SOCCER NOTE

(CORRECTING DATES IN SECOND AND LAST GRAPHS) 

*Defending champion France drawn against England at EURO 2004*
--------------------------------------------------------------

LISBON, Portugal (Ticker) - Reigning European champion France
was pitted against England in Group B Sunday at the draw for the
2004 European Championship.

France and England will play their opening match on June 13
here.  Group B also includes Switzerland and Croatia, opponents
not to be taken lightly.  It will not be an easy trip to the
knockout stages for either England or France.

"Our first game against France it's a big, big game," England
coach Sven-Goran Eriksson said. "It will be difficult, but
beautiful."

French defender Marcel Desailly, who plays in the English
Premier League for Chelsea, assessed the draw.

"This draw is neither easy nor very hard. It's in between,"
Desailly said. "We'll see. Our group is not so bad since the
first two qualify. For sure, we'll talk about it at Chelsea."

Germany and the Netherlands, two of the fiercest rivals in
European soccer, were drawn together in Group D, while Portugal
- an automatic qualifier as host - will take on neighbor Spain
in Group A.

Portugal plays Spain on June 20.  Spain beat its neighbors, 3-0,
in a friendly match in September in Guimaraes.

Greece, which won its qualifying group and beat Spain on the
road, also is in this group, which includes Russia.  Russia
qualified for the tournament in a playoff match against Wales.

The tournament's opening match will be Portugal against Greece
on June 12.

The German-Dutch rivalry is one of the most intense of soccer
competitions ever since the Dutch eliminated Germany as host in
the 1988 European Championship.  The Dutch went on to win the
tournament.

In the 1990 World Cup in Italy, the teams were involved in a
physical match which involved a spitting incident between
current German coach Rudi Voeller and Dutchman Frank Rijkaard.

The Germany vs. Netherlands match is scheduled for June 15. This
group also includes a strong Czech Republic team and newcomer
Latvia, which qualified at the expense of more powerful Turkey
in a two-leg playoff contest.  Latvia plays in a major
tournament for the first time since the breakaway from the
former Soviet Union.

The Dutch and the Czechs also playing in the same group during
the qualifying stages.  The Czechs won the group unbeaten, while
Holland was forced to a playoff with Scotland, which it won,
6-1, on aggregate score.

Italy should be the favorite to reach the quarterfinals out of
Group C, which also includes Scandinavian rivals Sweden and
Denmark, and Bulgaria.

The 31-match tournament will be played at 10 stadiums from June
12-July 4.  The final is held in Lisbon.

st 11-30-03 16:56 et