Football Best Bet

Spain

Spain winning all 3 group stage matches will they suffer the same fate as Holland and Croatia? Both Croatia and Holland won all 3 group stage matches but lost in the quarter final stages. Now Spain is up against the world champions. They will try to bring the form and confidence they showed in the group stage into this important fixtures.

Spain have to step up to this occasion if not they will find themselves in the same situation with Holland and Croatia. Aragones doesn’t change winning team so expect a more or less same line up.

Man 2 Watch:

David Villa - He is in superb form scoring 4 goals already and a very important goal in the Sweden match. He will be looking to put the ball into the net and add to his goal tally. He will be hard for the Italian defence to mark as he is fast and skillful.

Possible Starting 11:

Iker Casillas, Sergio Ramos, Carlos Puyol, Carlos Marchena, Joan Capdevila, Marcos Senna, Andres Iniesta, Xavi, David Silva, David Villa, Fernando Torres

Form:

Last 5 Spain matches:
18.06.2008	GROUP D	Greece-Spain		1:2
14.06.2008	GROUP D	Sweden-Spain		1:2
10.06.2008	GROUP D	Spain-Russia		4:1
04.06.2008	FRIENDLY	Spain-USA		1:0
31.05.2008	FRIENDLY	Spain-Peru		2:1

Italy

Italy have under performed in the group stage and they will be looking to up their performance to live up to their world champions name. They are facing a team who is in real form. With Gattuso and Pirlo both suspended they will be without their 2 important midfielders. Can Italy cope with the attacking strength of Spain without their key players?

Luca Toni is currently not in his best form and is not firing in goals. Will he be able to knock the ball pass Casillas?

Man 2 Watch:

Gianluigi Buffon - The world class goalkeeper had put in good performance in the group stages with a save from the penalty spot to keep the world champions in the competition. He will be a tough goalkeeper to beat and if the match goes into penalty shoot-out he will be the match to watch out for.

Possible Starting 11:

Gianluigi Buffon, Gianluca Zambrotta, Christian Panucci, Giorgio Chiellini, Fabio Grosso, Massimo Ambrosini, Daniele De Rossi, Mauro Camoranesi, Simone Perrotta, Luca Toni, Antonio Cassano

Form:

Last 5 Italy matches:
17.06.2008	GROUP C	France - Italy		0:2
13.06.2008	GROUP C	Italy - Romania		1:1
09.06.2008	GROUP C	Netherlands - Italy		3:0
30.05.2008	FRIENDLY	Italy - Belgium		3:1
26.03.2008	FRIENDLY	Spain - Italy		1:0

The Pick:

I would go for a 1-1 draw or a 2-1 win for Spain.

Popularity: 85% [?]

Portugal

Now its into the Quarter-Final Stage and Portugal will be in action 1st against the tournament favorites Germany. Having made 8 changes in the previous match against Switzerland, most of their star players have had 1 weeks rest whereas Germany had to play their 2nd match in 3 days.

The Portuguese will be feeling much fresher then the Germans. They will be trying to use their speed to get pass the Germans’ defence. This is their 4th time getting into the last 8 in successions. The Portuguese will be trying to build on this record and get into the Semi Finals.

Man 2 Watch:

Cristiano Ronaldo - He will be Portugal’s focus in the attack. He will be looking to terrorize the defence of Germany and Metzelder may have a hard time containing him as he is too fast.

Possible Starting 11:

Ricardo, Pepe, Ricardo Carvalho, Bosingwa, Paulo Ferreira, Simao, Petit, Deco, Joao Moutinho, Cristiano Ronaldo, Nuno Gomes

Form:

Last 5 Portugal matches:
15.06.2008	GROUP A	Switzerland-Portugal		2:0
11.06.2008	GROUP A	Czech Rep.-Portugal		1:3
07.06.2008	GROUP A	Portugal-Turkey		2:0
31.05.2008	FRIENDLY	Portugal-Georgia		2:0
26.03.2008	FRIENDLY	Portugal-Greece		1:2

Germany

Will Germany be affected by the absence of their manager Joachim Low? Being the tournament favorites before the start of the tournament, Germany have not been playing what is expected from them. They will be looking to improve their form by getting a win over Portugal.

