I read some comments earlier made by fomer France captain Michel Platini, and he affirms that this time around, the Azzurri will cover themselves in glory, with talismanic AS Roma attacking midfielder Francesco Totti consolidating his place as the best player in contemporary world football. The current Italy side are certainly very strong in attack as well as midfield, but for me, France will prove that what happened in Korea/Japan 2002 was purely aberrational. When assessing the French squad's overall strength, one interjection springs to mind: WOW!!! Jacques Santini has been a resounding success ever since assuming the manager's position two years ago. If only the Federation Francaise de Football were willing to reward him with a contract extention... Now that Santini has moved on to the Tottenham hotseat, the available candidates for the position are the likes of Didier Deschamps, Philippe Troussier, and Jean Tigana. My dream coach for the French national side would be Arsene Wenger. I feel that if he were in charge of Les Bleus, they would be virtually unbeatable. But I'm afraid that my fantasy may never become reality as Wenger has committed himself to the Gunners for the forseeable future. He is a workaholic and it is likely he would be bored out of his mind if denied the everyday contact that accompanies the manager's role at a club side.
I'd be more interested in seeing an informed ranking of the top ten "most likely to win". When it comes to the actual winner it can sometimes be a bit of a lottery among the top teams, depending on the drawing structure, injuries sustained, and breaks of the game (rub of the green, if you like), especially diabolical officiating decisions which impinge ever more detrimentally on the game these days, partly due to the rules like offside being so clouded at present. Based on the female represenatives of each side.... http://www.football365.com/euro_2004/miss_euro_2004/index.shtml I would vote for Czech Republic. As it is, I think CR are a dark horse side, but I would think France, England, Italy, or Spain are 4 of the hottest shots to win the actual competition. Hardly an earth shattering prognosis, but then let's face it, there are the big boys, and then there's Switzerland and everyone else. And a few big boys who seem to be in terminal decline like Germany - can't seem 'em doing 'owt for a while. Let the games begin. Woot! Hey heh hey! (Edited to change "refereeing" to "officiating", and to mention that I finally settled on voting for Frankreich, based on their bloody good manager - see post above. Hope their fans realize he's quitting coz they jacked him around).
Hoping for England -- of course -- and hoping that Santini can do a better job in the Premier League than Arsenal Wenger.
Would like to see England win, but they could only win if they put it together. Or maybe HOlland but they are very up and down as of late. So who knows.
I agree with Californiaspurs' lottery theory though I can't recall a big tournament where the best team hasn't made it to at least the semi's and most often the final. Reputations count for a lot in pre tournament prediction contests and most of the usual suspects are present in this one. France are understandibly favourites but aren't the side they were and look increasingly fragile in defence. Germany could still progress with their usual brand of insane good luck but have no hope of winning it. Holland have great individuals that only gel on occasions so could be a threat. Spain too have some great players but are always guilty of excessive embroidery and I can't see them changing now. Czech Republic look genuine contenders and make the 'possible list' with Holland. England have a habit of performing well against the big teams but under performing against the less fancied sides. With that in mind, England are contenders if they get through the group stage. Portugal just aren't good enough to win it even with home advantage. Italy are strong in all departments except entertainment and make my final four contenders... Holland, Czech Republic, England & Italy. Lottery theory applies as to who plays who in the final but my money's on Italy as the best team in the competition to at least make the final and probably win it. I take England to play them in the final but I wont be shocked to find any other team there instead.
