With the UEFA EURO 2008 tournament from Austria-Switzerland just days away, the Sportable staff will bring you team previews leading up to the opening match. Group by group, we will discuss team rosters, flaws. and chances of being crowned European Champions.

Group C Matches:
June 9th: vs. Italy (Letzigrund Stadium-Zurich)
June 13th: vs. France (Letzigrund Stadium-Zurich)
June 17th: vs. Romania (Stade de Suisse Wankdorf-Bern)

Can Orange Crush Survive Group of Death?
As finalists in the 2006 World Cup, Italy and France have deservedly received the most attention in EURO 2008’s Group C. But the inclusion of the Netherlands, one of the Europe’s finest squads, has turned the group from an intriguing one into the tournament’s most dangerous. But for all of their technical ability, the Netherlands haven’t won anything of significance since coach Marco Van Basten hoisted the EURO ‘88 trophy. In Van Basten’s swan song with the national team, can he guide this team through such a difficult draw?

Attacking
On paper, it’s not a far cry to suggest that the Netherlands have the greatest attacking talent of any team in EURO 2008. A brilliant combination of experience and youth, it will be up to Van Basten to assemble the best combination of playmakers and goal-scorers. We all know the name at the top: Ruud van Nistelrooy, one of the world’s best strikers. Even at the age of 31, RVN has shown no signs of slowing down, scoring 20 goals this season for La Liga champions Real Madrid. After a brief fallout with the national team and Van Basten, van Nistelrooy is back and should see himself on the score sheet several times. You could easily draw names from a hat and come up with the rest of the options around RVN. Arjen Robben, Robin Van Persie, Wesley Sneijder, Dirk Kuyt and freekick extraordinare Rafael van der Vaart are all available. Even without the injured Ryan Babel and the departed Clarence Seedorf, the Orange will not be lacking options in their attack.

Defense
With all these attacking weapons, you’d expect the Dutch to be a lock to survive the Group of Death. Not so fast. Even though they allowed just five goals in 12 EURO 2008 qualifying matches, I’m not very confident in the Orange’s back line. However, those concerns do not include the man in goal, captain Edwin van der Sar. Holland’s most capped player, van der Sar remains a world class keeper despite being 37-years-old. Fresh off a European double with Manchester United, he should be a calming influence at the back. With a projected back four of Ooijer, Heitinga, Mathijsen and Van Bronckhorst, the Dutch don’t carry a reputation of great defense like group rivals Italy.

Outlook
While most will consider Holland the 3rd best team in this group, they’re still an elite squad with the ability to reach Vienna for the final. As the tournament nears closer, Holland’s chances of coping with the Group of Death have improved. With injuries to France’s Patrick Vieria and Italy captain Fabio Cannavaro, Holland are now looking like a good bet to somehow reach the quarterfinals. I don’t know if it will be Italy or France that fail to survive Group C, but I like the Netherlands to squeak into the knockout stages.

Prediction
6 points in Group C
A loss to Spain in the quarterfinals