| Euro 2008
the tournament kicks off tomorrow, time for some predictions!
Austria - can't see them getting too far. although the hosts usually do better than expected, with Germany and Croatia in their group, i doubt they have much chance of making it to the next stage.
Switzerland - same as Austria, can't see them making it out of the group stage.
Poland - can be quite a solid in defence, but lack a dynamic edge that will see them missing out.
Portugal - probably be easy winners of Group A, but won't make it as far as the final. if they get to the semis, they'll crash out to Germany.
Italy - could make it all the way to the final, but probably won't do it this time. probably semi-finalists.
France - might struggle to beat Holland to the runner-up place of Group C, and then struggle to beat Spain in a quarter-final, if they're lucky. without Zidane, they would have got nowhere in 2006. hampered by a lack of true quality in the squad, and by having a nutter as the coach.
Greece - kinda fluked it in 2004, with a bit of luck they might make Group-D runners-up in 2008. won't achieve much past that though.
Turkey - could surprise a few people in the group stage. will give a good account of themselves, but won't make it to the last eight
Czech Republic - runners up in Group A, victims of German dominance in the quarter-final.
Germany - possible winners. almost guaranteed to get to the final.
Croatia - group B runners up, may get to a semi-final too, with a bit of graft. a fair bit of quality in the squad, and will probably be the side with the most names mispronounced by ITV commentary teams.
Russia - a side that has a good chance of surprising people with the level they can achieve. for many years a dark horse in international football, as the Sovyet government wasn't usually open to high profile transfers to Europe's top clubs, and hence their best players were largely unknown in the west. with the fall of the Communist Party came a drop in funding, but with so many Russian oil tycoons currently around to bankroll the top teams in Russia, talent doesn't go unexploited.
Spain - i've heard 'could be Spain's year' for about ten years. perennial under-achievers, probably quarter-finalists at the best
Sweden - Henrik Larsson is back again! as long as he's match fit, Sweden could do some damage in a group where runner-up is likely to be a tightly contested place. he's an excellent player, and did most of the work in 2006. hopefully Ibrahimovic will do more than he did in the world cup though, which was absolutely sweet-FA. if he's not feeling too lazy, he could be a deciding factor. aye, you may be able to guess which team i'm supporting ;)
Romania - the 'group of death' won't be kind to them.
Netherlands - not as good as they once were. won't make it to the final, but may not even make it out of the group stage.
come on then, let's hear your predictions/thoughts/ramblings! |