Group B

[AJ]

Germany
Poland
Croatia
Austria

[WHUPUNTER]

1st Germany
2nd Croatia
3rd Poland
4th Austria

[boyd]

Personally just can't see past Germany and Croatia qualifying from this group but definitely wouldn't rule out Croatia topping the group after seeing the ability of there team in the qualifying. With players like Kranjcar Croatia could be a real dark horse (if as expected, they qualify) in the knockout stages as they are difficult to beat. It will be important to top the group for chance of progress in the tournament as the runner up of this group will probably face Portugal in the quarters. I think Austria are easily the weakest team in the competition and i feel they'd do well to get any points even though they are hosts and will have a large backing behind them.

[stuartyoung1989]

1.Germany
2.Croatia
3.Poland
4.Austria

[torm]

I hope Poland will qualify in play offs, but it will be very hard. I saw match between Poland and USA (0-3...) and polish players in this match looked very badly. But maybe they'll mobilize in Euro, I'm optimistic.

1. Germany
2. Poland!
3. Croatia
4. Austria

[anothamug]

hard to dispute what everyone has already said the top two are head and shoulders here with poland well above a poor austria in last.
The 1.91 on croatia to beat austria must be bet of the tournament if not year, austria are just awful and croatia are a vastly underrated side.

[chiqo]

1.Germany
2.Croatia
3.Austria
4.Poland

See that Austria will push their efforts at the tourney. Croatia will be the second with a very good Mladen Petric, germany will be first and poland (the same like the world cup) will burgle.

[SeanMac]

1st - Germany
2nd - Croatia
3rd - Austria
4th - Poland

[Marek76]

Originally Posted by chiqo

germany will be first and poland (the same like the world cup) will burgle.

this tournament will be a totally different ball game for Poland. I might be biased of course but Poland look much sharper under Leo Benhakker's guidance and mentally seem to be prepared for this. I would not look too much into our recent defeat in the friendly against USA, where we lost 0-3. Just another test game, not a competitive one.

Having the hosts in the group will be tricky but I'd be surprised if Austria did any damage here.

Slightly speculative bet that I might consider would be to lay Germany to qualify form the group: @1.16 - 1.17.

Croatia, a quality team. Games against them will decide who goes to the next stage.

It's actually a much tighter group than everyone else thinks.

1. Croatia
2. Poland
3. Germany this is where you start laughing
4. Austria

[budda1312]

Originally Posted by anothamug

hard to dispute what everyone has already said the top two are head and shoulders here with poland well above a poor austria in last.
The 1.91 on croatia to beat austria must be bet of the tournament if not year, austria are just awful and croatia are a vastly underrated side.

I'm still puzzled by the price...
But have to agree, who cares it's the opening game... Croatia is sooo much better than Austria. I know it's stupid but I'm considering to s*** like a 1/4 of my betting money on them... at THIS price?

[Carl]

Pinnacle

Group B – German’s Fancied to Cruise Into Knock-out Phase
Having approached the 2006 World Cup as unfancied hosts, Germany surpassed expectations reaching the semi-finals, and winning over a sceptical public. That momentum continued into Euro 2008 qualification under Joachim Low, and a little-changed squad who at 1.662* top the Euro 2008 Group B betting at PinnacleSports.com. The Germans qualified with the highest goals tally, but were beaten to the top of Group D by the Czech Republic, who inflicted their only defeat – though qualification was by then already assured. The national team recently celebrated its 100th anniversary with a 4-0 win over co-hosts Switzerland, where three goals from the strike-pairing of Mario Gomez and Miroslav Klose underlined the duo’s potency.

[cavelloman]

Poland @3.25 SkyBet to qualify for next stage look a shade too big. Been gradually improving their FIFA in line with many good performances. Good performaces against Portugal and the Czech Republic mixed in with defeats against the likes of the USA and Hungary.

