Europe's finest, wealthiest football stars gather for a show underlining why it’s still the most lucrative place to play the game — despite David Beckham’s earnings in MLS. Among the leading contenders at the upcoming European Championship are World Cup winners Italy and three-time Euro champions Germany. They’re bidding to prove themselves the third-best team in the world. Third best?According to the FIFA rankings, the top two are Argentina and Brazil, even though European teams dominated the last World Cup, with Italy beating France in the final, Germany and Portugal the other semi-finalists. It just shows how football is full of contradictions. Two English teams — Manchester United and Chelsea — made it to the final of European football’s biggest club competition, yet England failed to make it to the Euros. As in the last European Championship in Portugal in 2004, the traditional powerhouse nations such as Germany, Italy, France and Spain could struggle to deliver after long, arduous domestic seasons. Yes, another first-time winners might take home the trophy. Four years ago it was Greece. Maybe this time it will be Croatia. Slaven Bilic has a talented and well-organised squad that beat England twice in qualifying. Recently held to a 2-2 draw at home by Belarus in an exhibition, Germany don’t look anything like the team that have dominated European football over long spells. But Joachim Loew’s squad are the favourites with the bookmakers, have the advantage of playing all their games in the same stadium in Klagenfurt, Austria, and have most of their stars from the 2006 World Cup.
