Alessandro Del Piero (Italy)

Date of birth: 9/11/74.

Place of birth: San Vendemiano, Venice.

Club: Juventus.

Previous clubs: Padova.

International debut: 1995.

International appearances: 8, 1 goal.

Euro '96 qualifying: 5, 0 goals.

AT 21, his rise through the game so far has been little short of unbelievable. Unknown a couple of years ago, he stands on the brink of establishing himself as one of the game's greats at this Championship. Italy expect a great deal from him.

The biggest compliment paid to this young player was when his manager at Juventus, Marcello Lippi, sold Roberto Baggio in order to make way for him in the team. Baggio was the golden boy for Italy in the 1994 World Cup. To displace him 50 quickly was a truly remarkable achievement.

At club level, he plays as one of three strikers with Ravenelli and VialIi. Italian manager Arrigo Sacchi, who called him the "future" of the Italian side, uses him wide on the left of midfield. The fact is, though, that when you have someone who is so naturally a "footballer" you know that you can employ them anywhere and he will not let you down - as Lippi clearly realised when he switched him to left full back during extra-time in the European Cup final recently.

He's already familiar to a lot of overseas fans, not least the Scots after his single-handed demolition of Rangers in the Champions League.

His performances over the past season have shown that he possesses a great number of assets. He has a wonderful first touch, which buys him a lot of time, while he is something of an oddity in that he is mainly right-footed but plays down the left hand side. It just shows his versatility.

He has the ability to go past defenders, but more often than not he cuts inside them, creating all sorts of problems around the area. He shoots well and is a great passer of the ball. He also, as if that were not enough, takes a mean free-kick.

Like so many young players who explode on to the scene with a big team, he is fearless in so far as his rise to success has gone without a hitch or any taste of failure.

He has been somewhat fortunate in that both his managers, Lippi and Sacchi, have been very careful to look after him and nurture him as a talent for the future. Both have been careful not to over expose him at this early stage of his career. He seems likely to repay their shrewdness handsomely.

He still lacks experience and has not been all that consistent up to this point, but unlike in England, where some of his performances might have drawn criticism, the Italians have been pleased to look only at the pluses, of which there are many.

He has looked a bit tired towards the end of the season but that should have been sorted out by the rest over the last couple of weeks. If he even goes close to showing us his best in this tournament, then he will cause a lot of problems for the teams he comes up against. The rest of us should be left with a few very pleasant memories.

Davor Suker (Croatia)

Date of birth: 1/11/68.

Place of birth: Osijek.

Club: Real Madrid.

Previous clubs: Seville, FC Osijek, Dinamo Zagreb.

International debut: 1994

International appearances: 17 (17).

Euro '96 qualifying: 10 (12)

CROATIA are certainly confident about their prospects of having a good tournament and much of the chest-beating comes from the faith they place in the ability of their strikers to produce the goods.

It's difficult to decide which of the two men will be more important, but by virtue of having scored 12 goals in 10 qualifying games (including all three in the two games against Italy), Suker just about gets the nod over Alen Boksic.

His partnership with Boksic dates from their days in the under-21's together and the length of their relationship comes through in the depth of their understanding.

Suker has managed a goal a game for Croatia and, in or around the box, there is unlikely to be anyone more dangerous than him. He is not unlike Gary Lineker in the way that he plays, in the way he concentrates on gaining possession and finishing from inside the area.

With Boksic playing slightly behind him, and doing a great deal of work to help him get good posit ions, he poses a very physical threat to any opposing defence. Both players are strong and able to bustle defenders off the ball, while the fact that Suker is, unusually for a striker, left-footed gives him that extra fraction of a second as even the best markers are forced to think longer about how to cope with his style of play. Technically gifted, as well, he will prove terribly hard to stop.

He certainly doesn't suffer from a lack of confidence: the 28-year-old has apparently learnt English so that he can cope with the many interviews he expects to give. His club future is already assured as he recently signed for Real Madrid after four very good years at Seville.

As a team, Croatia will desperately want to do well in this Championship because of intense national pride. They will not be harmed either by the fact that their players are evenly distributed throughout Europe and will have seen how many of their opponents operate.

Suker will know that, at his age, this sort of chance to impress on a stage of this size doesn't come around too often.

The fact that this looks to be the weakest of the groups has not escaped his attention, although .perhaps he is overstating matters slightly when he says that the quarter-finals will be the side's toughest test and that, if they win that game, they will be on the way to picking up the trophy.

