What are the expectations for the team?
Quarter-finals and then home. The usual.

Are there any players who have appeared in TV commercials or other advertising?
Square-jawed goalie Iker Casillas, whose preppy, school-prefect appearance never fails to attract the advertising companies, inevitably appears in some hands-related TV spots when a major competition looms. He has just insured his hands for €7.5m and the insurers, Groupama, have been quick to get out an ad in which he puts on the light with his nose, opens the door with his head, etcetera.

Which players are good interviewees and who are the worst?
Cesc Fábregas is marginally more tedious to listen to in English than in Spanish, which might have something to do with the fact that neither is his native language; Xabi Alonso comes over in all three of his languages as someone determined to avoid the prepackaged response; and Valencia’s David Villa is a straight talker, unusually frank and unafraid of upsetting the sponsors. Barça’s Carles Puyol has improved his diction over the years, but is still incapable of finishing a sentence without the word “no”.

Is the coach popular?
That depends on whether you are pro-Madrid or anti-Madrid. Those in favour of Raúl being excluded from the national side tend to be Catalans, Basques and any other awkward region who fail to buy in to the Iberian idea – and they have no problem with Luis Aragonés, despite his obvious madness. Those in favour of Raúl’s inclusion think that Aragonés is not only mad but the devil incarnate. And when all the noise dies down, Spain have managed to attain fourth place  in the FIFA rankings and 16 games undefeated without Raúl, which probably says something for Aragonés’s decision.

Are there any players with unusual hobbies or business interests?
Real Madrid’s Sergio Ramos is rumoured to be signing a deal with fashion house Dolce & Gabbana. Puyol still effects a pre-match psyche‑up routine using a potent mix of the Ramones and Napalm Death, whereas Liverpool’s Pepe Reina likes jewellery, Bang & Olufsen systems and grey Porsche Cayennes, all of which were nicked from his house while he was saving penalties against Chelsea in last year’s Champions League semi-final.

Will there be any rehearsed goal celebrations?
The squad is currently practising the complex mime sequence required by Swing Low Sweet Chariot. This is in acknowledgement of the Sky Sports campaign to encourage English subscribers to support Spain for the duration. The sport tabloid Marca, bemused by Sky’s initiative, remarked: “Why don’t the English support Croatia? It was they, after all, who did England the favour of showing them how crap they are.”

What will TV coverage be like?
Cable channels La Cuatro and Digital Plus have won the rights battle, which means that the non-subscribing public will be spared the idiosyncrasies of La Sexta’s Julio Salinas (ex-Barça) and the incomprehensible Kike, once of Atlético Madrid. Instead, so the rumour goes, Raúl has been signed up by La Cuatro – which should guarantee that everyone signs up to Digital Plus, featuring the indomitable Michael Robinson, who remains a cult figure in Spain.

Will there be many fans travelling to the tournament?
There was a national competition recently to supply lyrics for Spain’s wordless national anthem, the winner of which starts: “Long Live Spain! Let us all sing together with different voices.” You can’t quite see that one attracting the Catalan camp (whose minister of culture, incidentally, dismissed the song as “drivel”) or the travelling diehards, who are instead working on a version of Spain’s satirical entry for Eurovision 2008 in May, Baila el Chiki Chiki – a catchy ditty which stands much more chance of winning a trophy than does the national squad. According to his website, the legendary drummer Manolo will be going, of course, although last time he travelled to Germany his bar/museum in Valencia was ransacked.

Phil Ball

What are the expectations for the team?
The French public are pessimistic. Which is a good indicator that they’ll get to the final at least, previous low expectations having been recorded in 1998 and 2006. Ten years on, four players from the 1998 World Cup squad – Patrick Vieira, Lilian Thuram, David Trezeguet and Thierry Henry – could all take part. If picked, Nicolas Anelka, another player from 1998 generation, will be looking to score his first goal in a major international competition. There is some optimism surrounding the new generation represented by Hatem Ben Arfa, Samir Nasri and Karim Benzema – all three tipped as the next Zidane – as well as “Kaiser Franck” Ribéry.

