Who will win euro 2012?

Discussion in 'Euro 2012' started by Fabio Grosso 2006, Dec 7, 2011.

  1. Fabio Grosso 2006

    Fabio Grosso 2006 BigSoccer Yellow Card

    Sep 2, 2009
    Club:
    AC Milan
    If i had to select one team, I'd say Germany. Italy as a dark horse although they shouldnt be on history and current form is good, last year lippi didnt bring any of rossi, cassano, balotelli, completely wrong squad selection. I also think England can do well I expect them to top group D and probably make the semi finals.


    Germany is my tip. Holland a close second. Italy as the dark horse.
     
  2. BocaFan

    BocaFan Member+

    Aug 18, 2003
    Queens, NY
    Are there any spreadsheets available for download where we can enter our predictions? Ideally one linked to facebook?
     
  3. Nedved11

    Nedved11 New Member

    Dec 4, 2011
    Club:
    Liverpool FC
    I think Germany will win it. They have a world class midfield at this stage and strength in depth. Even Reus and Gotze will probably be on the bench but what subs to bring on. The quality they have in Schweinsteiger, Ozil, Khedira and Muller will be hard to stop.

    For me Russia are the dark horses. Easy group for them to start out with. Arshavin will be inspirational.
     
  4. rusrocket

    rusrocket Member

    Oct 19, 2011
    Club:
    Spartak Moskva
    Go Russia Go:)
    But realistically, Spain with Germany being a very close 2nd
     
  5. goliath74

    goliath74 Member

    May 24, 2006
    Hollywood, FL, United States
    Club:
    FC Dynamo Kyiv
    Nat'l Team:
    Ukraine
    Germany impress me greatly in the last couple of years, so I pick them to be main favorites. Spain are the other co-favorite to win. France is a dark horse to surprise people with their youth movement (as long as it does not turn into a bowel movement).
     
  6. wiz0rd

    wiz0rd Member

    Sep 5, 2009
    Moscow
    Club:
    CSKA Moskva
    Nat'l Team:
    Russia
    my predictions:

    Group A

    1. Poland
    2. Russia

    Group B

    1. Holland
    2. Germany

    Group C

    1. Italy
    2. Croatia

    Group D

    1. France
    2. Ukraine

    QF:

    Russia vs Netherlands - Russia
    Germany vs Poland - Germany
    Italy vs Ukraine - Italy
    France vs Croatia - France

    Semi finals:

    Germany vs Russia - Germany
    Italy vs France - Italy

    Finals:

    Germany vs Italy - Germany
     
  7. Sian

    Sian Member

    Dec 4, 2011
    prime contenders in my book would be Spain or Germany ... theres not really anyone standing out together with them in terms of strength and stability right now (although of cause that could change in the spring)
     
  8. mfw13

    mfw13 Member+

    Jul 19, 2003
    Seattle
    Club:
    Newcastle United FC
    Well, I think most people would be pretty shocked if Spain or Germany didn't win it.

    But if there is one lesson to be learned from the past, it's that anything can happen in the knockout rounds.

    To start with, the use of PK's to decide matches after 120 minutes means that underdogs can, and do, play for a draw and hope to win on PK's.

    WC 2010 had one QF decided on PK's.
    WC 2006 had two QF's and the final decided on PK's.
    WC 2002 had one QF decided on PK's
    WC 1998 had one QF and one SF decided on PK's.
    Euro 2008 had two QF's decided on PK's
    Euro 2004 had two QF's decided on PK's
    Euro 2000 had one SF decided on PK's
    Euro 1996 had two QF's and two SF's decided on PK's (i.e. 4 out of 7 knockout matches)

    Then add in the human factor, i.e. controversial and match altering decisions by referees.

    WC 1998: Germany-Croatia QF - decision to send off Cristian Worns in the 40th minute leads to a shocking 3-0 victory for Croatia
    Euro 2000: France-Portugal SF - controversial PK awarded to France for handball by Abel Xavier in extra time
    WC 2002: Italy-S.Korea R16 - decision to send off Totti for diving in extra time leads to South Korea's upset victory
    WC 2002: Spain-S.Korea QF - winning goal for Spain ruled out in extra time (if memory serves me correctly) because ball judged to have gone over end line
    WC 2002: USA-Germany QF - Torsten Frings controversially adjudged not to have handled on the line..had he been red carded and PK awarded, match almost certainly would have swung in the USA's favor
    WC 2006: Australia-Italy R16 - Italy awarded questionable PK in 2nd half stoppage time

    And I'm sure there are other's that I've forgotten...

