Preview, Spain vs Russia – June 10 2008

If there’s one team you got to watch out for and NEVER underestimate, we are talking about Russia. We all know how South Korea headed to the Semis of a World cup in 2002, under Guus Hiddink. I, for one guy, never expected that from them. They played beyond their capability, if you ask me. Hiddink exploited the home advantage and familiarity of conditions there, to give the super-human confidence to the South Korean team. I will be learning a thing or two from him this time, from what he does with Russia.

Arshavin and co, just back from a UEFA cup triumph, will be more confident than ever. They’ll be looking forward to proving a point in this game. If they can beat Spain, I’ll back them all the way at least to the semis. All the best guys!

Spain, the team tagged as the perennial under performers, would be raring to shrug that reputation off, and Torres will play a very important role, if that be the case. One thing to note here is how Spain literally struggled to beat the United States of America in their last warmup. It took 78 minutes and some lucky charm of Xavi to avoid an embarrassment. While it is 100 percent sure that Hiddink would have pages on how and where the Spaniards went wrong in that game, the Spaniards would and should try and get a lot of things straight. They are going nowhere if that’s how they are going to play. I wish them luck again!

Key Players:

Russia – Arshavin, the keeper and another key is the absence of Pogrebnyak!
Spain – Xavi, Fabregas, torres, Villa

Prediction:
A 2 GD in favour of spain…


THIS WAS SUPPOSED TO BE A PREVIEW :)
Russia did nt have its strikers.. A point to note. I still say the goals were moments of brilliance, and for a team like spain, they made too many mistakes. Russia wasn't good enough to exploit them, but Sweden can. I only hope Spain improves for the next game.

Preview – Romania vs France, June 9 2008

When I was a child, say 8 years old, I had no idea what football is, which are the countries that play it well. All I knew were a few names, and I’d support them like hell. One of them, I could remember, was Lothar Matthias, the German Football demi-god. And among countries I’d support two countries which weren’t exactly at the top of their game.. Romania and Bulgaria. No idea why I rooted for them, but I did.. Romania has this “yay” feeling around it, taking me back a few years. And I am looking forward to seeing them fight till the end in the Group of death. If they get through this group, they most certainly are one classic side. Good luck to them!

France will be looking to steady its boat. We all know what happened when it met Senegal a few years back. We all know it struggled in the initial matches of a few recent tournaments. Romania will be hoping it is one of those days, and there’s every possibility of it turning out to be one. The English world will look at the star material that is Karim Benzema, and let’s see if the Lyon striker lives up to expectations. And oh, the expectation from him for this match will be a goal. If there’s anyone in the team who can do something about steadying the boat early, I’d give it to Mathieu Flamini or Franck Ribery. Flamini, with his arsenal-speed-game can bring that life to the lineup and Ribery.. Well, he is said to be in Magic Touch at the moment. It will be fun to see if he does a Lampard (remember the great form leading up to the world cup and failing miserably there?) or does it well. If France puts in half the effort they did during their France 98 victory, Euro 2008 is in their pockets already. Great defence at the back and some great names up front.


Key Players
Romania – Chivu, Mutu
France – Benzema, Flamini, Ribery

Prediction: A 1 or 2 GD victory for france

Preview – Austria vs Croatia, June 8 2008

I have no comments on this match.. a straight forward victory for Croatia. To be frank, I have no idea about any of the Austrian players and I expect the likes of Luka Modric to run through the Austrian defence. Watch out for him in this match, while I study the other Croatian players to see if there’s another golden boot possibility!

Bilic is very confident about his players and I’ve heard he doesn’t speak for the heck of it. This is one team that has not been tagged favorites by many, but a dark horse, nevertheless.

Fans in Vienna will be in for a rough time.

Key Players:

Austria – I haven’t heard of one guy in this line up before!

Croatia –Kranjcar, Modric, Bilic!

Prediction:

2 – 0 to Croatia!

Preview Germany Vs Poland, June 8 2008

Poland’s opening match would be against one of the strongest teams in the tournament, minus the King Kahn. But that should make no difference, as Lehmann will not be tested much in this match by the Polish attack, or so I expect. One interesting fact about the Polish squad is the quality lineup in front of the net. I am talking about the keepers. Two reserve keepers for top quality sides in the Premier league and another outstanding keeper in Artur Boruc, who deserves to start. Against Germany, they can afford to substitute the keeper after 70 minutes, when Boruc will be real tired. Fabianski / Kuszczak can hold on for twenty minutes with ease. That really is something the coach can think about. I should see this match before I can come to a conclusion about the other players in the side.

Germany should be looking at experimenting in the first half, and putting in their best team in the last thirty minutes. While Odonkor and Gomez can start, Podolski or Kuranyi can be rested for this game. Putting in Ballack after 65’ would also be a good option, just to keep him sharp for Croatia. The German defence could still do with the likes of Lothar. It is not as star studded, but I expect it to be effective and adaptive. And yay! I am looking forward to seeing Bastian Schweinsteiger in action after a long time. You know, following Bundesliga matches isn’t the craze here, yet!

