stadiums and venues of the upcoming international competition

BettingExpert visits Austria and Switzerland and takes a good look at the cities and their stadiums as they prepare to welcome fans from all over the continent.

Not many days separate us from Euro 2008 which will be kicking off on the 7th of June. We at BettingExpert know how eager most of our visitors are about the competition. That is why we thought about bringing you some good coverage to get all of you in the right frame of mind and well geared onto thinking about some good long term bets.

In our first of a series of articles which will be introducing the biggest international event being held in Europe this year, we will be visiting the venue where the competition is being hosted. Actually, in line with recent fashion concerning the organization of football events, the competition will be co-hosted by two nations.

The winning bid for Euro 2008 was that submitted by joint effort of Austria and Switzerland. The two central European countries may not have a long and renowned tradition in the sport but they will surely make for a good spot where to entertain big crowds with top matches. Being quite close to Germany it is likely that there might be some moderately high temperatures as were registered two years ago in the 2006 World Cup. Therefore the typical image of snowy mountains that springs to mind whenever we think about the two countries should be put aside and expect more of a warm Summer atmosphere.

A total of 31 games will be played. Eight different stadiums in as many cities will be utilized for this purpose. With seven of the eight stadiums having been constructed in the last seven years, all of the venues are highly modern and well equipped with all necessities. Only the Ernst Happel Stadion dates back to the 20th century, having been built in 1931. Nonetheless it was remodernized for the occasion and now boasts a maximum capacity of 50 000 spectators. It is the largest stadium of all those involved in Euro 2008 and for this reason it will be hosting the biggest number of matches, seven, including one of the two semi-finals and the final.

The Ernst Happel Stadion, considered a five-star venue by Uefa, is situated in the city of Vienna in Austria. The capital city of the country is widely regarded as one of the most beautiful cities in Europe. On par with Switzerland’s capital Zurich, another of the eight venues for Euro 2008, it is considered as a centre of great culture and research surrounded by picturesque locations featuring lakes and mountains. The Letzigrund Stadion based in the Swiss capital will be hosting three games from the group currently considered by pundits as the group of death.

The other Swiss and Austrian cities, which will be welcoming fans from all over Europe for the main event, embody similar characteristics to those found within the respective capital cities. Klagenfurt, Salzburg and Innsbruck complete the Austrian set whilst the other three Swiss cities which will be experiencing the Euro2008 fever first hand are Geneve, Basel and Bern.

Basel’s St. Jakob Park, inaugurated in 2001 and presently the largest football stadium in the country, will be hosting the other semi-final and all of Switzerland’s group matches. Austria’s group games will all be played in Vienna.

All other stadiums average a maximum capacity of 31 000 seats and amongst them will be sharing the remaining group matches. BSC Young Boys’ stadium, Stade de Suisse, located in Bern will be featuring the remaining three games from Group C thus sharing the hosting of top European teams France, Romania, Holland and Italy with the city of Zurich.

Servette FC’s Stade de Geneve will be taking three Group A matches that will feature the losing finalists from four years ago, Portugal, facing Turkey and the Czech Republic in two promising encounters.

Austria’s Group B opponents will be going back and forth between the stadium in Vienna and that in Klagenfurt, Worthersee Satdion. Modeled on FC Basel’s St. Jakob Park, Worthersee Satdion has been constructed purposely for Euro 2008 and is considered as a state of the art sport construction.

Group D encounters will be equally shared by two Austrian stadiums - FC Tirol Innsbruck’s Stadion Tivoli NEU and Stadion Salzburg Wals-Siezenheim, home to Austrian team Red Bull Salzburg. The latter will be hosting all of the current holders’ matches. Together with Greece in the group are the highly rated Swedes, Spain and Russia, which will have to play their group games in both stadiums.

There is already great enthusiasm in the Swiss and Austrian cities which will serve as backdrop for the Euro 2008 football event. Fans from all over will be eager for the games to kick off and as the 7th of June approaches the fever will be rising every day. BettingExpert will therefore be bringing you some neat overviews to get you in the mood. Follow our news section and don’t miss out on the juicy reviews and info.