We're off to Euro 2008!

Sadly fan zones will outnumber match appearances in Euro 2008. Here's one we made earlier.

Happy to report that this Sunday, we here at European Football Weekend Towers are decamping to Switzerland for Euro 2008. Sadly, UEFAs decision to hold the matches in stadiums the size of an old shoe box meant that we could only get tickets for one match; Romania v France in Zurich.

Initially we'd applied for six matches across two weeks in what we hoped was to be a repeat of the never to be forgotten Euro 2004 experience. All of those applications were rejected. Sepp Blatter must have had a very minor change of heart however and a few weeks ago an emeither from UEFA arrived in my inbox offering me the chance of three tickets for the aforementioned France v Romania game - yes please Sepp.

The build up to Euro 2008 has been wonderfully understated here in England. Thank Croatia for that if that nitwit Gary Linekers predictions on the BBC website are anything to go by. You and I pay this chap around a million quid a year and this is what he came out with - "It's open, but I'm going for those perennial underachievers Spain....my Euro 2008 one to watch is Cristiano Ronaldo." Ta very much for that Gary lad - have a word with him.

So with only one game to attend in person, I'm going to have to get used to watching a few matches in the Zurich fan zone. To get me in the mood for such an act, I've dug out a photo from the archives from the 2006 World Cup final which I watched with my wife in a fan zone in Innsbruck, Austria (see above).

In the absence of any home nations participation everybody is asking 'Who will you support in Euro 2008!?' - for the record 10% of my support will be with the Romanians who I saw in the qualifiers against Holland in Constanta. The other 90% of me will be supporting Spain (see wife for details).

So that's it folks. I fly out with a couple of mates to Basel or Basle whichever you prefer on Sunday and we'll make our way over to Zurich for a couple of nights of fan zones, cheese and one actual match. I'll pen a report upon my return so for now vamos Espana - Switzerland here we jolly well come!