Group C

[NewPunter]

[B]Italy captain Fabio Cannavaro will miss Euro 2008 after tearing ligaments in his left ankle during training.[/B]
The Real Madrid defender collided with Giorgio Chiellini in a practice match at Italy's base in Austria on Monday.
After the incident, Cannavaro laid on the pitch for about 20 minutes before being stretchered off.
Fiorentina's Alessandro Gamberini has been called up as his replacement, with goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon likely to take over the captaincy. Italy had been in Austria for just six hours when Cannavaro suffered his injury.
Taken from the BBC

[DavidPrismen]

Come on, there is no way Romania is going forward. Have some faith in football. With France, Italy and Netherlands in the group, I think Romania is praying for a miracle.

[AK1979]

[QUOTE] Come on, there is no way Romania is going forward. Have some faith in football. With France, Italy and Netherlands in the group, I think Romania is praying for a miracle.
[/QUOTE]

Why do you think Holland will get the better of them in this tournament when they couldnt on 2 occasions in qualifying? You may be right but from looking at the prices for the 2 sides, the bookies have definitely underrated the Romanians in my opinion.

[Wanderer89]

[quote=AK1979;1101379]Why do you think Holland will get the better of them in this tournament when they couldnt on 2 occasions in qualifying? You may be right but from looking at the prices for the 2 sides, the bookies have definitely underrated the Romanians in my opinion.[/quote]

Holland are a much better team. If you say that look at arsenals record against bolton.. does that mean we are underated? i expect romania to be bottom of pile but with this group being unpredictable its a no bet tbh. i expect france and italy to progress though. I have a funny feeling on france, they might just go far in this competition and well italy, they are a very good solid team and perform at the big tournaments.

[AK1979]

There's certainly been some value in backing Bolton vs us over the last few years so yes, I would say that bookies have underrated you against us

[Wanderer89]

[quote=AK1979;1101395]There's certainly been some value in backing Bolton vs us over the last few years so yes, I would say that bookies have underrated you against us [/quote]

fair enough.. what can i say to that

[WoodyTHFC]

Holland not to qualify 10/11 7.5 pts Tough tough group. The so called big three and then there is the somewhat underestimated by some Romania who the Dutch failed to beat and lost to once in qualifying. Holland look to have decent attacking players as normal but defensively they do not look that secure and at this level that could be very costly. Melchiot, Ooijer, Bouma and boulahrouz all feature in their squad and all have been exposed at premiership level so what are Italy and France going to do to them? They limbered through qualifying and only just got past the Berbatov inspired Bulgaria, what a shame he is not here to grace this championship[IMG]http://www.punterslounge.com/forum/../../images/smilies/frown2.gif[/IMG]. Tough ask for the Dutch and I they normally start arguing with each other shortly if things dont pan out.

[SecondSight]

I have put 8pts on the Romanians to qualify at 4/1 with Corals, not impossible at all.

It looks a very interesting group

[Crazy North]

[B]Sport Football (Internationals) [/B]
[B]Event France-Romania [/B]
[B]Selection Under 2.5 [/B]
[B]Strength 10/10 [/B]
[B]Date 09/06/2008 [/B]
[B]Bookmaker/Price [/B][URL="http://www.sports-punter.com/link.php?p=pinnacle"][COLOR=#0000ff][B]Pinnacle Sports [/B][/COLOR][/URL][B]@ 1.68 (Back) [/B]

[B]Reasoning[/B]

For me this game as most of the France matches wont be so interesting and i see under here as the best choice to take as i doubt that Romania can score against strong French defense who always do very good their job.Also Domenec dont like to play to much offensive football so i expect France to play with lot of patience,waiting for Romania to make a mistake.Romania has very good squad lead by Mutu in offense and Chivu in defense and i believe they will try to slow down this game as they goal here is to stay undefeated.For me this is clear under and i cant see both of this teams scoring more than one goal.

