England soccer manager Steve McClaren (right) watches as players Jamie Carragher (left), Wayne Rooney (second left) and John Terry take part in a team training session at the newly opened Wembley stadium on Wednesday. - reuters

LONDON (AP)

SPAIN, ENGLAND and Portugal are struggling to make it to Euro 2008, and even world champion Italy could be back in trouble tomorrow.

After a four-month break, qualifying for the 2008 European Championship co-hosted by Austria and Switzerland returns with 20 matches tomorrow, and 20 more to follow next Wednesday.

With only three points from three games, coach Luis Aragones and his Spanish stars are fifth in their group and have a tough game against second-place Denmark, who are yet to concede a goal.

"People need to realise that we're going through a difficult situation and we have to get two wins. It's an important challenge for all of us," Aragones said. Spain also host Iceland next Wednesday.

Good side

"The Danes possess a good sid Spain have almost always beaten them in the past. They play 4-1-4-1, with a lot of players and pressure in midfield and they're fast on the counterattack. But we have no option but to win if we want to take an important step," Aragones said.

Spain's Group F is led by Sweden with a maximum 12 points from four games. But they don't play until Wednesday against third-place Northern Ireland, who have already beaten Spain 3-2.

England are in danger of slipping to fifth in Group E when they visit Israel tomorrow.

"We've got a good squad and I think we need to start doing the talking on the field," said coach Steve McClaren, who took his under-fire squad for a training session at rebuilt Wembley stadium. "That means displacing Croatia and Russia from the summit of Group E in order to reach the 2008 finals.

"There is ability, potential in that side to be better than we are at the moment, and we know that, and we've got to go out and prove it."

Russia expected to win

Croatia host Macedonia, and Russia are expected to win at next-to-last Estonia.

Portugal need to beat Belgium to stand any chance of making up ground on the three teams ahead in Group A.

Luiz Felipe Scolari's Portugal face Belgium without two of their top players, FC Barcelona's Deco and Benfica's Simao Sabrosa, as they try to make up four points on Finland and three on Serbia and Poland. Deco is injured and Sabrosa suspended.

Although Finland don't have a game tomorrow, Serbia will be confident of winning at Kazakhstan, and Poland should be far too strong for last-place Azerbaijan.

World Cup-holder Italy aren't in action tomorrow but will likely have been dropped to fourth in Group B by the end of the day with five points to make up on the leaders.

Confident of winning

Tomorrow, surprise group leaders Scotland are expected to beat Georgia at home, second-place France are confident of winning at Lithuania and fourth-place Ukraine are likely to outplay the Faeroe Islands.

Roberto Donadoni's Italians hope to beat the Scots in Bari next Wednesday to post their third qualifying victoryin a row.

The highlight match tomorrow is Czech Republic versus Germany at the top of Group D with the two powerhouse teams level with 10 points. A draw will mean that both stay clear of Ireland, who host neighbours Wales.

With defender Christoph Metzelder nursing a swollen left eye, Germany coach Joachim Loew has to find a way to handle towering Czech striker Jan Koller, who spent several seasons at Borussia Dortmund before moving to French club AS Monaco.

"We have to find a way to defend against Koller," Loew said. "He's a special player, unusual - we don't play against someone like him all the time."

Greece and Turkey are level atop of Group C and meet tomorrow in the latest chapter of their historic rivalry. So far, neither has conceded a goal or dropped a point.

Turks struggle with form

The Greeks are the defending champions after their stunning performances in Portugal three years ago while the Turks have struggled to recapture the form that took them to the World Cup semi-finals in 2002.

Greece coach Otto Rehhagel has defenders Traianos Dellas and Michalis Kapsis back after injury but Turkey's Fatih Terim has six players sidelined including experienced goalkeeper Rustu Recber.

The Netherlands are going strong at the top of Group G with a two-point lead over Bulgaria, and hosts Romania, who are third and another point behind.

But the Dutch are missing their captain and most-capped player, goalkeeper Edwin van der Sar, who is recovering from a knee injury and is also in doubt for the next qualifier in Slovenia next Wednesday. Winger Robin van Persie also is out with injury.