BRUSSELS. Dec 11 (AFP) -Teams in I he hat for Euro 2000 draw here Sunday:

POT 1

Germany (Group A)

Coach.' Erich Ribbeck V

Key players: Oliver Bierhoff. • Michael Preetz, Lothar Matthaus

Reports of the demise of German football are premature. Since their disappointing World Cup exit at the hands of Croatia in the quarterfinals they have admittedly had a poor series of friendly results.

But apart from an early slip up against Turkey they proved they are still a formidable force in real competition and won their group.

Most Importantly of all they are defending champions. It will be the last international hurrah of Lothar Matthaus, a veteran of five World Cups and’ 143 caps -- a world record he shares with Swedish goalkeeper Thomas Ravelli.

Belgium (Group B)

Coach: Robert Waseige

Key players: Marc Wilmots. Branko Strupar. Emile Mpenza

As co-hosts they will be expected to do well but -- unlike for Holland -- a place ir^the semi-finals will probably be seen as an acceptable outcome.

Their form was giving real concern but the replacement of George Leekens as coach by Waseige in August seems to have revitalised the "Red Devils".

Waseige has introduced a 4-4-2 system and the players have responded with an impressive string of results, notably a 3-1 friendly win in Italy.

Spain (Group C)

Coach: Jose Antonio Camacho

Key players: Raul. Fernando Morlentes. Josep Itxeberria

Spain have often flattered to deceive In big tournaments and want to bury their tag as "chokers".

Camacho has steadied a Spanish galleon that was listing badly last year under the leadership of former boss Javier Clemente. A first round exit in the World Cup and a shock Euro qualifying defeat in Cyprus heralded the end of the Clemente era.

Raul and Morlentes have been in free-scoring form since Camacho took over and. with youngsters such as Valencia goalkeeper Santiago Canlzares coming in. the time could be right to make a new start.

Spain are the reigning world youth champions and can rely on a string of young players coming through in the next few years.

Holland (Group D)

Coach: Frank Rijkaard

Key players: Jaap Stam. Edgar Davids, Rutid van Nistelrooy

Only victory will do for Holland on home soil and the Dutch FA have enlisted Frank Rijkaard. a stalwart of the Marco Van Basten-insplred team that won Euro 1988. as coach to the national team..

The noisy Dutch fans - clad in orange and backed by brass bands, always provide for a memorable atmosphere.

Holland's last European campaign - in England in Euro 96 -- was blown apart by internecine feuds. Davids was sent home and the players split into two camps on largely

racial lines.

Rijkaard. dubbed the "Black Tulip," has had a dismal sequence of results* — one win in 12 games. But they have all been friendlies and the real action starts In June.

POT 2

Romania

Coach: Emeric lenei

Key players: Georghe Hagi.

Georghe Popescu, Adrian Ilie

Romania won their group in style but a player coup has since led to the sacking of Victor Piturca and his replacement by lenei.

lenei is an affable figure and has earned the nickname "nea Imi" — uncle Iml — among his players.

But Hagi - dubbed "the Maradona of the Carpathians" - will almost certainly be appearing In his final big tournament and he is by no means the only 30-somethlng player likely to be hanging up his boots.

Ilie, nicknamed "the Cobra", is the best of the younger generation.

Norway

Coach: Nils Semb

Key players: Tore Andre Flo. Ole Gunnar Solskjaer. Kfetil Rekdal

Semb has had a difficult task in filling the boots (Wellington boots that is) of his eccentric predecessor Egil Olsen, who transformed the Scandinavian country into a real force in world football.

He has stuck with the same system bequeathed by Olsen playing a direct and uncomplicated style - not surprising as many Norway players ply their trade in the English Premiership.

A good performance in Hol-land and Belgium will allow Semb to firmly consign the Olsen era into the history books.

Sweden

Coach: Tommy Soderberg

Key players: Stefan Schwarz. Magnus Erllngmark. Magnus Hedman

Times have been lean since Sweden finished third in the 1994 World Cup but at last they are back on the big stage after a convincing Qualifying campaign in which they outplayed England twice.

Organisation is the key to Sweden, who play a very En-elsh-style game and are great dievers in the team ethic.

The loss of Henrik Larsson after he broke his leg for his Scottish club side Celtic against Lyon could be a big blow, however.

Czech Republic

Coach: Jozef Chovanec

Key players: Jan Koller. Patrik Berger. Pavel Nedved

The Czechs were runners-up to Germany last time in England. sunk by Oliver Bierhoffs golden goal at Wembley.

They failed to qualify for France 98 but they were the first nation to book their spot in Euro 2000 after cakewalking their group and not dropping a single point.

The loss of Berger through suspension for the first two matches will be a blow but the Czechs won the European title in 1976 and have proved a formidable team in this tournament.

POT 3

France

Coach: Roger Lemerre

Key players: Zinedine Zidane. Lilian Thuram. Marcel Desailly

World champions France are bidding to add the continental crown to their global prize and in the end topped their qualifying pool after more than a few scares on the way.

The absence of Zidane for four matches through injury saw France falter badly and their maestro's return saw them Just do enough to qualify. The absence of a world-class striker is the one glaring gap on Lemer-re's team sheet.

