Stan James- Goalscorer betting offer

Trusted bookie Stan James is offering any punter who enjoys a bet on the 1st goalscorer market of any of the Euro 2008 games a second bite at the cherry, should your man not hit the onion bag first.
If you place a bet on the first player to score, and he fails but scores at any other time in the match you'll get your stake returned. Decent offer from Stan the Man, and one worth taking advantage of if you play the 1st scorer markets!!

Not only that, but if you don't have an account with SJ (and it really is one you should have in your portfolio) then get one now. Open an account and place an initial bet up to the value of £50 and you will receive a free bet to a similar value.

Stan James £50 matched bet offer

Euro 2008- The Chosen Ones...

The deadline has passed for the sixteen countries getting set for Euro 2008 to submit their final squads. Each coach has made some tough decisions and the disappointed players weep into their pillows all over Europe. The 23 man squad for the competing countries are as follows...

Austria (Coach: Josef Hickersberger)
1 Alex Manninger, 2 Joachim Standfest, 3 Martin Stranzl, 4 Emanuel Pogatetz, 5 Christian Fuchs, 6 René Aufhauser, 7 Ivica Vastic, 8 Christoph Leitgeb, 9 Roland Linz, 10 Andreas Ivanschitz, 11 Ümit Korkmaz, 12 Ronald Gercaliu, 13 Markus Katzer, 14 György Garics, 15 Sebastian Prödl, 16 Jürgen Patocka, 17 Martin Hiden, 18 Roman Kienast, 19 Jürgen Säumel, 20 Martin Harnik, 21 Jürgen Macho, 22 Erwin Hoffer, 23 Ramazan Özcan

Croatia (Coach: Slaven Bilić)
1 Stipe Pletikosa, 2 Dario Šimić, 3 Josip Šimunić, 4 Robert Kovač, 5 Vedran Ćorluka, 6 Hrvoje Vejić, 7 Ivan Rakitić, 8 Ognjen Vukojević, 9 Nikola Kalinić, 10 Niko Kovač, 11 Darijo Srna, 12 Mario Galinović13 Nikola Pokrivač, 14 Luka Modrić, 15 Dario Knežević, 16 Jerko Leko, 17 Ivan Klasnić, 18 Ivica Olić, 19 Niko Kranjčar, 20 Igor Budan, 21 Mladen Petrić 22 Danijel Pranjić, 23 Vedran Runje

Czech Republic (Coach: Karel Brückner)
1 Petr Čech, 2 Zdeněk Grygera, 3 Jan Polák, 4 Tomáš Galásek, 5 Radoslav Kováč, 6 Marek Jankulovski, 7 Libor Sionko, 8 Martin Fenin, 9 Jan Koller, 10 Václav Svěrkoš, 11 Stanislav Vlček, 12 Zdeněk Pospěch, 13 Michal Kadlec, 14 David Jarolím, 15 Milan Baroš, 16 Jaromír Blažek, 17 Marek Matějovský, 18 Tomáš Sivok, 19 Rudolf Skácel, 20 Jaroslav Plašil 21 Tomáš Ujfaluši, 22 David Rozehnal, 23 Daniel Zítka

France (Coach: Raymond Domenech)
1 Steve Mandanda, 2 Jean-Alain Boumsong, 3 Eric Abidal, 4 Patrick Vieira, 5 William Gallas, 6 Claude Makelele, 7 Florent Malouda, 8 Nicolas Anelka, 9 Karim Benzema, 10 Sidney Govou, 11 Samir Nasri, 12 Thierry Henry, 13 Patrice Evra, 14 François Clerc, 15 Lilian Thuram, 16 Sébastien Frey, 17 Sébastien Squillaci, 18 Bafétimbi Gomis, 19 Willy Sagnol, 20 Jérémy Toulalan, 21 Lassana Diarra, 22 Franck Ribéry, 23 Grégory Coupet

Germany (Coach: Joachim Löw)
1 Jens Lehmann, 2 Marcell Jansen, 3 Arne Friedrich, 4 Clemens Fritz, 5 Heiko Westermann, 6 Simon Rolfes, 7 Bastian Schweinsteiger, 8 Torsten Frings, 9 Mario Gómez, 10 Oliver Neuville, 11 Miroslav Klose, 12 Robert Enke, 13 Michael Ballack, 14 Piotr Trochowski 15 Thomas Hitzlsperger, 16 Philipp Lahm, 17 Per Mertesacker, 18 Tim Borowski 19 David Odonkor, 20 Lukas Podolski, 21 Christoph Metzelder, 22 Kevin Kuranyi, 23 René Adler

Greece (Coach: Otto Rehhagel)
1 Antonios Nikopolidis, 2 Giourkas Seitaridis, 3 Christos Patsatzoglou, 4 Nikolaos Spyropoulos, 5 Traianos Dellas, 6 Angelos Basinas, 7 Georgios Samaras, 8 Stylianos Giannakopoulos 9 Angelos Charisteas, 10 Georgios Karagounis, 11 Loukas Vintra, 12 Konstantinos Chalkias, 13 Alexandros Tzorvas, 14 Dimitrios Salpingidis, 15 Vassilios Torosidis, 16 Sotirios Kyrgiakos, 17 Theofanis Gekas, 18 Ioannis Goumas, 19 Paraskevas Antzas, 20 Ioannis Amanatidis 21 Konstantinos Katsouranis, 22 Alexandros Tziolis, 23 Nikolaos Liberopoulos

