Ante Post Winner

[SB162002]

Done £200 on Germany at 4/1 with the plan to lay off if they get to the final say against Italy who will probably be about 11/8.
Germany should , all going well , have a fairly easy run to the semis and traditionally get stronger as the tournaments go on. Think Joachin Low and not Klingsman was the real reason they got to the semis of the world cup , and now he is is own man can carry on the good work. Remember they lost , a bit unlucky , against the eventual winners of the world cup. Enough said

[WorkingForTheEnemy]

Portugal have to be strong contenders with Ronaldo in the form he is. I know it's about more than one player but Portugal have a good side anyway and as long as Ronaldo doesn't suffer burnout he could be the important difference maker.

Not the most scientific approach but here's another stat to support it.

Portugals Euros record:


1996 - Q-Finals
2000 - S-Finals
2004 - Runners-Up
2008 - ???

[Rob the I ty]

I am not sold on Germany. Remember this is a team many thought wouldn't go far at the WC but put on a wonderful display. They are basically the same team but their defenders have dropped in form, their midfield is the same but older, and the addition of Gomez should help but I don't know how well he blends in with this squad. I felt last WC the Germans really had something to prove to the World and to play well @home. I don't see the same spark this time around and I can't see them past the semis.

I could see an all Ibernian final with Spain finally winning.

[spinctz]

I really like the prices for italy and croatia but what I don't understand is why is spain credited with second chance ... They have a good team but they don't seem to have any high results ...

[stathis]

Spain and Croatia are the better teams for me
Torres and Ronaldo the better players
Portugal may reach the semi final
and Romania may pass 2 rounds
Italy or France will not pass to the 2 round
Germany do not have great team
but anything can happened .....

[Abertawe]

Russia are the bet of the tourno.

[fintron]

I'm on Germany at 4/1 and have backed Germany and France to reach the final at 14/1 Boylesports.

My reasoning is below..........


[B][U]Quarter Finals[/U][/B]

1. Winner [B]Group A[/B] (Portugal?) vs Runner Up [B]Group B [/B](Croatia?)
2. Winner [B]Group B [/B](Germany?) vs Runner Up [B]Group A[/B] (Czech Republic?)
3. Winner [B]Group C [/B](France?) vs Runner Up [B]Group D[/B] (Greece?)
4. Winner [B]Group D [/B](Spain?) vs Runner Up [B]Group C [/B](Italy?)

[I]QF1. Portugal have matchwinners like Ronaldo, Deco and Nani in their side which should make them a potent attacking force and they have a strong record in this competition in recent tournaments. Croatia's team contains fewer household names than Portugal's, but they showed they don't care about reputations when dumping England out of the competition during qualifying. Croatia were eliminated in the quarter finals in 1996 though and if they come up against Portugal here that could well be the case again this year too.[/I]

[I]QF2. Germany are the masters of tournament football and even when they were written off before the 2006 World Cup started they reached the semi-final only to be beaten 2-0 by eventual winners Italy (they did beat Portugal 3-1 in the play-off to take 3rd spot). Their qualification campaign may have ended on a low note (no pun intended) but that will soon be forgotten if they can win their group here. Their team is full of goals but they will be tested to the limit if they come up against the Czechs, who beat them once during qualification and got the better of them in the Euro 2004 finals also. However, the Germans did win the other qualification fixture in Prague to show they could come out on top again here. It's hard to split these two but perhaps the absence of captain Tomas Rosicky may hinder the Czechs up against a strong German midfield? I marginally prefer Germany who have to be respected given their previous tournament record.[/I]

[I]QF3. France's team has an experienced look about it and the likes of Lillian Thuram, Patrick Vieira and Thierry Henry have all had success at the very top level when they won the World Cup in 1998. Even today, those players are still playing for the best teams in Europe and I would fancy them to beat Greece. There is no doubting the Greeks ability after a good qualifying campaign, but for all their hard work and organisation, they may be outclassed by France who would be seeking revenge for a 1-0 defeat in the quarter finals of Euro 2004.[/I]

[I]QF.4 If Spain were to come up against Italy here I would marginally prefer Italy. I have a niggly suspicion that Spain may struggle for goals here and feel that the Italians have a slightly better squad on paper. Cannavaro, Pirlo and Toni etc proved in 2006 that they have the ability to go all the way in a major tournament. In contrast Spain always seem to fall short and fail to live up to expectations even though they always bring a very talented squad to the finals. [/I]

[B][U]Semi Finals[/U][/B]

1. Winner 1. (Portugal?) vs Winner 2. 9 (Germany?)
2. Winner 3. (France?) vs Winner 4. (Italy?)

[I]SF1. Germany beat Portugal 3-1 in the 3rd/4th placed play-off at the most recent World Cup although they did play that game on home soil. The teams that lined up that day contained Jansen, Metzelder, Lahm, Frings, Schweinsteiger, Hitzlsperger, Klose and Podolski for Germany and Ricardo, Paulo Ferreira, Petit, Deco, Ronaldo, Nuno Gomes and Simao for Portugal - not too dissimilar from the possible line-ups for this possible clash. These two nations were not as tight defensively as France and Italy during qualification, so this could be a more open affair than the other possible semi-final. Historically, Portugal have met the Germans 7 times, have won once (Euro 2000), drawn 3 and lost 3 (latest 2006). I'm struggling to split these two but if the game goes to penalties then I'd say Germany may come though and they have the psychological advantage of their 2006 win.[/I]