Lemerre. who inherited the Job from World Cup-winner Aime Jacquet, strongly hinted he was contemplating quitting in the weeks after France qualified amid rumours of senior players such as Didier Deschamps and Laurent Blanc exercising undue influence in team matters.

But Lemerre will be at the helm for Euro 2000 which could be the last hurrah for many of the heroes of France '98.

Italy ■

Coach: Dino Zoff

Key players: Alessandro Del Piero. Francesco Totti, Filippo Inzaghi

Italy started qualifying in top gear but in the end limped over the qualification finishing line after closing with a 3-2 home defeat by Denmark and a 0-0 draw in Belarus.

That brought the knives out for Zoff, who found out that the national hero status he earned as a 1982 World Cup-winner counts for nothing when you are in charge of the Azzurri.

A friendly defeat by Belgium turned the heat up further. In that match Zoff had abandoned his usual tactics and tried a three-pronged attack featuring Del Piero. Inzaghi and Totti.

Zoff still has six months to find the system that suits him and his players.

Portugal

Coach: Humberto Coelho

Key players: Luis Figo. Rui Costa, Ricardo Sa Pinto

Portugal qualified for these finals as the best of the runner-up teams. They have already booked their tickets for Euro 2004 as they will be the host nation.

But this tournament probably represents the last chance of success at senior level for the team that twice won the under-20 World Cup in 1989 and 1991.

Figo is tne one member of that team to fulfil his promise at senior level -- along with Brazilian Rlvaldo he has been the star turn with Barcelona this season.

At 27. Figo could still hope to be there for Euro 2004. But next summer represents his best chance yet.

Yugoslavia

Coach: Vujadin Boskov

Key players: Sinlsa Mi-hallovic, DeJan Stankovic. Vladimir Jugovic

Yugoslavia qualified for Euro 2000 in a group that was wrecked by the NATO offensive in Kosovo -- with matches having to be postponed for security reasons.

And to add spice that qualification group included Balkan arch-enemies Croatia and Macedonia. Their 2-2 draw in Zagreb that saw Yugoslavia through and Croatia eliminated sparked wild celebrations in a country that has had a dismal 1999.

The architect of that victory was Mihallovic. who is widely held to be the best free-kick taker in the world.

Boskov only took the helm in June after Milan Zivadlnovic was sacked for agreeing a deal with a Saudi Arabian club.

POT 4

England

Coach: Kevin Keegan

Key players: David Beckham, Paul Scholes. Michael

England are the luckiest team to reach Euro 2000. having Sweden's victory over Poland to thank for earning them an unlikely play-off spot. In that play-off they beat Scotland to become the 16th and final team through.

It was a dire qualifying campaign in which only Paul Scholes and Sol Campbell really enhanced their standing as players. To be fair. England had to change coaches in mid-cam-paign when Glenn Hoddle was forced to quit for ill-judged remarks about the disabled. Keegan was the new man.

Question remarks remain over whether veterans such as Alan Shearer - top scorer in Euro 1996 - and David Seaman still deserve their places. The stage could be set for David Beckham to reproduce the same performance in an England shirt that he does for his club side Manchester United.

Turkey

Coach: Mustapha Denizli

Key players: Hakan Sukur. Sergen Yalcin. Arif Erdem

Turkey earned their spot via a stormy two-legged play-off win over the Republic of Ireland and like Yugoslavia their victory was a rare reason to celebrate for a country ravaged by disaster, this time natural in the form of earthquakes.

The Turks are eager to redeem themselves for a disappointing showing in Euro 1996 in England and looked a useful outfit in qualifying, beating Germany 1-0 in an early qualifier.

"Bull of the Bosphorus" Hakan Sukur scored that goal but Sukur is widely dependent on Sergen Yalcin. who is the key creator in the side.

Denmark

Coach: Bo Johansson

Key players: Peter Schme-ichel. Ebbe Sand, Jes Hogh

Denmark famously won the 1992 European Championships in Sweden as stand-in replacements for Yugoslavia -- who had been expelled because of United Nations sanctions.

They spent most of their time preparing for that tournament on various beaches in Europe. A similarly relaxed approach by Israeli players — reported to have spent the eve of their play-off match with Denmark in the company of call girls — also seems to have been to Denmark's benefit this time around.

Johansson will step down after Euro 2000 and few would bet against Schmeichel - a survivor of that 1992 side --doing the same. It is Denmark's first real international challenge since the retirement of the Laudrup brothers. Michael and Brian.

Slovenia

Coach: Srecko Katanec

Key players: Zlatko Zahovic. Marinko Galic. Darko Milanic

No-one expected them to qualify but after their heroics In Group Two no-one should take Slovenia lightly.

The fledgling Balkan nation are the long shots after qualifying against the odds via the play-offs against a star-studded Ukraine side including Andriy Shevchenko and Serhiy Rebrov. The fact that Ukraine had twice held world champions France in their group matches illustrates the achievement.

Zahovic has proved a prolific scorer and could make an even bigger name for himself in Hollandand Belgium.

Whatever happens. Just being there is an achievement for the Slovenes. But the best could be yet to come.