GROUP C : NORWAY, SLOVENIA, SPAIN, YUGOSLAVIA

First-round opponents: Spain (June 13), Yugoslavia (June 18), Slovenia (June 21).  

Best finish: Never beyond the first round.  

Last time around: Did not qualify. 

The quotable coach: "There are no miracles. Just hard work." So says Nils Johan Semb, and, with that kind of philosophy, what a treat it must be to play for the 41-year-old coach. Still, he has managed to produce the results, and that must count for something. 

Player perspective: John Carew set a record in March when he was acquired by Valencia in Spain from Norwegian champion Rosenborg Trondheim for $8.6 million. It is the most ever paid for a Norwegian player, but Carew, 20, comes with not only a hefty price tag but a quirky personality. He has yet to establish himself in Norway's national team, but he already has established himself on the Internet. 

His website shows him portrayed as a sort of James Bond character, complete with guns and beautiful women. The powerful striker has the speed and finishing ability to have made him the target of several top clubs, but it was Champions Cup finalist Valencia that landed him. 

The confident Carew's take on the trade? "I'll have to speak English at first, and then gradually go over to a bit of Spanish," he said. "The only thing I can say so far is 'senoritas.' " It's a start. 

The bottom line: Norway has always been an awkward team to play against, with a fit, athletic squad that might not play the most attractive game around but does know how to tie up opponents. Just ask Italy, which lost, 1-0, to a Carew header in the final Euro 2000 warm-up game for both teams. 

Norway's defense, led by Manchester United's Henning Berg, is solid, the midfield is packed with two-way players, and its traditional 4-5-1 formation is tough to break down. The team is unbeaten away from home since the 1998 World Cup. 

"Our playing style works best when opponents are willing to attack us. That may be the reason for good away results," Semb explained. 

Midfielder Erik Mykland of Panathinaikos is the creator. The danger men offensively are Manchester United's Ole Gunnar Solskjaer on the left, and Chelsea's Tore Andre Flo as the lone striker. 

Semb remains cautious. "Spain are big favorites," he said. "We and the Yugoslavs will fight for second place." 

Prediction: Norway has a legitimate chance of advancing from the first round, and Semb said he will be pleased to reach the quarterfinals, but it is difficult to see the Norwegians going beyond that. 

First-round opponents:: Yugoslavia (June 13), Spain (June 18), Norway (June 21). 

Best finish: Never qualified. 

Last time around: Did not qualify. 

The quotable coach: "I'm optimistic for the tournament," says Srecko Katanec. And why shouldn't he be? No one expects 125-to-1 outsider Slovenia to play more than three games, so enjoying the moment is the former Yugoslavia international's best bet. 

Player perspective: If there's a one-player team in the tournament, this is it. Towering head and shoulders above his teammates in terms of talent, Zlatko Zahovic is both playmaker and striker for Slovenia, with 10 goals in qualifying play alone and 22 in 46 games for his country overall. He is well rested for Euro 2000, having staged a one-man strike at Olympiakos in the fall while protesting the feeble nature of the Greek league. 

He then was banned for another two months after blowing up at his Olympiakos coach. He is not out of form, however. Slovenia beat Saudi Arabia, 2-0, in its final warmup game, with the 29-year-old Zahovic scoring one goal and creating the other. 

The former FK Partizan and FC Porto player has been described as "the soul of Slovenian team." Savior is more like it. 

The bottom line: Before dismissing Slovenia as being just along for the ride, it is well to remember that it qualified for Euro 2000 by knocking out powerful and experienced Ukraine in the playoffs. 

It won, 2-1, at home and tied, 1-1, in Kiev to earn its place in dramatic fashion. Remember, too, that Slovenia was two goals up against world champion France in April at the Stade de France in Paris before succumbing, 3-2. 

"Slovenia play a very physical game but they tired in the end," French striker David Trezeguet said at the time. In addition to Zahovic, Slovenia boasts capable players such as Red Star Belgrade youngster Milenko Acimovic, who has a gift for scoring goals when coming off the bench, and veteran midfielder Ales Ceh. 

Said Katanec, after the victory over Saudi Arabia: "I think we will be a big problem for all our opponents if we play as we did today. We proved that we have some classy players and a team full of real fighters. We are ready to fly to Holland without any worries." Well, not too many. 

Prediction: Stealing a point from one of the other three teams in its group is Slovenia's only chance for glory. On paper, three losses and quick trip home beckon, but wouldn't at least one upset be welcome? 

