The waiting is over.
Portugal is out to show it can not only host a great European soccer championship but win it too.
While tens of thousands of fans arrive at this nation on the far west of continental Europe, Portugal bids to show them that its "golden generation" of players can claim its first major title.
PHOTO: AFP
With FC Porto winning the Champions League three weeks ago, Portuguese soccer in on the rise.
Now Luis Figo, Rui Costa, Fernando Couto and a squad of hugely talented but inconsistent players are out to take the European title from the French and they start with a game against Greece at Porto today.
The game kicks off the 12th European Championship with former champions Spain and Russia to follow in the evening.
Then the championship really hots up with France vs. England on Sunday.
All the previous winners are here including three-time champion Germany, which is in the same group as former titlists the Netherlands and the Czech Republic. Italy, which won the title 36 years ago, and 1992 winner Denmark are in the same group. The Russians were the first winners as the Soviet Union in 1960 and Spain followed four years later.
Now the spotlight falls on Portugal.
While the nation hopes to put on a perfect show, it also holds its breath that notorious soccer hooligans from England, the Netherlands and Germany stay away. England's reputation is so bad it will be thrown out if its fans resort to the sort of violence that has marred so many matches in the past.
Then it is down to the team.
Figo, its most famous current player, joins some of the players who won the World Youth Cup in 1991 and became known as the "golden generation."
"Like lots of players I haven't won anything with the national team, but I don't have any hang-ups about that," Figo said on Friday. "This is another chance to win a title."
Portugal got close four years ago when it lost in the semifinal to an extra time "golden goal" in acrimonious circumstances.
It turned out to be a "golden penalty" by Zinedine Zidane three minutes from the end of extra time and the Portuguese players were so furious, three of them received long suspensions for pushing the referee.
While memories of that mayhem in Brussels still shame Portuguese soccer, the players want to make up for what they still consider a gross misjustice.
They can start by showing their true qualities against a Greek side that should be going home early along with the Russians. If Portugal and Spain don't finish Group A in the top two places, Iberian soccer won't live it down.
France begins the defense of its title against its strongest Group B rival.
But England goes into Sunday's game at Lisbon's Stadium of Light with big problems at the heart of its defense with John Terry the latest centerback to be sidelined.
Rio Ferdinand, England's top central defender, is in the middle of an eight-month suspension for failing to take a drug test while Jonathan Woodgate and Gareth Southgate didn't make the Euros because of long term injuries.
Terry, who has a hamstring problem, was ruled out on Friday but coach Sven-Goran Eriksson is confident he will be fit for Thursday's game against Switzerland at Coimbra.
It looks like either Jamie Carragher or Ledley King will get the job of helping Sol Campbell keep out the star studded French strikeforce.
Full strength France should have Thierry Henry alongside David Trezeguet in attack with Zinedine Zidane and Robert Pires providing the chances and Patrick Vieira patrolling the midfield.
"It's normal to fear the French team," Zidane said. "We have the players to win this tournament."
It's a big ask for England to start with a victory especially as France hasn't conceded a goal in 11 games and is unbeaten in 18.
But David Beckham, the England captain who plays on the same Real Madrid team as Zidane, says his players should go into the game on level terms.
"Once we cross that white line most of the respect will be out the window and we will be fighting to win the game," he said.
His coach says England will be ready for its first competitive match with the French since they won the 1988 World Cup followed by the 2000 European Championship.
"You can never be sure when you meet Henry, of course. I hope that we are ready," Eriksson said on Friday. "We have done a lot of technical work and talking about what to do against France.
"Of course, I think and I hope we are ready to cope with it."
Geoff Hurst, the only player to score a hat-trick in a World Cup final, says there is a group of rising stars who should shine at Euro 2004.
He singled out Portugal's Cristiano Ronaldo, England's Wayne Rooney and Dutch international Arjen Robben to make an impact at the championship, which starts Saturday in Portugal.
"I'm looking forward to seeing Europe's finest young football talent on show, some of whom I'm sure we'll see playing in the Premiership next season," Hurst said on Friday.
