European stars need to keep their eyes peeled

David Beckham and Zinedine Zidane, Luis Figo and Raul -- teammates no more come next June.

The Real Madrid stars had better start spying on each other because one man's success could well spell the other's doom at the 2004 European Championship, where England meets France and Portugal plays Spain in the first round.

And Juventus, Edgar Davids and Pavel Nedved will be opponents when the Netherlands plays the Czech Republic in the tough Group D, which also includes World Cup runner-up Germany.

Defending France and England will have the biggest Euro 2004 stage at their disposal, Lisbon's 65,000-seat Stadium of Light, for the their opening game on June 13, the first highlight of the championship.

If Zidane and Arsenal's Thierry Henry are in shape, England coach Sven-Goran Eriksson will face a tough task.

"Certainly with players such as Henry and Zidane we will have to defend extremely well. We have to be ready mentally and physically from the very first game," the Swede said.

Croatia Switzerland complete Group B. Two countries advance to the quarterfinals from each of the four groups.

The teams qualifying from that group will face the top two from Group A, where the clash between neighbors Portugal and Spain has the Iberian Peninsula spellbound.

Portuguese like Luis Figo and Rui Costa are not getting any younger and the tournament at home is seen as the last chance for Portugal's "golden generation" to win a trophy.

But if any nation is starved for a championship victory it surely is Spain, and the showdown in Lisbon in their last Group A match should decide who tops the standings.

"We beat them in Portugal the last time we met," goalkeeper Santiago Canizares said with happy memories of the 3-0 win two months ago.

Greece and Russia are considered the outsiders in the group.

In Group D -- the one with Germany, the Netherlands and the Czech Republic -- the only outsider has proved to be a giant-killer. Latvia may be a rookie next June, but it did beat World Cup semifinalist Turkey to reach the Euro 2004 finals.

"That's a real tough group, nothing to celebrate," German coach Rudi Voeller said. The Dutch-German rivalry has been part of his life, and he played in two hotly contested matches.

The Dutch relish another go at their neighbor, especially in the opening game of their group.

"We have to show immediately that we are ready for the tournament. Germany is the ideal opponent for such a task," Dutch coach Dick Advocaat said.

The Netherlands failed to win its qualifying group after losing to the Czechs and are now looking for revenge.

"We simply didn't want the Dutch. I would gladly swap Italy for them if I could," Czech midfielder Pavel Nedved said.

Perhaps will be no need to because the Czechs might meet the Italians in the quarterfinals.

The Azzuri are hot favorites to win their Group C after being drawn with Denmark, Sweden and Bulgaria.

"We were lucky to avoid France, the Netherlands and Portugal," Italy coach Giovanni Trapattoni said. "However we must not underestimate the opponents in our group, we will not win just thinking we are the better team."

And Italy's group, there are potential spies playing in Serie A.

Martin Laursen, a key defender for AC Milan and Denmark, insisted everybody is an underdog compared to Italy.

"The Azzurri are really strong and the opening match against Italy will be our toughest," Laursen said. "We hope to get through along with Italy."