Italy (Coach: Roberto Donadoni)
1 Gianluigi Buffon, 2 Christian Panucci, 3 Fabio Grosso, 4 Giorgio Chiellini, 5 Fabio Cannavaro, 6 Andrea Barzagli, 7 Alessandro Del Piero, 8 Gennaro Gattuso, 9 Luca Toni, 10 Daniele De Rossi, 11 Antonio Di Natale, 12 Marco Borriello, 13 Massimo Ambrosini, 14 Marco Amelia, 15 Fabio Quagliarella, 16 Mauro Camoranesi, 17 Morgan De Sanctis, 18 Antonio Cassano, 19 Gianluca Zambrotta, 20 Simone Perrotta, 21 Andrea Pirlo, 22 Alberto Aquilani, 23 Marco Materazzi

Holland (Coach: Marco van Basten)
1 Edwin van der Sar, 2 André Ooijer, 3 John Heitinga, 4 Joris Mathijsen, 5 Giovanni van Bronckhorst, 6 Demy de Zeeuw, 7 Robin van Persie, 8 Orlando Engelaar, 9 Ruud van Nistelrooy, 10 Wesley Sneijder, 11 Arjen Robben, 12 Mario Melchiot, 13 Henk Timmer, 14 Wilfred Bouma, 15 Tim de Cler, 16 Maarten Stekelenburg, 17 Nigel de Jong, 18 Dirk Kuyt, 19 Klaas Jan Huntelaar, 20 Ibrahim Afellay, 21 Ryan Babel, 22 Jan Vennegoor of Hesselink, 23 Rafael van der Vaart

Poland (Coach: Leo Beenhakker)
1 Artur Boruc, 2 Mariusz Jop, 3 Jakub Wawrzyniak, 4 Pawel Golański, 5 Dariusz Dudka, 6 Jacek Bąk, 7 Euzebiusz Smolarek8 Jacek Krzynówek, 9 Maciej Żurawski, 10 Łukasz Garguła, 11 Marek Saganowski, 12 Tomasz Kuszczak, 13 Marcin Wasilewski, 14 Michał Żewłakow, 15 Michał Pazdan, 16 Jakub Błaszczykowski, 17 Wojciech Łobodziński, 18 Mariusz Lewandowski, 19 Rafał Murawski, 20 Roger Guerreiro, 21 Tomasz Zahorski, 22 Łukasz Fabiański, 23 Adam Kokoszka

Portugal (Coach: Luiz Felipe Scolari)
1 Ricardo, 2 Paulo Ferreira, 3 Bruno Alves, 4 Bosingwa, 5 Fernando Meira, 6 Raul Meireles, 7 Cristiano Ronaldo, 8 Petit, 9 Hugo Almeida, 10 João Moutinho, 11 Simão, 12 Quim, 13 Miguel, 14 Jorge Ribeiro, 15 Pepe, 16 Ricardo Carvalho, 17 Ricardo Quaresma, 18 Miguel Veloso, 19 Nani, 20 Deco, 21 Nuno Gomes, 22 Rui Patrício, 23 Hélder Postiga

Romania (Coach: Victor Piţurcă)
1 Bogdan Lobonţ, 2 Cosmin Contra, 3 Răzvan Raţ, 4 Gabriel Tamaş, 5 Cristian Chivu, 6 Mirel Rădoi, 7 Florentin Petre, 8 Paul Codrea, 9 Ciprian Marica, 10 Adrian Mutu 11 Răzvan Cociş, 12 Marius Cornel Popa, 13 Cristian Sapunaru, 14 Sorin Ghionea, 15 Dorin Goian, 16 Bănel Nicoliţă, 17 Cosmin Moti, 18 Marius Niculae, 19 Adrian Cristea, 20 Nicolae Dică, 21 Daniel Niculae, 22 Ştefan Radu, 23 Eduard Stăncioiu

Russia (Coach: Guus Hiddink)
1 Igor Akinfeev, 2 Vasili Berezutski, 3 Renat Yanbaev, 4 Sergei Ignashevich, 5 Aleksei Berezutski, 6 Roman Adamov, 7 Dmitri Torbinskiy, 8 Denis Kolodin, 9 Ivan Saenko, 10 Andrei Arshavin, 11 Sergei Semak, 12 Vladimir Gabulov, 13 Pavel Pogrebnyak, 14 Roman Shirokov, 15 Diniyar Bilyaletdinov, 16 Vyacheslav Malafeev, 17 Konstantin Zyrianov, 18 Yuri Zhirkov, 19 Roman Pavlyuchenko, 20 Igor Semshov, 21 Dmitri Sychev, 22 Aleksandr Anyukov, 23 Vladimir Bystrov

