They are typical teams that can win something but are not favorites. Just because of 2008 and 2010 when they were both bad and really bad. It would be a big surprise if one of them would suddenly blow our minds and win this thing after the last two bad tournaments. Everything is possible though...
Italy didnt really have a bad 2008 though if you're refering to them. One bad game vs Holland, and let's be honest RVN's goal although deemed good by the letter of the law was farcical at best. Give Italy or any good team a goal in that manner and I'm sure the result could be reversed quite easily. Toni had a valid goal disallowed vs Romania when the scores were locked at 0-0, another game changing decision, at 1-0 up, Italy more than likely go on to win that game. We were outplayed by the eventual champions Spain but still only lost on penalties without our most creative play maker in Pirlo and defensive midfield general stopper in Gattuso. I'll say it again in 2010 that was not the real Italy at all considering Rossi, Cassano, Balotelli and more were not even included in the squad. It was a crap squad selected by a manager still living in 2006. France - Well after finishing last { or thereabouts } in 2002 topped their group at the 2004 Euro's and almost won the world cup 2 years after that. Things can change drastically in the space of 2 years. England - Robbed in the 2010 world cup vs germany again a critical game changing non-call with Lampards goal not given. From 2-0 down at 2-2 England would have had all the momentum and Germany crushed at coughing up a two goal lead I feel the english go on to win the clash and set up a semi final birth vs the Spaniards. Basically what I'm saying is these teams aren't as bad as what they're made out to be. France have the quality imo and had an impressive win vs Germany in Germany not long ago. Nasri, Benzema, Ribery are very creative players and will no doubt cause havoc in their group and should do beyond. Peace.
This is easily the weakest squad Portugal has sent to a tournament in many years, its pretty shit to be honest with you outside of the starting 11.
The squad is weak but this is the strongest starting XI since 2006 (mainly due to many players maturing into better players).
Italy also got outplayed by Romania so that would also have to rate as a bad game. I mean, its Romania ffs!
While I agree it has a far stronger XI than in 2010....Carvalho and Deco were still world class in 2008..Bosingwa was also far better than Joao Periera at that time. I'd give a slight edge to the 2008 squad.
You obviously didn't watch the game because it was the other way around Italy played Romania off the park but couldn't finish their chances. Go check the match stats.
I fancy Poland can make a run at this being home and there 3 players at Dortmund have been in terrific form..They are my dark horse to win it all..Germany though i believe will win it..They have come close to winning the world cup and euros and they have some outstanding young players coming..Germany is long overdue to win a major title..
Shots were 12-7 for Romania, and on tatget was 8-4 Romania. Then of course there was the missed penalty by Romania. http://soccernet.espn.go.com/report?id=232268&cc=5901
Actually what would surprise me is if doesn't happen. I mean if you look at the last two cups Spain, Germany and Holland have been the big stars while France, Italy and England disappointed. Now you tell me you are expecting this to happen three times in a row ? That's not very likely, football's hierarchy changes all the time and it does during big competitions, what happens during the two years in between is meaningless. Basically i'm saying it would be totally expected if teams like France and Italy win the whole thing and Spain and Holland fail miserably (i'm even putting Spain near the bottom in my winning odds). And there's nothing wrong with that ! how boring that would be if we always saw the same three teams in the quarters !
sides of the last few years were not built up sensibly over the seasons like these 3 sides have been. holland always get a good crop every 5-10 years, so this is their 2-6 year spell. it might crash but the player quality says it wont yet. germany and spain have been adding over the last few years and it would be shock if they have both peaked and are on their way down. winners of the past inlcude italy, (totally unexpected), greece, brazil, an exceptional france who won 2 tournies virtually both on home soil ( sorry belgium), comparing spain and germany to these is silly because its a different situation all together. maybe you can compare germany to france and the clairefontaine lot, but the french lot really came out of nowherer ( semis of euro 96 wasnt really a reflection of the new france imo), whereas germany has been agonisingly close (for germans at least) on 3 consecutive occasions before this tournie. chances of an overhaul are slim. but if you think there will be , there is plenty of value to be had at longer bets, could be a lucrative summer if your sure you know something others dont.
England, England, England. Any answer other than England is incorrect. The golden generation are gonna stroll to the title, mark my words.
well its not like you made it very secret. they are the same posts, just with germany replaced with england. same grammer, same abreviations, same capitals and paragraphing. havent bothered checking for repetition of words, but it wouldnt take long to find them.
Maybe you should find out more secret things about the Euro rather than about a wrong comparison. But god bless you anway
nice try. have you set the date for cutting your dick off yet , or is it still hanging in the air, so to speak?
I agree with all of that but i don't really see how it helps your point. As you say most of the recent wins have been unexpected, so that should mean that we will likely to see some overhaul, as you put it, this summer. It's not like you have to be good for a long period of time to hope for a good tournament. The "magic" you need to get a title comes during the tournament itself, you give too much importance to recent results (like the FIFA rankings). As for myself, i look at the big history which shows that Germany usually does bad against Italy, Spain nevers wins against France when it matters, and Germany+Spain won about the same number of titles as Italy+France. You also praise Germany's consitency and that's all good, but that doesn't make them more likely to win anything (though i still put them as the most probable winners, but not by much). Italy and France usually come out of nowhere, but that works because when they do they advance very far ! They have won 3 major titles recently while Germany, though constantly good, could not achieve one. And no i don't bet. No matter which side you pick, chances are you're gonna lose money. But if i really had to bet, i'd certainly take France and Italy over Spain, for example.
I think France will go far this time. Last France defeat was in September 2010, then they played 18 consecutive matchs without any defeat even if they had a lot of draw. In friendly , sometimes against B-team they beat Germany in Germany , England in England, Brazil in France. I think Spain will disappoint, they still have fantastic players, but it's really hard to keep enough motivation to win 3 consecutive cup. Some players are tired like Xavi, others wounded like puyol. They loose all their friendlies match against big guns , for me that mean that they lack motivation. But if I'm wrong and they win it they will become maybe the best national soccer team in european history. Germany will go far and is favorite for me. Others I don't know
I was wrong on the shots then, but shots and possession don't always tell the true story. And as I said, we had a goal wrongly disallowed when the scores were 0-0. Italy were the better side on that day and for you to tell me they got outplayed was a joke.