[JCtips]

My picks for today:

Romania-France
Romania had a great qualifying campaign with a 9-2-1 record (26 goals scored and 7 against) and finished ahead of a world class National Team like Holland and also Bulgaria.
They're like the "ugly ducks" in this group where most people seem to just underestimate them but they have some very good players and are defensively hard to break with World Class Chivu commanding the defensive work along with Getafe's experienced right back Contra.
In the middle they have a great player IMO called Nicolae Dica whom I'm surprised still plays in his home country and upfront the poison of Mutu.
No need for a deep analysis regarding France as everywhere you look they have a star player and are surely one of the favourites to win the tournament.
Still, their recent form looks far from impressive and most of the players are probably exausted after a long season for their clubs (internal competitions along with long UEFA club competition for most) and that might show today with a slow paced game that would favour the Romanians.
Maybe France will start in a slow mode like in the last World Cup where they drew the first two games against lower teams to end up winning the World Cup.
Risky one but I'll take the draw here as there were no draws so far in the tournament.
[B]My pick: draw;[/B]

Holland-Italy
Holland is a top team, one you always need to consider in every major tournament (Euro Cups and World Cups) and this time around it is no different IMO. They have many world class players, reached the quarter-finals in 2004 where they lost to the hosts Portugal 2-1 and also in 2000 where they lost to Italy on penalties after a 0-0 draw during regular time.
Italy didn't have a good tournament in 2004 but were runners up both in 2000 and also World Cup 2006 (lost both to France).
Just like France, everywhere you look in their squad you seem to find a star player, but this is a tight group and I expect a tight game tonight and surely Italians will not be taking any risks (we all know it's just their style).
Again, I will risk the draw here as last time these teams met in the Euro 2000 semi-final that was the result.
[B]My pick: draw;[/B]

Good luck!

JC

[blackcrow]

[B]France - Romania over 2.5[/B]
Quite interested in the new breed of players the French have coming up through the ranks like Benzemm and Nasri. They have some good creative players who can score goals and realise out of all these games, this is the one they definately have to win. However there are some concerns at the back as Thuram is not the same player he once was while Gallas can be unstable and even reckless at times.
Romania come into this game with nothing to lose as not much is expected of them. They play a fluid game and should be able to pressure the French quite often, especially Mutu up front, who should be able to cause them plenty of problems. While Contra and Chivu are quite solid in defence, the French have some good players to really stretch them and create some chances
I believe both teams have the ability to score on each other and should do so, setting it up for which team wants to get the winning goal.

[B]Italy[/B]
Italy are the world champions and will be looking to start this tournament on the right foot. They have plenty of class all over the place and with Toni up front in great form, they have the finisher they need to complement their creative midfielders.
As for the Dutch, they have not beaten the Italians in the last 30 years and with a mounting injury toll, and what previously was a fairly even game, has now gone well over in favour of the Italians with the absence of van Persie and Robben. There are concerns that their backline is vulnerable and may struggle to withstand the Italian scheming around the box.

[JCtips]

[quote=JCtips;1107732]My picks for today:

Romania-France
Romania had a great qualifying campaign with a 9-2-1 record (26 goals scored and 7 against) and finished ahead of a world class National Team like Holland and also Bulgaria.
They're like the "ugly ducks" in this group where most people seem to just underestimate them but they have some very good players and are defensively hard to break with World Class Chivu commanding the defensive work along with Getafe's experienced right back Contra.
In the middle they have a great player IMO called Nicolae Dica whom I'm surprised still plays in his home country and upfront the poison of Mutu.
No need for a deep analysis regarding France as everywhere you look they have a star player and are surely one of the favourites to win the tournament.
Still, their recent form looks far from impressive and most of the players are probably exausted after a long season for their clubs (internal competitions along with long UEFA club competition for most) and that might show today with a slow paced game that would favour the Romanians.
Maybe France will start in a slow mode like in the last World Cup where they drew the first two games against lower teams to end up winning the World Cup.
Risky one but I'll take the draw here as there were no draws so far in the tournament.
[B]My pick: draw; [COLOR=green]won[/COLOR][/B]

Holland-Italy
Holland is a top team, one you always need to consider in every major tournament (Euro Cups and World Cups) and this time around it is no different IMO. They have many world class players, reached the quarter-finals in 2004 where they lost to the hosts Portugal 2-1 and also in 2000 where they lost to Italy on penalties after a 0-0 draw during regular time.
Italy didn't have a good tournament in 2004 but were runners up both in 2000 and also World Cup 2006 (lost both to France).
Just like France, everywhere you look in their squad you seem to find a star player, but this is a tight group and I expect a tight game tonight and surely Italians will not be taking any risks (we all know it's just their style).
Again, I will risk the draw here as last time these teams met in the Euro 2000 semi-final that was the result.
[B]My pick: draw; [COLOR=red]lost[/COLOR][/B]

Good luck!

