Sports

Euros the Place for Cinderella Teams

By CLEMENTE LISI

The World Cup is dominated by countries like Brazil, Italy, Germany and Argentina. The favorites, it seems, always go on to win the title.

At the European Championship, which begins on Saturday, history tells us that any team can win it all. Cinderella doesn’t just show up at the Euros, she often waltzes away with the silverware. Greece stunned the 16-team field four years ago to win the title. In 1992, Denmark, a last-minute replacement after FIFA banned Yugoslavia from the tournament because of an ongoing civil war, went on to win it all.

The Soviet Union and Spain — nations that have come up short at the World Cup for decades — won their only major titles at the Euros.

So did the Czechs. As Czechoslovakia in 1976, they stunned West Germany on penalty kicks to win the title, the only final to be decided by a shootout.

The Euros, which will be co-hosted by Austria and Switzerland, are considered a mini-World Cup of sorts. With the exception of Brazil, the 16-team field resembles the World Cup.

Games will be played in Vienna, Innsbruck, Salzburg and Klagenfurt in Austria. In Switzerland, the sites are Geneva, Bern, Basel and Zurich.

All the games will be televised live for the first time by ESPN and ABC.

At Euro ’08, world champions Italy, Germany and France — all World Cup winners — are considered favorites.

But history tells us to bet on spunky sides such as Turkey, Romania and Greece — once again — to reach the June 29 final in Vienna.

The Greeks were 80-1 favorites back in 2004, but their stingy defense — although not always pretty to watch — and an attack that relied heavily on the counterattack carried them to their only international title.

Could it happen again? Yes, because at the Euros everything is possible.