大象传媒

My colleague Saj Chowdhury has done a bit of a straw poll in the office and here is our(unofficial) team of Euro 2008.

You can see how it compares to the official team .

Fernando Torres was and deservedly so after winning the cup for Spain.

But his two goals in the tournament weren't enough to get him into our overall team. Have we got it right or have we dropped the ball?

Vienna

Whenever someone mentions the word "statistics" I can't help but think of past Miss World competitions. And in case my wife is reading this, the last one I watched must have been at least 20 years ago. Yep, that's long before we met, my love.

Anyway, the 大象传媒 Sport website's Player Rater has thrown up some interesting numbers following the completion of the group games at Euro 2008...

Salzburg - 1,302 miles travelled

Greece's departure from Euro 2008 is as symbolic of the current European Championship as their in Portugal four years ago.

Back then, Otto Rehhagel's team caught the footballing world unaware when they lifted the Henri Delaunay Trophy with a 1-0 success over the host nation. It was , of organisation and a willingness to work hard.

Birmingham, England

I love Greece. In a month's time, I'll be taking another trip in speedos and flip flops around the islands of the Cyclades.

Football has been on a high in the country since their victory at Euro 2004, with most main tourist resorts doing a roaring trade in Hellas replica shirts ever since.

So when the opportunity arose to go to Athens as part of my Euro 2008 jaunt, it wasn't one to be sniffed at.

London

It's Saturday morning at Television Centre and just minutes to go before I set off on the first leg of my 大象传媒 Radio 5 Live Euro 2008 Road Trip...

What I'll be doing over the next three weeks is discovering a bit more about the 16 nations taking part in Euro 2008 by meeting the far-flung ex-pat communities dotted all over the UK.

Today I'm heading for Norfolk, where I hope to meet up with a load of Portuguese. Apparently, over the past decade, 50,000 of them have settled there.

Football's still a team game, right? It's just that a lot of the views being churned out by newspapers, magazines, television shows, radio stations and websites seem to have ignored this very basic fact in the run-up to Euro 2008.

Look, being blessed with lots of talented individuals isn't a precursor to success. Just ask Steve McClaren. Yet for some reason a lot of people believe Greece have absolutely no chance of winning the European Championships again.

Welcome to 大象传媒 Sport's Euro 2008 blog.

Yep, the champagne may still be flowing in Manchester and Glasgow, not to mention Hull, Doncaster, Stockport and other footballing hotbeds around Europe, but already the focus is shifting towards the international arena.

In little over a week, the European Championships will kick off in Austria and Switzerland as 16 countries begin their quest for the .

For some fans, most notably those with an English, Irish, Scottish or Welsh bent, Euro 2008 will have about as much appeal as a in Wolverhampton.

Keep reading this blog for the latest about the Euro 2008 football tournament in Switzerland and Austria.

News and reports will be on the but our experts will bring you behind the scenes access right here.

All of our bloggers are keen to hear your views and we want people to comment on what we have to say.