italy at the Letzigrund. Hopefully Romania don't race into a comfortable lead against Holland in Berne else the game could go a bit flat, but it's certainly set up to be a nail-biting encounter. Neither Les Bleus or the Azzurri have played anywhere near their potential yet, but both had their moments against the Dutch - even though they were well beaten in the end. It's too close to call, and in truth I think Romania have to be slight favourites to go through - especially after we saw the effect mass changes had on Portugal on Monday night.
Crafty
On Wednesday, I move on to Innsbruck with my friends Ed and Steve for Wednesday's Group D winner-takes-all clash between Russia and Sweden. Sweden only need a draw to go through as runners-up, which means Guus Hiddink's side will have to go on the offensive. I was at Wembley for England's 3-0 qualifying win over Russia - arguably the best performance under Steve McClaren - and was hugely impressed by the crafty Andriy Arshavin, despite the scoreline. Arshavin was of course suspended for Russia's first two games of the tournament, but his return - coupled with injury problems for Sweden - could have a major impact on the result. I have a soft spot for Sweden though; their fans are magnificent (need I say more?) and there are few more impressive sights in football than an army of yellow and blue marching towards the stadium, such as we witnessed before their 2-2 draw with England in Cologne at World Cup 2006.
My friends and I are staying in Seefeld, just outside Innsbruck, and we'll get a day off on Thursday to relax at our hotel and enjoy the Austrian hospitality. No doubt we'll find somewhere to watch Portugal's quarter-final that evening. On Friday, we move on again to Vienna and all being well, we'll be in the Fan Zone for the last-eight tie between Croatia and Turkey. Again, both nations boast tremendous travelling support and it should make for a colourful and noisy evening!
Dynamic
We might need Saturday to recover, but Sunday looks set to be the highlight of our trip as we venture to the Ernst Happel Stadion for the quarter-final involving Spain and either Romania, France or Italy. Like many of you, I have great affection for the Spanish and the prospect of seeing the dynamic duo of Fernando Torres and David Villa in knock-out action is pretty exciting, especially as both appear to be in red-hot form.
Sunday night's match between Turkey and the Czech Republic resulted in one of the most extraordinary football finales of recent times and if we see anything like the drama of Geneva, we will have had a memorable trip. For now, it's auf wiedersehen but check back on Fan's Eye throughout the week for news of the magic and the madness from Euro 2008!
Competitions
PS Don't forget to enter our two competitions - you can still win a Portugal shirt complete with Ronaldo's name and number, or how about getting your hands on an official Euro 2008 video game - with the added bonus of a signed Xabi Alonso Spain shirt!
Comments
Ryan Rogers (Leeds United fan) says...
we want to get sky sports back but it is up to my mum i have liked the euros games the best one was spain and russia 4-1 spain very good game
Posted 15:06 16th June 2008
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