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. Romania (Letzigrund Stadium-Zurich)
June 13th: vs. Netherlands (Stade de Suisse Wankdorf-Bern)
June 17th: vs. Italy (Letzigrund Stadium-Zurich)

Les Bleus is Loaded, Even Without Zidane
For France, EURO 2008 marks the true beginning of a new era in French soccer. Gone is superstar Zinedine Zidane, with his truly legendary playmaking ability and even more infamous cranium. But don’t pity the French; they’re too arrogant to deserve any pity and they’re too talented to feel sorry for. Even without Zizzou, France was able to emerge from the EURO 2008 Qualifying Group of Death. Their reward? Another Group of Death and rematch with Italy.

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If you were the coach of the French national soccer team and you knew you had a player who just scored 23 goals in Serie A for Juventus (Italy) and 34 international goals for France in 68 games, would you start him? I would like to think so, but French coach Raymond Domenech thinks otherwise of star striker David Trezeguet. Trezeguet, better known to the Italian people as Trezegol, was selected for the French national team at the World Cup in Germany but never started more than 1 match. Leaving him only to wonder; Should I quit on my country?

At the World Cup, David Trezeguet appeared in only three matches, and in one of those matches only played for a minute. The cause of coach Domenech’s decision to bench him is not known, but the striker recently voiced his opinion. “The night after the final, I wanted to stop playing (for the national team). I didn’t have faith in Domenech,” Trezeguet described to France Football Magazine. As you might know Trezeguet was also the player who missed a penalty kick in the World Cup Final against Italy. However, David Trezeguet beat the Italians 6 years earlier in 2000 European Championships in the Final with an extra time golden goal.

After all of the World Cup dramatics David Trezeguet continues to play for demoted Serie B club Juventus. The club was sent down to Serie B due to scandal sanctions, but the Frenchman remained loyal to his club and stayed to help them rise back to the Serie A. Trezeguet recently scored a great goal in one of Juventus’s matches which positioned them atop Serie B.

David Trezeguet is one of the greatest players that I have seen play. Raymond Domenech knew that Trezeguet beat Italy once in a final match before, so why not start him in another final against them again? He plays everyday with the Italians and is used to their tactics, however Domenech left him out of the lineup. Now, I’m not saying the French would have won the game, but they would have had a better shot with him in the match rather than Sylvain Wiltord.

France is currently qualifying for the 2008 European Championships and sits in a group that includes World Cup Champions Italy and quarterfinalist Ukriane. If Raymond Domenech wants to win without Zidane, David Trezeguet should be in the lineup and paired with Thiery Henry. The duo could do wonders as they both have something left to give.

Quitting on France should be the last thing David Trezeguet should be thinking about, but when you have a coach who doesn’t want to use a winner on the field, maybe Trezeguet should think about retiring. Or, on that note, maybe France should look for another coach.