England face hooligan risk at Euro 2004

England topped Group Seven after an unbeaten campaign, taking four points off World Cup semi-finalists Turkey and hinting at times that they were resilient and resourceful enough to be considered among the title contenders.

Yet their exploits were overshadowed by a hooligan element among England's supporters that shows no signs of disappearing and could well bring their stay in Portugal to a premature end.

UEFA have made it clear they will not tolerate any repeat of incidents which marred England's Euro 2000 campaign and a tumultuous qualifying win over Turkey in Sunderland last year.

Exclusion remains their ultimate sanction for a tournament which England have legitimate hopes of winning.

With coach Sven-Goran Eriksson now fully committed, after rebuffing Chelsea's advances in favour of a contract extension to 2008, and a trio of world-class players in skipper David Beckham, striker Michael Owen and midfielder Steven Gerrard, England fans are entitled to dream.

If they can survive their Group B opener with holders France, subsequent games against Switzerland and Croatia should not bar England's path to the second round.

However, to progress further than that will require Owen and Beckham to rediscover their best form after the former's season was hit by injury and the latter's by on and off-field problems adapting to Spanish football with Real Madrid.

England, who made a group stage exit at Euro 2000, will be without World Cup defender Rio Ferdinand after his eight-month ban for missing a dope test, while David James has replaced the retired David Seaman between the posts.

Key to England's chances will be avoiding the kind of distractions which affected their qualifying campaign.

Trouble started with a shooting incident outside England's hotel in Bratislava on the eve of their opening match against Slovakia.

Two England fans were injured while the gunfire roused England players from their sleep. Eriksson remarked: "It was like the Wild West."

There were ugly scenes too at the game as England's black players, notably striker Emile Heskey, suffered racist boos and visiting fans taunted the home supporters.

Trailing 1-0 at halftime and playing in quagmire

Eriksson gambled on scrapping a flat midfield four in favour of a diamond shape and was rewarded with a 2-1 win after goals from Beckham and Owen -- and a vital blueprint for the future.

ENGLAND UNBEATABLE

With a first choice of Beckham on the right, Nicky Butt in the holding position, Gerrard on the left and Paul Scholes behind the strikers, England proved unbeatable in qualifying.

The blemish of a 2-2 home draw with Macedonia was erased by 2-0 wins over Liechtenstein and Turkey, the latter in April 2003 lit up by a superb first start by Wayne Rooney.

The teenage forward had already become the youngest player ever to represent England when, aged 17 years 111 days, he came on as a second-half substitute against Australia in a friendly in February the same year. In September 2003 he became the youngest player to score for England, during a 2-1 qualifying win in Macedonia.

However, the win over Turkey in Sunderland was marred by pre-match violence which led to 95 arrests, pitch invasions, racist chants by the home fans and the subsequent record fine of 150,000 Swiss francs ($110,600) by UEFA the following month.

England avoided having to play a 2-1 win over Slovakia behind closed doors at Middlesbrough in June but were warned further trouble would jeopardise their place in the competition.

Unfazed, England reeled off wins over Macedonia (2-1) and Liechtenstein (2-0), leaving them with just a point needed from their final game in Istanbul in October.

Given the history of violent rivalry between the fans, English officials repeated calls made before the previous game in Macedonia for their supporters to stay home.

England players added further spice by threatening to boycott the game in protest at the exclusion of Ferdinand, prior to his ban.

On the day, the atmosphere was more a problem for Turkey than England, who got a 0-0 draw -- after a spectacular Beckham penalty miss.

That set up England for the finals. One positive for them is that having coped so well with the situation in Turkey, they should be able to cope with all the pressures they are likely to face in Portugal.

Apart, perhaps, from any damage caused by their own fans.