Switzerland and Czech Republic will raise the curtain on the 13th UEFA European Championship in Basel on Saturday night before Portugal take on Turkey in the second game of Group A. The co-hosts are aiming for a first ever finals win as they only make their third appearance on the continental scene. Jakob Kuhn's men, who were the only team not to concede a single goal in the 2006 World Cup, will rely on the support of the '12th man' at St. Jakob Park. The Czechs on the other hand, will be looking to make up for the absence of talisman Tomas Rosicky, who had knee surgery in late. Head-to-head Switzerland win: 1 Czech Republic win: 2 Draw: 0 Switzerland "Two years ago we went to the World Cup with a very young team, we have 16 or 17 players left from that squad and they are more experienced now," said Swiss coach Kuhn. "We also want to be able to use the 12th man, the Swiss public, and ensure that everyone is fully motivated to the tip of their hair." Team News: Veteran defender Patrick Muller is declared 50-50 for the game, following a cruciate ligament injury late in 2007. Winger Tranquillo Barnetta is expected to shrug off an ankle injury he picked up in training two weeks ago. Probable Line-up: Benaglio- Degen, Magnin, Senderos, Muller- Barnetta, Behrami, Huggel, Vonlanthem- Frei, Streller. Czech Republic "It is an opening match, against one of the hosts, so we will perhaps need to do a bit of work on handling the emotion of the occasion but I'm confident we are well prepared and ready to start," said captain Tomas Ujfalusi. Team News: Full-back Zdenek Pospech, who has a virus, is the only certain absentee of Karel Bruckner's side. Ujfalusi should be fit after an abdominal concern. Probable Line-up: Cech- Grygera, Jankulovski, Rozenhal, Kovac- Galasek, Plasil, Polak, Matejovsky, Sionko- Koller.
Portugal v Turkey Portugal entertain Turkey in the second Group A match at Stade de Geneve. The Portuguese were struck by a heartbreaking final defeat to Greece on home soil in 2004, but this time Luis Felipe Scolari's team have become more mature. The Portuguese have a major asset in Cristiano Ronaldo, who will be crucial if he managed to replicate last season's form with Manchester United. Despite the evidential supremacy of Portugal in recent confrontations, Turkey coach Fatih Terim aims to 'pull down the Portuguese flags'. Head-to-Head Portugal win: 6 Turkey win: 1 Draw: 1 Portugal "We have an extremely talented squad with a midfield which is the envy of almost every team in Europe," said Luis Felipe Scolari. "We lost our first game against Greece four years ago and put a great deal of pressure on ourselves. A victory would be the perfect start to get us in the winning mood." Team News: Chelsea new signing Jose Bosingwa is fit after recovering from a muscle strain, which means that 'Big Phil' has a fully fit squad ready to choose from his starting eleven. Probable Line-up: Ricardo- Bosingwa, Ferreira, Carvalho, Pepe- Petit, Deco, Simao, Moutinho, Ronaldo- Nuno Gomes. Turkey "The last time we won was in 1955 and we haven't scored any goals in the last three matches. But we have managed to reverse the tide in many cases so why not this time?" said Fatih Terim. "We will work to make them pull down the Portuguese flags and replace them with Turkish ones." Team News: Hamit Altintop is struggling to get fit for the clash, whilst Sanli Tuncay should recover from a back problem. Probable Line-up: Volkan- Gonul, Balta, Zan, Cetin, Aurelio, Emre, Hamit Altintop, Turan- Tuncay, Nihat.
