"We have been preparing for two years for this tournament,'' Loew said. "The tension and the concentration are rising within me, but I am really looking forward to it. We are well prepared, it's time for the championship to start.''

Look for Germany to ride the offense provided by veterans Miroslav Klose and Michael Ballack, and rising star Mario Gomez.

Italy also has a new coach, former Azzurri standout Roberto Donadoni. He's been criticized for being too inexperienced for the job, but he suggests the experiences of winning Italy's fourth world title won't help too much in this event.

"The fact that Italy is the world champion is important, but we were the world champions two years ago,'' Donadoni said. "It's a new day now and a different tournament, and I think we're up to the task.''

France coach Raymond Domenech, not exactly a shrinking "violette,'' is certain his team is ready to emulate the 1984 and 2000 squads that won Euros.

"For me, it's France who will be champion of Europe,'' Domenech said.

Both Italy and France have an extremely difficult chore in the first round, from which the top two teams advance to the knockout stage. They are grouped with the Netherlands and Romania, both talented but unpredictable.

"I'm a little worried about Romania,'' Italy's outstanding goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon said. "They've got four or five highly talented players that can hide the ball from you.''

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Also hiding among the outsiders will be Turkey, Poland, the host countries and, dare we say it, Greece.

The Greeks were 80-1 choices back in 2004, but their stingy defense and timely scoring carried them to their only significant international title. They even beat the home team, Portugal, twice - in the opener and in the final.

Could it happen again? Sure. At Euros, it always seems possible.

"We had 31 points after playing 12 (qualifiers). That has to say something,'' Karagounis said. "We have ambition. We have a good team, and we believe in ourselves.''

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