Euro 2008 Preview

Just a little bit of history to begin with.The inaugural competition, held in the year 1960 was won by the then USSR.This team had the legendary goalkeeper Yasin. Spain won it in 1964, Italy in 1968 after a replay over then Yugoslavia.Dino Zoff,was a member of this Italian side.West Germany won it in 1972 with the great Franz Beckenbuaer, attacking midfielder, Gunter Netzer and Gerd Muller in a squad, regarded as arguable the best German team ever. Czechoslovakia won it in 1976, West Germany in 1980, France with Michel Platini and Co won it in 1984 with great style and attacking flair.This team had one of the better midfielders in the history of the game, in the form of Platini,Alain Giresse,Jean-Paul Tigana and Luis Fernandez. The Dutch won it in 1988, with the dynamic trio of Marco Van-Basten,Ruud Gaullit and Frank Rijkaard.In the finals of 1988, Van-Basten scored one of the best goals you will ever see in any soccer competition. Denmark was the surprise winner in 1992, Germany won in 1996, France with Zinedine Zidane and co won it in dramatic fashion in 2000 and lastly Greece was the surprise winner of the last Euro,in 2004.The Euro is fast becoming a very challenging tournament to predict.It is tough just trying to pick out the teams that will make it out of the group stages.There are so many teams that at least on paper look pretty good.Spain,Italy,Germany,France,Portugal and Holland are all capable of lifting the trophy come June 29,but one of these teams would not even make it to the knockout stages of the competition.Spain has a lot of balance on their team,with a dream mid-field that includes the likes of Cesc Fabregas,Xavi Hernandez,Andres Iniesta and Xabi Alonso.They also have a prolific marksman in striker Fernando Torres.A Veteran keeper in Iker Casillas anchors a defense that includes the likes of Sergio Ramos,Carlos Puyol,Carlos Marchena,Marcos Senna and Joan Capdevila.Spain's problem has always been not living up to expectation in major tournaments.With all the great players and arguable the best league in football, they have only one major trophy to show for,the European Nations cup that they won way back in 1964.Italy won its sole Euro back in 1968 and they have had great success in international competitions especially in the World cup.But we are not talking here about the world cup,they have won a total of one Euro.Traditionally strong on defense,the Italians are one of the favorites to lift the Euro trophy.Being cast in the role of favorites might be a problem though for the Italians,because they always manage to let down when expectations are very high.Take the past Euro, for example, they came in as one of the favorites with the likes of Totti,Del Piero,Toldo and did not get out of the group stages.Contrast that to the year 2000,when they came in unheralded and made it to the finals before losing a heart breaker to France.In Euro 2000,the "supe-favori"as the French man likes to put it were Holland, which they eliminated in the semis and current world cup holder at the time,France.The Italians have a lot of talent though, which should see them go deep into the current tournament.It is often said that "defense wins championships"and the Italians have one of the best defenses of the world.Starting with goal keeper Gianluigi Buffon,current coach Donadoni has at his disposal the likes of Panucci,Cannavaro,Materazzi and Zambrotta.The midfield is solid with marshall Gattuso anchoring, with talented playmaker Andrea Pirlo.In the attack,the coach has the trio of Toni Luca,Antonio Cassano and six time international competition veteran Alessandro Del Piero.With such a talented group,the Italians are clearly one of the favorites going into the competition.The Germans are awesome in majors competitions,be it the World cup or the Euro.They take mediocre teams to major championships and make it all the way to the finals.They have a pretty outstanding record in the Europeans championship.Three times champions,in 1972,1980 and 1996,they are always a team to be reckoned with in major competitions.The current side has some talent in midfield maestro Michael Ballack,veteran keeper Jens Lehmann,defender Philipp Lahm,goal scorer Miroslav Klose,Polish born stiker Lukas Podolksi,forwards Kevin Kuranyi and Mario Gomez.Look for the Germans to go far in the competition especially after their recent Euro flops.France has strength in depth.They have the likes of Thuram,Thierry Henry,Patrick Vieira,Nicolas Anelka,Claude Makelele,players that have won major competitions.There is depth everywhere in the form of strikers Gomis,Govou and Benzema,defenders Evra,Abidal,Clerc and Squillaci,midfielders Malouda,Nasri and Toulalan.So, as you can