EURO 2008

[BigDirty]

Seems like that there are some soccer fans on here after all, so I thought why not make a topic about the upcoming European Championships.

In my opinion Germany & Italy are the big favourites while France has outsider chances. Germany has a relatively easy road to the finals while Italy has to face France, Holland and maybe Spain. Below I'll post my preview of group A, I'll make previews for the other groups during the next days.

Quote:

---

Portugal

GK Ricardo (32, Real Betis Sevilla, 74 appearances/0 goals)

GK Quim (32, SL Benfica, 25/0)

GK Rui Patrício (20, Sporting Lisboa, 0/0)

DF Paulo Ferreira (29, FC Chelsea London, 46/0)

DF Bruno Alves (26, FC Porto, 10/1)

DF Bosingwa (25, FC Porto, 7/0)

DF Fernando Meira (30, VfB Stuttgart, 48/2)

DF Miguel (28, FC Valencia, 46/1)

DF Pepe (25, Real Madrid, 2/0)

DF Ricardo Carvalho (30, FC Chelsea London, 42/4)

MF Raul Meireles (25, FC Porto, 8/0)

MF Cristiano Ronaldo (23, Manchester United, 54/20)

MF Petit (31, SL Benfica, 53/4)

MF Joao Moutinho (21, Sporting Lisboa, 12/0)

MF Simao Sabrosa (28, Atlético Madrid, 60/14)

MF Jorge Ribeiro (26, Boavista Porto, 8/0)

MF Ricardo Quaresma (24, FC Porto, 20/2)

MF Miguel Veloso (22, Sporting Lisboa, 5/0)

MF Nani (21, Manchester United, 12/2)

MF Deco (30, FC Barcelona, 52/3)

ST Hugo Almeida (24, Werder Bremen, 8/2)

ST Nuno Gomes (31, SL Benfica, 68/28)

ST Hélder Postiga (25, Panathinaikos Athen, 31/10)

Without a doubt Portugal’s biggest strength are their wingers, Ronaldo, Nani, Quaresma are all class. While the wingers are very good, the centre strikers are just average at best which might lead to a problem if they can’t convert the chances they get, this has been a problem for Portugal for a long time and it doesn’t look like it will change this time. In the centre midfield they have some talents but only Petit & Deco have significant experience, it will be interesting to see if the coach will go with the vets, the young ones or a mixture. The defense is good but not great.

Overall Portugal is a solid team, but because of the lack of quality in the middle they’re not one of the top favourites. There is a slight chance that they can pull off the upset IF Ronaldo can score like he did for Manchester United this season. If they win the group they could advance to the semi-finals, otherwise they’ll lose against Germany.

Switzerland

GK Diego Benaglio (24, Vfl Wolfsburg, 10/0)

GK Pascal Zuberbühler (37, Xamax Neuchâtel, 50/0)

GK Eldin Jakupovic (23, Grasshopper Zürich, 2/0)

DF Johan Djourou (21, FC Arsenal London, 14/1)

DF Ludovic Magnin (29, VfB Stuttgart, 48/3)

DF Philippe Senderos (23, FC Arsenal London, 26/3)

DF Stéphane Grichting (29, AJ Auxerre, 16/0)

DF Christoph Spycher (30, Eintracht Frankfurt, 38/0)

DF Patrick Müller (31, Olympique Lyon, 76/3)

DF Philipp Degen (25, Borussia Dortmund, 28/0)

MF Stephan Lichtsteiner (24, OSC Lille, 10/1)

MF Benjamin Huggel (30, FC Basel, 24/0)

MF Ricardo Cabanas (29, Grasshopper Zürich, 48/4)

MF Gökhan Inler (23, Udinese Calcio, 15/1)

MF Hakan Yakin (31, Young Boys Bern, 62/15)

MF Daniel Gygax (26, FC Metz, 32/5)

MF Gelson Fernandes (21, Manchester City, 6/0)

MF Tranquillo Barnetta (23, Bayer 04 Leverkusen, 32/6)

MF Valon Behrami (23, S.S. Lazio Roma, 15/2)

MF Johan Vonlanthen (22, Red Bull Salzburg, 28/5)

ST Alexander Frei (28, Borussia Dortmund, 57/32)

ST Marco Streller (26, FC Basel, 25/11)

ST Eren Derdiyok (19, FC Basel, 2/1)

Switzerland are one of the hosts and my guess is that they might not be in this tournament if they had to qualify. They have some young talents like Vonlanthen, Inler, Senderos, Fernandes & Barnetta but the only player that opponents have to respect is Alexander Frei and he was injured a lot this season, the rest of the team is simply subpar. They have no scoring threat aside from Frei, their outside defenders are weak, their goalie is very average, their midfield is talented but not more than that, if Hakan Yakin is the guy with the 2nd most goals on your team, then you have problems.

Even with the backing of the home crowd Switzerland shouldn’t advance past the group stage. This team might develop into a better squad in the future but right now they don’t have a chance against the good teams.

