The 2012 UEFA European Championships in Poland and Ukraine starts on this Friday, so in preperation here’s a quick guide to the teams competing…

Group A

Poland

Coach: Franciszek Smuda
Captain: Jakub Blaszczykowski
Key Goalkeeper: Wojciech Szczesny
Key Defender: Lukasz Piszczek
Key Midfielder: Ludovic Obraniak
Key Forward: Robert Lewandowski
Best Performance: Group Stage (2008)
Prediction: Group Stage

Greece

Coach: Fernando Santos
Captain: Giorgos Karagounis
Key Goalkeeper: Michalis Sifakis
Key Defender: Kyriakos Papadopoulos
Key Midfielder: Kostas Katsouranis
Key Forward: Theofanis Gekas
Best Performance: Champions (2004)
Prediction: Group Stage

Russia

Coach: Dick Advocaat
Captain: Andrei Arshavin
Key Goalkeeper: Vyacheslav Malafeev
Key Defender: Yuri Zhirkov
Key Midfielder: Konstantin Zyryranov
Key Forward: Aleksandr Kerzhakov
Best Performance: Champions (1960, as Soviet Union)
Prediction: Quarter-finals

Czech Republic

Coach: Michal Bilek
Captain: Tomas Rosicky
Key Goalkeeper: Petr Cech
Key Defender: Michal Kadlec
Key Midfielder: Jaroslav Plasil
Key Forward: Tomas Necid
Best Performance: Winners (1976, as Czechoslovakia)
Prediction: Quarter-finals

Group B

Netherlands

Coach: Bert van Marwijk
Captain: Mark van Bommel
Key Goalkeeper: Maarten Stekelenburg
Key Defender: Gregory van der Wiel
Key Midfielder: Wesley Sneijder
Key Forward: Arjen Robben
Best Performance: Champions (1988)
Prediction: Champions

Denmark

Coach: Morten Olsen
Captain: Daniel Agger
Key Goalkeeper: Stephan Anderson
Key Defender: Daniel Agger
Key Midfielder: Christian Eriksen
Key Forward: Nicklas Bendtner
Best Performance: Champions (1992)
Prediction: Group Stage

Germany

Coach: Joachim Low
Captain: Philipp Lahm
Key Goalkeeper: Manuel Neuer
Key Defender: Mats Hummels
Key Midfielder: Bastian Schweinsteiger
Key Forward: Mario Gomez
Best Performance: Champions (1972, 1980 & 1996)
Prediction: Runners-Up

Portugal

Coach: Paulo Bento
Captain: Cristiano Ronaldo
Key Goalkeeper: Eduardo
Key Defender: Pepe
Key Midfielder: Joao Moutinho
Key Forward: Nani
Best Performance: Runners-Up (2004)
Prediction: Group Stage

Group C

Spain

Coach: Vicente del Bosque
Captain: Iker Casillas
Key Goalkeeper: Iker Casillas
Key Defender: Gerard Pique
Key Midfielder: Andres Iniesta
Key Forward: Fernando Llorente
Best Performance: Champions (1960 & 2008)
Prediction: Semi-finals

Italy

Coach: Cesare Prandelli
Captain: Gianluigi Buffon
Key Goalkeeper: Gianluigi Buffon
Key Defender: Giorgio Chiellini
Key Midfielder: Claudio Marchisio
Key Forward: Antonio Cassano
Best Performance: Champions (1968)
Prediction: Group Stage

Republic of Ireland

Coach: Giovanni Trapattoni
Captain: Robbie Keane
Key Goalkeeper: Shay Given
Key Defender: John O’Shea
Key Midfielder: Damien Duff
Key Forward: Kevin Doyle
Best Performance: Group Stage (1988)
Prediction: Group Stage

Croatia

Coach: Slaven Bilic
Captain: Darijo Srna
Key Goalkeeper: Stipe Pletikosa
Key Defender: Vedran Corluka
Key Midfielder: Luka Modric
Key Forward: Nikica Jelavic
Best Performance: Quarter-final (2008)
Prediction: Quarter-finals

Group D

Ukraine

Coach: Oleh Blokhin
Captain: Andriy Shevchenko
Key Goalkeeper: Andriy Pyatov
Key Defender: Oleksadr Kucher
Key Midfielder: Anatoliy Tymoschuk
Key Forward: Artem Milevskiy
Best Performance: 1st Appearance
Prediction: Group Stage

Sweden

Coach: Erik Hamren
Captain: Zlatan Ibrahimovic
Key Goalkeeper: Andreas Isaksson
Key Defender: Martin Olsson
Key Midfielder: Kim Kallstrom
Key Forward: Johan Elmander
Best Performance: Semi-final (1992)
Prediction: Group Stage

England

Coach: Roy Hodgson
Captain: Steven Gerrard
Key Goalkeeper: Joe Hart
Key Defender: Ashley Cole
Key Midfielder: Scott Parker
Key Forward: Wayne Rooney
Best Performance: Semi-final (1968 & 1996)
Prediction: Quarter-final

France

Coach: Laurent Blanc
Captain: Hugo Lloris
Key Goalkeeper: Hugo Lloris
Key Defender: Adil Rami
Key Midfielder: Franck Ribery
Key Forward: Karim Benzema
Best Performance: Champions (1984 & 2000)
Prediction: Semi-final