see the French are loaded with options.There are a couple of problems though.France's star players like Henry,Vieira,Makelele,Anelka and Thuram are all pass their prime.Most of them are coming off the bench in their respective clubs.France's driving force behind their World cup 1998 victory,Euro 2000 victory and World cup 2006 runners-up position was Zinedine Zidane.He is now retired from international football.Who is going to be the driving force in the present squad?Frank Ribéry won player of the year honors in the Bundesliga,but he is no Zidane.The French should go far in the competition though.Portugal is also considered to be a favorite in this competition,despite the recent retirement from the national team of some of their past key players.Luis Figo,Rui Costa and prolific striker Pauleta are all gone from a squad that was runners-up in Euro 2004 and came in fourth in World cup 2006.Expectations are high though,especially back home in Portugal as the team tries to go one step further than their performance at the last Euro and lift their first major trophy.The Portuguese have a very good coach in Brazilian born Luiz Felipe Scolari who has picked a team blend with the right combination of youth and experience.Star player Cristiano Ricardo carries a lot of the Portuguese hopes on his shoulders.He is arguable the best player in the world right now.With a good supporting cast at his disposal at Manchester United,where he plays his club football,Cristiano Ronaldo had a career season,netting in 42 goals in all competition for Manchester United. Ronaldo though is going to be a marked man come the Euros and his ability to handle this role will determine how far the Portuguese team will advance in the tournament.The Portuguese team's main strength is its exceptionally talented and creative midfield.With the likes of Barcelona's Deco and Sabrosa Simao constantly running down at defenders,they could be really dangerous especially in a five man midfield scheme that will also feature Luiz Nani,Ricardo Quaresma and Cristiano Ronaldo.The Portuguese lack a proven striker in their team.With three goals in the qualifiers,veteran striker Nuno Gomes was the leading scorer up front.With mid fielder Ronaldo leading the team with 8 goals scored during the qualifiers,the Portuguese will have to depend on their goals coming from the midfield position.Their defense is not the best in the business and we all know defense wins championships.Look for the Portuguese to make it to the semi-finals.It is hard for me to see the current team going past that.The current Dutch team is nothing compared to other Dutch teams that have failed to win major competitions.Apart from Ruud van Nistelrooy and goalkeeper Ewdin van de Sar,it is even difficult to name some of the players in the squad.The Dutch have had great teams in the past,but have only Euro 1988 to show for as their major triumph.Infighting before major competitions and friction between star players and coaches has doomed many of their talented teams in the past.World cup 1990 comes to mind.This current team does not have a lot of talent in it.They have also been drawn in the group of death.It is going to be a huge challenge for them to came out of the group stages. Trying to predict a winner before a major tournament is no easy task, for as the saying goes, the ball is always round.A total of sixteen teams will be competing to lift the trophy come June 29, and be crowned European champions for the next four years.In Group A, there is Czech Republic,Portugal,Turkey and co-host nation Switzerland.In Group B, there is the other co-host Austria,Croatia,Germany and Poland.Group C, regarded as the group of death,includes France,Italy,Holland and Romania.The last group,Group D is made up of Spain,Russia,Sweden and defending champion Greece. My picks to advance from group A are Portugal and Switzerland.The Czech republic would be a logical pick to come out of the group, but at the moment they are going through a transitional period.From Group B,Germany and Croatia should advance.From the group of death, I pick France and Italy.The Dutch should not be counted out though.Their advancing from the group will be no surprise, since they have the talent to go far in tournament.From Group D, look for Spain and Greece to advance.Sweden is tough to overlook, but I am going here with a gut feeling that the Greeks still have a little bit of fight in them.The knock out stages should see the following teams go through, Germany, Portugal, Italy and France. It should come down to a Germany versus Italy final, with the Italians becoming the third team in the history of major soccer competition to hold both the World Cup and the European Nations cup.