Germany announce provisional squad...

Euro 2008 favourites Germany have announced their provisional squad for Switzerland and Austria. Coach Joachim Löw surprised many by included a hat-trick of players who don't even play in the top flight of German football by calling up Marko Marin, Oliver Neuville and Patrick Helmes. Mari and Neuville both play for Borussia Mönchengladbach while Helmes stars for Cologne.

One shock omission was Valencia goalkeeper Timo Hildebrand, who has been replaced by Bayer Leverkusen's René Adler. Other omissions include the experienced Tim Borowski through injury, Manuel Friedrich, Jermaine Jones and Piotr Trochowski.

The full provisional German squad is, with three of these players set to miss out when the squad gets it's final cut to 23 for the 28th May deadline...

Goalkeepers
Jens Lehmann Free Agent
Robert Enke Hannover
René Adler Bayer Leverkusen

Defenders
Christoph Metzelder Real Madrid
Per Mertesacker Werder Bremen
Philipp Lahm Bayern Münich
Arne Friedrich Hertha Berlin
Marcell Jansen Bayern Münich
Clemens Fritz Werder Bremen
Heiko Westermann Schalke

Midfielders
Michael Ballack Chelsea
Thomas Hitzlsperger VfB Stuttgart
Simon Rolfes Bayer Leverkusen
Torsten Frings Werder Bremen
Bastian Schweinsteiger Bayern Münich
Piotr Trochowski Hamburg
Tim Borowski Werder Bremen
Jermaine Jones Schalke
David Odonkor Real Betis
Marko Marin Borussia Mönchengladbach

Forwards
Miroslav Klose Bayern Münich
Lukas Podolski Bayern Münich
Mario Gómez VfB Stuttgart
Kevin Kuranyi Schalke
Oliver Neuville Borussia Mönchengladbach
Patrick Helmes Cologne

On announcing his squad Coach Joachim Löw said "In the last couple years we have watched around 200 Bundesliga games and have had numerous practice sessions watched. We also staged international matches and held meetings with the coaching staff. It was a tough decision, but we have now decided to give these players our confidence for this important tournament."

International Friendlies...

The UEFA.com Fantasy Football competition gets into full swing this midweek when the first phase of international friendlies before Euro 2008 commences get underway. To be in with a chance of winning tickets to the big tournament now is the time to get your entries in and pick up points right from the start.

Here is a list of this midweek's friendlies, with the Euro 2008 finalists in bold and links to the news pages of the Euro 2008 website for all the latest team news...

Belarus v Turkey
Romania v Russia
Denmark v Czech Republic
Austria v Holland
Poland v USA
Portugal v Greece
Sweden v Brazil
Switzerland v Germany
France v England
Scotland v Croatia
Spain v Italy

Looking at these fixtures and with ten of the sixteen Euro 2008 finalists facing each other it could pay to pick your line-up from the likes of Turkey and Czech Republic who will be facing sides who aren't planning for the summer and may well be building towards the upcoming World Cup qualifiers. The other side who should come out on top, and where I will be finding the backbone of my team is from Holland, who face Euro hosts and expected, quite rightly so, whipping boys of the tournament.

Get picking your team and don't forget to get them entered into the YOYWTW Super League by using the code 52-10...GOOD LUCK!

Cuckoo..Cuckoo

After a few days off from this blog due to..well, lazyitis, I return with today's addition to the YOYWYW banner and a suggestion from a subscriber to this blog...THE CUCKOO CLOCK.

Now OK, I'm sure a lot of you are saying 'Cuckoo Clock' what's that got to do with Switzerland an Austria, that's a German thing and well, you'd be right. But what you may not know is that for whatever reason or other if you ask someone 'Where does the Cuckoo Clock originate?' they're highly likely to say Switzerland.

One person who takes a good bit of the blame for this misconception is Mark Twain. In his story 'A Tramp Abroad' one chapter is entitled 'The Nest of the Cuckoo-Clock' and describes how Lucerne is the home of this style of clock...which, as you now know is a load of Cuckpoo!

Switzerland did have a big influence on this style of clock and one of the most common, and the kind I have chosen to add to the banner, the 'Chalet' style originated in Switzerland in the nineteenth century and were regarded as higly valuable souvenirs from the country.

You must think I'm 'Cuckoo' sitting writing this in relation to Euro 2008..you'd be right.