EVERTONFC.COM EURO 2004 DIARY - TUESDAY JUNE 15

Tuesday 15 June 2004, 11:48

FOLLOWING HIS HEROICS in Lisbon last night, Sweden's star striker Henrik Larsson has revealed that he eager to play at Barcelona next season.

The 32-year-old, who left Celtic this summer, has been courted by a whole host of clubs, but has made 'Barca' a top priority.

He said: "I have given my agent (Rob Jansen) full powers while I take part in the European Championships,''

"I have given him a list of three teams where I would like to go, and my priority is Barcelona."

REAL MADRID DEFENDER Ivan Helguera is adamant that a solid back four is the key to Spain's success in EURO 2004.

The Spaniards kept a clean sheet in their opening win against Russia and Helguera is looking for more of the same throughout the tournament.

He said: "You win titles by defending well - `People may like it less, but I would be happy to win every game 1-0.

"Clubs such as Porto or Valencia have been champions this year and they have done so by being strong at the back, by basing their game on security in defence."

BIXENTE LIZARAZU believes the France have now exercised the ghosts of their early exit in the 2002 World Cup and will go on to do well in EURO 2004.

Lizarazu, a World Cup winner, was delighted with the 2-1 win over England and is in confident mood for the forthcoming group matches against Croatia and Switzerland.

He said: "This is so important for us and it helps us to forget about what happened in Korea.

"Of course we still have two matches to play but this is a big step towards the next round and now we can have high hopes that we will do well here."

AND FINALLY, Czech midfielder Vladimir Smicer has been quick to wind up his English contemporaries while on EURO 2004 duty.

With the rest of the squad, Smicer is staying at Penha Longa - the same place where the wives and girlfriends of the England team have checked in.

The luxurious hotel and golf resort, near to Lisbon has been booked by the FA to keep the partners of Sven's men, close - but not close enough to their loved ones.

However, Smicer, wasted no time in telling the Czech press that he had sent Michael Owen a text message saying what a pleasure a trip to the sauna now was!