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What are the expectations for the team?
Very low, ever since the draw was made and they got the hardest opponents in the other three pots. Nobody really expects them to get past the first round, although the media are trying to big-up their chances. A recent 3-0 friendly win over Russia has fed this nascent “we could do it” hype.

Are there any players who have appeared in TV commercials or other advertising?
Adi Mutu has become so ubiquitously Beckhamesque that it is more which products can hitch themselves to the Mutu brand rather than the other way around. After his coke bust (when, ironically, he was the Romanian face of Pepsi) he vanished temporarily, but his subsequent rehabilitation at Fiorentina has seen him return to seemingly all billboards and TV screens. The rest of the squad appear, en masse, in a beer commercial and that’s about their lot.

Is the coach popular?
Yes, with reservations. Having got them to the finals, Victor Piturca’s position is fairly strong, but there are doubters who question the style of play. Three crushing defeats could see him gone.  

Which players are good interviewees and who are the worst?
Cosmin Contra is pretty good. Mutu and Cristian Chivu are well practised in the modern footballing art of being bland yet doing so in a seemingly friendly way. The players who have never played outside Romania are the ones who could go either way – the amusing emotional outburst or the nonsensical ramble.

Will there be any rehearsed goal celebrations?
I think most people would be elated if the team just managed to score a goal.  The team included. I expect a joyful bundle by the corner flag rather than anything more choreographed. Unless it’s Mutu, who doesn’t really seem to get on with the rest of the team and looks down on them somewhat (in which case there will be a joyful bundle of all the other players while Adi runs around seeking out the cameras).

Are there any players involved in politics?
Not as yet, but many old pros and various members of the higher echelons of Romanian football are mostly, it seems, on the far right. So the longer this bunch stay out the better.

What will be the media coverage be like?
Gheorghe Hagi will be interviewed at every opportunity, but he hasn’t yet been snapped up by any one TV station. Horia Ivanovici, presenter of the popular Fanatik show, was recently taken to court by Piturca for demanding large sums of money to go easy on him on his popular TV show. Piturca was backed up by various others including Chivu, who said that ever since refusing to pay off Ivanovici while still at Ajax, he’s consistently been slammed on the show.  

Will there be many fans travelling to the tournament?
Romania’s current economic boom, its accession to the EU (meaning easier travel) and the fact that this tournament is relatively close means that there will be a fair few travelling fans, probably more than there ever have been following Romania at a major tournament before. The chants are Mooooooooo-Toooooooo.

Andy Hockley

What are the expectations for the team?
After being drawn in a group containing both 2006 World Cup finalists, the expectations are not high, especially after some shaky qualifying performances, such as a single-goal victory over Luxembourg and a collapse against Belarus in Minsk at the end of 2007. However, the national team have survived the first round of every European Championship since Marco van Basten, Ruud Gullit and Co won the title in 1988 so there is always the possibility of another penalty shootout defeat in the quarter- or semifinals.

Have any players appeared in commercials or any other adverts?
Edwin van der Sar features in a commercial for healthy mints, in which he stops penalties taken by Bad Breath, Tooth Slice and Coffee Stain. The revenues may go to a good cause.

Is the coach popular?
Not really. Van Basten’s preference for Ajax reserves is suspect, while the way he stubbornly clung on to the two-winger system when there wasn’t a recognised one in the squad was a bit strange – but players have recently talked him out of that. However, every Dutch national coach suffers from the nation’s expectation of being entertained. Winning is not good enough, we want “dream football”, too.

Are there any players with unusual hobbies or business interests?
Clarence Seedorf is the owner of a 125cc Moto GP team. He has also founded the Clarence Seedorf Stadium in Paramaribo and aims to lead Surinam to the World Cup. The Netherlands Antilles also hope to dip into the talent pool of black players in the Eredivisie, which may affect the Dutch national team in the future.

What will the media coverage be like?
There is a tendency to use coaches as pundits. “This would never happen against any team of mine” is always a subtext of their comments. Louis van Gaal quit during the qualifying tournament, saying he had pointed out the same mistakes in the team tactics over and over again and felt he was repeating himself. However, it is very difficult for Van Gaal to keep his opinions to himself, so when asked, he will surely turn up somewhere on the telly. As will Johan Cruyff who was simultaneously a TV pundit and an advisor to Van Basten during the 2006 World Cup. After the bad-tempered loss to Portugal in the last 16, Cruyff defended Van Basten in his newspaper column the next day and blamed the defeat on government minister Rita Verdonk, who had refused to give Salomon Kalou a Dutch passport.