Czech Republic

GK Petr Cech (26, FC Chelsea London, 57/0)

GK Jaromir Blazek (35, 1.FC Nürnberg, 14/0)

GK Daniel Zitka (32, RSC Anderlecht, 1/0)

DF Zdenek Grygera (28, Juventus Torino, 52/2)

DF Marek Jankulovski (31, AC Milan, 62/10)

DF Zdenek Pospech (29, FC Kobenhavn, 3/0)

DF Michal Kadlec (23, AC Sparta Praha, 2/0)

DF Tomás Sivok (24, AC Sparta Praha, 3/0)

DF Tomás Ujfalusi (30, AC Fiorentina, 65/2)

DF David Rozehnal (27, S.S. Lazio Roma, 42/0)

MF Jan Polak (27, RSC Anderlecht, 35/6)

MF Tomas Galásek (35, 1.FC Nürnberg, 63/1)

MF Radoslav Kovac (28, Spartak Moskva, 21/1)

MF Libor Sionko (31, FC Kobenhavn, 28/4)

MF David Jarolim (29, Hamburger SV, 13/1)

MF Marek Matejovsky (26, FC Reading, 4/1)

MF Rudolf Skacel (28, Hertha BSC Berlin, 3/1)

MF Jaroslav Plasil (26, CA Osasuna, 34/2)

ST Martin Fenin (21, Eintracht Frankfurt, 5/0)

ST Jan Koller (35, 1.FC Nürnberg, 85/52)

ST Vaclav Sverkos (24, FC Banik Ostrava, 0/0)

ST Stanislav Vlcek (32, RSC Anderlecht, 8/0)

ST Milan Baros (26, FC Portsmouth, 62/31)

The Czech Republic has gotten a little bit weaker. Players like Poborsky and Nedved aren’t playing for the national team anymore, Koller is showing his age and Rosicky is injured. Still the Czech have some experienced players and their defense is still ace. Sivok & Kadlec are good talents and should make sure that the team can compensate if 1-2 players of their defense get injured or suspended. The midfield might be the biggest problem area, they have mostly defensive midfielders and very little creativity, so you shouldn’t expect a lot of goals from them. Upfront they have the tall old giant who can still score and beside him is Milan Baros who’s always dangerous…..when he plays for the national team. Martin Fenin played a good season at Frankfurt and he might be one of the young stars in this tournament. I don’t know why Sverkos was nominated.

The Czech Republic is not as strong as in the last competitions, but their defense will be hard to beat and if they win the group they should be able to advance to the semis.

Turkey

GK Rüstü Recber (35, Besiktas Istanbul, 116/0)

GK Tolga Zengin (24, Trabzonspor, 0/0)

GK Volkan Demirel (26, Fenerbahce Istanbul, 18/0)

DF Servet Cetin (27, Galatasaray Istanbul, 27/1)

DF Hakan Balta (25, Galatasaray Istanbul, 0/0)

DF Gökhan Zan (26, Besiktas Istanbul, 17/0)

DF Emre Güngör (23, Galatasaray Istanbul, 0/0)

DF Emre Asik (34, Ankaraspor, 26/2)

MF Emre Belözoglu (27, Newcastle United, 53/4)

MF Mehmet Topal (22, Galatasaray Istanbul, 1/0)

MF Mehmet Aurelio (30, Fenerbahce Istanbul, 15/1)

MF Gökdeniz Karadeniz (28, Rubin Kazan, 45/6)

MF Tümer Metin (33, AE Larisa, 22/6)

MF Arda Turan (21, Galatasaray Istanbul, 15/0)

MF Ugor Boral (26, Fenerbahce Istanbul, 6/1)

MF Tuncay Sanli (26, FC Middlesbrough, 50/14)

MF Ayhan Akman (31, Galatasaray Istanbul, 15/0)

MF Sabri Sarioglu (23, Galatasaray Istanbul, 15/1)

MF Hamit Altintop (25, FC Bayern München, 15/2)

ST Nihat Kahveci (28, FC Villarreal, 52/14)

ST Semih Sentürk (25, Fenerbahce Istanbul, 3/0)

ST Colin Kazim-Richards (21, Fenerbahce Istanbul, 3/1)

ST Mevlut Erding (21, FC Sochaux, 2/0)

This is the first time in 6 years that Turkey has qualified for a big tourney. They have many inexperienced players and are clearly one of the underdogs. They lack quality defenders and strikers and even in the midfield they only have a few solid players that are not all that great by any means. Their best tactic might be to play on counter attacks with their fast players Karadeniz, Tuncay, Nihat & Semih. One advantage the team has is that many players know each other from their club teams and so they don’t have to adjust to one another.

Turkey is one of the weakest teams in the tournament and they don’t have that star player that might singlehandedly win them some games, maybe they will surprise some people like Fenerbahce did this Champions League season, but I doubt it, they shouldn’t advance to the quarter-finals.

Prediction:

1. Portugal

2. Czech Republic

3. Switzerland

4. Turkey

The first two places clearly belong to Portugal and the Czech Republic, which one of these two teams wins the group is up in the air, I’ll give it to Portugal because their players are in great form at the moment. Switzerland & Turkey lack the quality to score against the Czech or outplay the Portuguese so they have no chance to get to the quarter-finals. Switzerland plays at home so they should finish ahead of Turkey.

[Guest]

I think this will be a very exciting tournament. I am always surprised at how countries play so well together even though their players all play for different clubs. I would initially think that they would suffer for not having extensive playing time together but it isn't the case.

[BigDirty]

Well many of these players already played together at U17-U21 level at national and/or club level, like for example most good Croatians played at Hajduk or Dinamo, most good Portuguese played at Benfica, Porto or Sporting, etc., so that helps. They also have many qualifying & friendly games during different parts of the season, so it is not like basketball where most of the time there is only a qualifying tournament and then the big tournament.

