Who will win EURO 2008???

[---Z---]

ppl talk about portugal's lack of a top class striker but dont forget Ronaldo is the player who scored the most goals including top scorer in EPL and champions league. he wont get the same freedom he does at man united bu im sure he will come up with a nice goal tally (I predict 5-7 if Portugal go deep) in the euro which will help us out alot in the striking department

[ACBerb]

I could see any of these teams doing it except Greece (don't think they could pull off the repeat), I say Germany, Italy, France... would be my picks, and yes in that order!
:cool:

[Tommy10]

the question is... espania, france or portugal.. who is the euro2008 team:cool:

[SLBCarlos]

semis is going to be germany vs portugal and italy vs france
no doubts about that
then
i think its gona be portugal vs italy

champions - PORTUGAL

[cromagnum]

i like portugal as well the only thing that they are missing as that pure striker that can finish..i would have said croatia had they had eduardo as he is a great finisher..:(

[magalhaes1976]

Well, after seeing the last matches against tough contenders like Italy or Greece, I don't think Portugal can go too far this time. For me even worse than not having a world class striker, is not having a "team". It's just a bunch of skilled players all trying to prove they are better than their partners. Who can get past more defenders, etc... Any solid team will give us a bad time.

It's difficult to choose a probable winner, cause Euro champ. it's like 2 different competitions, if you get thru first phase to the knockout phase, everything resets & bets are off. Anyone can have a bad day or match goes for penalites & there goes a favorite.

but since we have to chose something, I would say Italy (not because they are WC) their defense is allways top class & IMHO it's defense that wins this short competitions.

PS: btw, playing at home is still an very important edge. Maybe not Austria but Switzerland can shock some ppl.

[Tommy10]

friendly vs peru

Casillas

Ramos
Puyol
Marchena
Capdevila

Iniesta (Cazorla 61)
Xabi (Senna 46)
Xavi (Fabregas 46)
Silva (Sergio García 83)

Torres (Güiza 46)
Villa (De la Red 56)

4-4-2 formation, 2-1 win, what can i say more:cool:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vbcHZ1qMsPI
espanaaaaaaaaaa;)

[Tommy10]

raymond domenech aint called djibril cisse:mad:
he thinks that gomis is better:mad:
I HATE THIS COACH:mad:

[Vinceee]

Holland: i love their offense

[Tommy10]

hey magalhaes1976, what you write there,
you think that portugal isn´t good enough, i don´t think so,

cause portugal is for me with espana the strongest team, when we look at
the technique!
cause portugal is for me with espana the storngest team, when we look at
the dribblings!

when i look at portugal´s team list:

Ricardo

Carvalho
Miguel
Pepe
Meira
Ferreira
Bosingwa

Deco
Cristiano Ronaldo
Quaresma
Simão
Nani
Moutinho
Meireles

Nuno Gomes
Hélder Postiga
Almeida

hey magalhaes1976,
sorry but i see only quality, when i look at portugal´s team list,
so why do you think that portugal isn´t a team:confused:i meen damn boy:cool:do you need some glasses?

[Hyuuga Neji]

Contenders:
Spain
Italy
France

Pretenders:
Holland
Germany
Portugal

Possible Surprises:
Russia
Croatia
Romania

[4evermedi]

My answer is Turkey...as they are a true team and highly motivated. Their style of play will add a lot of color to this fantastic tournament. May the best one stand at the end!:)

[Quaresma]

hey magalhaes1976, what you write there,
you think that portugal isn´t good enough, i don´t think so,

cause portugal is for me with espana the strongest team, when we look at
the technique!
cause portugal is for me with espana the storngest team, when we look at
the dribblings!

when i look at portugal´s team list:

Ricardo

Carvalho
Miguel
Pepe
Meira
Ferreira
Bosingwa

Deco
Cristiano Ronaldo
Quaresma
Simão
Nani
Moutinho
Meireles

Nuno Gomes
Hélder Postiga
Almeida

hey magalhaes1976,
sorry but i see only quality, when i look at portugal´s team list,
so why do you think that portugal isn´t a team:confused:i meen damn boy:cool:do you need some glasses?

Because Scolari is making the same mistakes as he did before, and at the start of euro 2004..playing the "experienced" players instead of those better more quality players who should start.

Also, our midfield is fairly weak imho..with no maniche and manuel fernandes..moutinho cant dictate tempo like those two, and isnt as skilled or physical adequate..he gets bullied in semi physical games, like proven vs serbia, poland, even rangers in Europe...the turks, czechs, germans, polish, swiss would eat him alive.

and meireles is simply horrible, it must be said, nowhere near good enough for international level for a team that has serious ambitions to win a tournement.

If this team had euro 2004's portugal midfield, I would be inclined to agree with you though..but petit cant touch costinha, veloso is to inconsistent and young...and moutinho/meireles have nothing on deco and maniche..plus theres no supersub playmaker in the form of Rui Costa anymore..although i guess if push comes to shove Ronaldo/nani can be forced to play in a central free role if we need to bring another attacking option on.

[magalhaes1976]

hey magalhaes1976, what you write there,
you think that portugal isn´t good enough, i don´t think so,

cause portugal is for me with espana the strongest team, when we look at
the technique!
cause portugal is for me with espana the storngest team, when we look at
the dribblings!

when i look at portugal´s team list:

Ricardo

Carvalho
Miguel
Pepe
Meira
Ferreira
Bosingwa

Deco
Cristiano Ronaldo
Quaresma
Simão
Nani
Moutinho
Meireles

Nuno Gomes
Hélder Postiga
Almeida

hey magalhaes1976,
sorry but i see only quality, when i look at portugal´s team list,
so why do you think that portugal isn´t a team:confused:i meen damn boy:cool:do you need some glasses?