Will there be many fans travelling to the tournament?
Most Dutch tickets are taken by sponsors, the biggest one an insurance company, who use them to reward their agents and employees. It is a new form of hooliganism. At the 2006 World Cup there were frightening stories of unsuspecting foreign fans isolated in pub corners by men dressed in orange who bombarded them with stories about life insurance, investment plans and favourable loan rates.

Ernst Bouwes

What are the expectations for the team?
As world champions, Italy are expected to do very well, but a huge question mark hangs over coach Roberto Donadoni, who has done well so far but has little support from the Italian federation. His job security has not been helped by leaving out Alessandro Del Piero, who still has many supporters among the media and has been playing brilliantly for Juventus. Failure to survive a tough group would mean the end for Donadoni, but he may go in any case, unless he wins the whole thing.

Are there any players who have appeared in TV commercials or other advertising?
Rino Gattuso has been starring in ads for Vodafone, most of them alongside Francesco Totti. His strong southern accent casts him as a wily regional character with national appeal, which also helped him get a role in promoting – tongue-in-cheek, as he does not pass as the most erudite person – an encyclopedia. Andrea Pirlo, Marco Materazzi and Daniele De Rossi appeared in an ad for bank giants Unicredit, in which someone in the street looks in their general direction, does a double take, then walks past them to greet three other men in a table behind them with the words: “Hey, I know you, you work for Unicredit!” When the man nods towards the three footballers’ table, pointing his finger at the three bank workers and adding “See, what a team!”, Pirlo stands up in anger but is restrained by his fellow Azzurri.

Which players are good interviewees and who are the worst?
Fabio Cannavaro, as captain, is as close to an official spokesman for the team as there could be, but he doesn’t say much. Gigi Buffon can be blunt and dour at the same time but will never be short of things to say, while Gattuso’s sincerity in calling out those who do not appear to be willing to pull their weight, as he sometimes does for Milan, may also be something you’d like to listen to.

Do any of the players have famous girlfriends or wives?
Buffon’s girlfriend, Alena Seredova, is a Czech model and a TV personality of the kind you’ll see on Italian football shows for no specific reason other than her good looks – while Luca Toni’s is model Marta Cecchetto, no celebrityseeker as they met while he was an unknown lower-division player. Players’ wives and girlfriends are often in the papers and gossip magazines but they have never reached WAG level, although it was said the number of hangers-on and players’ families who were allowed into the team hotel at Euro 2004 in Portugal contributed to the general failure of that side.

What will the media coverage be like?
Sky Italy have bought the rights to the Euro 2008 but RAI, the state-owned television company, will show selected matches, including probably those involving Italy. RAI has become something of an audition stage for coaches in search of a job: Fabio Capello, who has returned as a pundit a decade after he first appeared, provides sharp, insightful comment in between England duties. Generally speaking, Sky, who count Marcello Lippi, Paolo Rossi, Gianluca Vialli and Luca Marchegiani among their contributors, provide much better coverage, if typically over-hyped (Lippi, with a World Cup under his belt, says “there’s nothing like the Champions League” in one of Sky’s ads, for example). Newspapers will typically send two or more reporters to cover every sneeze and breath of the Azzurri and perhaps assign a couple or more to other groups. Coverage and interest would dramatically drop if Italy fail to progress, though.

Will there be many fans travelling to the tournament?
Italy are sure to be among the best supported sides especially in Switzerland. Not only do many Italians live there, but it takes only a few hours to drive from northern Italy to Zurich and Bern, where the Azzurri will play their first-round matches. But there is only a small hardcore group of fans who try to travel everywhere, the rest are just spur-of-the-moment supporters. The Azzurri only enjoy great support when they start winning, but do not be fooled by the TV shots of people cruising the streets on mopeds or cars or jumping into fountains: the average Italy match raises few eyebrows.

Roberto Gotta