Spain (Coach: Luis Aragonés)
1 Iker Casillas, 2 Raúl Albiol, 3 Fernando Navarro, 4 Carlos Marchena, 5 Carles Puyol, 6 Andrés Iniesta, 7 David Villa, 8 Xavi Hernández, 9 Fernando Torres, 10 Cesc Fábregas, 11 Joan Capdevila, 12 Santi Cazorla, 13 Andrés Palop, 14 Xabi Alonso, 15 Sergio Ramos, 16 Sergio García, 17 Daniel Güiza, 18 Álvaro Arbeloa, 19 Marcos Senna, 20 Juanito Gutiérrez, 21 David Silva, 22 Rubén De La Red, 23 Pepe Reina

Sweden (Coach: Lars Lagerbäck)
1 Andreas Isaksson, 2 Mikael Nilsson, 3 Olof Mellberg, 4 Petter Hansson, 5 Fredrik Stoor, 6 Tobias Linderoth, 7 Niclas Alexandersson, 8 Anders Svensson, 9 Fredrik Ljungberg, 10 Zlatan Ibrahimović, 11 Johan Elmander, 12 Rami Shaaban, 13 Johan Wiland, 14 Daniel Majstorovic, 15 Andreas Granqvist, 16 Kim Källström, 17 Henrik Larsson, 18 Sebastian Larsson, 19 Daniel Andersson, 20 Marcus Allbäck, 21 Christian Wilhelmsson, 22 Markus Rosenberg, 23 Mikael Dorsin

Switzerland (Coach: Jakob Kuhn)
1 Diego Benaglio, 2 Johan Djourou, 3 Ludovic Magnin, 4 Philippe Senderos, 5 Stephan Lichtsteiner, 6 Benjamin Huggel, 7 Ricardo Cabanas, 8 Gökhan Inler, 9 Alexander Frei, 10 Hakan Yakin, 11 Marco Streller, 12 Eren Derdiyok, 13 Stéphane Grichting, 14 Daniel Gygax, 15 Gelson Fernandes, 16 Tranquillo Barnetta, 17 Christoph Spycher, 18 Pascal Zuberbühler, 19 Valon Behrami, 20 Patrick Müller, 21 Eldin Jakupovic, 22 Johan Vonlanthen, 23 Philipp Degen

Turkey (Coach: Fatih Terim)
1 Rüştü Reçber, 2 Servet Çetin, 3 Hakan Balta, 4 Gökhan Zan, 5 Emre Belözoğlu, 6 Mehmet Topal, 7 Mehmet Aurélio, 8 Nihat Kahveci, 9 Semih Şentürk, 10 Gökdeniz Karadeniz, 11 Tümer Metin, 12 Tolga Zengin, 13 Emre Güngör, 14 Arda Turan, 15 Emre Aşık, 16 Uğur Boral, 17 Tuncay Şanlı, 18 Kazım Kazım, 19 Ayhan Akman, 20 Sabri Sarıoğlu, 21 Mevlüt Erdinç, 22 Hamit Altıntop, 23 Volkan Demirel

Fantasy League, Classic Euro 2008 ...

They're like buses these Fantasy Football competitions. You wait an eternity for one and then they all come along at the one time! I'm not surprised by this to be fair as everyone was probably waiting for the Champions League Final to be out the way to give themselves a chance of as much exposure as possible.

On the back of the Daily Telegraph and Metro getting going, Fantasy Football inovators, Fantasy League, have their game up and running and ready for you all to get involved. With £10,000 worth of prizes on offer this game is another great one to have in your portfolio and if you already play the Fantasy League games you'll know how they work and how good they really are.

To sign up to the Fantasy League competition click here

Entry to this competition costs £5 per team and you can have as many teams involved as you want. You have a budget of €100 million to pick a squad of 15 players. Teams can be in a 4-4-2 or 4-3-3 formation and you are restricted to only two players from the same country in the group phases and three during the knockout phase. Each manager has 12 transfers to use during the tournament and unlimited substitutions so pick your squad wisely.

A YOYWYW Friends League has been set up, to join simple use the link below to register your team. Once you've picked your squad, go to your team page and click on the link to 'F & E League'. Once there enter the pin number 62 into the 'Join existing League' box and click go. See you there...

To sign up to the Fantasy League competition click here

Euro 2008, The Mascots...

Every tournament has those cuddly little characters they call mascots and this one is no different. Switzerland and Austria have chosen theirs and after consulting the people a name was chosen for this pair of spikey-headed cartoon characters.

After being given the choice of Zagi and Zigi, Flitz and Bitz and Trix and Flix the people spoke and the winner, with 36.3% was Trix and Flix™!

There's been some legendary mascots over the years for the European Championships. Click here to see some of the past characters and first prize of a strudel to anyone who can tell me what the Italia 1980 mascot is all about?

Sons and Daughters...

How proud would you be to see your son or daughter being the Official Match Ball Carrier at a Euro 2008 match?

One of the many tournament sponsors, Kia Motors, are offering the chance of winning this 'lifetime priceless experience' as they so eloquently put it, to one lucky child at the Quarter-Final match to be played in Vienna on Sunday 22nd June.

To be in with giving your child the chance of this 'lifetime priceless experience' then simply follow this link, answer one question (with the answer being Cee'd and Sportage) and fill in the bizarre tie-breaker which asks you to suggest what might be happening in football in the year 2015. The example they give is 'Gary Lineker resigns as England Manager'. Get your crazy thinking caps on and you could be in with a shout.

GOOD LUCK

Continental Video Quiz...