[Riku888]

The germans should dominate the group. But look at bayern munich, would have put my house on them beating zenit before the first leg.

Germany, Croatia 2nd and 1st qualify in that order.

[Ljava]

1. Germany
2. Croatia
3. Poland
4. Austria

This is my view of the end of group B. But can expect Croatia on the first place and maybe Austria on 3th position. For Croatia will be harder now without top scorer Eduardo, but there are also lot of other player in top form. Modric(Tottenham), Kranjcar(Portsmouth), Olić(Hsv), Petric(Dortmund), Rakitic(Schalke), all of them had great season in their clubs. Also, we can expect a lot of Klasnic after his return from drama with the Kidney, he started to score for Werder, than Corluka(manchester city), "fighters-brothers" Kovac, Srna(Sahtar)... Its stupid to name all the players, but they are good for sure. Croatia is stronger maybe than the team we got 1998 in France after 3th place... You will see that.

[MartyMcG_1967]

Originally Posted by anothamug

hard to dispute what everyone has already said the top two are head and shoulders here with poland well above a poor austria in last.
The 1.91 on croatia to beat austria must be bet of the tournament if not year, austria are just awful and croatia are a vastly underrated side.

Totally agree mate, I've been thinking about this game for a while, Croatia are 2.02 on Betfair, they are one of the dark horses for this tournament while Austria by all accounts look a poor team, might have a big bet on this.

Germany
Croatia
Poland
Austria

[fintron]

Austria qualify for the tournament automatically as co-hosts, and make their debut in the finals. It is interesting to note that in the 12 previous tournaments that have been held, 10 host nations have made the semi-finals (and on every occasion in the last 9 tournaments), so the Austrians will be hoping that they home support can work in their favour too. However, they face a tough task if they are to progress beyond the first round as they are grouped with three-time winners Germany, England's conquerors in the qualifiers, Croatia, and Poland, who won their group during qualifying. A host nation hasn't lifted the trophy since France in 1984. Historically, 4 hosts have made it to the final and 3 of those won. In recent matches Austria have struggled for goals.

Germany qualified as runners up behind the Czech Republic during qualifying but finished a comfortable ten points clear of third placed Ireland. Lucas Podolski (10 goals in 40 this season for Bayern) was the top scorer in their group with 8 goals as they finished with 8 wins, 3 draws and 1 defeat (at home to the Czech Republic), scoring 35 goals (highest scoring team in the qualifiers) and conceding just 7. 13 of those goals, however, came in a 13-0 romp over San Marino, with Podolski netting four times, as Joachim Low's side set a new record with that result. Miroslav Klose (21 in 47 games for Bayern) also had a good qualifying campaign, bagging five goals. The Germans were unbeaten for their first 9 qualifiers, however, they did get beaten by the Czechs and ended qualifying on a low note with a 0-0 draw with Wales. They kept 7 clean sheets during qualifying. Historically, Germany have the best record of any nation to have entered this competition, they have reached the final 5 times, winning three times. They have also qualified for the finals more times than any other nation. At Euro 2004 Germany failed to get past the group stage, finishing behind Holland and the Czech Republic, but ahead of debutants Latvia.

Croatia won England's qualifying group, twice beating Steve McLaren's side, to qualify from Group E along with Russia. Managed by former West Ham defender Slaven Bilic, Croatia won 9 and drew 2 of their 12 games, scoring 28 and conceding 8. Their sole defeat was a shock 2-0 defeat to Macedonia in the latter stages of the campaign but they registered some impressive victories en route to the finals, beating England 2-0 in Zagreb and then repeating the outcome with a 3-2 win at Wembley. Both times they faced Russia they showed defensive resolve to fight out two 0-0 draws. Arsenal's Eduardo was their top scorer during the qualifiers but will be missing from the finals through injury. Mladen Petric (13 goals in 29 for Borussia Dortmund) was their second highest scorer with 7 goals and was the 6th highest scorer in the qualifiers as a whole. In their last appearance at the Championships in 2004 Croatia failed to qualify from a group containing England, France and Switzerland. The only other time they have reached the finals was in 1996, when they reached the quarter finals.