Like I said... if you look at names on the paper... sure, they all look good, known players mix with some younger ones. Problem is, names alone don't win games & we are talking about a team that after 2 years & lots of qualifying games failed at providing a good game/team, (we didnt even won any of the games against the top 4 of our grp.). You know a team? where the sum is bigger than the individual parts.

We don't have a leader like Figo anymore, nobody respects Nuno Gomes after his last poor seasons, everyone is worried about new contracts (just look at recent Real Madrid news on Ronaldo) & one more time, we are going to depend on the creativity of individual players, which IMHO is not good enough to win a competition like this.

Worth mentioning is the fact that our midfielders are very short (they have good technique) but against teams that press us there, we have lot's of problems. Maniche was our top golascorer in the last competitions & he's not around anymore.

I'm not saying that we are "crap" & I know, almost everyone would like to have Ronaldo or Quaresma, but the fact is, we don't have a "team" like I was used to see in our "golden generation", those guys could play with blindfolds as they were playing together since youth championships.

PS: I don't need glasses, this is not about individual quality... name of the game is overall team & we suck at that (at least for now)... just look at Greece in 2004. :D

[magalhaes1976]

although i guess if push comes to shove Ronaldo/nani can be forced to play in a central free role if we need to bring another attacking option on.

I would bet more on Simao for that role. Ronaldo as forward, then a line with Quaresma left, Simao middle & Nani right, all switching sides.

I remember when we played with Sá Pinto & João Pinto as forwards (neither one of them was a striker) & we scored loads of goals. IMHO We don't require lone strikers camping opponents area the whole game without receiving balls.

[crazycarl16]

I'll pick an underdog...Turkey.

[Tommy10]

MY PREDICTION, WHO WILL REACH THE QUARTAL FINALS?!?

GROUP A:
portugal&turkey
WHY, CAUSE:
portugal is portugal, i saw some turkey games in the turkish locally,
turkey didn´t play well at the qualifying round and i know turkey can do better,
i believe in turkey, cause turkey can play really fantastic football if turkey want!

GROUP B:
croatia, germany or austria
WHY, CAUSE:
croatia is croatia, germany didn´t reach the quartal finals since 2000,
but if germany comes in the game, than germany wins the tournament,
and austria, what can i say, at home, the fans, everyone is for austria,
this is a verry verry dangerous group!

GROUP C:
france, romania or italy
WHY, CAUSE:
france is france, romania played a great qualify round
and finished 1st in the group g, adrian mutu is in great form this season,
one thing i can´t anderstand, this are the stupid betting office´s ,
cause they give on holland 1,50 and romania 4,40 to reach the quartal finals,
but romania finished first with holland in the same group,
and italy, the world cup winner with much moral, i will miss francesco totti,
this is a verry dangerous group!

GROUP D:
espana, russia or sweden
WHY, CAUSE:
espana is espana, russia have really a verry strong team,
with some really special players, i will miss marat izmailov,
and sweden, what can i say, zlatan ibrahimovic the master of the ball control,
i think that´s enough!

[Tommy10]

Like I said... if you look at names on the paper... sure, they all look good, known players mix with some younger ones. Problem is, names alone don't win games & we are talking about a team that after 2 years & lots of qualifying games failed at providing a good game/team, (we didnt even won any of the games against the top 4 of our grp.). You know a team? where the sum is bigger than the individual parts.

We don't have a leader like Figo anymore, nobody respects Nuno Gomes after his last poor seasons, everyone is worried about new contracts (just look at recent Real Madrid news on Ronaldo) & one more time, we are going to depend on the creativity of individual players, which IMHO is not good enough to win a competition like this.

Worth mentioning is the fact that our midfielders are very short (they have good technique) but against teams that press us there, we have lot's of problems. Maniche was our top golascorer in the last competitions & he's not around anymore.

I'm not saying that we are "crap" & I know, almost everyone would like to have Ronaldo or Quaresma, but the fact is, we don't have a "team" like I was used to see in our "golden generation", those guys could play with blindfolds as they were playing together since youth championships.

PS: I don't need glasses, this is not about individual quality... name of the game is overall team & we suck at that (at least for now)... just look at Greece in 2004. :D

we have the same problems here in espana...
we have the best players, but we never win the title..
what can i say, please tell me what can i say, come on tell me.
(euro2004, greece was so lucky, portugal should be the deserved winner)

ONE THING I CAN SAY, AND THIS IS:

we always play attractive offensive football, we play for the fans,
we make the moves, the dribblings & and this is what the people want see,
ok ok, i must stay true, portugal&espana aint won many titles, but the way we play,
i meen damn, noone can play it more attractivelly,
please tell me who can play more attractivelly than espana&portugal,
i have now only one idea and this could be brazil!

[Marbur66]

euro2004, greece was so lucky, portugal should be the deserved winner

HA! What does that mean anyway? "Deserved winner?" Please..... Greece won, they are the champions, end of discussion.

[glennaldo_sf]

(euro2004, greece was so lucky, portugal should be the deserved winner)

While I don't think the Greeks are amonst the favorites this time and they certainly didn't win any awards for entertainment 4 years ago... this is bollocks!

If I'm not mistaken, Greece beat Portugal in their own back yard not once... but TWICE!!! The opening game + final game. Plus they knocked out the holders France + Czech Republic - the tournaments most dynamic team. So really can't say that Greece didn't deserve it I'm afraid.