My preview for group B:

Quote:

---

Germany

GK Jens Lehmann (38, FC Arsenal London, 54 appearances/0 goals)

GK Robert Enke (30, Hannover 96, 1/0)

GK René Adler (23, Bayer 04 Leverkusen, 0/0)

DF Marcell Jansen (22, FC Bayern München, 21/1)

DF Arne Friedrich (29, Hertha BSC Berlin, 56/0)

DF Clemens Fritz (27, SV Werder Bremen, 13/2)

DF Heiko Westermann (24, FC Schalke 04, 2/0)

DF Philipp Lahm (24, FC Bayern München, 40/2)

DF Per Mertesacker (23, SV Werder Bremen, 42/1)

DF Christoph Metzelder (27, Real Madrid, 40/2)

MF Simon Rolfes (26, Bayer 04 Leverkusen, 9/0)

MF Bastian Schweinsteiger (23, FC Bayern München, 50/13)

MF Torsten Frings (31, SV Werder Bremen, 71/10)

MF Michael Ballack (31, FC Chelsea London, 80/35)

MF Piotr Trochowski (24, Hamburger SV, 12/0)

MF Thomas Hitzlsperger (26, VfB Stuttgart, 33/5)

MF Tim Borowski (28, SV Werder Bremen, 31/2)

MF David Odonkor (24, Real Betis Sevilla, 14/1)

ST Mario Gomez (22, VfB Stuttgart, 9/6)

ST Oliver Neuville (35, Borussia Mönchengladbach, 67/9)

ST Miroslav Klose (29, FC Bayern München, 75/39)

ST Lukas Podolski (23, FC Bayern München, 47/25)

ST Kevin Kuranyi (26, FC Schalke 04, 46/19)

Germany has very good players in all parts of their team. Mertesacker, Lahm and Jansen are all top defenders so the defense should be good, but goalie Jens Lehmann is a big question mark, he had a bad season and Adler deserves the starting spot much more than him. The central midfield of Germany might be the strongest of the tournament, both Ballack and Frings had terrific seasons and should be feared by any opponent. The outside midfielders are kinda average, they have to hope that Schweinsteiger & Podolski can regain their form. Klose, Gomez and Kuranyi should make quite a few goals, Gomez has the chance to be the breakout star of EURO 2008. I have no clue why Neuville was nominated.

All in all Germany is THE big favourite alongside with Italy. They’re highly motivated and have good chemistry. The only thing they have to worry about is if Ballack is affected by losing yet another final. Compared to the other favourites Germany has quite the easy road to the finals so I expect atleast the 2nd place from them.

Austria

GK Alexander Manninger (31, AC Siena, 26/0)

GK Jürgen Macho (30, AEK Athen, 14/0)

GK Ramazan Özcan (23, TSG 1899 Hoffenheim, 0/0)

DF Joachim Standfest (28, FK Austria Wien, 31/2)

DF Martin Stranzl (27, Spartak Moskva, 44/2)

DF Emanuel Pogatetz (25, FC Middlesbrough, 26/1)

DF Ronald Gercaliu (22, FK Austria Wien, 10/0)

DF Markus Katzer (28, SK Rapid Wien, 10/0)

DF György Garica (24, SSC Napoli, 11/1)

DF Sebastian Prödl (20, SK Sturm Graz, 9/2)

DF Jürgen Patocka (30, SK Rapid Wien, 2/0)

DF Martin Hiden (35, SK Austria Kärnten, 48/1)

MF Christian Fuchs (22, SV Mattersburg, 17/0)

MF René Aufhauser (31, Red Bull Salzburg, 50/10)

MF Christoph Leitgeb (23, Red Bull Salzburg, 18/0)

MF Andreas Ivanschitz (24, Panathinaikos Athen, 38/6)

MF Ümit Korkmaz (22, SK Rapid Wien, 1/0)

MF Jürgen Säumel (23, SK Sturm Graz, 10/0)

ST Ivica Vastic (38, LASK Linz, 47/12)

ST Roland Linz (26, Sporting Braga, 31/5)

ST Roman Kienast (24, Ham-Kam IF, 6/1)

ST Martin Harnik (20, SV Werder Bremen, 7/1)

ST Erwin Hoffer (21, SK Rapid Wien, 3/0)

If they weren’t the hosts there would be no chance that they would have qualified. Their best players are Pogatetz, Stranzl, Ivanschitz & Lenz and let’s be honest here these players are average at best at the international level. They do have some talents like Prödl, Harnik, Hoffer & Korkmaz, but they’re not good enough right now to make a difference. The nomination of players like Hiden & Vastic leads me to beleive that Austria wants to give their players a nice experience playing infront of their home crowd instead of actually winning something.

I give them 0% to advance past group stage, maybe they can get a win against Poland because they play at home.

Poland

GK Artur Boruc (28, Celtics Glasgow, 33/0)

GK Tomasz Kuszczak (26, Manchester United, 6/0)

GK Lukasz Fabianski (23, FC Arsenal London, 8/0)

DF Mariusz Jop (29, FK Moskva, 23/0)

DF Jakub Wawrzyniak (24, Legia Warszawa, 10/0)

DF Pawel Golanski (25, FC Steaua Bucuresti, 9/1)

DF Jacek Bak (35, FK Austria Wien, 93/3)

DF Marcin Wasilewski (27, RSC Anderlecht, 26/1)

DF Michal Zewlakow (32, Olympiakos Piraeus, 76/2)

DF Adam Kokoszka (21, Wisla Krakow, 7/2)

MF Dariusz Dudka (24, Wisla Krakow, 25/2)

MF Jacek Krzynowek (32, VfL Wolfsburg, 78/14)

MF Lukasz Gargula (27, GKS Belchatow, 11/1)

MF Michal Pazdan (20, Gornik Zabrze, 5/0)

MF Jakub Blaszczykowski (22, Borussia Dortmund, 13/1)

MF Wojciech Lobodzinski (25, Wisla Krakow, 15/2)

MF Mariusz Lewandowski (29, Shahktar Donezk, 45/3)

MF Rafal Murawski (26, KKS Lech Posen, 9/1)