Poland, managed by Dutchman Leo Beenhakker (former Trinidad & Tobago coach), ran out the winners of their qualifying group finishing a point ahead of Portugal with a record of 8 wins, 4 draws and 2 defeats, scoring 24 and conceding 12. Their defeats came against Finland (home 1-3) and Armenia (away 0-1) but they managed to record a 2-1 win over 2004 finalists Portugal with a 2-1 win in Warsaw and held out for a 2-2 draw in Lisbon. With 9 goals, Racing Santander striker Euzebiusz Smolarek (4 goals in 28 games this season) was the top scorer in the group and 3rd best overall in the qualifiers. They kept 6 clean sheets during qualifying. This is their first ever appearance in the finals. Arthur Boruc has now taken over from Jerzy Dudek in goal.

Verdict: Croatia have perhaps the easiest of the opening fixtures against Austria. The co-hosts are making their debut in the championship but even from friendly results have not looked a formidable force against lowly ranked opposition and the Croats should get off to a flying start in their opening fixture. Slaven Bilic's side showed their credentials doing the double over England and they should push Germany all the way to head the group. Germany are expected to beat neighbours Poland in their opening fixture but face Croatia in a tricky second fixture. Even if they were to slip up, however, the German's should overcome Austria in their final game and is looks as if Joachim Low's side will win the group, with Croatia taking second spot. The difference between the top two could be that the Germans are full of goals whereas Croatia are missing Eduardo.

[tougher than the rest]

A slightly biased opinion of a Polish fan

1. Croatia
2. Podolski & Klose
3. Austria
4. Poland

Croatia will beat Austria and Germany but will share points with Poland (in their last, meaningless group stage match). Germany will defeat Austria and Poland. The only tricky game for me is Austria vs Poland and I trust the hosts to have a slight edge over very inconsistent Polish national team.

Other early thoughts are:

Germany -1 over Poland - it won't be a close affair - trust me. Both "traitors" mentioned above will take care of our defence and "Big Mac" Boruc.

Jacek Krzynowek to be Polish top scorer (6.0 - local bookie). Playmaker/ left wing with great long- and mid range shooting (probably our main weapon against other teams d-fence). Very experienced and reliable player who played for Bayer, Wolfsburg and Nuremberg in the BL.

Total goals for Poland in the group stage to be under 3,5 (1.75 local bookie) - well, if you believe in a thing called "sure bet" it should be your choice. To break this line we would have to score against Ger, Cro and twice against Aut. Mission impossible

[DJ SOSNA]

Originally Posted by boyd

It will be important to top the group for chance of progress in the tournament as the runner up of this group will probably face Portugal in the quarters.

QF Winner Grp A Vs. Runner-up Grp B (Basel - St. Jakob-Park)
QF Winner Grp B Vs. Runner-up Grp A (Vienna - Ernst Happel)
QF Winner Grp C Vs. Runner-up Grp D (Basel - St. Jakob-Park)
QF Winner Grp D Vs. Runner-up Grp C (Vienna - Ernst Happel)

[SaberBlade83]

In a way I see this as the most straight forward group in this tournament. Germany and Croatia will go through to the next stage and the only one of the other two that could stir something up would be Poland. I can't see Austria having a chance, despite playing at home. Wouldn't suprise me to see Germany winning the group, possibly the whole Euro, but I will give a try on Croatia wo win Group B @ 3,40.

1.Croatia
2.Germany
3.Poland
4.Austria

[DavidPrismen]

I think Poland is underestimated here. They have a lot of players playing internationally and the new foreign coach really works wonders. I think Poland has a new era of football, this bunch is more professional than the drunken squad they had at a last tournament.