GOD save our gracious Queen, long live our noble Queen, God save our Queen.

It's still hard to believe we're not going to be hearing the iconic England anthem sung at football's European Championships, which in case you don't know, start on Saturday and end with the final in Vienna on June 29.

Not only have England not reached the last 16 for the finals, there's none of the other home nations to support either.

For the non-followers of soccer in Warrington households, there have probably been some sighs of relief thinking that the television won't be taken over by 22 men kicking a ball for the rest of this month.

Not on your nelly, I'm afraid!

It's adoption time for those who are determined to get their fix during the summer break from Premier League action.

Good football is good football no matter who is playing and this is Europe's best pitting their talents against each other.

And hey, some of us might get to a position of being able to cheer at the end of a penalty shoot-out for a change with no England to worry about.

I am firmly nailing my colours to the mast for Portugal and this is simply because Manchester United's Cristiano Ronaldo - the star of the Premier League season and the best player in the world - is in their ranks.

I'm sure I won't be the only Manchester United fan thinking this way and fans of other clubs will similarly get behind other nations because the team features one or two of their club's favourites.

And I think Portugal have a great chance to finally fulfil their promise this time round.

They are a national team on the up under Luiz Felipe Scolari, having finished runner-up in their own back yard four years ago and having reached the semi finals of the World Cup in Germany in 2006.

Getting to the finals wasn't straightforward for them, finishing second to Poland in their group after a nervy 0-0 with Finland in their final qualification game, but Scolari, who led Brazil to World Cup glory in Japan in 2002, seems to get close to the best out of his men when it matters.

They disposed of the Netherlands and England before losing 1-0 to France in the semi finals in Germany and it was a big surprise when they lost 1-0 to Greece in the Euro 2004 showdown.

Although no games are easy in the final stages of an event like this, they do appear to have a favourable draw.

If Portugal can progress they would not meet world cup holders Italy, France, Netherlands, Greece or Spain until the final, if at all.

Their biggest hurdles would appear to be Germany, Czech Republic and Croatia but some times it can be the nations not expected to do as well that can trip you up.

Away from Group A, which features Switzerland against Czech Republic and Portugal against Turkey opening the tournament on Saturday, Group C would appear to be by far the toughest.

Two out of France, Italy, the Netherlands and Romania are not going to reach the quarter finals and some tense early games are in store.