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One shock omission was Valencia goalkeeper Timo Hildebrand, who has been replaced by Bayer Leverkusen's René Adler.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."

Matchday 1..been and gone...

So Matchday One of the UEFA.com Fantasy Football has been and gone and what an eventful one it turned out to be...

Expected whipping boys Austria scored THREE against the Dutch yet still lost the match 4-3, the Greeks went to a Ronaldo-free Portugal and won 2-1, Germany showed why they're classed as favourites by thumping hosts Switzerland 4-0 and Romania rousted the rusty Russians 3-0.

The top performing players from Matchday One were...

GOALKEEPER
Jens Lehmann (Germany) & Gregory Coupet (France) with 7 pts
DEFENDER
Sebastian Prodl (Austria) with 12 pts
MIDFIELDER
Andreas Ivanschitz (Austria) with 13 pts
STRIKER
Mario Gomez (Germany) with 13 pts

I can't imagine many managers having either Prodl or Ivanschitz in their team but these are the kind of players that will be picked once the money is running dry, so well done if you had either.

The top scoring team so far managed a very impressive 76 pts from Matchday One so congratulations must go to one, Sergio Ramos from Spain. Surely not THE Sergio Ramos? If so there should surely be a stewards enquiry as he picked himself in his team, Acroteam, who lead the way so far. The best possible XI, or the Dream Team as UEFA call them would have got you a massive 103 pts and consisted of Coupet, Prodl, Heitinga, Radoi, Ivanschitz, Karagounis, Kranjcar, Ribery, Gomez, Huntelaar and Tuncay Sanli.

Matchday Two is now a couple of months away so there is plenty of time for you to keep an eye out for injuries and watch for the players who hit form as most domestic seasons near an end. The transfer window is open again and as many changes as possible can be made before the next fixtures are with us on 23rd May when Russia face Borat's Kazakhstan.