MF Roger (26, Legia Warszawa, 1/0)

ST Ebi Smolarek (27, Racing Santander, 30/13)

ST Maciej Zurawski (31, AE Larisa, 70/17)

ST Marek Saganowski (29, FC Southampton, 22/3)

ST Tomasz Zahorski (23, Gornik Zabrze, 8/1)

Poland shocked a lot of people when they won their qualifying group ahead of Portugal, Serbia, Finland & Belgium. Although most of the team has international experience they also are kinda unknown to some casual fans. The defense is probably the weakest link, they have some average guys there, but nobody to write home about. Keeper Boruc is very inconsistent, he might help his team or his opponent. The midfield is Poland’s strongest part, Krzynowek, Blaszczykowski & Lewandowski are solid players that also have some scoring ability. Upfront they’re very inconsistent, Smolarek might score three times in one game and then he won’t score the next 6 games. Zurawski & Saganowski are below average.

If things are normal, then Poland shouldn’t be able to reach the quarter-finals, they simply lack a star player and overall quality. The only chance they have is that nobody has them on their list so they might catch somebody offguard.

Croatia

GK Stipe Pletikosa (29, Spartak Moskva, 67/0)

GK Mario Galinovic (31, Panathinaikos Athen, 2/0)

GK Vedran Runje (32, RC Lens, 4/0)

DF Dario Simic (32, AC Milan, 97/3)

DF Josip Simunic (30, Hertha BSC Berlin, 61/3)

DF Robert Kovac (34, Borussia Dortmund, 71/0)

DF Vedran Corluka (22, Manchester City, 17/0)

DF Hrvoje Vejic (30, Tom Tomsk, 1/0)

DF Dario Knezevic (26, AS Livorno, 6/1)

MF Ivan Rakitic (20, FC Schalke 04, 7/1)

MF Ognjen Vukojevic (24, NK Dinamo Zagreb, 2/1)

MF Niko Kovac (36, Red Bull Salzburg, 74/11)

MF Darijo Srna (26, Shahktar Donezk, 53/15)

MF Nikola Pokrivac (22, AS Monaco, 0/0)

MF Luka Modric (22, NK Dinamo Zagreb, 23/3)

MF Jerko Leko (28, AS Monaco, 49/2)

MF Niko Kranjcar (23, FC Portsmouth, 39/5)

MF Danijel Pranjic (26, SC Heerenveen, 7/0)

ST Nikola Kalinic (20, Hajduk Split, 0/0)

ST Ivan Klasnic (28, SV Werder Bremen, 26/8)

ST Ivica Olic (28, Hamburger SV, 50/9)

ST Igor Budan (28, FC Parma, 3/0)

ST Mladen Petric (27, Borussia Dortmund, 21/9)

Croatia, Croatia, Croatia, it’s always the same with them, a lot of wonderful wonderful players, but once they start winning some they think that they’re the greatest and begin to slack, so that one day they look like world beaters and the next day they look like a weak amateur team. Their defense is aging but still solid. In midfield they have fantastic young players like Modric, Kranjcar & Rakitic coupled with experienced guys like Srna, Kovac & Leko, it’s scary good if they all play at their potential. Klasnic & Petric are very capable strikers and Kalinic is a very good young talent.

If I believed that Croatia could play all games with a high level of intensity (and by that I don’t mean senseless aggressiveness) then I’d say that they could reach the finals, but I don’t and so I think that they’ll lose in the quarter-finals.

Prediction:

1. Germany

2. Croatia

3. Poland

4. Austria

There should really be no question that Germany and Croatia will be the top 2 teams in the group, I see Germany as the group winner, but if Croatia has a good day they might beat Germany. Poland should be proud that they qualified and concentrate on beating Austria which they’re more than capable of. Austria should just enjoy the experience and give their young players most of the playing time.

[BigDirty]

My preview for groups C & D:

Quote:

---

Italy

GK Gianluigi Buffon (30, Juventus Torino, 82/0)

GK Marco Amelia (26, AS Livorno, 6/0)

GK Morgan de Sanctis (31, FC Sevilla, 2/0)

DF Christian Panucci (35, AS Roma, 53/3)

DF Fabio Grosso (30, Olympique Lyon, 31/3)

DF Giorgio Chiellini (23, Juventus Torino, 10/1)

DF Fabio Cannavaro (34, Real Madrid, 116/2)

DF Andreas Barzagli (27, US Palermo, 22/0)

DF Gianluca Zambrotta (31, FC Barcelona, 71/2)

DF Marco Materazzi (34, Inter Milano, 40/2)

MF Gennaro Gattuso (30, AC Milan, 58/1)

MF Daniele De Rossi (24, AS Roma, 33/4)

MF Massimo Ambrosini (31, AC Milan, 31/0)

MF Mauro Camoranesi (31, Juventus Turino, 35/4)

MF Simone Perrotta (30, AS Roma, 41/2)

MF Andrea Pirlo (29, AC Milan, 46/6)

MF Alberto Aquilani (23, AS Roma, 5/0)

ST Alessandro Del Piero (33, Juventus Turino, 85/26)

ST Luca Toni (31, FC Bayern München, 34/15)

ST Antonio Di Natale (30, Udinese Calcio, 18/7)

ST Marco Boriello (25, FC Genoa 1893, 3/0)

ST Fabio Quagliarella (25, Udinese Calcio, 8/3)

ST Antonio Cassano (25, Sampdoria Genoa, 11/3)

Italy is the current world champion and therefore the top favourite by default. I don’t like them, they play ugly & dirty, are arrogant as hell and pay the refs, unfortunately they do have skill. Buffon is probably the best keeper in the whole world. The defense is getting older, but right now it is still top notch. The midfield lacks scorers but Italy’s main focus is on defending anyway. Luca Toni & Alessandro Del Piero both had monster seasons and can make something out of nothing, the opposing defense always has to keep an eye on these two.