Another one of the Euro 2008 official sponsors has come up with a competition that gives you achance to win tickets and other prizes related to the big tournament. There's a Grand Prize, Champions Prizes, Daily Prizes but unfortunately for me, no booby prizes!

Continental, the German tyre company, has developed a video quiz where you challenge German goalie Timo Hildebrand, who ironically has been left out of Joachim Löw's squad for the big tournament.

The quiz consists of a questions and picture questions relating to previous tournaments and can be played on easy, amateur or pro level. You have to answer three questions in a row correctly to score a goal and if you get three wrong in a row Timo scores. Don't really know the point of this but let's put it this way, Timo was regularly kicking my arse when I gave it a go.

Get yourself over to the UEFA.com Euro 2008 website and give it a go or to make life simple just click this Video Quiz link. Good Luck, I've given up already.

They think it's Raul over...

Spanish coach Luis Aragonés has decided on the 23 players who will attempt to turn his country from being the perpetual under-achievers of the past into European Champions and shocked many in the country by leaving out Real Madrid's Raul Gonzalez.

Raul, who has 102 caps and 44 goals for his country, scored 18 goals in Real Madrid's championship winning side and has been ceremoniously dumped and replaced by Real Zaragoza striker Sergio García (no, not the golfer), who's side were ironically relegated on the final day of the La Liga season. Aragonés, who has proven he is not afraid of controversy in the past, has also chosen not to take Valencia pair David Albelda and Joaquín Sánchez, while has included uncapped midfielder Santiago Cazorla of Villarreal. Aragonés also became the only manager who will pick a player with a woman's name when he chose Villarreal's Capdevilla, first name...JOAN!

The 23 players chosen to finally turn the Spaniards from zeroes to heroes are...

Goalkeepers
Iker Casillas Real Madrid
Pepe Reina Liverpool
Andrés Palop Sevilla

Defenders
Sergio Ramos Real Madrid
Álvaro Arbeloa Liverpool
Carles Puyol Barcelona
Carlos Marchena Valencia
Raúl Albiol Valencia
Juanito Real Betis
Joan Capdevilla Villarreal
Fernando Navarro Mallorca

Midfielders
Marcos Senna Villarreal
Xabi Alonso Liverpool
Xavi Hernández Barcelona
Cesc Fábregas Arsenal
Andrés Iniesta Barcelona
Rubén De la Red Getafe
David Silva Valencia
Santiago Cazorla Villarreal

Forwards
David Villa Valencia
Daniel Güiza Mallorca
Sergio García Real Zaragoza
Fernando Torres Liverpool

On his surprise decision to leave out Raul coach Aragonés said, "I have chosen the players in relation to how they have performed over many games. I'm the one, for better or worse, who has to choose and I have chosen."

The Contenders...Czech Republic

Contender's ready.... here we take another look at one of the final sixteen Euro 2008 teams, today's choice is...

Czech Republic

THE MANAGER...
The Czechs will be led to Switzerland and Austria by 68-year-old Karel Bruckner, one of the real characters of international management. Bruckner, has been in charge of the national side since 2001 and will be retiring at the end of Euro 2008. Bruckner built up the Czech Under 21 team that went on to victory in the 2002 Under 21 European Championships in Switzerland and was then given the job of leading the country to Euro 2004, where they lost out to eventual winners Greece in the semi-finals.

QUALIFYING STAGES...
The Czech Republic qualified for Euro 2008 by coming out on top of a group that consisted of Germany, Republic of Ireland, Slovakia, Wales, Cyprus and San Marino.
Here is how the Group D qualifying table finished up...

Czech Republic	12	9	2	1	27	5	29
Germany	12	8	3	1	35	7	27
Republic of Ireland	12	4	5	3	17	14	17
Slovakia	12	5	1	6	33	23	16
Wales	12	4	3	5	18	19	15
Cyprus	12	4	2	6	17	24	14
San Marino	12	0	0	12	2	57	0

THEIR GROUP...
The Czechs have been drawn in Group A alongside Portugal, hosts Switzerland and Turkey.

PLAYERS TO WATCH...
Marek Jankulovski... Left back Jankulovski has been a fixture in the AC Milan squad since joining from Udinese in 2005. The marauding style of this defender gives the Czechs good width and he has been known to unleash a vicious strike at goal in the past.
Jan Koller... Striker Koller, pictured, seems to have been around for years but still manages to get in amongst the goals. The 35-year-old has a great scoring record with 50 goals from his 80 international caps. Koller is undoubtedly coming to the end of his career, but will still prove a danger to every team he comes up against.

THE KIT...
The Czech Republic play in kit made by Puma.
Their home kit consists of red top with blue collar, white shorts and blue socks with white piping. The away kit is a white top with red collar, white shorts with red piping and white socks with red piping.

Buy the Czech Republic home and away strip here...

THEIR CHANCES...
The Czechs on their day can be an exciting, fast-flowing side who play some great football and entertain. Having had a great qualifying campaign and a decent draw this really could be their chance to shine and give boss Karel Bruckner a great send off as he heads into retirement.

EU've had you're chips...

Panic not! If you're heading to Switzerland to take in any of the Euro 2008 games then the fear that has been gripping the nation about the availability of that much-loved Swiss delicacy THE CHIP is over!!

