On the ball? Five years after the successful bid to stage the 2008 EuroPean football championships with neighbouring Austria, Switzerland is finally waking up to the fact that one of the world's biggest sporting events is just around the corner. So how ready are the Swiss to put on a memorable soccer party, and what challenges still remain?

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SPORTS FEATURE

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On the ball? Five years after the successful bid to stage the 2008 EuroPean football championships with neighbouring Austria, Switzerland is finally waking up to the fact that one of the world's biggest sporting events is just around the corner. So how ready are the Swiss to put on a memorable soccer party, and what challenges still remain?

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Two recent events have helped focus the public's attention on the immediacy of Euro 2008, one requiring plenty of planning and the other none at all. The first event was the smoothly-organised and suitably dramatic tournament draw, held in Lucerne on December 2. The second was the arrival of the new year itself, reminding those Swiss who still needed telling that Euro 2008 is about to hit town.

To be precise, the event is about to hit the country's f...

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