[I]SF2. If this semi final takes place then these two nations will probably be sick of the sight of one another by now after facing each other during qualification and during the group stage. The group stage encounter may shed some light as to who would hold the best chances here but in recent years the advantage certainly seems to be with France on recent results in this competition (2-1 to France in the final of Euro 2000) and then a 0-0 draw and 3-1 victory to the French in the current qualifying campaign. [/I]
[I][B][/B][/I]
[I][B][U]Final [/U][/B][/I]
[I]So potentially we could have a Germany v France final. The most recent encounters between these two sides have been in friendlies, with the last clash in a major tournament coming in the 1986 World Cup when West Germany beat France 2-0 in the semi-finals before losing against Argentina in the final. The most recent friendly fixture was played in Germany three years ago when the two sides battled out a 0-0 draw. Many of the players that played that day could be present at the final again here - Coupet, Sagnol, Thuram, Gallas, Makelele, Malouda, Henry, Sagnol and Anelka for France and Jansen, Mertesacker, Ballack, Schweinsteiger, Frings, Klose and Podolski for Germany. Thus, another close game would be on the cards, although it would be fair to say that some of those French players may have passed their peak now. If the game went into extra time, the slighly younger German legs may fare better. Also, the Germans have won 3 of the 5 finals they have reached, and lost a fourth on penalties to Czechoslovakia in 1976 - a decent record. For these reasons I think Germany could be the team to back for the Championship at 4/1.[/I]

[B][U]Bets (odds from 27/5/08)[/U][/B]
Outright winner: Germany to win @ 4/1 Widely available
Name the finalists: France and Germany @ 14/1 Boylesports
Top goalscorer: Miroslav Klose @ 11/1 Stan James
Group winner accumulator: Portugal (11/8), Germany (8/13), France (15/8), Spain (5/6) = 19.22/1 (Bet 365)

[MartyMcG_1967]

Backed France at 10 on Betfair and think there is some value in this price. The French are in the toughest section with Italy, Holland and Romania. However, they got the better of Italy in the qualifying winning in Paris and drawing away from home. Also think it suits them to have Romania in the opening match. The Romanians topped a qualifying group with the Dutch and should not be under-estimated but I think its still France's easiest game in the section and if they win they can be a bit more relaxed in the next two games where they won't need to go for it.

The question mark I had over France was the hunger of guys like Viera and Henry but the Barcelona front-man looks like he'll be moving this summer and what better way to impress possible suitors by showing he's back to his best on the biggest of stages. Ribery has had a good season with Bayern and Benzema could light up this competition if given a chance. He has had an excellent season including some stunning goals in the Champions League against Man Utd and Rangers in particular.

I expect them to get out of this group and the price to drop so they could be laid off at lower odds for sure. Also think its value in comparison with other prices, Germany at 4/1 is very short, Joachim Low has been faithful to a lot of the old guard like Jens Lehmann who hasn't featured regularly and while they should cruise through their group there is question marks over whether they are good enough to go the full way.

Spain man for man are as good a side in the Euro's but always seem to bottle it so wouldn't be backing them at 6/1 either and think the French are reliable and good enough to be there or thereabouts again.

[SecondSight]

The Euros usually throw up a shock, witness Greece and Denmark winning after being rank outsiders before it began.

I have put 2pts on Turkey at 75.0 and 2pts on Czech Republic at 26.0 on Betfair

[Djslutmonkey]

[quote=SecondSight;1100355]The Euros usually throw up a shock, witness Greece and Denmark winning after being rank outsiders before it began.

I have put 2pts on Turkey at 75.0 and 2pts on Czech Republic at 26.0 on Betfair[/quote]

Thats a decent point about a shock often being thrown out there - don't forget the Czech's losing so unluckily in 1996 with that awful Golden Goal. That makes 3 of the last 4 finals that have featured a team you really wouldn't have expected to get there, with 2 winning.

[Mark H]

Pick Croatia @15.5 Pinnacle

The European Championships are devilishly hard to predict and can favour outsiders. Not many would have seen the victories gained by Greece and Denmark in recent years. The bookies have Germany as the favourites to lift the crown and there are many factors in favour of them. However prices around the 5.0 mark just don't seem value. Group B does however seem the easiest group to assess, in my view it has two clearly weaker sides in Austria and Poland whereas the other groups have at least three sides competing for the two available qualification spots. So the Croats look a solid bet at least for trading purposes later in the tournament. They are strong across the board (despite the absence of Eduardo) and have some real stars with the likes of Modric and Rakitic in midfield. They are a good tournament team and have a canny manager in Slaven Bilic. Their qualification record was excellent finishing five points clear of Russia and England in one of the more difficult groups. Finally they are definitely in the easier part of the draw avoiding the likes of Spain, Holland, France + Italy unti the final. I'm happy to take the Croats to match up well to the Germans and Portuguese who are the major threats in their half and with their price being several points above those two opponents they are my choice for the value pick in the tournament outrights.

[MaKDaddYSportsBET]

[quote=stathis;1091503]
Germany do not have great team
but anything can happened .....[/quote]



No offense but this is the best comment on this thread....

[Wanderer89]

[quote=MaKDaddYSportsBET;1100486]No offense but this is the best comment on this thread....[/quote]

Compared to england... they are not as good a team imo but i wouldn't say they ain't a great team . Expect them to reach the final at the very least!

[SB162002]

[quote=SB162002;1089513]Done £200 on Germany at 4/1 with the plan to lay off if they get to the final say against Italy who will probably be about 11/8.
Germany should , all going well , have a fairly easy run to the semis and traditionally get stronger as the tournaments go on. Think Joachin Low and not Klingsman was the real reason they got to the semis of the world cup , and now he is is own man can carry on the good work. Remember they lost , a bit unlucky , against the eventual winners of the world cup. Enough said[/quote]

Only 1 more win for the plan to come together