It seems that Switzerland has been engulfed in potato rationing due to a national shortage of spuds. Thankfully, the Swiss government have stepped in to avert a roasting and are allowing an extra 5000 tonnes of totties into the country. The restrictions on the importation of potatoes was enforced after the excellently-named Swisspatat, the Swiss potato industry, warned supplies were running low in the build-up to the big tournament.

All is not well though. It seems reserves of a favourite Swiss delight, Cervelat, is also running low so you may be denied the opportunity to sample this savoury snack. The sausage-like delicacy, which is made of intestines from Brazilian cows, may well be off the menu when you sit down to soak up the beer so it looks like you may have to make do with chips. Bugger eh?

First squad named...

Croatia have become the first country to name their chosen 23-man squad for Euro 2008.

Coach Slaven Bilic, who has just signed a new two-year extension to his contract, produced no real surprises when he named the men he hopes will take the Henri Delaunay trophy back to Zagreb in July. The Croats have also named two youngsters who they will be taking to the tournament as reserves, players Bilic believes are future stars. The squad is...

Goalkeepers
Stipe Pletikosa Spartak Moscow
Vedran Runje Lens
Mario Galinović Panathinaikos

Defenders
Dario Šimić AC Milan
Robert Kovač Borussia Dortmund
Josip Šimunić Hertha Berlin
Vedran Ćorluka Manchester City
Dario Knežević Livorno
Hrvoje Vejić FC Tom Tomsk

Midfielders
Niko Kovač FC Salzburg
Jerko Leko AS Monaco
Darijo Srna Shakhtar Donetsk
Niko Kranjčar Portsmouth
Luka Modrić Tottenham Hotspur
Danijel Pranjić Heerenveen
Ivan Rakitić Schalke 04
Ognjen Vukojević Dinamo Zagreb
Nikola Pokrivač AS Monaco

Forwards
Mladen Petrić Borussia Dortmund
Ivica Olić Hamburg
Ivan Klasnić Werder Bremen
Igor Budan Parma
Nikola Kalinić Hajduk Split

Reserves
Manuel Pamić FC Salzburg
Anas Sharbini HNK Rijeka

Bilic said, "We chose 23 players and we are also taking two youngsters. Not because we want to give them a chance to fit in or to thank them, but because they are young, talented and playing in the positions we need."

Croatia face Moldova in friendly matches later this month before their opening Euro 2008 fixture against Austria and Bilic will be hoping his players come through the next couple of games unscathed.

You better...you Euro 2008 BET...

With the domestic football season coming to an end it is only going to be a matter of time before the bookies start bombarding us all with their range of bets for Euro 2008. If you're thinking of having a punt on this, and haven't done so already then now is the time to get your bet on before the action starts to really hot up, the money starts to flow and the odds get cut.

Today we take our first look at some of the prices available for the big tournament and where better to start than the outright betting for the winner of Euro 2008. Here is a list of the best prices available at present and where to find them...

Germany 4-1 SkyBet
Spain 13-2 BlueSq
Italy 7-1 SkyBet
Portugal 15-2 Bet365
France 9-1 Partybets
Holland 14-1 Totesport
Croatia 14-1 Totesport
Czech Rep 16-1 SkyBet
Greece 25-1 SkyBet
Switzerland 25-1 Totesport
Sweden 33-1 Betfred
Russia 33-1 Bet365
Romania 50-1 SkyBet
Poland 50-1 StanJames
Turkey 50-1 BlueSq
Austria 125-1 Totesport

There's no real surprises at the top of the market with Germany being the outright favourites for the tournament and Austria easily being the whipping boys and quoted at a huge price of 125-1 (add a few zeros onto that and you still wouldn't go near it!)

One thing that is apparent from an early first look at the prices is that it pays to shop around. Holland are a best price of 14-1 with Totesport. Were you to hold an account with Partybets and were to just lump your money on there without shopping around you'd be only get a measly 9-1. Croatia are similar, with again Totesport offering 14-1 but the majority of the others only pricing up at 12s or even 10s.

There's going to be a fortune bet on this summer's tournament, maybe not so much because England, Scotland and the rest of the home nations aren't there but there will still be millions and millions of wagers placed. make sure you keep coming back to YOYWYW to keep up-to-date on the best offers the bookies bring out to try to tempt you to bet with them.

HAPPY PUNTING and don't forget to give a click to some of the ads on this site to help the YOYWYW team have a small punt on the tournament ;)

Canon can...

There's a lack of action on the Fantasy Football front just now but it doesn't mean there isn't a lack of Euro 2008 prizes on offer. Tournament sponsor Canon have set up a nice wee feature on the official Euro 2008 website that gives football fans the chance to win Canon cameras and tickets for the big tournament itself.

The Canon Fan Foto competiton allows you to upload your footie-related pics to their website for other fans to browse and with the potential for you to win a Canon EOS 450D camera every week. Being an owner of the excellent EOS 400D I'd highly recommend getting involved in this is if you are a budding snapper and have some good shots from games you've been to. The chance to win an EOS 450D continues until the 6th June so check out the Fan Foto site to see how to enter.

From the 28th May the prizes change and every day you will be able to to win a pair of tickets to a Group stage match at the big tournament along with the opportunity to be the overall winner of this phase and get the opportunity to be an official photographer for the Austria v Germany game.