Since when was the Czech Republic Soctland, Mark? Today Talksport reported a survey that said 70% of Scots are supporting England for Euro 2004. Hard to believe, and since it was on Talksport, it's probably a load of schite, but there you go. Nice analysis from Escape Artist. So the six that could win it are: France, Holland, Spain, Czech Rep., England, Italy. Remaining ten no hopers: Switzerland, Russia, Croatia, Germany, Bulgaria, Denmark, Sweden, Latvia, Portugal, Greece. Russian fan who voted for Russia to win .... keep 'em coming, but don't quit your day job.
dude france didnt take a goal in over 1000 minutes of game (well hehe it was mostly against weak teams though... ahem now iam afraid of our "retirement house" defenders )
The main group of Winners is France, Spain, Italy and Holland. In no particular order. The best teams are France and Spain, but in this group, anybody can beat anybody on any given day. That France hasn't lost a game in a while does not mean anything. That Spain had to pre-qualify does not mean anything. Player by player, they have the best teams. Period. Italy has a system playing that allows them to get far. They can handle anything, and they get lucky quite often. (Their system needs a bit of luck). Holland has great names, and a lot of heavywights. When they play decently, they can be unstoppable, and they'll have their moments, which could be enough to actually make it to the top. I am not saying that these four teams will make semis. Germany, England, Portugal and a darkhorse or two will make sure all of them don't. However, neither one of these should be in the final. (Won't get past semifinals). Best bet? France or Spain. Italy or Holland maybe, forget the rest. Germany is always a pain, but they are far from having a champion's level. Too many loose ends, lack of creativity, goal scoring and experience in defense. Only their midfield will work, but not to win anything. Still, they can always beat one of the top four I mentioned, but doubtfully two. England has a better team than Germany, but they don't have any real "crack" player. They looked a lot better in the WC, but when they took on a big one they played such a shamefully weak game that this is what I believe will happen again. You need an edge, which none of their players can provide, to beat a big team. They could hold off one, but definitely not two. Portugal could, but will not, as usual. Their top players have one last chance of doing something with their careers, but let's face it. Most of them are getting old, and it would be a great surprise if they could live all the way to the end. They do have players that can give them an edge (Figo, Rui Costa...) but they very likely will not, as in the last WC. They could get rid of Spain in the first round if the Spanish defense fails in one of the prior two games, but no more. Spain may need a few games to get consistency in the back, but Portugal cannot beat France or Italy, maybe not even Holland if they catch them in a normal day. The big match-ups, France-Spain-Italy-Holland. Looking at their players and current ways, Holland can beat Italy, plus they want revenge for the last EC. That time, Holland crucified Italy and completely run over them putting them to an incredible shame, even though they lost to five stopped penalties. Italy's cattenaccio does not work with them. Holland-Spain or Holland-France, would be a surprise if they could upset them, they can, but since they are not exactly reliable, I doubt it. They would have to play very well everywhere on the field, and hold 90 minutes. Too much time for teams that take very easily control of the ball, and know how to push, push, and push forward. Italy-Spain would be, as usual, a very tight game, with Spain dominating, Italians counter-attacking. Spain's offense should be too much for them, but Italy can hold and (as usual), get lucky in a funny situation, a counter-attack to the Spanish weaker defence, or penalties. Italy-France is more of the same, but the French know how to control this situations. If they gotta score in overtime, so they'll do, as in their last match, without suffering a whole lot. Penalties, should they not, could be a problem and a good thing for Italy, and very likely to happen. Spain-France. Spain wants revenge. Spain has defeated the French through speed and a lot of pushing forward not too long ago (2-1), and when they were playing the worst (last EC), lost only 2-1 to a great France and with Raul missing a penalty kick. The Spanish have the French's number, and anything could happen. Spain, in spite of Casillas, who is a life saver in penalties, would probably loose to anyone in penalty kicks. No good takers at all, as in the last WC, and probably worse now that Hierro, Nadal, Mendieta, Luis Enrique (the old and experienced ones at this) are out of the team. Spain plays a very revolving, fast and very creative game midfield up. Any of the 10 players they can use up there can break any defense with a single pass. Their key is the defence. Saez has taken a lot of defenders in, but nobody knows (not even himself), who will keep the job in the defense. The first round should serve that purpose. If they live through it, beware. This team can go through two of the top four, and that's all you should need to win. So, to me it is either France or Spain, with Italy and Holland perfectly capable as well.
My Pistons have just smoked the Lakers for the second time. This just goes to show you that my teams are winning in June and therefore Croatia will win it all. If that is not reason enough then I really don't know what is.