    Point being....there are a lot of things that can derail the favorites in a tournament that features knockout stages...
     
  9. DRB300

    DRB300 Member+

    Sep 21, 2007
    Nat'l Team:
    Netherlands
    Yeah penalty kicks are always overlooked for some reason. "You can't train on them", "It's luck". You always get those answers. English supporters are famous to point at them and then wave the hands in the air, like that has nothing to do with football. We didn't advance because of penalty's, not because we were beaten and that's that.

    There is one team that rivaled England at sucking with penalty's. I believe that after the Euro 2000 drama where the Dutch went out on penalty's missing 5 there is one thing we started to do in Holland. Push or encourage the NT players to take them at the club they play. That's how you can recreate the tension, feeling of responsibility and the stress that blurs the vision and makes players less accurate or even weak.

    VDV takes the penalty's at Spurs, RVP for Arsenal, Robben for Bayern, Kuyt for Liverpool (now Gerrard is always injured), Huntelaar for Schalke. You have always to deal with teammates that maybe are better, but when they can they will step up and take that responsibility for their club.

    That's how you further optimize the chance of advancing for national teams. FA's encouraging their players to take the penalty's for the club they play for. It remains always a question if the ball will go in (RVP mist a penalty for Holland in a friendly against Uruguay last year), but it's about working percentages here. It just makes sense that if you have a team full of penalty takers for club, that you will do better than when they wouldn't have that experience. Outside those five guys Netherlands have more good takers. Maybe not the nr 1 at their club, but right behind them.

    When we face this fate once again in 2012, I am confident we can beat every team in penalty's.
     
  10. californiabloke

    Jan 16, 2010
    Early predictions for the knock-out stage, that shall be changed in 6 months of course:


    (A) CZE (bb) NED
    (C) ITA (dd) ENG
    (B) GER (aa) RUS
    (D) FRA (cc) ESP

    (bb) NED (C) ITA
    (B) GER (cc) ESP

    (bb) NED (cc) ESP

    A rematch of the 2010 WC final for the Euro 2012 final........Both co-hosts too weak to reach QFs..... European powerhouses to dominate, ala WC 2006.

    First group runners-ups to face each other in the final since Euro 1992.
     
  11. Excape Goat

    Excape Goat Member+

    Mar 18, 1999
    Club:
    Real Madrid
    If penalty shootout is a main concern, I will pick Germany to win this tournament and the next one and the one that follows...... :)
     
  12. bigddave

    bigddave New Member

    Dec 11, 2011
    Club:
    FC Tokyo
  13. jayv

    jayv New Member

    Dec 17, 2011
    Club:
    NAC Breda
    It will be tough for Holland to win the tournament: Germany is just too strong. In Hamburg the German team wiped away Holland. I was there as a supporter of the Dutch team and it was quite disappointing. The Germans wil most likely finish first in group B. If the Dutch team finishes second then they will have to beat probably Spain in the semifinals and Germany in the finals. Personally I think Germany will be too strong for Spain too. Hope I'm wrong and Oranje will be the champiion just like in 1988! As a dark horse I tip France. England will probably screw things up somewhere in the tournament.
     
  14. mattplant

    mattplant Member

    Jan 2, 2012
    Club:
    Liverpool FC
    I would like to see Netherlands claiming a medal, hopefully Robben will be able to play. I also hope that Poland plays a couple of good matches, however I'm not expecting miracles.
     
  15. lost

    lost Member

    May 24, 2006
    England
    germany keep improving but spain are on another level altogether. the gulf in class and quality that saw spain breeze past germany in the last 2 tournaments is still obvious. holland, england, italy or france will be in the final v spain. holland are the best of thes currently, but italy seem to have got some edge back and have a lot of pride to play for, france have the players to do well and a manager who looks pretty good. england suck.
     
  16. Boandlkramer

    Boandlkramer Member+

    Apr 9, 2009
    Samma Weltmeister!
    Club:
    FC Bayern München
    Nat'l Team:
    Germany
    Breeze? Weren't they both 'lucky' goals? I mean a 1:0 isn't exactly a dominating win...especially when most of the game is 'pass & hold".

    Suffice to say I don't agree with your assessment.

    BTW Germany FTMFW!
     
  17. BocaFan

    BocaFan Member+

    Aug 18, 2003
    Queens, NY
    Even though the score was only 1-nil, Spain pretty much cruised to victory in that Euro 2008 final because they scored fairly early and Germany never looked likely to score even once, much less twice. WC 2010 was different of course, but still can't be classified as anything even remotely lucky about Spain's win.

    I also think Spain will be stronger in Euro 2012 with Silva & Cesc seeing more action instead of Pedro and Torres.
     