They have experience, they have quality in all parts of the team, they had success, if they don’t have brilliant chances to win the tournament, then who does? The toughest part for them will probably be the group phase, but they should be good enough to advance.

Romania

GK Bogdan Lobont (30, Dinamo Bucuresti, 62/0)

GK Marius Viorel Popa (30, FC Politehnica Timisoara, 1/0)

GK Cornel Eduard Stancioiu (27, CFR Cluj, 0/0)

DF Cosmin Contra (32, FC Getafe, 61/7)

DF Razvan Rat (27, Shahktar Donezk, 46/1)

DF Sebastián Gabriel Tamas (24, AJ Auxerre, 31/2)

DF Cristian Chivu (27, Inter Milano, 57/3)

DF Cristian Ionut Sapunaru (24, Rapid Bucuresti, 0/0)

DF Sorin Ghionea (29, FC Steaua Bucuresti, 7/0)

DF Nicolae Dorin Goian (27, FC Steaua Bucuresti, 17/3)

DF Cosmin Iosif Moti (23, Dinamo Bucuresti, 1/0)

DF Stefan Andrei Radu (21, S.S. Lazio Roma, 6/0)

MF Mirel Matei Radoi (27, FC Steaua Bucuresti, 40/1)

MF Florentin Petre (32, CSKA Sofia, 50/5)

MF Paul Constantin Codrea (27, AC Siena, 32/1)

MF Razvan Cocis (25, Lokomotiv Moskva, 20/1)

MF Banel Nicolita (23, FC Steaua Bucuresti, 19/1)

MF

Adreian

Cristea (24, Dinamo Bucuresti, 5/0)

ST Ciprian Marica (22, VfB Stuttgart, 22/7)

ST

Adreian

Mutu (29, AC Fiorentina, 60/27)

ST Marius Constantin Niculae (27, Inverness Caledonian Thistle, 29/13)

ST Constantin Nicolae Dica (28, FC Steaua Bucuresti, 22/6)

ST Daniel Niculae (25, AJ Auxerre, 21/5)

Romania is clearly the underdog in this group but they shouldn’t be underestimated. Goian, Chivu & Contra form a solid defense. Dica is a very special player in a midfield that lacks offensive prowess.

Adreian

Mutu had quite a good season in Italy again, but Marica was simply terrible in Stuttgart, if I were the coach I’d go with Mutu und D.Niculae as the two starting forwards.

If this wasn’t the DEATH GROUP!!! then I’d say Romania could at least reach the quarter-finals cause they clearly developed some quality players during the last years (which is also indicated on the success at the club level), but with this group I predict that Romania won’t have much success. On the other hand one shouldn’t forget the old saying if three teams quarrel, a fourth rejoices.

France

GK Steve Mandanda (23, Olympique Marseille, 1/0)

GK Sebastien Frey (28, AC Fiorentina, 1/0)

GK Grégory Coupet (35, Olympique Lyon, 29/0)

DF Jean-Alain Boumsong (28, Olympique Lyon, 22/1)

DF Éric Abidal (28, FC Barcelona, 34/0)

DF William Gallas (30, FC Arsenal London, 61/2)

DF Patrice Evra (27, Manchester United, 10/0)

DF Francois Clerc (25, Olympique Lyon, 11/0)

DF Lilian Thuram (36, FC Barcelona, 139/2)

DF Sebastien Squillaci (27, Olympique Lyon, 12/0)

DF Willy Sagnol (31, FC Bayern München, 55/0)

MF Patrick Vieira (31, Inter Milano, 105/6)

MF Claude Makeléle (35, FC Chelsea London, 66/0)

MF Florent Malouda (27, FC Chelsea London, 37/3)

MF Samir Nasri (20, Olympique Marseille, 8/2)

MF Jérémy Toulalan (24, Olympique Lyon, 11/0)

MF Lassana Diarra (23, FC Portsmouth, 13/0)

MF Franck Ribéry (25, FC Bayern München, 25/2)

ST Nicolás Anelka (29, FC Chelsea London, 46/11)

ST Karim Benzema (20, Olympique Lyon, 9/3)

ST Sidney Govou (28, Olympique Lyon, 31/7)

ST Thierry Henry (30, FC Barcelona, 98/44)

ST Bafetimbi Gomis (22, AS Saint-Etienne, 1/2)

France’s coach tries to change from the old to the new generation, but in my opinion he doesn’t try hard enough, leave Anelka, Coupet, Thuram, Makeléle & co. at home (they had their success/chances) and build around the young players like Ribéry, Benzema, Nasri, Flamini & Ben Arfa. How could you not even nominate Hatem Ben Arfa & Mathieu Flamini??? I read somewhere that Benzema & Ben Arfa don’t talk to eachother anymore but who cares? They don’t have to be best friends to win. Ok, enough about the nominations, let’s talk about the squad. Coupet can be considered a weakness just like Jens Lehmann, Frey should be the starter in my eyes. The defenders are hitting their prime right now, but maybe guys like Thuram & Sagnol will have motivational problems, but even then it’s a good D. Midfield has players for defense (Vieira, Makeléle) but also exciting offensive players (Ribéry, Nasri). Upfront you HAVE to play Benzema, he’s a scoring machine, Henry isn’t too shabby either, it should be very dangerous for opponents if these two play. DON’T PLAY ANELKA, he sucks.

