Greece

When Greece shocked host nation Portugal in the Euro 2004 final in Lisbon, it was considered one of the biggest upsets in the history of the sport. The Greeks proved to be the giant killers of the tournament. After surprisingly emerging from a group that included Portugal, Spain and Russia, Greece went on to win its three knockout round, knocking out teams of the caliber of France.

An encore of defensive dominance will be needed if the team is to even come close to repeating that success, but even getting into the knockout round could prove to be a huge challenge with Spain, Russia and Sweden joining Greece in Group D.

The run to the Euro 2004 title looked to be a fluke when Greece manager Otto Rehhagel saw his team fail to qualify for the 2006 World Cup. But that was before the team rebounded during the qualifications for Euro 2008. They topped Group C and secured a spot in Austria and Switzerland with two games to spare. That success has seen them rise to eighth in the FIFA rankings.

The Greeks are not the most talented team in the competition, but they are effective when coach Rehhagel can get each one of his players to play a specific role for the good of the team.

Goalkeeper Antonios Nikopolidis as well as defenders Traianos Dellas, Yourkas Seitaridis and Angelos Charisteas were each named to the all-tournament team in 2004, and all four return for a second run at the title.

Captain Angelos Basinas and Konstantinos Katsouranis alonf with Giorgos Karagounis will marshall the midfield.

Theofanis Gekas is assured of a spot up top after scoring 11 goals for Bayer Leverkusen in the Bundesliga while also impressing during qualifying.

All said and done, despite their defending champion status, it would still be an upset if Greece manages an encore.