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Who are
the odds-on favorites to win Euro 2008?
There’s
the reigning World Cup champion Italy and the three
other semifinalists Germany, Portugal and France. And
all four teams find themselves in form and re-loaded for
football’s second most prestigious competition.
You
cannot discount
Greece,
but they won’t be ambushing anyone this time around.
Some quarters have said that Croatia was lucky after
they gave England the boot, but the sad truth is that
they were the Greek team of the qualifiers. They’ve got
a good side, but I’d say that they will surely feel the
loss of Eduardo to that horrific injury. What did
Eduardo bring to the table? See here, he scored 11 goals
in the qualifiers and that kind of scoring prowess isn’t
easily replaceable.
Has
success dampened
Italy’s hunger?
Not one
bit. The Azzurri, as led by new gaffer Roberto Donadoni
(who replaced Marcelo Lippi who managed their World Cup
side) find themselves with a back-to-form (and newly
recalled) Alessandro del Pierro (who led Juventus in
scoring this season) and striker Luca Toni, who led the
Bundesliga champions Bayern Munich and was the Golden
Boot Awardee. Central back Fabio Cannavaro helped Real
Madrid win back-to-back La Liga titles. Midfielder Marco
Materazzi was a factor in Inter Milan’s third-straight
Scudetto. Fabio Grosso helped Lyon win its
seventh-straight in the French Ligue 1, while Danielle
de Rossi and Simone Perrotta of AS Roma beat Inter for
the Italian Super Cup.
You
think they got complacent with all their silverware? Not
one bit. After France beat them in Euro 2000, Italy, the
masters of the late-game ambush, got their revenge in
Germany but they’d like to duplicate Les Blues feat by
supplanting the Greeks as champions of Europe. They
remember their failure to advance beyond the first round
despite not losing a game as they were dependent on
Denmark beating Sweden (they battled to a 2-2 draw). In
Germany 2006, with the game dangerously close to penalty
kicks (they have not won a penalty shootout in a long
while, while Germany has not missed a shot in over two
decades), the Azzurri struck late with goals by Grosso
and del Pierro to break the host nation’s hearts.
While
this Italian side may be lacking star power as Francesco
Totti and Alessandro Nest have retired from national
duty, Mauro Camoranesi and Antonio Di Natale have proven
to be the perfect complement to Toni in their 4-3-3
attack. With new faces and a new attack philosophy in
mind, the team can go all the way to their solid
back-four attack in droves. Andrea Pirlo is solid in
holding midfield position and is ready to snuff out any
counters while their stingy defense, led by Cannavaro,
race back to protect their All-World keeper Gigi Buffon.
Definitely a solid favorite to win Euro 2008.
Will
Cristiano Ronaldo shed tears of joy this time around?
For all
intents and purposes, he can now claim the name
“Ronaldo” all to himself as the Brazilian version has
eaten himself away to obscurity and shame.
Euro
2004 was
Portugal’s
moment in the sunshine as they hosted football’s second
most prestigious tournament. After committing a foul in
the box that led to Greece’s Angelos Basinas scoring on
a spot kick and the marginal goal, Ronaldo went on to
become one of the tournament’s stars (along with the
Netherlands’ Ruud Van Nistelrooy, who led the tourney in
scoring, the Czech Republic’s Milan Baros, Sweden’s
Zlatan Ibrahimovic, and England’s Wayne Rooney).
He wept
openly after Nuremberg FC striker Angelos Charisteas
headed in the winner and Greece became the first side to
beat the host twice and the defending champion (France)
in Euro competition. Portugal became a bystander in the
post-match celebrations but the results offered much
hope after a dour showing in recent years. True enough,
they once more made it to the semifinals of Germany 2006
only to lose to a Zinedine Zidane-penalty shot in the
33rd minute.
But the
losses only served to steel the Manchester United
striker’s resolve as he led the Red Devils to
back-to-back English Premier League titles and a UEFA
Champions League trophy.
And a
Euro championship would cement Ronaldo’s place as the
world’s best footballer (supplanting AC Milan’s
Kaka).
Despite
Ronaldo’s awesome talent on the pitch, Portugal’s
strength lies in the strategic genius of gaffer Luis
Felipe Scolari, who would love nothing more than to
deliver
Portugal’s
first international title. They came close to
duplicating the feat of the great Eusebio, who led the
national squad to a third place finish in 1966.
