Many of the principles involved in picking a successful football team at Euro 2000 also apply to building up a share portfolio. You need to achieve a good blend between different elements of the team, you need to cover all areas of the pitch and you need to strike a balance between excessive defensiveness and all-out risk.

Start with some solid investments which act as a bedrock for your portfolio. In the goalkeeping position, you need cash which can be drawn on when investment opportunities present themselves. Then it's on to the shares at the heart of your defence.

Mr Stuart Louden, of stockbrokers Hargreaves Lansdown, said: "You need to be looking at really large companies which are performing well in their sectors. You cannot afford any weak links. "Utilities are a classic defensive share and both Scottish Power, a multi-utility, and Centrica, a quality stock spun out of the former British Gas, fill the bill. Supermarket shares have sound defensive qualities and the pick here is Tesco. Completing the defensive share quartet is consumer giant Diageo."

When it comes to the midfield, Mr Louden says you need wellmanaged companies which can generate growth. "Among the sectors you should be looking at are telecoms, oils, financials and pharmaceuticals. Vodafone is an obvious choice among telecoms shares, partly because of its growth prospects and partly because it represents such a large chunk of the FTSE-100 benchmark that you practically have to have a slice of it. BP Amoco is the choice among oils for similar reasons, while in pharmaceuticals Glaxo Wellcome gets the nod. Making up the all-international midfield quartet is HSBC bank"

Selecting the two strikers was a difficult choice, but Mr Louden eventually plumped for Baltimore Technologies and Pearson.

Mr Louden recommended holding a minimum of 10 stocks.