JC[/quote]

1-1-0 today but still had a nice profit with the winning odd at 3.33...
...IMO the wrong decision by the linesman in the 1st goal influenced the game as it surely got into the Italian team (and to their fans, you could tell...). They were completely lost for the rest of the 1st half...
...well, it doesn't matter now. What counts is the result and that was 3-0.
Also, think Italy missed Canavarro big time and that it was a mistake on Donadonni to "invent" by playing Pannucci as a right back (I mean, the guy was a great player but he doesn't have what it takes anylonger to play at this level) instead of playing Zambrota as a right back and Grosso (who had an incredible World Cup) as the left back...which he did in the 2nd half but was not in time to correct the mistake.



JC

[DJ]

Think Italy @ 2.52 to qualify could now be worth looking at for a bit of value. If France can't score past a Romanian side then they will struggle to score past Italy too. I know Italy seemed loose at the back tonight but the first goal was offside, the second was a superb counter by the Dutch and the third was when Italy were starting to throw everyone forward to get a result from the game. Having thought about the group and the games played til now I can imagine that Italy will beat France and Romania and qualify with Holland who will at least beat one of France or Romania. The dual forecast for Holland and Italy to qualify from the group is available @ 3.05 which is better value for Italy to qualify, if you think that Holland will finish the job off after tonight and do enough to qualify.

[DeMMa]

Now..

I Put $700 on a 5 legger Paying $3700
Italy is my last leg and the only leg I am waiting to win..

However..

I am thinking of putting $1000 on
Either DRAW @ $3.60
Or Romania to win or draw @ $2.20

Meaning:

Spent All Up = $1700
If Italy win =$3700 ($2000 profit)
If I pick draw $3600 ($1900 profit)
If I pick Romania win or draw = $2200 ($500 profit)

I just don’t know what to do…

Some Help?

Thankyou

[FancyJoe]

I am absolutely sure that Italia will win. It seams impossible that they will go home at the start of tournament. Just look at the mutual matches:

Romanians will scare and they will losse.


Italians have too expereince in these type of matches!

The biggest odds I see in this moment is 1.80 at Eurobet.

[dandoro2000]

Well, it looks like there will be five changes, and if everything goes as expected, of the remaining six players, only Buffon, Pirlo and Toni will play in the same position of the match against Holland. Call it a real revolution [IMG]http://forum.bettingadvice.com/images/smiles/icon_biggrin.gif[/IMG]

So, Italy should play with a 4-3-1-2 lineup: Zambrotta and Grosso on the wings are sure, as Chiellini in the middle (he's definitely been one of the most solid Serie A defenders this season, don't underrate him), while his partner will likely be Panucci, more than Barzagli, and he's more than capable of playing there.

In the middle, there will be another change, with Perrotta replacing Ambrosini: again, this will mean more offensive power (Perrotta is awesome in the insertions and scores plenty of goals), alongside De Rossi and with Pirlo a step back, while Camoranesi should play as an offensive playmaker behind Toni and Del Piero.

[JCtips]

My picks for today:

Italy-Romania
Romania are tough to score against as they are very good defensively but I'll take an investor's perspective and buy on a low (Italy, after they sucked in their 1st game) as I expect Italy to bounce back and win tonight.
There's too much of a class and quality difference and Italians will go "all in" to show why the are the World Champs against a team (Romania) that has a 1-2-5 overall record in their last 8 Euro competition games. Romania are tough to score against as they are very good defensively but I'll take an investor's perspective and buy on a low (Italy, after they sucked in their 1st game) as I expect Italy to bounce back and win tonight.
There's too much of a class and quality difference and Italians will go "all in" to show why the are the World Champs against a team (Romania) that has a 1-2-5 overall record in their last 8 Euro competition games.
[B]My pick: Italy;[/B]


Holland-France
This should be a very interesting game.
France find themselves with their backs against the wall in the "group of death" after the tie against Romania and as now they'll be facing Holland and Italy next.
In order to keep their hopes alive they have to win tonight and in order to win you need to score goals. And they were never very close in the previous game.
Tonight, France will have to speed up their game and be more agressive in the last 30m if they want to score.

On the other side, Holland had a great performance and result in their first game against Italy.
All the credit to them, but I still think they took advantage of that controversial 1st goal, which had the Italians lost for the rest of the 1st half, and also from several mistakes on Italys coach Donnadoni.
Things will be a bit different tonight but they showed great form and have many world class players that can surely score anytime.

France scored in 12 of their last 14 Euro tournament games.
Hoilland scored in 11 of their last 14 Euro tournament games.

I'll go for the ver 2 bet as I think it had great value.
[B]My pick: >2;[/B]

Good luck!

