One Year To Go - Euro 2008

This time next year, the UEFA European Football Championship will already be in full swing. From June 7th to 29th, 16 teams will be vying for the title in Austria and Switzerland.

After it all kicked off during Sweden v Denmark (some nutter tried to banjo the referee), we at WINunited.com think it's going to be one of the most exciting and entertaining Euros yet!

At the end of the day, the most important question will be who will make it through the qualifying groups into the finals!

Keith Hayes, European soccer expert at WINunited.com gives his views on the qualifying group stages so far:

"Group A has been blown wide open after Armenia's shock win over group leaders Poland. Early favourites Portugal and Serbia capitalised on the Poles' ricket to keep hopes of qualification alive after both nations had shockers earlier in the group. Finland also picked up 3 points as the Poles lost, but having played one more game than the Serbs and Portuguese, I'm sure they will be lucky to Finnish (!) in the Top 2.

Displaying precious little of their World Cup pedigree in the opening stages of the qualification process, Italy have now won 5 in a row in Group B, convincingly or otherwise and now find themselves at the front of the grid. The French have only slipped up to the group's valiant and skilful dark horses (Scotland....and my boss is Scottish) so far, and they top the group. However, the French and Italians go head to head in the next round of matches so I suspect the Jocks, who only trail the Italians by one point, will still be there or thereabouts when it's time for a scrap!

Turkey sounded off a warning to their Group C rivals after coming away from Athens with an impressive 4-1 win over Greece. The Greeks though, capitalised on a Turkish slump in form following the clash to return to the top of the Group. Norway and Bosnia- Herzegovina are tied on points with Turkey, although with a game in hand, the Greeks are my fancy.

The Germans are runaway leaders of Group D, dropping just two points along the way. Germany always seems to qualify for finals! Although it's still mathematically possible for Slovakia and Wales to qualify, I doubt whether they will hold out much resistance, leaving the way clear for the Czech Republic to fight off the Irish challenge for the last remaining spot.

Teams hoping to escape Group E with an invitation to next year's shindig in the land of cowbells and mullets face an unenviable task! Croatia and Israel top the group, with seeded favourites Russia and England completing the quartet of potential qualifiers. Pressure on Steve McLaren, cruelly renamed McDonut courtesy of The Sun, is sky high, so he really must show us that he knows what he's doing! Croatia, Israel and Russia are hardly likely to usher his team into the Finals, though.....

Northern Ireland have been the bookies' darling so far, having taken points off the favourites to mount a surprising challenge for qualification. Losing Lawrie Sanchez should ensure that the wheels fall off though....The aftermath that followed the attempted lamping of referee Herbert Fandel by a Danish fan has resulted in Sweden being awarded a 3-0 default victory, taking the Swedes above Spain into top spot. The Danish players may well feel cheated by this nutcase's actions, but they are going to have to get over it and quickly if they stand a chance of catching their Swedish neighbours and the Spanish as they race towards the tape.

Group G has developed into a three horse race, with Romania, Bulgaria and the Netherlands still unbeaten. Neighbours Romania and Bulgaria are currently top of the tree in the Group; however the Dutch have a game in hand. All three teams face each other again in a subsequent round of matches, leaving the race wide open.

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