The
Portuguese side that will take the field in Euro 2008 is
a wholly different one. Luis Figo, Costinha and Pedro
Pauleta have retired. Andrade is off the squad because
of lingering knee injuries. Deco, Postiga and Simao are
on the bench.
The
defense has been shored with Pepe coming off a solid
season in Real Madrid’s back four partnering with
Ricardo Carvalho to protect their solid keeper Ricardo.
Jose Bosingwa and Marco Caneira flank the two defensive
studs.
Maniche
and Petit provide much relief from the midfield because
of their goal scoring prowess and open up the field for
Ronaldo, Nani and Hugo Almeida, who is due for a break
out of sorts.
You can
sense that the time is now for this young and hungry
Portuguese side which will be led by Ronaldo who is in
top form. They’re bracketed in Group A with the Czech
Republic, Switzerland and Turkey. And barring any
upsets, Ronaldo should lead the Portuguese side to the
semis.
The La
Liga this certainly isn’t.
Spanish
coach Luis Aragones believes that Spain’s chances of
moving out of Group D in the opening round of Euro 2008
is manageable. His thoughts may be guarded owing to the
Iberian country’s litany of underachievement in major
international competitions despite fielding a lineup of
some of the world’s best footballers.
They’re
bracketed in Group D along with defending champion
Greece, unpredictable Russia, and dark horse Sweden.
If
there’s anything going for Aragones’s side, it’s the
confidence gained by striker Fernando Torres, who showed
flashes of brilliance at the last World Cup and had a
breakout season with
Liverpool where he no longer had to answer questions about his
consistency.
The rub
about this team isn’t the lack of talent available
because he has young studs like Cesc Fabregas and David
Villa up front. Their defense, though, is still suspect
with Carlos Merchena and Joan Capdevilla on the left of
Sergio Ramos and Carlos Puyol.
Although
Aragones has been an enigma, rubbing off people the
wrong way with his wayward quotes and views, he has this
Spanish side playing solid yet stylish football where
they move the ball around a lot and exploiting
weaknesses in the opposing team’s defense.
It’s a
young team that has its flaws, especially with a largely
untested back four combo. Aragones has been scored for
excluding former team captain Raul off the squad. But if
they fall by the wayside as they are wont to do, expect
Aragones to be given the boot.
Spain’s
bracket isn’t exactly a cakewalk even if
Sweden
will be missing the retired Henrik Larsson, the former
Celtic and Barcelona great who wreaked havoc up front
last time around with the impressive Zlatan Ibrahimovic.
They’ll have to play more than stylish football if they
want to fulfill all that promise and potential.
Prediction: They’ll fail to advance.
Will
Euro 2008 be the kiss of death for the Netherlands?
Team
manager Marco Van Basten looked perplexed. In the
Netherlands’ Round of 16 match against Portugal in the
last World Cup, an unprecedented 16 yellow cards and
four red cards were handed out by Russian referee
Valentin Ivanov. And after the expectations of placing
in the semis in Euro 2004, the Dutch once more fell by
the wayside. For all the great coaches and players the
Netherlands
has produced they’ve never won a World Cup. And to
compound matters, they’ve been eliminated three times
since 2000 by
Portugal.
First in the 2002 World Cup Qualifiers, the semifinals
of Euro 2004, and in the Round of 16 of the 2006 World
Cup.
To
compound matters more, they’re in this competition’s
“Group of Death,” bracketed with… well… heavy favorite
France and Italy. And Romania. And the Van Basten’s side
will be without some stars like Mark Van Bommel, Edgar
Davids and Clarence Seedorf, all of whom refuse to play
anymore for the national team after disputes with the
manager.
For the
Dutch to get out of this group, let alone beat Italy and
France, they must play perfect football. Not the total
football that was once the hallmark of their national
game. Perfect football.
After a
near mutiny where several players asked the manager to
change their traditional static 4-3-3 formation, this
younger Dutch side went with a more attack-oriented
4-2-3-1 lineup to complement Ruud Van Nistelrooy, who is
coming off ankle surgery. True enough, the new offense
has created more scoring chances for Van Basten’s side.
But, like Spain, their defense is suspect.
They
played well heading into the Euro Finals, but if they
were bracketed elsewhere, the Oranje will advance. But
don’t worry, the 2010 World Cup is around the corner. |