Key Players for this match:

Germany: Forwards , Substitutes for the forwards

Poland: Boruc, Boruc, Boruc

Prediction:

1 – 0 or 2 – 0 in favour of Deutscheland.

Preview – Portugal vs Turkey, June 7 2008

Turkey will be looking forward to finishing this game without much ado. Their hopes may be high, and they may be confident of proceeding to the next round, but it’s got to be by beating the Czech Republic. This, I expect to be a very lopsided match. Turkey should look at minimizing the goal difference, if you ask me. Turkey is not a bad team. They have got their own style coming into Euro, but there are certain teams which are not capable of getting ‘upset’. Emre should look at monitoring his team in this encounter and learning from the experience. It’s the other matches that they should be thinking of, just to feel confident.

The team from Portugal is among the favourites tipped to win the title, given the in-form players and that they’ve played with each other before. Scolari should be having nightmares thinking about picking the starting eleven. Deco, Gomes, Postiga.. aaah, now how long has it been since I saw them play together? Personally, I do not like the player that Ronaldo is, but I must admit that he’s one of the rarest talents available at the moment. Post-worldcup-rooney-incident, the referees will have a pre-conceived notion about his diving skills, and that should be a matter of concern. Otherwise, here’s someone you can rely on to produce 1 goal every match, at the least. But, even in the extreme cases of players getting carded time and again, no sweat. There are many more playmakers in the lineup! And the defence shall be a Chelsea trio, protecting the goal and making it all the more easy for the star keeper Ricardo. Portugal should be having a warm up match against the fast playing Turkey. Getting past turkey would ensure that Switzerland will no more be a concern.

Unless the stars wish to lie, It’s Portugal on top.

Key Players:

Portugal – You got to name at least 7 of them here

Turkey – Emre (the captain, in case u wonder which of the three), Tuncay, Altintop perhaps?

Prediction:

Turkey should do all it can to minimize the goal difference as every Portugal player will be expecting to showcase his ability to put the ball past the keeper. A 3 GD in favour of Portugal is my prediction.

Preview – Switzerland vs Czech, June 7 2008

The Host begins its European Glory hunt at Basle against the formidable Czech Republic. Though I see no avenues for a Swiss victory, it is true that the Swiss defence is capable of keeping the Czech army at bay. I am eagerly awaiting the opening day to see how the dual Gunners (Senderos and djourou) manage at this level without the rest of Arsenal. This is their time to prove a point to the world that they can do a Shevchenko! (taking their team to the next stage single-handedly, hee hee).

The defence at the other end would largely rely on one man, Petr Cech, who’s “been there and done that” in all forms of the game. Their line up consists of consistent and steady players with the likes of Jan Koller and Milan Baros up ahead who can net the ball at the opposition’s every mistake. Much will be expected of Koller in the games to come.

This is the game that will decide if Switzerland can make it to the next round. And as of now, that possibility is .. well, not much of a possibility.

Key Players

Swiss – Djourou, Senderos (let them play this. I need to see the others in action first!)

Czech – Petr Cech, Jan Koller

Prediction: A clean sheet for Cech, and anywhere between 0 and 2 goals for the visitors.

Preview - Italy vs Netherlands, June 9 2008

Here i begin...

“Fabio Cannavaro will say goodbye to our European adventure, before it has even begun..” comes out a statement.

And you’re like whoa, what the hell… The World Cup triumph had got the Azzurri a good number of fans from India, who do not have an English team to root for , come Euro. And this should go as a shock to all those Italian fans who have been dreaming of a second cup in two tournaments. It is almost an unwritten fact that Italy won the World cup on the fantastic defence marshaled by Fabio. And yeah, of course, the Zizou stunt. But it is too plain.. No Cannavaro, No Roman wall...

The real test for the Azzurri begins from Day 1 of their European adventure, with the Dutch hungry to prove a point. Italy without Fabio, and I see a man with a broken leg, bleeding to add to it, surrounded by 11 hungry wolves. The Netherlands, on the other hand, is one of the strongest teams on paper and yeah, they ain’t on full strength either. They’ll be without the Liverpool star Ryan Babel. But Marco van Basten has other recipes up his sleeve.. so many options that Huntelaar was not even subbed in the friendly against Wales.

The heavily anticipated Italian defence will now look like a few big boulders rather than the Wall that they are famous for. And they can consider themselves lucky if the likes of Nistelrooy, Robben, Kuyt and Huntelaar fail to deal with the boulders. Not to mention the much touted return of R.V.P for the opener.

I was for one behind the Azzurri even before the World Cup started, and it was on their defence that I banked, and it was precisely that defence that saw them through. They can only hope that Gattuso , Pirlo & Luca Toni make up for it this time though, or they may end up eliminated!

This match will be the most important match of the tournament as the winner of this tie will be tagged as the favorites immediately.

Key Players:

Italy: Gattuso, Buffon, Luca Toni

Netherlands: RVP, Nistelrooy, Sneijder

I’ll be back to post on the results! Man, I don’t have a prediction for this game.. Absolutely unpredictable. Though instincts tell me that the Dutch will score, a 0-0 draw seems to be the most practical outcome from 90 minutes of play.