Germany will be playing their 2nd match in 3 days and with the speed and pace in the Portuguese team, will it be too much for the Germans to handle?

Man 2 Watch:

Michael Ballack - Portugal’s manager Luiz Felipe Scolari have marked Germany’s influential Captain as the potential threat as he will be looking to spur the Germans on with manager Joachim Low being banned from touchline.

Possible Starting 11:

Jens Lehmann, Christoph Metzelder,  Arne Friedrich, Philip Lahm, Clemens Fritz, PerMertesacker, Torsten Frings, Michael Ballack, Miroslav Klose, Lukas Podolski, Mario Gomez

Form:

Last 5 Germany matches:
16.06.2008	GROUP B	Austria - Germany		0:1
12.06.2008	GROUP B	Croatia - Germany		2:1
08.06.2008	GROUP B	Germany - Poland		2:0
31.05.2008	FRIENDLY	Germany - Serbia		2:1
27.05.2008	FRIENDLY	Germany - Belarus		2:2

The Pick:

I would go for a either a 1-1 draw or Portugal coming off with a 2-1 win over the Germans.

Popularity: 78% [?]

SwedenSweden was able to get a victory over Greece in the opening match. Henrik Larsson and Zlatan Ibrahimovich was influential in that match. They will be looking for passes to their big Inter target man Ibrahimovich.

Man 2 Watch:

Zlatan Ibrahimovich - He is an assassin in front of the goal and bet on him to be the scorer if Sweden were to get a goal.

Possible Starting 11:

(GK) Andreas Isaksson - (DF) Petter Hansson, Olof Mellberg, Mikael Per Benny Nilsson - (MF) Niclas Alexandersson, Anders Svensson, Fredrik Ljungberg, Christian Wilhelmsson, Kim Kallstrom - (FW) Zlatan Ibrahimovich, Henrik Larsson

Form:

Spain

An impressive start for the Spaniards. David Villa in particular scoring a hat-trick and leading the goal scorer chart. He will be looking to knock in a few more goals in order to impress even more big clubs to bid for him after the Euro 2008 as he is looking to move away from Valencia.

I would reckon that Spain has one of the most impressive team alongside Holland. Spain has a good chance of winning this competition.

Man 2 Watch:

David Villa - An out and out striker. His penetrating runs and his shooting will be 1 to be worried by Sweden.

Possible Starting 11:

(GK) Iker Casillas - (DF) Sergio Ramos, Carles Puyol, Carlos Marchena, Joan Capdevilla - (MF) Xavi, Andres Iniesta, Cesc Fabregas, David Silva - (FW) David Villa, Fernando Torres

Form:

The Pick:

Though Sweden will be a tough team to break down but I will still go for Spain winning this match with a possible scoreline of 3-0 or 3-1. The Spanish side will be too much for the Swedish to handle.

Popularity: 100% [?]

Holland

Beating the Wold Champions 3-0 on the opening day of the group of death is a sensational start for Holland. They will be looking to continue their good form and will be going into the match in a very high morale and confidence. But the Dutch side had a hard time handling Gross, Del Piero and Zambrotta in the 2nd half. And the French side have players faster then the Dutch defence so the Dutch may have problem handling them as well.

Man 2 Watch:

Ruud van Nistelrooy - The former Manchester United striker is a typical Fox In The Box striker. He is a tough opponent for the French defence to face. And most importantly he score goals and i mean quite a number of goals.

Possible Starting 11:

(GK) Edwin van der Sar - (DF) Giovanni van Bronckhorst, Joris Mathijsen, Andre Ooijer, Khalid Boulahrouz - (MF) Wesley Sneijder, Rafael van der Vaart, Nigel De Jong, Orlando Engelaar - (FW) Ruud van Nistelrooy, Robin van Persie

Form:

France

After being held to a draw in their opening match against Romania, the French side must go into this upcoming fixture with a optimistic mindset. With both Theirry Henry and Captain Patrick Vieira back in the French squad it will surely be morale boosting.