"There is an abundance of young, hungry and talented strikers like Rooney, (Fernando) Torres, (Dmitri) Sychev and (Milan) Baros who will challenge the likes of (Thierry) Henry and Raul (Gonzalez) for the Golden Boot.
"But one of the existing young players I think will be missed is Spain's Jose Reyes."
The young Arsenal striker was left off the Spanish squad.
SCOUTING THE SCOUT
Sweden has scouts who spy on the opposition, and Freddy Ljungberg interrogates the spy.
Swedish scout Thomas Lyth -- charged with getting the low down on Sweden's first opponent, Bulgaria -- has been getting the first degree from Arsenal's star midfielder.
"I ask the scout what kind of player I'll be facing in the match, whether he is right or left-footed, whether he dribbles or plays long or short passes," Ljungberg said. "All the basic stuff."
Ljungberg hopes to ready for Sweden's key opening match against the Bulgarians on Monday.
But all that cross-examination may be unnecessary.
BREATHE EASY
Portuguese Soccer Federation president Gilberto Madail, the mastermind behind Portugal hosting of Euro 2004, says he'll be a happy man when Euro 2004 kicks off. But he'll only be able to relax once it's over.
"Saturday will be the happiest day of my life. It's a magical date for me. It's the start of the tournament we've been fighting for during the past five years," Madail said Friday.
"I'll only be able to breathe a sigh of relief once the tournament's over. We're all very tense," he said.
HAM IT UP
During the World Cup two years ago, Spanish players slipped into South Korea with one of their favorite foods -- Jabugo ham. Korean health officials failed to detect the ham, which is high in protein but also carries bacteria.
The Koreans called it ``Spanish ginseng.''
This time, there is no problem getting the ham into Portugal, where it's also a favorite. Portugal borders some of Spain's top ham regions -- Huelva, Extremadura and Salamanca.
BLAIR SUPPORT
British Primer Minister Tony Blair says England has a "great chance" in Euro 2004.
"I, like millions of other football fans, fervently hope for a successful tournament for England," Blair said Friday. "We have a great team and a great chance."
He had an ulterior motive, and it wasn't garnering votes.
In cheering on the team, Blair also asked people to get active. More than one million children in Britain are classified as obese, double the number from the mid-1980s.
bar fights
Security forces in Lisbon are on full alert ahead of Sunday's Euro 2004 game between England and France, and bars in the city are more cautious than ever.
The Portuguese authorities expect 30,000 England fans for the group B game, many without tickets.
After violence by England fans at previous international games, the capital's hot and dusty downtown streets were contemplating a possibly tense weekend.
Cais do Sodre, a popular downtown square by the River Tagus, is home to most of Lisbon's British and Irish pubs.
As far as safety goes, pub managers said they were vigilant but not overly concerned.
"Cais do Sodre is of course a critical zone of the city due to the sheer concentration of British and Irish pubs. But the police know that and we have to trust them," said Joao Lopes, the manager of O'Gyllins Irish pub.
"We are just being careful and serving drinks in plastic cups to avoid trouble. We never had problems before and I don't think we will now," he said.
A few blocks down the road at The Pump House, Cais do Sodre's most popular British bar, bartender/manager Elsa Brito doesn't expect big problems, either.
"We have two bouncers who used to be police officers so that's an added security we have. Then we use plastic glasses and try not to antagonize the costumers unless there's real trouble. That tends to make them angrier. The key is to always be in a good mood," she said.
British bartender Paul McGonigall, who's worked at The Pump House for the past two years, bvelieves the English aren't all that bad.
"If you're all on the same team and in a closed pub why would you fight?" he said.
"Sure, British fans are loud and they're always chanting and they do drink a lot, but most of the time they're just being themselves. I think people read their loudness the wrong way."
But McGonigall predicted there could be trouble near the giant outdoor screens being put up across the country for ticketless fans to watch games.
Two-story pub O'Hennessys, the most famous Irish pub in Cais do Sodre with capacity for almost 300 people, will put games on seven screens.
The fans have started to arrive and business is good, said manager Manuel Duarte.
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