JC

[JCtips]

[quote=JCtips;1111325]My picks for today:

Italy-Romania
Romania are tough to score against as they are very good defensively but I'll take an investor's perspective and buy on a low (Italy, after they sucked in their 1st game) as I expect Italy to bounce back and win tonight.
There's too much of a class and quality difference and Italians will go "all in" to show why the are the World Champs against a team (Romania) that has a 1-2-5 overall record in their last 8 Euro competition games. Romania are tough to score against as they are very good defensively but I'll take an investor's perspective and buy on a low (Italy, after they sucked in their 1st game) as I expect Italy to bounce back and win tonight.
There's too much of a class and quality difference and Italians will go "all in" to show why the are the World Champs against a team (Romania) that has a 1-2-5 overall record in their last 8 Euro competition games.
[B]My pick: Italy; [COLOR=red]lost[/COLOR][/B]


Holland-France
This should be a very interesting game.
France find themselves with their backs against the wall in the "group of death" after the tie against Romania and as now they'll be facing Holland and Italy next.
In order to keep their hopes alive they have to win tonight and in order to win you need to score goals. And they were never very close in the previous game.
Tonight, France will have to speed up their game and be more agressive in the last 30m if they want to score.

On the other side, Holland had a great performance and result in their first game against Italy.
All the credit to them, but I still think they took advantage of that controversial 1st goal, which had the Italians lost for the rest of the 1st half, and also from several mistakes on Italys coach Donnadoni.
Things will be a bit different tonight but they showed great form and have many world class players that can surely score anytime.

France scored in 12 of their last 14 Euro tournament games.
Hoilland scored in 11 of their last 14 Euro tournament games.

I'll go for the ver 2 bet as I think it had great value.
[B]My pick: >2; [COLOR=green]won[/COLOR][/B]

Good luck!

JC[/quote]

I think Italy, despite being lucky at the end when Mutu missed that penalty shot and the fact that they didn't play that well, could and should have taken it.

About the goal wrongly ruled out to Luca Tony, Donadoni said:
"It's funny that they saw Panucci when he was off the field against Holland and then they didn't see the player by the post. The error really cost us."
I agree...but we gotta move on (more games tomorrow).



JC

[DJ]

[quote=dandoro2000;1111060]Well, it looks like there will be five changes, and if everything goes as expected, of the remaining six players, only Buffon, Pirlo and Toni will play in the same position of the match against Holland. Call it a real revolution [IMG]http://forum.bettingadvice.com/images/smiles/icon_biggrin.gif[/IMG]

So, Italy should play with a 4-3-1-2 lineup: Zambrotta and Grosso on the wings are sure, as Chiellini in the middle (he's definitely been one of the most solid Serie A defenders this season, don't underrate him), while his partner will likely be Panucci, more than Barzagli, and he's more than capable of playing there.

In the middle, there will be another change, with Perrotta replacing Ambrosini: again, this will mean more offensive power (Perrotta is awesome in the insertions and scores plenty of goals), alongside De Rossi and with Pirlo a step back, while Camoranesi should play as an offensive playmaker behind Toni and Del Piero.[/quote]

Had this team news been officially revealed? Just think that you had the team spot on considering the fact that I presume others may have thought differently about the starting 11.

[JCtips]

My picks for tomorrow:

France-Italy
These teams are surely the biggest disappointment of Euro 2008.
They met five times since 1998 and drew 4 (all unders as well) of those games.

Total draws in the group stage (all games) in previous Euro competitions (with this format): 8 (2004), 4 (2000) and 7 (1996).

Draws so far in 2008: 3!
This is way bellow the usual soccer average of 25% to 30% and also bellow the previous three Euro's average of 6.33 draws in the group stage...according to the law of averages we should see at least another 2 or 3 draws until the last game of the group stage.
[B]My picks: draw and <2.5;[/B]

Holland-Romania
Holland is not only playing great and attractive football but they're also being lucky as it seems that everything went perfectly their way in the previous group games against Italy and France. They've got all the momentum.
Romania is a tough team to play against. Sometimes it's like as if they swallow the ball (meaning they hide and keep it away from opponents so well).
Holland should know this as they played the qualification stage in the same group with Romania winning 1-0 at home and drawing in Holland 0-0.
Holland will rest many players and Romania will get through with a draw in case there's a draw in the other game as well (actually, should those two teams draw 0-0, Romania could even lose and still progress if they don't lose by more than a 3 goal margin).
Again, I'll go with the law of averages here and risk a draw as I see it as very likely.
[B]My picks: draw and <2.5;[/B]

Good luck!

JC