  18. d3rd3vil

    d3rd3vil Member

    Jan 3, 2012
    Nat'l Team:
    Germany
    Well no. Spain is getting worse and that's for sure. They've won 2008 and 2010. Many players will see that as everything which is true of course :D

    And Spain was only really good in 2010 against Germany and the Netherlands. Think about the game against Paraguay, damn the penalty would've kicked them out for good....

    Then a big loss against Argentina (1:4) and a loss against England recently (0:1).

    I'm sure in the important games Spain will be tough to beat, as always. But this time they won't win the uefa euro 2012 I guarantee that ^^

    And btw. Torres was not important in 2010 already....

    And you have to be fair to all the other countries: why should Spain win 3 times in a row???? To be European and World champion is the best you can be! Now let it be....
     
  19. lost

    lost Member

    May 24, 2006
    England
    if silva adds the kind of quality he is giving in the premiership, and add fabregas, that midfield and attack is just completely unstoppable. whichever team you are managing , you can only talk in terms of damage limitation as a tactic. you wont stop them and you wont outscore them, unless it is a completely off day for them, or a not particularly meaningfull fixture.

    - edit. ok, other than goals from the center forward. they look possibly a bit ********ed in this department at the moment.
     
  20. d3rd3vil

    d3rd3vil Member

    Jan 3, 2012
    Nat'l Team:
    Germany
    Yes Spain is unbeatable, was and will ever be and in 2022 they will be World Champion for the fourth time in a row cause they are unbeatable :rolleyes:

    Keep dreaming ^^. Switzerland stopped Spain in 2010 and the penalty from Paraguay would've stopped them for good. They are absolutely beatable, outscorable and stoppable! And they will be stopped in 2012 I guarantee that!
     
  21. RobTheFool

    RobTheFool Member+

    Apr 19, 2008
    London, England
    Club:
    Chelsea FC
    Nat'l Team:
    England
    Yes they are a very very good team, but by no means are they unbeatable - England, Argentina, Portugal, Italy, Switzerland etc have all shown that.

    The problem that Spain has is that they don't have many goalscorers in their team. David Villa is out of form (also injured and might miss the tournament all together) Torres is out of form, and they don't really have another prolific striker. Xavi, Iniesta, Busquets do not score many goals, and neither does Silva really.

    They also just lack a player like Messi to bring them to the almost unbeatable level of Barcelona, someone who can create chances when they are playing a bit off - in our recent win against them Spain just played the ball in front of us so much, it was a good defensive performance from us, but they didn't really create much.
     
  22. BocaFan

    BocaFan Member+

    Aug 18, 2003
    Queens, NY
    The 2 bolded statements are interesting and actually support my point which you tried to refute. Namely, Spain will be better cuz they don't need to rely on Torres so much.

    You say Torres wasn't important in the WC, but fact is he started almost every game for Spain. So he was hurting the team by taking up a spot which Cesc or Silva could've been filling instead (and which they will fill in 2012 if Torres doesn't find his form soon).

    And of course the 2 matches you say Spain played well in were the ones Torres did not start. :cool:

    Well Soldado is having a very good season. And Cesc can play the 'false 9' role, so scoring shouldn't be a big problem. Their main issues are defending set pieces and lack of squad depth. In 2008, they could've suffered injuries to 2 or 3 top players and it wouldn't have made them much weaker at all. That is no longer the case unless Torres and Villa can get their shit together.
     
  23. d3rd3vil

    d3rd3vil Member

    Jan 3, 2012
    Nat'l Team:
    Germany
    Well no, fact of the matter is I don't remember when Torres played but he wasn't important. By that I mean the team won't improve during the Euro 2012 cause they are already at their limit also cause they are satisfied ^^

    I remember that Torres didn't play in the important matches against Germany and the Netherlands. And these were Spains best games. So the Torres time is over anyways.

    But with or without Torres they won't win in 2012! 3 times in a row is not possible:cool:
     
  24. Boandlkramer

    Boandlkramer Member+

    Apr 9, 2009
    Samma Weltmeister!
    Club:
    FC Bayern München
    Nat'l Team:
    Germany
    Torrez scored the winning goal in '08 no? Had he not, it would have gone to penalties no?
     
  25. BocaFan

    BocaFan Member+

    Aug 18, 2003
    Queens, NY
    Well I was talking about WC 2010 where Torres was pretty bad.

    Not everything needs to be analyzed to death here. Replacing an ineffective and semi-injured Torres with a red-hot Cesc or Silva should make Spain more dangerous.
     

Share This Page