Germany's Podolski had mixed emotions scoring against Poland

But for football fans in Britain, the big question has been who to support.

This is because England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland all failed to qualify 及格.

Even though there will be no British players taking part, there will be no shortage 不缺少 of familiar faces 熟悉的面孔 from the English Premier League representing their home countries.

Manchester United fans will be keeping an eye on 密切关注 Cristiano Ronaldo, as he aims to bring glory to the skilful 球技高超的 Portgual.

Then we have Liverpool's Fernando Torres, who hopes to help bring long-awaited 期待已久的 success to perennial underachievers 长期成绩平平的 Spain.

And Chelsea's Michael Ballack could help tournament favourites 有望获胜球队 Germany succeed. He said his Premier League experience has "improved him as a footballer."

He is the captain 队长 of a hotly-tipped 热门揣测（夺冠队） German side, who have already started their campaign with a victory 旗开得胜, as have Portugal, Croatia and the Czech Republic in the other opening games of the group stages 小组赛阶段.

The Germans performed well in a 2-0 victory over Poland, but for double goalscorer Lukas Podolski the win was bittersweet 百感交集；甜中带苦.

Podolski was born in Poland but moved to Germany at the age of two, and many of his family still live in Poland. He said, "I have two hearts – a German one and a Polish one."

Down to earth  It was a great experience. But we've got to stay down to earth. We've got to improve. We've got a long way to go.   Joachim Low, German coach

German coach Joachim Low was also keen to stay realistic, despite the opening win. When he said "we've got to stay down to earth", he means his team have to remain focused on each game and not expect victory to come too easily.

Of course there are other contenders 竞争对手 apart from Germany. Italy, France, Portugal, Holland and Spain are all seen having a good chance of winning.

But other teams should take heart 感到鼓舞 from the knowledge that this is also the tournament of the underdog 劣势队. Both Greece and Denmark surprised many by winning the tournament in recent years.