France will try to score 1st in order to boost their confidence for the match. And a win in this match will put them in the driving seat to qualify ahead of the Italians.

Man 2 Watch:

Franck Ribery - He will be focal point in midfield. He will try to slice open the Dutch defence with their pace.

Possible Starting 11:

(GK) Gregory Coupet - (DF) William Gallas, Lilian Thuram, Eric Abidal, Willy Sagnol - (MF) Franck Ribery, Patrick Vieira, Jeremy Toulalan, Florent Malouda - (FW) Thierry Henry, Karim Benzema

Form:

The Pick:

This will be an interesting fixture to watch as both is of about the same standard. But I would seriously favour Holland to win this fixture after the impressing start to the tournament. I would believe Holland may come out of this match with a victory. France shouldn’t be written off though.

Holland 2 - 1 France

Popularity: 84% [?]

Italy

Having lost their opening match to Holland the Italians will be looking to bounce back from that embarrassing defeat. Winning the next 2 matches will ensure their passage into the Quarter-Finals.

They will be assessing what went wrong for the match against Holland and will look to improve in it. With France drawing with Romania in their opening match, the Italians will hope the Dutch will be able to get a win against the French side so it will have lesser on the Italians.

Man 2 Watch:

Luca Toni - After a bad start to the competition for the Italians, Luca Toni will be looking to fire in the Italians 1st goal in this competition. He will be causing problems in the Romanian’s penalty area with his height.

Possible Starting 11:

(GK) Gianluigi Buffon - (DF) Marco Materazzi, Andrea Barzagli, Gianluca Zambrotta, Christian Panucci - (MF) Gennaro Gattuso, Andrea Pirlo, Mauro German Camoranesi, Massimo Ambrosini - (FW) Antonio Di Natale, Luca Toni

Form:

Romania

After a relatively good start to the group of death by getting a draw with former World Champion France, they will be up against the World Champion Italy. They will be looking to capitalize on the poor start by the Italians. They will be hoping the Italians’ morale is still low so maybe they will be able to get some result in this match.

This will be a very tough test for the Romanians.

Man 2 Watch:

Adrian Mutu - He will be trying hard to get the ball into the Italians net. His run will be one to look out for.

Possible Starting 11:

(GK) Bogdan Lobont - (DF) Christian Chivu, Cosmin Contra, Razvan Dica Rat, Gabriel Sebastian Tamas, Dorin Goain - (MF) Mirel Matei Radoi, Banel Nicolita, Razvan Cocis - (FW) Adrian Mutu, Daniel George Niculae

Form:

The Pick:

I would go for a win for the Italians. But never under estimate Romania like what they did against France by keeping them at bay.

Italy 2 - 0 Romania

Popularity: 90% [?]

Croatia

Croatia had a good start for their 1st match. After taking an early lead through a penalty, the Croatia side didn’t really get going and were under pressure from the co host Austria. The Croatian side have to take a different approach towards the game against Germany as the German side is of a different standard from the Austrian side.

After securing their 1st ever victory in the finals of the European Championship, they will be looking for their 2nd win.

Man 2 Watch:

Luka Modric - The new Spurs midfielder had a good start in the competition with a goal from the penalty spot he will be looking to add to the tally. He ability to pass and shoot will be something the German defence should be worried about.

Possible Starting 11:

(GK) Stipe Pletikosa - (DF) Josip Simunic, Robert Kovac, Vedran Corluka - (MF) Dariko Srna, Niko Kranjcar, Nico Kovac, Danijel Pranjic, Luka Modric, Mladen Petric - (FW) Ivica Olic

Form:

Germany

After a cruising start to the tournament, Germany will be looking to secure their place in the last 8 with a win over the Croatian side. Lukas Podolski having 2 goals to his name already he will be looking forward to this match full of confidence.

