No one can confidently predict what will happen when the tournament starts on Saturday. We can only hope and pray that our own analysis and gut instincts can accurately predict who will win and who will lose. Copious amounts of research have been done throughout the Euro qualifiers and a sharp eye has been following the tournament extensively. I will now attempt to predict what will happen. Please be gentle.
Group A
Switzerland are the co-hosts of the tournament. They will not want to disappoint their home fans. Tranquillo Barnetta had a fantastic World Cup and should be the Swiss’s go-to guy. The Czech Republic look to avenge a substandard 2006 World Cup where they failed to reach the round of 16. With Petr Cech between the sticks and giant Jan Koller leading the attack, the Czechs will want to prove they can win even without Tomas Rosicky, who is out due to injury and Pavel Nedved who has retired from the international stage. Portugal clearly stand out in this group. Runners-up from Euro 2004 they will be looking for nothing but lifting the trophy come the end of June. Cristiano Ronaldo is the best player in the world right now. Many will be watching him as he leads his team through the tournament. Turkey are the underdogs in this group and will have their work cut out for them if they want to make the next round. Tuncay Sanli needs to work off a back problem if Turkey want to survive.
Winner: Portugal
Runner-up: Czech Republic
Player to Watch: Cristiano Ronaldo
Group B
Austria are the other co-hosts of the tournament. They will have to get their nerves under control as they wait to play in front of their home fans. Croatia were the surprise winners of their qualifying group. They beat England on the last qualifying matchday to eliminate them from the tournament. Luka Modric will be the man to watch for Croatia. The young midfielder recently joined Tottenham Hotspurs for £21 million. He will want to prove that they got a solid player as he has already been compared to the great Johan Cruyff. Germany are the giants in this group. With many stars in the squad, this team will be hard pressed not to win this group. Ballack, Klose, Pudolski, Schweinsteiger, and Lahm are the big guns leading this team. Poland won their qualifying group ahead of Portugal. Euzebuisz Smolarek had 9 goals in qualifying and will need to continue to contribute if Poland wishes to reach the next round.
Winner: Germany
Runner-up: Croatia
Player to Watch: Miroslav Klose
Group C
Romania are being overlooked in this group which is safe to say the “Group of Death”. Led by Adrian Mutu and Cristian Chivu, Romania will need to give bit of energy if they want to survive this group and be a surprise in the tournament. France have a bitter taste in their mouths as they got placed in the same group as Italy. We all remember the whole Zidane fiasco in the last World Cup. New up-and-coming star Karim Benzema looks to feature for Les Blues as the usual suspects, Henry and Ribery, should provide the scoring. The Netherlands boast an impressive squad but have not produced in big tournaments as of late. Ruud van Nistlerooy, van Persie, Robben, and Sneijder will be the scoring providers. They will look to Edwin van der Sar to continue the brilliance he displayed in the Champions League Final. What can we say about Italy? It seems that they always bring great teams to tournaments. Cannavaro will be watched closely as he tries to comeback from an ankle injury. So many weapons and so much skill, teams will have to extract every bit of energy to beat the Italians.
Winners: France
Runner-up: Italy
Player to Watch: Franck Ribery
Group D
The Spanish highlight the last group. Fernando Torres is coming off an outstanding season for Liverpool and will want to continue his scoring onslaught, 33 goals in all competitions. Like the Italians, they have a plethora of amazing talent but can they play as a team? Cesc Fabregas, Xavi, Iniesta will dominate the middle of the pitch. They struggled a bit during qualifiers, but they hope to work all the kinks out by game time. Russia squeaked past England in their qualifying group. They want to prove that it was not just a fluke and that they deserve to be there. Manager Guus Hiddink has done well at the club level with PSV Eindhoven and will rely on young talent to turn a few heads at the international stage. Greece attempt to hold on to the trophy they won in 2004. Winning their group in qualifiers ahead of Turkey, they did not have to break too big a sweat to stay at the top. They should have to work quite a big harder to make the next round. Sweden are always a danger when Zlatan Ibrahimovic is in form. Also, veteran striker Henrik Larsson and defender Olof Mellberg will lead by example. A balanced team, Sweden do not want to go home early.
Winner: Spain
Runner-up: Sweden
Player to Watch: Sergio Ramos
Overall Prediction
Champion: Germany
Runner-up: Italy
Golden Boot: Thierry Henry
MVP: Michael Ballack
