Appropriately, perhaps even ironically, the theme song for the Euro 2008 finals is a cheesy, synth-driven melody entitled Can You Hear Me? That it will be performed by Enrique Iglesias, a Spaniard with a Hollywood accent, teeth and girlfriend in Anna Kournikova, is a considerably better omen for his birthplace than it is for the seemingly ailing Austro-Swiss music industry.

The competition, which gets under way in Berne on Saturday evening when Switzerland host the Czech Republic in St Jakob-Park, Basle, has struggled to command an audience on British soil. It is an ambivalence borne out of English incompetence under Steve McClaren, traditional glorious failure in Scotland and the now customary drudgery inflicted on the good people of Northern Ireland and Wales. Insularity is not the sole reason for an apparent lack of interest in the European Championships, held in this Alpine splendour.

Football fatigue has now afflicted the armchair viewer. Little over two weeks since John Terry slipped and slid his way into Champions League infamy, UEFA will raise the curtain on their prestige international tournament and pray the sedate co-hosts will provide a summer spectacle. Europe has come to survive without the compelling sight of the kilt-clad Tartan Army. There will also have been a sigh of relief among the local authorities that they will not have to contend with the hooligan element of England's following.

It makes for a feel-good festival of football, a genuinely open competition where only the narrowest margins separate the bookmakers' favourites from the dark horses. Greece, the defending champions from Portugal in 2004, are no certainties to prevail from an intriguing Group D comprising Spain, world football's perennial under-achievers, Russia, the smart bet for success 20 years after losing to Holland in a vintage final, and Sweden, a nation with a habit of meandering almost accidentally into the knockout stages.

Greek tragedy may be no bad thing. Under the indefatigable Otto Rehhagel, they vanquished all before them four years ago with a game based almost exclusively on industry. Another monotonous journey is not what the competition requires, not when Luis Aragones has Cesc Fabregas in the form of his life for Arsenal, and David Villa and Fernando Torres threatening to pillage their way to the top of the scoring charts. Not, either, when European football is in the throes of a Russian revolution financed by the oligarchy but inspired by such fascinating figures as Andrei Arshavin, the UEFA Cup final man of the match for Zenit and potential tournament scene-stealer, and Pavel Pogrebnyak, Arshavin's battering-ram club-mate.

History denotes that, unlike the World Cup, the cream does not always rise to the top in these championships. Denmark epitomised the unpredictability of the tournament when, in 1992, they were rounded up from the beaches of the continent to replace Yugoslavia, a country in the throes of civil war. Devoid of pressure and expectation, the Danes duly sauntered to the title in neighbouring Sweden.

Germany are strongly tipped to win an unprecedented fourth European Championship trophy. Joachim Low has a modest CV compared to his illustrious predecessor, Juergen Klinsmann, but the legendary striker was modest enough to admit that the journeyman partner was "more than an assistant" throughout their association with the DFB.

They finished second behind the Czech Republic in qualifying, but Low has successfully fused an experienced core with a vibrant and imaginative crop of young Bundesliga stand-outs. The are peaking at the perfect time. Michael Ballack remains the strutting focal point of Germany's play, but in Mario Gomez, the VfB Stuttgart attacker named the country's player of the year, they have unearthed a modern-day Karl-Heinz Rummenigge.

Add the pedigree of Miroslav Klose and Lukasz Podolski, the erratic but inspirational Bastian Schweinsteiger, and the athletic Bayern Munich full-backs, Philipp Lahm and Marcel Jansen and the Germans represent a formidable obstacle not just in Group B - including Austria, Poland and Croatia - but in every round thereafter.

Croatia, led by the roguish Slaven Bilic, will be a popular bunch among the neutrals and a more than worthy outside bet for the tournament.

They are expected to qualify behind the Germans but massaging egos may be the key to Low earning wider recognition and a higher calling at club level. Arrogance has also historically been the unravelling of Holland and, with Marco van Basten already announcing his departure for Bert van Marwijk after the finals, squad harmony is again the great imponderable with the Dutch.

On paper, they should split the World Cup finalists, France and Italy, to prevail from the time-honoured Group of Death. Edwin van der Sar is showing signs of increasing fallibility and with an ageing back four, Holland will need to rely on Total Football like never before. Rafael van der Vaart is due a finals to remember beside the reliable pillars of Wesley Sneijder and Clarence Seedorf, while Ruud van Nistelrooy is both the biggest name and the biggest problem. Goalscoring instinct remains intact but the legs have gone. Just as Dick Advocaat defied public opinion in 2004, van Basten seems certain to stick with the equine striker despite the clamour for a dynamic front three of Robin van Persie, Klaas-Jan Huntelaar and Arjen Robben.

Group C is also the Group of What Might Have Been. But for that crushing last-day defeat to Italy during qualification, Alex McLeish would be preparing for yet another heroic crusade with Scotland and not pruning his Birmingham City squad for life in the Coca-Cola Championship. As it is, not even the World Cup winners are guaranteed a smooth passage to the knockout stages. Roderto Donadoni was within 90 minutes of his jotters before Luca Toni rampaged at Hampden Park. Without rambunctious captain Fabio Cannavaro through injury, an ageing defence is now shorn of its most profound wisdom. Serie A's downturn in entertainment value is also exemplified in Alessandro Del Piero finishing top goalscorer and returning to the international stage. Toni is a colossal target man but intolerable creative demands are now placed on Andrea Pirlo.

France are in an even more precarious position. Raymond Domenech is proving as inflexible as his string-manipulated likeness from Thunderbirds, Virgil Tracy. Thierry Henry is expected to keep his place despite the ravages of sciatica and the emergence of Karim Benzema. Nicolas Anelka, David Trezequet and Djibril Cisse no longer evoke panic among defences. Losing twice to Scotland in the qualifiers has removed the air of invincibility and vulnerability runs through the spine of the team; from Mickael Landreau, the eccentric William Gallas and worn-out looking Patrick Vieira.

And what of Group A? Compared to the aforementioned, not a lot.

Portugal should sail through, assuming Christiano Ronaldo can put aside the shameful overtures of Real Madrid that have involved Luiz Felipe Scolari and even Mamma Ronaldo. Czech Republic looked ponderous even in victory against Scotland last week, Switzerland are again reliant on the veteran Hakin Yakin and Turkey are solely reliant on Bayern Munich's magical Hamit Altintop.

Who will the Tartan Army pledge allegiance to? Scotland's burgeoning Polish community would turn George Square into a Warsaw wonderland should they achieve the improbable. Artur Boruc was the country's player of the tournament after the World Cup and the Celtic goalkeeper is primed to demonstrate why AC Milan continue to make covetous glances.

From a compellingly close field, one nation, perhaps even one outstanding individual, will come to the fore. Maybe then the tournament will finally be heard.