As always France has a strong squad and should be considered one of the favourites. I think they lack that central midfield superstar and a good keeper so I guess that they won’t advance past the semi-finals. If they build around their young players, they should have a VERY promising future ahead of them.

Holland

GK Edwin Van Der Sar (37, Manchester United, 124/0)

GK Henk Timmer (36, Feyenoord Rotterdam, 5/0)

GK Maarten Stekelenburg (25, Ajax Amsterdam, 11/0)

DF André Ooijer (33, Blackburn Rovers, 36/2)

DF John Heitinga (24, Ajax Amsterdam, 35/5)

DF Joris Mathijsen (28, Hamburger SV, 31/2)

DF Mario Melchiot (31, Wigan Athletic, 20/0)

DF Wilfred Bouma (29, Aston Villa, 33/2)

DF Tim de Cler (29, Feyenoord Rotterdam, 14/0)

MF Giovanni van Bronckhorst (33, Feyenoord Rotterdam, 77/4)

MF Demy de Zeeuw (25, AZ Alkmaar, 14/0)

MF Orlando Engelaar (28, FC Twente Enschede, 5/0)

MF Wesley Sneijder (23, Real Madrid, 44/8)

MF Arjen Robben (24, Real Madrid, 32/8)

MF Nigel de Jong (23, Hamburger SV, 22/0)

MF Ibrahim Afellay (22, PSV Eindhoven, 4/0)

MF Rafael van der Vaart (25, Hamburger SV, 54/12)

ST Robin van Persie (24, FC Arsenal London, 24/7)

ST Ruud van Nistelrooy (31, Real Madrid, 60/31)

ST Dirk Kuyt (27, FC Liverpool, 37/7)

ST Klaas Jan Huntelaar (24, Ajax Amsterdam, 12/7)

ST Ryan Babel (21, FC Liverpool, 25/5)

ST Jan Vennegoor of Hesselink (29, Celtic Glasgow, 15/3)

Like most years Holland has a crazy talented squad, if they can play to their full potential watch out. Van Der Sar is getting old, but he’s still serviceable. The back four is good, but not very good or great, it’s the weakest part of the team. In the midfield they could either go with defensive minded players like de Jong & Engelaar or they could field a devastating offensive midfield with the creative super players van der Vaart, Sneijder & Robben. They have 6 very good attackers and every combination of them will put fear into their opponents, personally I’d play van Nistelrooy & Huntelaar or Babel-van Nistelrooy-van Persie if van Basten decides to go with three forwards.

Honestly Holland could go all the way IF they find the right balance between offense & defense and if everybody can play at 100% of their potential all the time. It will be hard to advance past group stage though, cause Italy & France know how to defend and that might cause problems for Holland.

Prediction:

1. Italy

2. Holland

3. France

4. Romania

Undoubtedly this is the hardest group in the tournament. Three of the teams have a legit shot at winning the championship and even the fourth isn’t a weak one. My guess is that Italy will qualify for the next round, they have confidence, a superior defense and very good strikers. Romania will finish last cause they don’t have a squad as strong as the other three teams have. Between Holland & France it’s a toss-up, it could go either way, I change my mind on that constantly. Hmm, who will advance France or Holland? Hmmmm. I say………..Holland, just because they’re overdue to play a good tournament and France’s rebuild isn’t quite finished yet.

Quote:

---

Spain

GK Iker Casillas (27, Real Madrid, 75/0)

GK Andrés Palop (34, FC Sevilla, 0/0)

GK Pepe Reina (25, FC Liverpool, 9/0)

DF Raúl Albiol (22, FC Valencia, 4/0)

DF Fernando Navarro (25, RCD Mallorca, 0/0)

DF Carlos Marchena (28, FC Valencia, 40/2)

DF Carlos Puyol (30, FC Barcelona, 59/1)

DF Joan Capdevilla (30, FC Villarreal, 15/1)

DF Sergio Ramos (22, Real Madrid, 31/5)

DF Álvaro Arbeloa (25, FC Liverpool, 1/0)

DF Juanito (31, Real Betis Sevilla, 23/2)

MF Andrés Iniesta (24, FC Barcelona, 22/5)

MF Xavi (28, FC Barcelona, 55/5)

MF Cesc Fàbregas (21, FC Arsenal London, 24/0)

MF Santi Cazorla (23, FC Villarreal, 0/0)

MF Xabi Alonso (26, FC Liverpool, 41/1)

MF Marcos Senna (31, FC Villarreal, 8/1)

MF David Silva (22, FC Valencia, 12/2)

MF Rubén de la Red (23, FC Getafe, 1/0)

ST David Villa (26, FC Valencia, 30/13)

ST Fernando Torres (24, FC Liverpool, 47/15)

ST Sergio Garcia (24, Real Zaragoza, 0/0)

ST Daniel Güiza (27, RCD Mallorca, 2/0)

Many people think that Spain’s defense is superb, but I don’t see it that way, yeah it’s quite good, but not THAT good, in my opinion the reason that Spain doesn’t concede many goals is that they play with only one striker most of the time. The midfield however is superb, Xavi, Cesc, Iniesta, Silva, Alonso, these guys don’t have to hide from anybody, they can mess with the best and pass the test. Torres, Güiza & Villa all had very good seasons but they have to prove that they can score a lot for the national team too.

Theoretically Spain should be one of the favourites, but they always underachieve in the tournaments and I believe that their defensive tactic hurts them. If they played offensive I could see them going to the final, but with their current tactic I guess they’ll lose in the quarter-finals.