First-round opponents: Norway (June 13), Slovenia (June 18), Yugoslavia (June 21). 

Best finish: Champion (1964). 

Last time around: Quarterfinalist. 

The quotable coach: "Ever since I've been involved in football, from the age of 18, Spain have always been the favorites for everything," says Jose Camacho, chiding the media for expecting too much. "One of the favorites is going to fall early on." But probably not Spain. 

Player perspective: Raul Gonzalez, to give him the full name he never uses, has been making headlines ever since he was discovered five years ago as a 17-year-old prodigy by then Real Madrid coach Jorge Valdano. Touted as the next great hope of Spanish soccer, Raul became Real's youngest-ever player when he made his debut at 17 years and four months. 

By age 19, he was playing for Spain and had insured his legs for $15.5 million. Real Madrid -- already nicknamed "Raul Madrid" -- took out some insurance of its own. The perennial Spanish champion gave Raul a contract through 2002 that pays him $2.1 million a year. This season, he led the club to its eighth and his second European Champions Cup title. 

"He will become one of the great players of his generation," Valdano predicted. He's getting there. In Euro 200 qualifying, his 10 goals in eight matches led all scorers, and Raul now is closing in on Emilio "The Vulture" Butragueno's all-time Spanish record of 26 international goals. 

The bottom line: Before Euro '96 in England, Spain's coach at the time, Javier Clemente, made an unwise observation. 

"We are good at every part of the game," he said, "from tackling and heading to creative skill, and can utilize this ability according to our opponents' style and the state of the game at the time." 

Not really. Clemente's Spain was knocked out in the quarterfinals and then was bounced out in the first round of the France '98 World Cup. Exit Clemente, enter Camacho. Now, Spain is a much better, more adventurous team, one built around not only Raul's predatory instincts but the skills of such players as Real Madrid defender Fernando Hierro, Barcelona midfielder Josep Guardiola and Real Madrid forward Fernando Morientes. 

Camacho's fluid 4-4-2 system emphasizes offense rather than defense, and that counts in Spain's favor. 

Prediction: Although considered one of the favorites, Spain has a history of disappointing its fans. A one-time European champion, it has failed once in the final and four times in the quarterfinals. This time, the semifinals appear to be the limit. 

First-round opponents: Slovenia (June 13), Norway (June 18), Spain (June 21). 

Best finish: Runner-up (1960, 1968). 

Last time around: Did not enter. 

The quotable coach: "Yugoslavia has much better players than all the other teams in the finals," says Vujadin Boskov. "Our only problem is that they are based in foreign clubs and only get together at occasions such as this." At 69, the gears obviously are slipping a little for the Yugoslavs' mentor. 

Player perspective: This surely must be the last hurrah for central defender Sinisa Mihajlovic, who seems to have been around forever but who, in fact, is only 31. 

A key part of Lazio's league and cup-winning team in Italy this season, Mihajlovic first gained notice on the Red Star Belgrade team that won the Champions Cup in 1991. He followed that European triumph up by collecting a Cup Winners' Cup medal with Lazio in 1999. His confidence on the ball comes in part from once having been a midfielder before moving back to the sweeper position. 

His greatest gift, however, is his ability to hit the ball exactly where he wants it, making him lethal on free kicks and dangerous on corners. No player in Italy's Serie A has scored more often from free kicks. 

The bottom line: On paper, the Yugoslavs are as individually skilled as any team in Euro 2000. As former German coach Berti Vogts once pointed out, "Yugoslavia may be a smaller country than it once was, but it is no smaller in football terms. It still continues to produce outstanding players.'' 

Yes, but recently the results have been troubling. A four-game pre-Euro 2000 tour of Asia proved disastrous. Yugoslavia defeated China, 2-0, but was held to two scoreless ties by South Korea and lost, 4-2, to Hong Kong. 

Not surprisingly, the Yugoslav media took aim. 

"The midfield is slow, the forwards cut off and the defense is shaky every time it comes under pressure," said one newspaper. Players such as the Lazio duo of Mihajlovic and midfielder Dejan Stankovic, Fiorentina striker Predrag Mijatovic and Real Zaragoza forward Savo Milosevic will have to raise their game if Yugoslavia is to advance. 

The team has aged noticeably since France '98, and Boskov doesn't have the grip he thinks he does. 

Prediction: Yugoslavia's second game against Norway is seen as the key, but its encounter with Spain promises to be the decisive match in the first round. An early ouster is not out of the question. 

Grahame L. Jones 
The Sporting News