Group D too close to call

Otto Rehhagel insisted that "2004 belongs in the past, now we have to focus on 2008" as European champions Greece look ahead to defending their title at UEFA EURO 2008™ after being drawn in Group D alongside Sweden, Spain and Russia.

Three past winners
Greece will begin their finals campaign in Salzburg on 10 June against Sweden, whom Luis Aragonés observes are the only side in the section not to have etched their name on the trophy in a group of some quality. The Spain coach does, however, acknowledge that Sweden will be a "big challenger" and he speaks with some authority after the teams met twice in qualifying, each claiming home victories. They will recommence their rivalry on 14 June in Innsbruck, the same venue at which Spain start their glory bid against Russia four days before. Russia were the only side to beat Greece four years ago – Spain were also in the same UEFA EURO 2004™ section yet only the Greeks advanced – and they face off in the second round of games. The group concludes on 18 June with matches between Greece and Spain, and Sweden and Russia.

Otto Rehhagel, Greece coach
[UEFA EURO] 2004 belongs in the past, now we have to focus on 2008. All the teams here are first class, and it was always going to be very hard to get here in the first place. I won't speculate today about the favourites, but the important thing is that my players are in good shape and ready for this competition. Russia have very good players, they are good with the ball and good competitors.

Lars Lagerbäck, Sweden coach
It's a privilege to be part of this tournament. It's a very tough group, with great footballing countries. We know Spain quite well as we played them in qualifying. They are a very experienced team, one of the best in the world, and we look forward to playing them again. I don't know if it will be special to play our first game against Greece, but if you look at the qualification, they did very well. They are a good team and will be tough opponents.

Luis Aragonés, Spain coach
We will need to keep focused: we have three European champions and one big challenger in this group. Concentration during the tournament will be crucial. It's an easier section than Group C, but you can never tell about a team's motivation, which can change the whole situation. This is the time to show our peak levels and I'm confident in my players and what they can do. There are no favourites. The only thing that is certain is that Greece are title-holders and will try to retain their trophy. I think we can go through, though, and then we'll see happens when we get to the quarter-finals.

Guus Hiddink, Russia coach
It's a very competitive group. Even qualification was extremely difficult, so I'm very happy to be here. All I can say about Greece is that they deserved to win the previous tournament and will be eager to get through the group phase here. I guess all three coaches were happy to be drawn against us. But as the Greece coach said, everybody starts from scratch and we will try to surprise everyone. It's another tournament, another place and another set of players.