Five games to watch at Euro 2008

"Soccer is a game for 22 people that run around, play the ball, and one referee who makes a slew of mistakes, and in the end Germany always wins." -- former England striker Gary Lineker.

Euro 2008 kicks off in 11 days.

11 days is too long to wait.

To help pass the time, "Greatest Pro Bowls of all time, and other stuff" breaks down five games to watch ...

Germany v Poland (Sunday, June 8)

Poland qualified for its first UEFA European Championships, and now it will attempt to attain another elusive first ... a long-awaiting victory over their neighbors, Germany, which has qualified for more (9), and won more (3), European Championships than any other nation.

Pint scale (1 - casually watching, may duck out of pub if match gets dull; 5 - sobriety be damned, totally committed to match from start to finish and beyond): 5

Netherlands v Italy (Monday, June 9)

Germany isn't the only side that enjoys a one-sided competition with a European rival. Italy -- 2006 World Cup champions -- hasn't lost to the Netherlands since 1978. If you do your math correctly, that's 30 years. However, it's not like these two sides have played each other regularly. It's only been eight games in which the Netherlands failed to beat Italy. Eight games in 30 years? That's not quite so bad. We're beginning to ramble, so let's move on.

Pint scale: 4

Turkey v Czech Republic (Sunday, June 15)

Turkey and the Czech Republic will meet for the first time in a competitive fixture, which is significant. What else is significant? The tongue-twisting names of some of the players on both sides. Turkey's roster includes Rüstü Reçber, Gökhan Gönül, Emre Belözoglu, Gökdeniz Karadeniz and Semih Sentürk. The Czech Republic's roster includes Tomáš Ujfaluši, Zdenek Pospech, Václav Sverkoš and Stanislav Vlcek. Best of luck goes out to the ESPN announcers covering this game.

Pint scale: 3

France v Italy (Tuesday, June 17)

This game's intrigue would be through the roof if Zinedine Zidane hadn't retired following his moment of infamy in the 2006 World Cup. Still, it's a delightfully delicious rematch of that memorable final at the 2006 World Cup in Germany. While Zidane will likely be watching this one with great interest, it will be noted that Marco Materazzi is on Italy's Euro 2008 roster and should be a fixture on the team's defensive line. Do the French players have enough testicular fortitude to try and make it a point to make Materazzi feel some shame? Let's watch and find out!

Pint scale: 5

Greece v Spain (Wednesday, June 18)

Greece made an inspiring run to win the 2004 UEFA European Championships ahead of hosting that year's Olympic Games. En route to that triumph was a 1-1 draw against Spain in the group stage. That was a bitter pill to swallow for Spain, which did not advance to the second round of the tournament in just another disappointing finish for one of Europe's most talented squads.

Pint scale: 3