Even if you're not a photographer and have no plans to enter this great competition get yourself over to the Canon Fan Foto section of the UEFA Euro 2008 website and check out some of the quality images on show.

Who's the chosen ones in the Black?

With the Home Nations all failing miserably to make the Euro 2008 tournament the only Brits on the park this time around will be the referees and linesman/assistant referees or whatever they're called these days who have been chosen for this tournament.

English ref Howard Webb is one of the chosen twelve whistlers and will be assisted by flag-waving fellow Englishmen Darren Cann and Michael Mullarkey. Scottish ref Craig Thomson has been chosen as a fourth official and if the standard of refereeing displays I've seen in Scotland this season are anything to go by he's lucky to even have been awarded that honour.

Here's a list of the twelve BITB who will infuriate fans at this summer's tournament...

Konrad Plautz- Austria
Kyros Vassaras- Greece
Lubos Michel- Czech Republic
Frank De Bleeckere- Belgium
Roberto Rosetti- Italy
Manuel Mejuto Gonzalez- Spain
Howard Webb- England
Pieter Vink- Holland
Peter Frojdfeldt- Sweden
Herbert Fandel- Germany
Tom Henning Ovrebo- Norway
Massimo Busacca- Switzerland

Be interesting to see which one of this dirty dozen causes the biggest controversy at the tournament. I go for the fella Michel...who's your bets on?

Euro Millions...

It's not just club football that is consumed by greed and the millionaires lifestyle these days but International football aswell.

This summer's Euro 2008 tournament sees the biggest prize fund ever on offer with a whopping £144m (184m euros) being offered to the sixteen competing teams. This prize fund sees an increase of £43m (55m euros) from what was on offer for the Euro 2004 competitors.

The breakdown of the prize money is as follows, and you can now see why the FA were so gutted at Stevie-boy's failure to get England to the tournament...

Participation fee= £5.87m (7.5m euros)

Group stages (per match)
Win= £782,000 (1m euros)
Draw= £391,000 ( 500,000 euros)

Quarter Finals
Win= £1.56m (2m euros)

Semi Finals
Win= £2.34m (3m euros)

Runner Up
Win= £3.51m (4.5m euros)

Winner
Win= £5.87m (7.5m euros)

Not bad eh? If the eventual winner wins all their Group stage matches they will receive a total prize fund of just over £18m (23m euros). Not bad for a month's work in anyone's books...

On the buses...

Everything these days is a potential advertising vehicle (get it) and a tournament like Euro 2008 is something that companies see as an ideal way of getting their message across. With corporate giants like Canon, Continental, Carlsberg and McDonalds getting in on the act of being official sponsors of the competition it comes as no surprise that even the transport the teams will be using is a driving billboard.

Hyundai are the Official National Team Bus sponsors and the company have just chosen the slogans to be used on each countries vehicle after running a competition for the fans to choose what is to be said about the sixteen teams. Here's a list of the winning slogans, some good, some downright awful...

Austria - We can only win together
Croatia- Together with the fans to the top of Europe
Czech Republic - Let's go, let's win, let's fill our nation's dream
France - Live together, celebrate together
Germany- Germany-One team-one purpose
Holland - One team, one spirit, together we are Orange
Italy - The sky is always bluer
Poland - ...because only sport and good fun matter
Portugal - This coach is powered by the will to win
Romania - Romania, we are proud of you and we love you
Russia - Russian hands are all for one, Russia is proud of her sons
Spain - Whatever happens, SPAIN FOREVER
Sweden - Sweden team = top marks
Switzerland - Final destination: Vienna
Turkey - Can this bus contain the passion of Turkey?

I'm sure you'll agree there's a lot of nonsense in amongst that lot, but for me Italy's slogan 'The sky is always bluer' provided the biggest 'Ehhh..what?' moment. What on earth is that supposed to mean?

Unsurprisingly Germany's effort is extremely efficient..say it in a German accent and you'll get what I mean... 'Germany- One Team- One purpose'

Poland also provided a bit of a chuckle with their, '...because only sport and good fun matter'...will that be the kind of good fun that leads to gangs of grown men in the same colour of T Shirt heading into the woods to beat the shit out of each other?


For me there's only one winner and it's a big congratulations to Switzerland for coming up with something that not only states their intentions and hopes but also ingeniously relates to a bus ...'Final destination: Vienna'. Well done the Swiss

The Contenders...Greece

Today we take a look at another of the Euro 2008 contenders and the holders of the title European Champions...

Greece

THE MANAGER...
Greece will be led into defending their trophy by German manager Otto Rehhagel. 'King Otto' as he is known has been manager since 2001 and has almost Greek God status after creating one of the greatest footballing shocks by winning Euro 2004.
Rehhagel had a distinguished playing career with Hertha Berlin and Kaiserslautern in the late 60s and 70s before moving into management where he held the top job at clubs such as Werder Bremen, Borussia Dortmund and Bayern Munich. Rehhagel became the first man to be involved in 1000 games in the Bundesliga as a player and a coach, a record he is very proud of.
Such is the status of King Otto he has just signed a new deal with the Greeks that will take him through to 2010.

