Saturday, June 12, 2004
The best sporting event of the summer
Why that would be Euro 2004 of course. And it starts today. Unfortunately for you state-side people you have to buy pay per view to watch it. Unfortunately for me, the games are all at either 2 AM or 445 AM and on Fox Sports, so I have to go to 24 hour bars in the middle of the night to see games live. And to top it all off my brother got to Europe yesterday. He will be spending the entire tourney in soccer-mad countries like Italy, Spain, and Holland. Lucky bastard.
So who is going to win? What to expect? Lets breakdown the tourney
Group A: Portugal, Spain, Greece, Russia.
Portugal and Spain are the favorites, Portugal because they are the host nation and immesnely talented, Spain because their team is stacked as usual, and because the Spanish League is generally considered the top league in the world. I would love to see the Greeks pull some upsets in this bracket, and there team won their last 6 quailfying matches without giving up a goal, including beating Spain in Spain. But evidently half their squad is suffering from some injury. Still, I'll pick them in an upset to get by
Portugal wins group, Greece advances
Group B: France, England, Croatia, Switzerland
The French are favored, because they have the best players in the various leagues. Zidane has won World player of the year three times, and Robert Pires and Patrick Viera were key midfielders on Arsenal's undefeated Preimer League squad (no team had gone undefeated in over 100 years.) Up front, they have Thierry Henry, also of Aresenal, who was won EPL player of the year. Of course, the same team was also favored to win World Cup 02 after winning Euro 00, and lost all three games. Oops. This is a huuuuuuge tournament for David Beckham: in the last two months Real Madrid blew the Spanish Cup, the Champions League (to Monaco,) and the Spanish League, and two women came out and said they had extramarital affairs with Becks. Of course if he leads England to the title, all charges will be dropped. Too bad his team has question marks at goalie, an injured central defender (Chelsea's John Terry,) a suspended central defender (Rio Ferdinand,) and an 18 year old starting at forward (Wayne Rooney.) Still England's midfield is stacked. These are the two most interesting teams in thr tourney, and the ones getting the most press. Croatia and Switzerland aint in their league
France wins group, England advances
Group C: Italy, Denmark, Sweden, Bulgaria
Italy is one of then favorites as usual, with a plethora of talent of front and in back. They should have won the last tourney, if not for a defensive gaffe by legendary defender Paolo Maldini. Their midfield is weak however, and their coach seems committed to playing Alessandro Del Pierro for some reason. Denmark and Sweden are both quality sides, with Sweden getting a recent boost from Henrik Larsson's decision to return to international compeition. I would love to see both Scandanavian teams take out the Italians. Why not predict it?
Denmark wins group, Sweden advances, my brother in true Marshall fashion gets arrested for making fun of Italians after they lose to Bulgaria.
Group D: Czech Republic, Germany, Netherlands, Latvia
This is supposed to be the group of death. The Czechs are hot and killed their qualifying group. The Dutch have one of the most talented sides, though they can't ever seem to get it together (same old story.) The Germans just lost 5-1 to Romania...who didn't make the tournament. But of course they were also supposed to do terrible in the World Cup and made the final. So naturally I am picking...Latvia! Ok maybe not. I dont see the Germans making to much noise, for in 2002 they had the "hot goalie" in Oliver Kahn. He had a bad 04 for Bayren Munich. If he is off his game, the Germans will get embaressed, to the delight of Germans everywhere, who couldnt stand that such a poor side as the 02 squad nearly won the world's biggest trophy.
Czech Republic wins group, Netherlands advances
Just for kicks I'll throw out my other predictions, which I will revise after the first round.
Quarters: England over Portugal, Greece over France, Czech Republic over Sweden, Denmark over Netherlands
Semis: Greece over England, Denmark over Czech Republic
Winner: Denmark over Greece 1-0
If this happens, I win 5 grand. I might be slightly biased
Seriously though try and watch some first round games if you can. There are some great matchups. And hopefully by 08, it will be televised in the U.S.
So who is going to win? What to expect? Lets breakdown the tourney
Group A: Portugal, Spain, Greece, Russia.
Portugal and Spain are the favorites, Portugal because they are the host nation and immesnely talented, Spain because their team is stacked as usual, and because the Spanish League is generally considered the top league in the world. I would love to see the Greeks pull some upsets in this bracket, and there team won their last 6 quailfying matches without giving up a goal, including beating Spain in Spain. But evidently half their squad is suffering from some injury. Still, I'll pick them in an upset to get by
Portugal wins group, Greece advances
Group B: France, England, Croatia, Switzerland
The French are favored, because they have the best players in the various leagues. Zidane has won World player of the year three times, and Robert Pires and Patrick Viera were key midfielders on Arsenal's undefeated Preimer League squad (no team had gone undefeated in over 100 years.) Up front, they have Thierry Henry, also of Aresenal, who was won EPL player of the year. Of course, the same team was also favored to win World Cup 02 after winning Euro 00, and lost all three games. Oops. This is a huuuuuuge tournament for David Beckham: in the last two months Real Madrid blew the Spanish Cup, the Champions League (to Monaco,) and the Spanish League, and two women came out and said they had extramarital affairs with Becks. Of course if he leads England to the title, all charges will be dropped. Too bad his team has question marks at goalie, an injured central defender (Chelsea's John Terry,) a suspended central defender (Rio Ferdinand,) and an 18 year old starting at forward (Wayne Rooney.) Still England's midfield is stacked. These are the two most interesting teams in thr tourney, and the ones getting the most press. Croatia and Switzerland aint in their league
France wins group, England advances
Group C: Italy, Denmark, Sweden, Bulgaria
Italy is one of then favorites as usual, with a plethora of talent of front and in back. They should have won the last tourney, if not for a defensive gaffe by legendary defender Paolo Maldini. Their midfield is weak however, and their coach seems committed to playing Alessandro Del Pierro for some reason. Denmark and Sweden are both quality sides, with Sweden getting a recent boost from Henrik Larsson's decision to return to international compeition. I would love to see both Scandanavian teams take out the Italians. Why not predict it?
Denmark wins group, Sweden advances, my brother in true Marshall fashion gets arrested for making fun of Italians after they lose to Bulgaria.
Group D: Czech Republic, Germany, Netherlands, Latvia
This is supposed to be the group of death. The Czechs are hot and killed their qualifying group. The Dutch have one of the most talented sides, though they can't ever seem to get it together (same old story.) The Germans just lost 5-1 to Romania...who didn't make the tournament. But of course they were also supposed to do terrible in the World Cup and made the final. So naturally I am picking...Latvia! Ok maybe not. I dont see the Germans making to much noise, for in 2002 they had the "hot goalie" in Oliver Kahn. He had a bad 04 for Bayren Munich. If he is off his game, the Germans will get embaressed, to the delight of Germans everywhere, who couldnt stand that such a poor side as the 02 squad nearly won the world's biggest trophy.
Czech Republic wins group, Netherlands advances
Just for kicks I'll throw out my other predictions, which I will revise after the first round.
Quarters: England over Portugal, Greece over France, Czech Republic over Sweden, Denmark over Netherlands
Semis: Greece over England, Denmark over Czech Republic
Winner: Denmark over Greece 1-0
If this happens, I win 5 grand. I might be slightly biased
Seriously though try and watch some first round games if you can. There are some great matchups. And hopefully by 08, it will be televised in the U.S.
# posted by Marmaniac @ 7:33 AM 
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Once again, I'm pulling for the Englishmen. Seeing Beckham take on the Greek side mostly by himself to qualify for the '02 World Cup is still one of the most impressive atheletic performances I have ever seen, and has made me forever an England fan.
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# posted by 
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