Team Honors

England reached the semi-finals on home territory under Tery Venables at Euro-96 but Alan Shearer and company were pipped on penalties by eternal rivals Germany. Since then, under Hoddle, they have kept that momentum going. After a hesitant start, they came through their qualifying group despite a home defeat against Italy, finally clinching their tickets to France with a goalless draw in Rome.

England gained great credit for the patience they showed on that occasion as they effectively beat the Italians at their own game. That success banished the disappointment of failing to make the last World Cup in the United States under Graham Taylor, having gone all the way to the semi-finals under Bobby Robson four years earlier.

Taylor's successor, the jovial but often passionate Venables, succeeded in pushing through a more technical approach to the game. But he found himself shunted aside as he became immersed in several court battles which left his position ultimately untenable.

Hoddle took over the hotseat and set about applying himself to the task of blending "traditional" English qualities with an increasingly technical and tactical approach, calling on his experience of the continental game gained while a player in the French league with Monaco. The former Chelsea coach also made a conscious effort to give young players just bursting onto the domestic scene a chance to prove themselves in the national set-up by calling them into the full squad.

Key England players include tough defensive midfielder Paul Ince of Liverpool and emerging Manchester United attacking midfielder Paul Scholes. But it is in attack where Hoddle has an embarrassment of riches, with players of the calibre of Newcastle United's Alan Shearer -- if he is fit after a run of groin injuries -- as well as flamboyant Arsenal veteran Ian Wright, Manchester United's Teddy Sheringham and Liverpool's Robbie Fowler to call on. He also has the English Premiership revelation of the year - Liverpool's 18-year-old Michael Owen.