QUALIFYING STAGES...
Greece qualified for Euro 2008 by winning their group and amassing the highest points total of any finalist with 31 points. It wasn't all plain sailing for Rehhagel's side though as they also suffered one of their most humiliating defeats ever by losing 4-1 at home to bitter rivals Turkey.
Here is the Group C qualifying table...

Teams	Pld	+/-	Pts
Greece	12	15	31
Turkey	12	14	24
Norway	12	16	23
Bosnia-Herzegovina	12	-6	13
Moldova	12	-7	12
Hungary	12	-11	12
Malta	12	-21	5

THEIR GROUP...
Greece have been drawn in a very competitive Group D for the big tournament and will face and will face Spain, Russia and Sweden.

PLAYERS TO WATCH...
Vasillis Torosidis... One of the new breed, Torosidis is one of the hottest properties in Greek football right now. The 22-year-old versatile defender has already won 11 caps for his country and has been outstanding for Olympiakos this season. This is definetely one to watch.
Traianos Dellas... Dellas, pictured, is one of the veterans of the Greek squad and was outstanding in the team that won Euro 2004, gaining a place in the tournament's All Star team.. The AEK Athens man mountain has had his problems with injury over the last few years but has been back to his best of late and could be relied on to add experience to the Greek side.
Angelos Charisteas... Striker Charisteas is another of the Euro 2004 veterans and scored three goals during the Greeks qualifying campaign. The 28 year old moved to FC Nuremberg last season and is another player who coach Rehhagel will be looking to bring experience to his side and hopefully score the goals.

THE KIT...
Greece play in kit made by Adidas.
Their home kit consists of white top, white shorts and white socks with blue stripes. The away kit is a blue top, blue shorts and blue socks with white stripes.
Buy the Greek home and away strip here...

THEIR CHANCES...
Greece shocked the world by winning Euro 2004 when everyone had written them off against Portugal in the final. Coach Rehhagel is a proven master tactician but will have to have his side at their very best to get out of their group and have any chance of retaining their title. They will be tough to break down but I can't see them getting enough to make the second stages.

Havin' a ball...

The official ball for Euro 2008 has been unveiled by Adidas and according to the hype that goes with it there should be no excuses from goalkeepers this time round.

The Europass, as the sportswear giants have christened it, has been designed to avoid the ridiculous swerve we have seen from some previous tournament balls and fans in Row Z should be safe from what can only be described as 'flyaway' footballs of the last few big tourneys. The Europass has also been designed to allow better glove to ball grip so if Buffon flings one in to the net don't believe a word of the 'Di ball bent away from me' excuses that may appear. Reverting to a more traditional 'panel effect' this ball is a throwback to the olden days with the technology of the present day flung in for good measure.

The Europass that will be used in the tournament retails at £74.99 and can be bought here, while replicas can be snapped up for a mere £14.99 here. Take a look at this video of the ball being produced, kindly supplied for the world to see by Adidas...ENJOY!



PS The Europass has also been added to the YOYWYW banner to give Herzog and Turkilmaz something to play with.

The Contenders...Switzerland

Today we take a look at the second of the hosts for Euro 2008 and another one of the teams not expected by many to make much of an impact. If there is to be a side who provide a shock I reckon it could very well be this one...

Switzerland

THE MANAGER...
Switzerland will be led into this summer's competition by Jacob Kuhn. The 65 year old, who was capped 63 times by his country will quit after the tournament and will be looking to go out on a high before being replaced by Ottmar Hitzfeld. Having played over 500 games for FC Zurich during his 16 year career Kuhn has managed the national side since 2001 and made his first task on taking the job to cull the older players and try to bring through the youths who had won the 2002 European Under 17 Championship. Kuhn has already succesfully led the Swiss to the Euro 2004 and the 2006 World Cup.

QUALIFYING STAGES...
Like Austria, Switzerland qualified for Euro 2008 automatically by being a host nation. During the last few years manager Kuhn has tried to organise his young squad by playing in numerous friendlies, though not always with success. The Swiss achieved a position of 17 in the FIFA rankings after the 2006 World Cup though have been sitting in around the 40s since then and currently hold 46th position. Over the last year Switzerland have played friendlies against some of Europe's top sides with the best result achieved being a 2-1 win over Holland and a 1-1 draw against Argentina. Here are Switzerland's last five friendly results...

26/03/2008 Switzerland 0 Germany 4
06/02/2008 England 2 Switzerland 1
20/11/2007 Switzerland 0 Nigeria 1
17/10/2007 Switzerland 0 USA 1
13/10/2007 Switzerland 3 Austria 1

THEIR GROUP...
Switzerland were drawn in Group A and will face the tough, but not impossible task of trying to qualify by beating the Czech Republic, Portugal and Turkey.


