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France prepares for battle in Euro 2004

Models present specially designed bras by Triumph to celebrate the upcoming UEFA Euro 2004 soccer tournament, which begins in Portugal tomorrow. PHOTO: REUTERS

France should have a full-strength lineup as it starts its defense of the European Championship against England on Sunday. England coach Sven-Goran Eriksson wishes he could say the same.

The Euro 2004 kickoff is tomorrwo, with host Portugal meeting Greece and Spain facing Russia. But the France-England match a day later is the first high profile collision of two of the leading contenders and could set the tone for the tournament.

On Wednesday, Juventus striker David Trezeguet and Chelsea defender Marcel Desailly were declared fit to face England having missed Sunday's 1-0 warmup victory over Ukraine. Now all coach Jacques Santini has to do is decide whether they will start.

Santini has so many talented options, he can afford to leave some top quality teams on the bench.

"Compared to the Ukraine game, there might be one to three changes. Or to be more precise, zero to three changes," Santini said after Wednesday morning's workout near Porto in northern Portugal.

"David has totally recovered, so we are left with the question whether he will be on the starting lineup or on the bench. Everybody wants to play."

A billboard advertising the European Championship 2004 in Porto, Portugal, Wednesday, shows English, right, and Czech soccer fans. The tournament begins tomorrow. PHOTO: AP

That includes Desailly even though the defender hasn't been playing well for Chelsea. The former AC Milan star -- one of Europe's top defenders for the past decade -- has lost speed and his influence on games has lessened with each game. Even some of the French fans have turned on him after he was sent off playing against Monaco in the Champions League semifinal for elbowing Fernando Morientes and then applauding the referee for ejecting an opponent.

Stephane Chapuisat of Switzerland jumps for a kick during a training session with the Swiss national team in Praia del Rey, Portugal, Wednesday, ahead of Euro 2004. PHOTO: EPA

Eriksson arrived in Portugal without three of his top defenders.

Manchester United's Rio Ferdinand, probably England's best defender, is in the middle of an eight-month ban for failing to show up for a random doping test. Newcastle's Jonathan Woodgate is sidelined with a torn thigh muscle and Gareth Southgate of Middlesbrough has damaged knee ligaments.

Eriksson has also told Chelsea centerback John Terry he has until Friday to prove his fitness.

Terry has been limping around for a week after suffering a hamstring pull in last week's 1-1 tie with Japan. He was able to train on Wednesday but limited himself to running up and down while his teammates practiced on the other side of the field.

"John has made progress today and will work in the gym this afternoon and tomorrow, then on Friday we will decide," England coach Sven-Goran Eriksson said in comments released to the English Football Association Web site.

"We will see this afternoon and tomorrow how much they can push him."

Eriksson said it was difficult to guess if Terry would be ready.

"We have to be careful because this is more than one game and we don't want him to break down for the rest of the tournament," Eriksson said.

"We have [Jamie] Carragher and we have Ledley King and they are both in very good shape and I'm sure they'll both like to play in the first game."

By a strange twist, King will be playing for Santini next season when the French coach takes over at Tottenham.

Boosted by FC Porto's Champions League triumph two weeks ago and Portugal's qualification for the Olympic soccer tournament, the host is confident of starting the championship with a victory over the Greeks in Group A.

It seems some teams are bent on flying as much as possible during Euro 2004 -- little wonder it includes the flying Dutchmen.

Denmark and the Netherlands have all their opening round games in northern Portugal, yet picked their training base in the southern Algarve, almost 600km away.

Germany too has two games in Porto, but it prefers to stay at a luxury hotel close to the golden beaches of southern Portugal.

Media have figured the total travel distance for the three games the Flying Dutchmen are playing between June 15 and 23 comes to 3,964km, or close to 13 hours of buses and planes. Had they picked a hotel close to Porto instead of Albufeira, that would have been reduced to a fraction.

Only if the Netherlands finishes second in its Group D, will it be able to play at the nearby Loule-Faro stadium.

Denmark will also be forced to take a plane from its base in Alvor to its three opening games which are in Guimaraes, Braga and Porto. It will need to win its Group C to earn the right to play close by in Loule-Faro.

Only Russia took an obvious decision. It is staying in the Algarve because two of its games are at Loule-Faro, including Saturday's opener against Spain.

POSH SECLUSION

The wife of England captain David Beckham is spurning the hotel where the other players' wives, girlfriends and children are staying, according to the British tabloids.

Victoria Beckham, formerly known as Posh Spice in the Spice Girls pop group, is instead staying in a private villa near Lisbon with her sons Brooklyn and Romeo.

"Too Posh for England" screamed the front page of Britain's best-selling tabloid The Sun. "Posh snubs footy wives" read the inside headline.

The partners of England's soccer squad are staying separately to the players at a spa resort outside Lisbon where they will be pampered with beauty treatments and taken shopping.

NO RACISM

A hotline for fans to report racist and xenophobic incidents will be available throughout Euro 2004, a network fighting racism in soccer said.

The phone calls will be handled by a multilingual staff of Football Against Racism in Europe (FARE) and referred for action by relevant authorities, FARE spokesman Leon Mann said Wednesday.

TAKE A DEEP BREATH

A group of England soccer fans claim to have set a new record by chanting for 90 minutes without a break.

The 25 supporters took turns to maintain the chant, which has no words but uses the theme tune to the classic film The Great Escape.

UNDER 21

Italy coach Giovanni Trapattoni was encouraged by his country's record fifth victory in the Under-21 European championship Tuesday.

In the final, Italy defeated Serbia-Montenegro 3-0.
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