Ciriaco Sforza (Switzerland)

Date of birth: 2/3/70.

Place of birth: Aarau.

Club: Bayern Munich

Previous clubs: Grasshopper Zurich, Kaiserslautern.

International debut: 1991

International appearances: 39 (4)

Euro '96 qualifying: 8 (2).

HAVING started out as a sweeper, this man has emerged as one of Europe's finest play-making midfielders over the past few years. He owes a great deal to his former international manager Roy Hodgson, who switched him to this role. He has since excelled there in the Bundesliga.

Johann Cruyff called him "the best attacking midfield player in Europe" when he tried to sign him for Barcelona and Hodson gradually built the entire Swiss team around him - from which both team and player benefitted.

At 26, he is just reaching the peak of his powers as a footballer and should enjoy his best spell in the game over the next couple of years. This Championship gives him the opportunity to greatly enhance his already considerable reputation.

He has a great understanding with the men around him, particularly Christophe Ohrel who acts as his minder, and the forwards - although the decision by new coach Artur Jorge to leave striker Adrian Knup at home is unlikely to have pleased him too much.

Jorge has given Sforza even more freedom than his predecessor to follow the ball wherever he wants and to create what he can when the chances arise. The results have been good for the side as the Bayern Munich player shows great intelligence when picking up possession - even under extreme pressure.

When the Swiss play against England, Sforza presents the sort of danger that Paul Ince will have to stop in front of his defence. If he doesn't the hosts will be in trouble. The Scots are also likely to have a lot of difficulty coping with him inside their own half.

While he doesn't actually score too many goals, he produces the odd gem, particularly when players stand off him. In this and many other ways he is not unlike Glenn Hoddle in style and approach.

In America he was part of the Swiss team that proved so disappointing at the last World Cup, but the experience of that tournament should be of benefit to this squad. However, if they are going, to come good, then they are going to need Sforza to produce some of his best form.

Anyone who doubts that he can do it, needs only to look back at his contribution to Bayern's success in the UEFA Cup. It owed a great deal to the contribution of the Swiss player in key matches along the way.

In this tournament, his contribution has already been considerable, with two goals scored from his side's eight games. The way he likes the big stage, there should be plenty more to look forward to in the coming games.

Youri Djorkaeff (France)

Date of birth: 9/3/68.

Place of birth: Lyon.

Club: Inter Milan.

Previous clubs: Paris St Germain, Grenoble, Strasbourg, Monaco.

International debut: 1993.

International appearances: 15 (10).

Euro '96 qualifying: 8 (5).

A LATE developer, Djorkaeff's recent big money transfer from Paris St Germain to the Italian League confirms his rise in the European game. France's leading scorer in the qualifying stages, the 28-year-old comes from good footballing stock as his father, Jean, played for his country as a defender. Djorkaeff (main picture) failed to take advantage of the opportunities that came his way until he started his spell at St Germain.

He helped them to this year's Cup Winners' Cup, where they beat Rapid Vienna in the final. He made his international debut back in October 1993 and while he has managed only 15 appearances, his strike-rate is excellent with 10 goals.

He came particularly good for his country in the second half of qualifying tournament, scoring in the last four games to help salvage the team's place in the finals after they had been held to four goalless draws in their first five outings.

Since finding its stride, this looks a vibrant French side. That suits a player like Djorkaeff who has plenty of pace and can move from quite deep positions into the box at great speed.

He is a very willing worker and is, in no small part, responsible for the non-appearance at these finals of David Ginola and Eric Cantona. His success over the past season has made the sort of changes required to accommodate them look to be prohibitively disruptive for manager Aimee Jacquet.

In the absence of the two British-based players, Patrice Loko is likely to come in up front with Reynald Pedros the most obvious candidate for the role wide on the left. While Loko may not look as accomplished a player as Cantona, his style will better suit the Paris-based striker-cum-midfielder.

Djorkaeff also benefits from the fine work of Marcel Desailly and Didier Deschamps behind him in midfield. He also has a good understanding with Bordeaux midfielder Zinedine Zidane.

The fact that the team is not really based around one or two stars has helped him, as has the sort of team spirit that has built up as their qualification campaign gained momentum.

Having failed to make it to the World Cup the French will be dark horses in this event and feel they have a point to prove. A natural goalscorer who contributes a great deal to what is going on around him, Djorkaeff will be an important factor as they strive to re-establish themselves as one of the forces of the European game.