Euro 96 Group B offers most competitive battles

By Vic Mills

LONDON (JP): Of the groups in Euro'96, none comes more competitive than Group B wherein Bulgaria, France, Rumania and Spain will do battle at Elland Road and St. James' Park.

Two years ago the little known Bulgarians produced the shock of the World Cup by beating Germany and advancing to the semifinal stage.

They followed that with a sensational start to their Euro'96 campaign; six wins in their first six games including a second victory over Germany within a year.

At the heart of this success stands the magnificent, unpredictable Hristo Stoichkov. The Parma forward has triumphed where previous Bulgarian stars -- Kolev, Asparukov and Bonev -- have failed, and lifted the team above the ordinary.

He is not, however, the side's only star. Bulgaria has an embarrassment of riches up front. After a disappointing World Cup, Emil Kostadinov will be out to prove himself, as will Luboslav Penev, firing on all cylinders again after illness.

If there is a weakness, it is in defense, so the Bulgarians will be relying on the midfield pair of Iordan Lechkov and the resurgent Krassimir Balakov to do their share of defending.

Group B is the most difficult of all to predict. The successful teams will face either the host or one of the tournament favorites. For Bulgaria then to entertain ambition beyond the quarterfinals, Stoichkov must perform at his brilliant best.

The call for brilliance is collective rather than individual in the case of France, certainly if manager Aime Jacquet is looking to remain in his post after the tournament.

For having omitted players of the caliber of Eric Cantona, David Ginola and Jean-Pierre Papin, Jacquet will be expecting a vote of confidence from his young, aspiring team.

The signs, with an unbeaten run that now stretches to 20 games, are promising. The nation that produced the likes of Michel Platini, Alain Giresse and Jean Tigana, has again started a production line of emerging talent.

In midfield the baton of artistry and flair has passed to Jocelyn Angloma, Marcel Desailly and Didier Deschamps, all of whom have already forged a substantial reputation in Italy's Serie A.

The rest of the side is composed of less internationally-known home-based players. Of these, the talented Youri Djorkaeff of Paris Saint-Germain could easily emerge as the player of the tournament, while twin strikers Zinedine Zidane and Christophe Duggary of Bordeaux are the best France has produced in years.

Any side that feels it can leave out Cantona -- never mind Ginola on his home ground -- must fancy themselves, but France remains an unknown quantity.

Rumania

Not so Rumania which has finally broken free of the dreary East European tractor-factory reputation that dogged it for so long. At both the 1990 and 1994 World Cup the Rumanians played with flair and skill and should have gone further than they did.

Enjoying its best generation of players ever; the question is whether the World Cup in America was its peak...or a mere stepping stone to Euro'96.

Skillfully, fluidly, often beautifully; on its day, Rumania is as good as any side in Europe. It has a squad brimming with talent in every side, and one of the most respected coaches in Anghel Iordanescu.

Indeed, the squad remains much the same as for the last World Cup, where the combination of Gheorghe Hagi and Ilie Dumitrescu was one of the reasons for its success.

Center-forward Florin Raduciolu, after a fruitless post-USA year with Milan, has had a good season with Espanol, giving Iordanescu plenty of options up front.

At the back they still have the great and underrated veteran Miodrag Belodedici, along with Italy's Franco Baresi and Paolo Maldini, the finest defender of his generation.

All things are possible. Rumania, for all its skill, used to be a soft touch; in this qualifying tournament, however, it was undefeated away from home. That takes mental toughness.

Nor would a quarterfinal tie against England faze it; when the two last met at Wembley, 18 months ago, the home team got a passing lesson.

Group B, though, is a snake-pit and Rumania will need to ensure that its undoubted quality is matched by concentration and determination.

Since bowing out of the last World Cup due to Roberto Baggio's late strike, Spain has gone from strength to strength.

Coach Javier Clemente has steered his side to second place in the FIFA world rankings behind only Brazil as Spain qualified for England undefeated.

Essentially defensive, the Spanish team nevertheless has the pace and strength to break forward quickly if the occasion arises.

The Spanish defense is organized by the aging Andoni Zubizarreta. The Valencia keeper has many of his former Barcelona colleagues in front of him -- among them Miguel Angel Nadal, Sergi Barjuan and Abelardo Fernandez -- but if the defense is Barca-based, Fernando Hierro, Luis Enrique and Jose Emilio Amavisca make sure that the midfield has a distinct Real Madrid flavor about it.

Lack of a goalscorer since Emilio "The Vulture" Butragueno faded has been a problem; Clemente will be hoping some combination of Francisco Narvaez Kiko, Juan Pizzi and Julen Guerrero will deliver.

Clemente, though often criticized for his "conservatism" is a realist and may persuade his team to play to its strengths rather than some romantic notion of how Spanish team should perform.

If he achieves that, then Spain should make the quarterfinals. Once there, the team that only really does well as host could very well meet...the host.