EURO 2008

portugal will be good. theyll miss figo but in quaresma and ronaldo theyre pretty potent up front. add deco and nani to the mix and its exciting. theyll progress throught the group but anyones guess after that. i predict a semi final appearance.

They look good on paper, but were pretty average in qualifying, barely scraped through. Ronaldo might be pretty tired too by the time the tournament arrives, which would hamper their chances considerably.

Should still be good enough to qualify from the group though.

MAN O MAN!! the advertisements are already on skysports!

poland better f**king win. i put $30 dollars on it

Really broke the bank there, eh?

Greece to make Semis. If that happens then im happy.

Germany to take it

i ned someone to give me a crash course on Euro footy. I am going to Euro and am meant to be giving feedback on here - but I really dont have a clue..

Netherlands to finally learn how to play as a team and win the whole damn thing.

Well, firstly, there's gonna be a team that comes from nowhere and does very well, I'm picking Switzerland to do that.
There'll be a big flop from the big names, I'm picking France for that.
The most talented team at the Championships is Spain, they'll look good, but their path to winning it all is difficult. Will be the best team to watch though.
I hope Croatia get to the semis, but will be happy if we get out of the group stages.
Given the way the draw is set-up, I can see an Italy - Germany final with Italy winning it all.el grapadura2008-05-17 18:15:39

This is the year Spain finally meet expectations. I fully expect them to make the semis after which any of the four teams can win. Germany and France, nah not really...

Would like to see Rumania do well but it wont happen....

spain aka LA AMIGO CHOKA ARTISTA'S ahahah

netherlands will win it...theyre in an insane pool but theyl take it out. is euro gonna be on prime or just on sky?

<!-- S BO --><!-- S IIMA --> <!-- E IIMA --><!-- S SF -->

Italy captain Fabio Cannavaro will miss Euro 2008 after tearing ligaments in his left ankle during training.

The Real Madrid defender collided with Giorgio Chiellini in a practice match at Italy's base in Austria on Monday.

After the incident, Cannavaro lay 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. <!-- E SF -->

Italy had been in Austria for just six hours when Cannavaro suffered his injury.

A statement issued by the Italian Football Federation said: "The news we feared was confirmed in Baden late on Monday evening.

<!-- S I -->

<!-- E I -->

"Fabio Cannavaro will say goodbye to our European adventure, before it has even begun.

"The captain has suffered torn ligaments, which happened the moment his foot made contact with the ground. His ankle twisted awkwardly."

Cannavaro, 34, capped 116 times, skippered Italy to 2006 World Cup glory in Germany, winning the World Player of the Year award.

His absence is a serious setback for Italy, who are in Euro 2008's 'Group of Death' with France, the Netherlands and dark horses Romania.

However, the emergence of centre-back Andrea Barzagli, who has produced some assured displays for Italy in the last year, will slightly cushion the blow.

Defender Marco Materazzi is also in the squad while Chiellini and Christian Panucci can play at centre-back rather than full-back.

Italy open their campaign against the Dutch on Monday 9 June in Berne. <!-- E BO -->

France will win.

yeh but its only like 3 or 4,they should jst replay the majority instead of showing 3/4 live

I just wish they wouldn't use SS3 when I'm working away from home. None of the hotels carry SS3.

Its so close!

I have decided that both Spain and Ronaldo will bottle it

I hope Spain go far though, as I think they'll probably play the best football.

Milky Pisswit2008-06-06 12:47:26

????

I don't even remember tha last time the Dutch didn't qualify for EURO, maybe 1984?
They were knocked out in the semis in Portugal, losing 2-1 to Portugal.
The only tournament the Dutch failed to qualify for since 1986 is the World Cup in 2002.el grapadura2008-06-06 16:25:31

Netherlands pedigree (taken from the Euro2008 Finals spreadsheet at www.michaelwray.co.nz - not sure how well this will copy and paste):

Hmm... it looks a lot better in the spreadsheet.

They're sh*thouse at the moment - 15 goals in 12 qualifying games - no Seedorf - they replace an injured winger in Babel with a defender in the squad - they wont get out of the group

I don't know much about the Romanian team, but I'm looking forward to seeing Adrian Mutu again.

I seriously hope the Czechs get far in this tournament, they are a class team.  Not having sky for the last few months I haven't been able to watch Arsenal games, and I assume the reason Rosicky isn't in the squad is due to injury?  It's a pity Nedved retired, but he was getting on (as was Koller but he is still brilliant).

netherlands will win. sneijder is the man

Yeah LG I think Rosicky has been injured - no Nedved or Poborsky either and Koller and Baros aren't in great form - be a tight group that - I've gone for a 1 all draw in the first game v the Swiss

I actually fancy Romania in that group, I don't think that either the French or the Dutch should scare them, and Italy without Cannavaro is not as complete a team. I think the French will struggle in this tournament, and the Romanians seemed to have found a good formula against the Dutch in the qualifiers so that may serve them well.

As for the Czechs, I think they missed their boat in 2004. Some of their best players are too old now, and while they have decent young talent I think they're still a bit green for tournament play. Picking Switzerland and Portugal to get through from that group.

Agreed on all of that - great minds eh! Though Cannavaro isn't the player he was 2 years ago - could be a blessing for the Italians

That's probably right - guess that's what going to Real Madrid does to a defender...

can't wait for tomorrow's game..im watching it at home. If you live in Kelburn and wanna watch it at my place, PM me and ill be happy to host

I'll get up for France-Romania and will probably catch the second half of Italy-Holland, depending on how tired I am heh.

Biggest day of football yet in the comp, can't wait either.

My predictions:

France 2-1 Romania
Holland 0-0 Italy

As for this mornings games, that Roger Guerrerio really impressed me.

im getting up at 3.35 and staying up.
it should be worth it.

I'll try and get to the France game tonight. Word is it might be poss to get tickets

Romania 1 France 1 and Italy 2 nil over the Dutch

I did it this morning - got up for the Croatian game, and then stayed up for the German game, after which I trudged off to work. Feel surprisingly fresh right now.

Yeah same - it's just good to have football on TV.