[German Ham]

Kinda new to this forum (joined last year but haven't visited in a while) so not sure if this is the right forum for this, so my apologies if it's not. And I know it's REALLY early for this, but hell, it's just for fun

I'm anticipating either Portugal or Germany to win this tournament. Germany has continued their exciting and effective play from the World Cup in qualifying from what I've seen so far, and their talent level seems to be much higher than most anticipated it was going into WC2006. Portugal...I dunno, they just seem to have "it" and I can definetly picture them going all the way. England has a good shot too if they can ever pull themselves together and play like they should. Soooo much talent there.

The two WC finalists, Italy and France, I don't see winning it. Italy will be too old (I think WC2006 was their last great hurrah) and France won't have the same chemistry as they did last year which a lot of it was from Zidane.


Obviously tons can and will change by next year with these teams and stuff, but like I said this is just for fun. Your thoughts?

[jpick]

well considering that it is only a year away, i am not as concerned with the age factor as much for italy.
they will still line up something like this

buffon
oddo--canna--nesta/matrix---zambrotta
gattuso---pirlo---de rossi
totti----quagliarella
toni

yes, the back line is getting up there (really the middle pair), but france played with thuram back there and did great in the world cup, and cannavaro will be as old as he was at the world cup, and he always plays great for the azzurri

i am worried about from an azzurri fan's perspective
a) if they can qualify, they are now solo second, but barely, and they have a tough group
b) chemistry, if totti comes back (almost certain he will, as donadoni seems to want him and platini and abete have spoke about suspension if he refused a call) will that make other people on the squad a little tense, as they might feel he got preferential treatment
c) donadoni's inexperience, pretty self-explanatory

those reasons make it to where i think italy, at this moment, though they can put a very good team together on paper, are not the favorites. they have some questions marks. france has more talent than people give them credit for, but they are definitely going through a transition period, and england might not even qualify, and well, if they do, we all know the story .
so yes, germany would be as good a bet as any, but portugal, though i am not as high on them as you are (though i am sure the portugal members on this board might eat me alive for that), are definitely a talented team. I put them in the second tier with the other giants.
plus what about holland, will they integrate ruud (I would say seedorf also, but i doubt he will be re-intergrated, plus johan neeskens will flip her lid if she found out i was putting milan people ahead of other, younger people from lesser known leagues ) and some of that good young talent from the back-to-back u21 euros on their squad well?, who knows. plus, i don't have much trust in van basten.

so, yes, by process of elimination, the favorites a year on from the tournament are germany, but if france is on form and is fit, netherlands/portugal look good or totti is integrated back into the fold and italy starts to hit form, then I put those teams above germany.

then again, what do i know
cheers

[SportBoy333]

I expect Spain to win it should they qualify.

[jpick]

Originally Posted by SportBoy333

I expect Spain to win it should they qualify.

any reason why, just curious?

[SportBoy333]

Based on talent alone they are always a threat to win a major tournament and one of these days they will eventually. Droughts, curses, etc. dont last forever.

[Karloski]

Originally Posted by SportBoy333

I expect Spain to win it should they qualify.

Good one...Haha!!

Spain have got about as good a chance of winning it as..well...England. Which is about 1 in a million. I guess miracles do happen however.

[Vinnievin]

Originally Posted by Karloski

Good one...Haha!!

Spain have got about as good a chance of winning it as..well...England. Which is about 1 in a million. I guess miracles do happen however.

ever read Terry Pratchett?

[ECMoney]

Originally Posted by German Ham

Kinda new to this forum (joined last year but haven't visited in a while) so not sure if this is the right forum for this, so my apologies if it's not. And I know it's REALLY early for this, but hell, it's just for fun

I'm anticipating either Portugal or Germany to win this tournament. Germany has continued their exciting and effective play from the World Cup in qualifying from what I've seen so far, and their talent level seems to be much higher than most anticipated it was going into WC2006. Portugal...I dunno, they just seem to have "it" and I can definetly picture them going all the way. England has a good shot too if they can ever pull themselves together and play like they should. Soooo much talent there.

The two WC finalists, Italy and France, I don't see winning it. Italy will be too old (I think WC2006 was their last great hurrah) and France won't have the same chemistry as they did last year which a lot of it was from Zidane.


Obviously tons can and will change by next year with these teams and stuff, but like I said this is just for fun. Your thoughts?

Don't worry about Italy, they have so many talented players from age 21-25 who can step in and you will see it slowly over the next year or two as Quagliarella and Chiellini are two for example that will be regulars by Euro2008 and are fairly young.

[German Ham]

Originally Posted by ECMoney

Don't worry about Italy, they have so many talented players from age 21-25 who can step in and you will see it slowly over the next year or two as Quagliarella and Chiellini are two for example that will be regulars by Euro2008 and are fairly young.

I'm less worried about Italy than I am about France. I could see the French losing in the first knockout round or earlier, while I picture Italy in the semi-finals or possibly the finals if things break right.

I do think, however, that by next year Germany will be the best team in Europe, followed closely by Portugal and Italy.


Also, for anyone who knows...how are the Czechs looking for their Euro 2008 prospects? I mean I know they're second in their group and will likely qualify, but do they have a legit shot? The last time I really read about them in depth was in the World Cup last year (being ranked #2 by FIFA) and people were talking about how that or maybe Euro 08 would be the Czech's last hurrah due to a bunch of their stars retiring. Have they restocked talent sufficiently?

[benficafan3]

Spain I just don't count anymore.

France have lost their nucleus of players, although they do have the likes of Nasri rising, but I don't think they will be on par with other countries, only because they've lost so much leadership/talent.

Germany have been very convincing since the World Cup, but we saw how they've done at their last two Euros....

Portugal have plenty of talent coming up, and have been pretty good in qualifying. If they get a firm starting 11, they'll be pretty difficult to beat.

Italy have been alright in qualifying, but as has been previously mentioned, they have plenty of young talent such as Aquillani, Rossi, Rosina, Fabio Q, etc.

Why the lack of support for the Dutch in this thread? They are looked over much too often, and I would bet on them to go as far as the final, if they only had a better coach.

The current champions? They've used all the luck the gods could give them. I doubt they'll make it past the group stage. Their win in 04 was huge, but they did surpass Spain in qualifying, so we expected something extra from them, anyways.