After the second round of matches in the 2010 European Championship in Australian Football, host nations Denmark and Sweden have ensured they will qualify for the top four.

The 2010 European Championship of Australian Football opened today with the first round of pool matches at Stefan Boldklub, in Copenhagen.

Clear skies and sunny weather greeted the teams as they assembled in front of a crowd of more than 700 spectators for an historic opening days play in the first ever championships in Europe.

As the inaugural European Championship starts this weekend, Irish Warriors coach Tom Madigan is entering his first campaign in charge of the side in confident mood. The Irish will go into the tournament as favorites but Madigan is not taking anything for granted. He feels that the Irish preparations have gone well and can’t wait for the action to start.

The Australian Football League Germany has released its squad for the 2010 European Championships, which kick off in Denmark and Sweden this weekend.

It will be a new-look Black Eagles squad taking the park, with core players from the Rheinland Lions unavailable due to time and financial constraints. AFLG clubs Munich, Frankfurt and Berlin have five representatives each, including national captain Tim Horenburg from the Munich Roos.

The AFL Sweden has announced its squad for the 2010 European Chapionships, with coach Daniel McClaer naming 26 players in what the league is rating as the strongest Swedish Elks side assembled to date.

Officially announced via the Swedish Footy Show, the squad is dominated by players from southern Sweden, with the Helsingborg Saints and Port Malmö Maulers providing sixteen players between them in the 26-man squad. The Göteborg Beserkers from the west have five representatives, the Stockholm league four and the Karlstad Eagles one.

After exploding onto to the European footy scene with a strong performance at the EU Cup 09, the Iceland Ravens are preparing for their first full-field outing next weekend at the European Championships in Australian Football.

The Icelanders have been playing footy for barely a year, but have already founded a 3-team domestic league, besides now undertaking their second international tour.

The Denmark Vikings are going into the European Championships with a squad that includes young guns such as World XVIII representative Mathias Biron alongside long-time DAFL stalwarts of the calibre of Jesper Gjørup and Kristian Stetter.

Coach Jim Campion explains that the national team is still in a rebuilding phase and focussing on younger players, however unavailabilities led the DAFL to select a more experienced side than that named for the test against Great Britain earlier this year.

The Finland Icebreakers are bringing a lot of new faces to the inaugural European Championships, with only five players still in the squad from their 2008 IC campaign. Despite having a number of rookies, the Icebreakers are confident they can hold their own against Europe's best.

This weekend saw Finland take on the Norway Trolls in Helsinki, and although the Icebreakers were defeated 36-34, they were not by any means disgraced, with the Norwegian team featuring a large Australian contingent.