PLAYERS TO WATCH...
Alexander Frei... Striker and captain Frei, pictured, is one of the more experienced campaigners in the Swiss squad. The Borussia Dortmund hitman was part of the Euro 2004 and 2006 World Cup squads and has 56 international caps to his name. He is also only 3 goals away from becoming Switzerland's all-time top scorer.
Philippe Senderos... Arsenal's somewhat erratic defender will play a crucial part in the Swiss' assault on this summer's tournament. Senderos, who is from Spanish and Serbian descent, is prone to the odd slip up or sending off, but can also be crucial at set pieces and was a huge loss at the 2006 World Cup after receiving a shoulder injury. The Swiss never conceded a goal during that tournament and went out on penalties to Ukraine in the last 16 without Senderos in the side.
Gelson Fernandes... Born in Cape Verde, midfielder Gelson could be a player to make his big breakthrough at this summer's tournament. Signed by Sven Goran Erikkson during last summer for Manchester City, the former England manager has hailed Fernandes as the 'Best Young Player in Switzerland' and there are high hopes that he will take to the big stage and come of age this summer.


THE KIT...
Switzerland play in kit made by Puma.
Their home kit consists of red top, white shorts and red socks with white lines. The away kit has white tops with red flashes, red shorts and white socks with red lines.
Buy the Swiss home and away strip here...

THEIR CHANCES...
Switzerland could surprise many and have proved with their performance at the 2006 World Cup that manager Kuhn can get them organised and they can be very stuffy at the back. In what is undoubtedly going to be a tight group I can see home advantage counting here and the Swiss qualifying from the group stages.

The Contenders...Austria

Having had a short break it's now time to start winding up to the big tournament itself. Over the next few weeks we'll be taking a look at the sixteen contenders for Euro 2008, the top players to look out for, the venues for the matches and anything else I can muster up the energy to include. Today we start by looking at our first team, one of the hosts and everyone's favourite whipping boys...

Austria

THE MANAGER...
The Austrians will be led into Euro 2008 by Josef Hickersberger. One of the most succesful figures in Austrian football and in his second spell in charge of the national team Hickersberger will be hoping to get the best out of his young squad and do better than he did when last in charge of his country.
Hickersberger led Austria to the World Cup in 1990 after taking charge for the qualifying stages in 1988. After a poor tournament he managed to hang onto the job until a defeat to the Faroe Islands during qualifying for Euro 92 saw him being sacked after 29 matches in charge.
Having travelled around since managing sides in Germany, Austria and then the Middle East the 60 year old returned to manage Austria Vienna and led them to the 2003/04 Austrian league title and a place in the group stages of the Champions League before returning to manage the national side.

QUALIFYING STAGES...
Being a host, Austria didn't need to endure the qualification process, which is probably a blessing in disguise as they would probably have failed to make their own tournament if they had faced up against some of Europe's big guns. Ranked 102 in the world, one place ahead of Benin and their lowest ever FIFA ranking, the Austrians have spent the last year or so playing friendly matches and blooding young players in a bid to get themselves ready for their biggest test in years. During these games they have managed one victory in the last eleven matches, a 1-0 win over the Ivory Coast. They have faced some stern opposition though in England, France, Holland and Germany during these games but it doesn't bode well for when they come up against their tough group rivals when Euro 2008 gets underway. Here are the Austrians last five friendly results...

26/03/2008 Austria 3 Holland 4
06/02/2008 Austria 0 Germany 3
21/11/2007 Austria 0 Tunisia 0
16/11/2007 Austria 0 England 1
17/10/2007 Austria 3 Ivory Coast 2

THEIR GROUP...
Austria were drawn in Group B and will face tournament favourites Germany. The scourge of England, Croatia and surprise package Poland who had a tremendous qualifying campaign finishing top of their group ahead of Portugal.


PLAYERS TO WATCH...
Andreas Ivanschitz... Attacking midfielder Ivanschitz, pictured, is the Austrian captain and plays his club football in Greece with Panathinaikos. The 24 year old is a huge favourite of the fans and media alike and has been dubbed the' Austrian Beckham'.
Emanuel Pogatetz... Probably the most recognisable of the Austrians, Pogatetz plays his football in the Premiership for Middlesborough. The 35 year old defender is one of the most experienced players likely to make the Austrian's final squad.
Martin Harnik... German born Harnik could prove to be the surprise package for the Austrians in Euro 2008. The 20 year old striker, who holds an Austrian passport and chose to play for them ahead of Germany, has been gaining praise after breaking into the Werder Bremen first team from their Under 23 squad this season.

THE KIT...
The Austrian's play in kit made by Puma.
Their home kit consists of red top, white shorts with red flashes and white socks with red tops. The away kit has black tops with gold flashes, black shorts with gold flashes and black socks with gold tops.
Buy the Austria home and away strip here...

THEIR CHANCES...
The Austrians, even with home advantage, will do well to get a point from Group B...simple as that in my view. If they do get anything then I'm a Water-Skiing Squirrel!

Euroballoon...

Today's addition to the YOYWYW banner is the official hot air balloon of this summer's Euro 2008 tournament.

The Euroballoon, as it has been originally christened, is shaped in the form of the Henri Delaunay trophy that will currently resides in Greece and will be presented to the tournament winners in the Ernst Happel stadium on Sunday 29th June.

The Euroballoon will be touring the host nations this month along with the UEFA Experience Tour, which will take in all eight host cities showcasing the tournament and the plans Austria and Switzerlan have in place. Fans will also be able to have their photo taken alongside the real Henri Delaunay trophy and watch a 25 minute movie charting the previous 12 European Championship tournaments in the worlds largest tent.

Keep your eyes peeled for the Euroballoon if you happen to be in Austria or Switzerland over the coming month.