Diary / Jonathan Wilson / 07 June 2008 / Leave a comment

It was left to Arsene Wenger to inject a dose of excitement to proceedings in Basel yesterday, where Jonathan Wilson caught up with the Arsenal manager

Basel, it has to be said, was not exactly buzzing yesterday. Perhaps it's the damp weather (there is, it turns out, a very good reason why the German for weather is 'Wetter'); perhaps the illness that has hospitalised the wife of the Swiss coach Kobi Kuhn has cast a shadow; perhaps it's simply that, as Andreas, my landlord for the next two-and-a-bit weeks put it: "We Swiss are not known for getting excited." Some shops do have Euro-related window displays and there probably are more Swiss flags around than would be normal, but there is certainly not the fervour there was in Germany ahead of the World Cup two years ago, or even in Ghana for the African Cup of Nations earlier this year.

Perhaps, as Kuhn has said, this is a nation that genuinely does just prefer sailing and tennis. After all, during the last World Cup, the Swiss Tourist Board ran television adverts in France urging French women to come to Switzerland where, it promised, the men would ignore the football and treat them properly.

Nonetheless, no less a judge than Arsene Wenger believes that there is always pressure on the host nation, and that it will come to bear just as much on Switzerland [2.86 to win the game] when they face the Czech Republic [2.96] in the opening game of Euro 2008 this afternoon as on any other host.

"The Czech Republic v Switzerland in my head is a 50-50 game [a draw is 3.15]," the Arsenal manager said.

"When you play at home, organising a tournament, the most difficult game is the first one. Germany at home in 2006 played a very dodgy game. France at home in [the World Cup in] '98 had a very difficult game, England in Euro 96 had a difficult game because they were under so much pressure. You play with nerves. I never see the home team playing well in their first match. The most important thing for Switzerland is not to expect too much but just to take a good result, because they can be inhibited."

Germany actually won that opening game 4-2, but they did have nervous moments against Costa Rica. France, similarly, ended up winning, but were far from their best in beating South Africa 3-0. England in Euro 96 managed only a 1-1 draw against Switzerland. Portugal, of course, lost their opening game to Greece four years ago. In fact, since the tournament took on its modern form in 1980, only France in 1984, and the co-hosts of 2000, Belgium and Holland, have won their first games. Wenger's point holds good.

Speaking at the launch of Castrol's Performance Index - a way of mapping each player in each game - Wenger was in generally punchy form, dismissing AC Milan's interest in Emmanuel Adebayor, insisting he had brought his cheque-book with him to the Euros, and maintaining that Cesc Fabregas will not be leaving Arsenal this summer.

He went on to suggest that Fabregas is a good shout for player of the tournament. "For me Fabregas is something fantastic to see at a young age," he said.

"I know him well because I see him every day. In a period when football goes more towards athletes, he is a player. If you have the quality you don't need to run 100m in 10s. Intelligence helps a lot, to see in the modern game that players of average size in a normal body can still succeed in the modern game."

As for potential winners, he was cautious, but leaning distinctly towards his homeland. "If you look at the strengths of different teams, some teams better equipped, like France [9.2]," he said. "Every single player plays at a big club in Europe, and behind them every single player plays at big club in Europe. You saw in Portugal you can have some surprises.

"The difference between Europe and the World Cup, is that the qualifying group is a big problem. If you miss the first game - France for instance plays Romania - you have massive pressure in games two and three. The start for every team will be vital. For me France are very strong on the counter-attack. They still miss a player like Zidane who can open a tight situation, but they will be very dangerous for the three seconds after they've won the ball back."

Tags: Cesc Fabregas, Czech Republic, France, Switzerland