Greece

GK Antonios Nikopolidis (36, Olympiakos Piraeus, 86/0)

GK Konstantinos Chalkias (34, Aris Thessaloniki, 15/0)

GK Alexandros Tzorvas (25, ORI Creta, 0/0)

DF Georgios Seitaridis (27, Atlético Madrid, 55/1)

DF Nikolaos Spiropoulos (24, Panathinaikos Athen, 4/0)

DF Traianos Dellas (32, AEK Athen, 41/1)

DF Loukas Vyntra (27, Panathinaikos Athen, 18/0)

DF Vassilios Torosidis (22, Olympiakos Piraeus, 12/0)

DF Sotirios Kyrgiakos (28, Eintracht Frankfurt, 37/4)

DF Giannis Goumas (33, Panathinaikos Athen, 45/0)

DF Paraskevas Antzas (31, Olympiakos Piraeus, 22/0)

MF Christos Patsatzoglou (29, Olympiakos Piraeus, 28/1)

MF Angelos Basinas (32, RCD Mallorca, 87/7)

MF Stylianos Giannakopoulos (33, Bolton Wanderers, 74/12)

MF Georgios Karagounis (31, Panathinaikos Athen, 72/6)

MF Konstantinos Katsouranis (28, SL Benfica, 48/6)

MF Alexandros Tziolis (23, Panathinaikos Athen, 8/0)

ST Georgios Samaras (23, Celtic Glasgow, 17/3)

ST Angelos Charisteas (28, 1.FC Nürnberg, 64/18)

ST Dimitrios Salpingidis (26, Panathinaikos Athen, 19/1)

ST Theofanis Gekas (28, Bayer 04 Leverkusen, 26/6)

ST Ioannis Amanatidis (26, Eintracht Frankfurt, 25/3)

ST Nikos Lyberopoulos (32, AEK Athen, 59/13)

Yeah, yeah Otto Rehhagel doesn’t play “modern” football, who cares, he always gets the most out of his teams. The defense is of the typical Rehhagel kind, tall, strong, tough & experienced, it won’t be easy to score against them. The midfield is full of solid, experienced players but it’s not that good when compared to the other teams. The strikers can score, but they’re not very reliable, it’s the weakest part of the team and will most likely be responsible for the downfall of Greece.

Greece is out to prove that their win four years ago wasn’t a fluke, but in my opinion it was and I don’t see them advancing in this group, they lack creativity and offensive power, King Otto might have an ace up his sleep though.

Sweden

GK Andreas Isaksson (26, Manchester City, 53/0)

GK Rami Shaaban (32, Hammarby IF, 13/0)

GK Johan Wiland (27, IF Elfsborg Boras, 5/0)

DF Mikael Nilsson (29, Panathinaikos Athen, 44/6)

DF Olof Mellberg (30, Aston Villa, 79/4)

DF Petter Hansson (31, FC Stade Rennes, 31/1)

DF Fredrik Stoor (24, Rosenborg BK Trondheim, 4/0)

DF Daniel Majstorovic (31, FC Basel, 12/1)

DF Andreas Grangvist (23, Helsingborg IF, 2/0)

DF Mikael Dorsin (26, CFR Cluj, 10/0)

MF Tobias Linderoth (29, Galatasaray Istanbul, 73/1)

MF Niclas Alexandersson (36, IFK Göteborg, 105/7)

MF Anders Svensson (31, IF Elfsborg Boras, 87/15)

MF Fredrik Ljungberg (31, West Ham United, 70/14)

MF Kim Källström (25, Olympique Lyon, 53/8)

MF Sebastian Larsson (23, Birmingham City, 0/0)

MF Daniel Andersson (30, Malmö FF, 60/1)

MF Christian Wilhelmsson (28, Deportivo La Coruna, 48/4)

ST Zlatan Ibrahimovic (26, Inter Milano, 49/18)

ST Johan Elmander (27, FC Toulouse, 32/11)

ST Henrik Larsson (36, Helsingborg IF, 93/36)

ST Marcus Allbäck (34, FC Kobenhavn, 70/29)

ST Markus Rosenberg (25, SV Werder Bremen, 19/6)

Sweden has the most overrated fans in the world, yeah I said it, they only chant two things “stand up if you’re swedish” (in swedish of course) and “Sveeeeerige, Sveeeerige”, still everybody says that their fans are so great, I say NO! And when I was at one of their games during the last World Cup I didn’t see any blonde big breasted females which they supposedly have. Anyway let’s talk about the team. Sweden’s defense is getting weaker, right now it’s still good, but not like in the old days. Källström, Wilhelmsson, Ljungberg, Linderoth are all good players but not superstars or game changers. Upfront Ibrahimovic is getting better everyday, but the other forwards are above average at best.

Overall Sweden has some good players and they have the advantage that they’ve played together for quite some time, but I don’t see them getting past the quarter-finals, they’re not deep enough and don’t have enough top players.

Russia

GK Igor Akinfeev (22, CSKA Moskva, 18/0)

GK Vladimir Gabulov (24, Dynamo Moskva, 5/0)

GK Vyacheslav Malafeev (29, Zenit St. Petersburg, 15/0)

DF Vasili Berezutski (25, CSKA Moskva, 26/1)

DF Renat Yanbaev (24, Lokomotiv Moskva, 0/0)

DF Sergey Ignashevich (28, CSKA Moskva, 36/3)

DF Aleksey Berezutski (25, CSKA Moskva, 30/0)

DF Denis Kolodin (26, Dynamo Moskva, 11/0)

DF Roman Shirokov (26, Zenit St. Petersburg, 2/0)

DF Aleksandr Anyukov (25, Zenit St. Petersburg, 29/1)

MF Dmitri Torbinski (24, Lokomotiv Moskva, 8/1)

MF Sergey Semak (32, Rubin Kazan, 44/4)

MF Diniyar Bilyaletdinov (23, Lokomotiv Moskva, 20/2)

MF Konstantin Zyryanov (30, Zenit St. Petersburg, 10/1)

MF Yuri Zhirkov (24, CSKA Moskva, 17/0)

MF Igor Semshov (30, Dynamo Moskva, 24/0)

MF Vladimir Bystrov (24, Spartak Moskva, 17/3)

ST Ivan Saenko (24, 1.FC Nürnberg, 6/0)

ST Andrey Arshavin (27, Zenit St. Petersburg, 33/10)

ST Pavel Pogrebnyak (24, Zenit St. Petersburg, 8/3)

ST Roman Pavlyuchenko (26, Spartak Moskva, 14/4)

ST Dmitri Sychev (24, Lokomotiv Moskva, 38/15)

Russia is on the rise, at the club level AND on the national team level, they’re the reason bloody England is not qualified, that alone gets a thumbs-up from me. Akinfeev will be one of the top goalies in the next couple of years. The defenders are not invincible, but they know each other from their home club so they at least have a little advantage. They lack a star in the midfield but they have very solid players there who all know how to play. Arshavin, Pogrebnyak & Sychev are dangerous offensive players and probably the best players on the team.

Russia has good talented players that are in good form at the moment, but because they don’t have a star player that can win a game on his own I don’t see them going into the semi-finals.

Prediction:

1. Spain

2. Russia

3. Sweden

4. Greece

In this group all teams are on a kinda equal level, they all have solid players, but neither team is great or unbeatable. Spain has the most talented squad in this group so I figure that they’ll finish 1st. Greece won’t be underestimated this time and they don’t have the quality to beat one of the other teams (if the other team is playing at 100%). Russia & Sweden both could advance but I’ll go with Russia cause they’re on a high right now, but if Pogrebnyak can’t play because of his injury, then I’ll change my pick for 2nd place to Sweden.

[BigDirty]

Two quite entertaining games today, both could've gone either way.

Switzerland is done now that Frei won't play for the rest of the tournament.

Tomorrow Germany & Croatia will play their first games.

Croatia is already in a lot of headlines, first Petric cries that Germany is too arrogant, then Runje is caught smoking a cigar and now Simunic said that if there is an Austrian that has better technique than him, then they should give him a call and then he said that he has better technique than all austrian players combined.^^

[Murat]

wow Croatia destroyed Germany.

[BigDirty]

[BigDirty]

Holland played ok today.

[Guest]

Quote:

---

Holland played ok today.

Hahaha, they have been playing awesome. They are just running through the group of death with ease. They have definitely been the most exciting team that I have seen so far and I wonder if they can keep this up for the rest of the tournament.

[Lascar78]

OMG We (France) fucking BLEW IT yesterday. I am still sick about it. First we get robbed of a PK, then Henry blows an easy ass chance 1 on 1 against the goalkeeper. This is disgusting.

Now they are saying that they're basically going to lose on purpose next game to knock France and Italy out. That is such BS. I can handle France getting knocked out, but not like that. You play to win the games! Holland should destroy Romania, and let France and Italy play to advance.

[Guest]

Not sure man, that is only a two goal swing and the Dutch won by 3. Seems as if it was handily won even after the two goals you talk about. The one thing I wonder about the Dutch is if they can play in a slower tempo that Romania will bring. I can't stand Romania, such a slow and boring team, its frusterating to watch.

BTW, I like the "Mission Accomplished" picture, perfect for Woodson.

[AHF]

Quote:

---

BTW, I like the "Mission Accomplished" picture, perfect for Woodson.

That is fantastic.

[BigDirty]

Holland HAS to field a B-team against Romania, everything else wouldn't make sense (they already clinched 1st place), they can't risk an injury or a yellow/red card for one of their starters, plus the longer resting period for the A-team might be a nice advantage in the quarter-finals.

Of course I'd laugh my ass off if Romania wins or both games end in a draw (cause France's coach is just an idiot and Italy, well they're dirty filthy arrogant ref-paying cheaters), France & Italy have nobody but themselves to blame, they knew that you had to beat Romania to advance, but both failed miserably, Romania's tactic might be boring but it was very smart.

[Lascar78]

Quote:

---

Not sure man, that is only a two goal swing and the Dutch won by 3. Seems as if it was handily won even after the two goals you talk about.

Yeah but when you're down you have to start taking changes and changing your style. The PK would have made it 1-1, and the Henry chance would have meant that France was up 3-2 after his other goal. That changes the complexion of the game.

Quote:

---

BTW, I like the "Mission Accomplished" picture, perfect for Woodson.

Thanks, I like it too, I think it came out pretty well.

[BigDirty]

DEUTSCHLAAAND, DEUTSCHLAAAND, DEUTSCHLAAAND, DEUTSCHLAAAAAND!

I knew they were going to win, I should've bet more than 50€.

[mdawg]

I'm rooting for the Netherlands and Spain, because they're fun to watch and they have a few Liverpool players, but the Germans really scared me today. They look like they've flipped the switch, and they're always capable of winning a tournament. And they'll get an easier draw in the semis that the Spanish or Dutch.

[BigDirty]

I swear Croatia will NEVER learn, in every tournament after a few good games they play totally arrogant and with only 50% effort. What kind of penalty shots were that??? Turkey has to be the luckiest team in the tournament, always scoring in the last minutes. Lots of firework in my neighbourhood right now.

Perfect result for Germany though.

[BigDirty]

Congrats to Spain, they were simply the better team today. Germany played without any offensive concept, Löw looked like some kind of Woody today. I believe Ballack is cursed, he loses EVERY important final.