With the strong attack up front the Germans will be looking to put a few goals into the Croatian net. But the German will have something to worry about as their defence was rather weak in recent games. They will be looking to buck up their defence and try to keep it as compact as possible so it will be hard for the Croatian to break through.

Man 2 Watch:

Michael Ballack - The influential German Captain will be looking to lead their side into the last 8 of the competition. His passing will be 1 to look out for. He will be able to slice open the Croatian defence if he is in the top form. His free kick is equally deadly so Stipe Pletikosa may have a hard time if his defence keep giving free kicks away within shooting range.

Possible Starting 11:

(GK) Jens Lehmann - (DF) Christoph Metzelder, Philip Lahm, Clemens Fritz, Per Mertesacker - (MF) Bastian Schweinsteiger, Michael Ballack, Torsten Frings - (FW) Miroslav Klose, Lukas Podolski, Mario Gomez

Form:

The Pick:

I will go for Germany winning this 2-1 because i think that the German’s forward will be too much for the Croatian’s defence to handle. Maybe a slip at the back for the German’s defence will allow the Croatian to get a goal back. Overall it’ll be a win for the German side.

Croatia 1 - 2 Germany

Popularity: 91% [?]

Czech Republic

A winning start against co host Switzerland, Czech Republic will be looking for a win to more or less secure a place in the final 8 of the competition. Although without playmaker Tomas Rosicky they did manage to get a win over the Swiss with a goal from the 2nd half subsitute Sverkos. However they did not look comfortable with Switzerland putting a lot of pressure on them after the goal.

The Czech side seems to be slower then the Portuguese side so they maybe looking to change the approach towards the game. If they can produce a fine performance and they can keep the game tight they might be able to earn themselves some points. With their coach Bruckner has already stated that goal scorer Sverkos may start up front with Jan Koller, this means that it will add pace in the attack and they may try to hit the Portuguese side on the break.

Man 2 Watch

Petr Cech - He is a big goalkeeper and he will be hard to be beaten. He will play a big part in this fixture.

Possible Starting 11:

(GK) Petr Cech - (DF) Marek Jankulovski, Tomas Ujfalusi, David Rozenhnal, Zdenek Grygera - (MF) David Jarolim, Libor Sionko, Tomas Galasek, Jaroslav Plasil - (FW) Jan Koller, Vaclav Sverkos

Form:

Portugal

Portugal will be building on the previous match against Turkey as they dominated the match. With Captain Nuno Gomes hitting the woodwork twice he will be trying even hard to put the ball into the back of the net this time round. Ronaldo who is looking to get his 1st goal in this tournament will be a dangerous opponent for the Czech side as he is relatively faster den most of their players.

With the likes of Ronaldo, Simao, Joao Moutinho, Bosingwa and etc, the Portuguese side will be looking to use their pace efficiently over the Czech side. With pace up front and experience in defence you would fancy Portugal getting something out of this match.

Man 2 Watch:

Cristiano Ronaldo - Being the centre of limelight in the transfer saga between Real Madrid and Man Utd he seems not to be affected by it and is concentrating on the game itself. He will try to prove the critics wrong and step up to the big occasion by scoring goals in this competition.

Possible Starting 11:

(GK) Ricardo - (DF) Bosingwa, Ricardo Carvalho, Pepe, Paulo Ferreira - (MF) Peti, Deco, Simao, Cristiano Ronaldo, Joao Moutinho - (FW) Nuno Gomes

Form:

THE PICK:

Personally I would hope Czech Republic will have a win over Portugal as I’m not a supporter of the Portuguese side. But on the other hand I’m a Man Utd fan I’m fustrated at Ronaldo’s indecisive approach to the transfer saga but I would still hope that Nani and him will produce good performance in this competition so I’m kind of in a dilemma. I would fancy Portugal winning this fixture but never under estimated the Czech side.

Czech Republic 1 - 2 Portugal

Popularity: 85% [?]

Italy

Italy will have to cope with the loss of their Captain Fabio Cannavaro after being ruled out of the competition with an injury. But being the World Champion, they will have to live up to their name and put in a good fight and try to secure a win to gain advantage in the group of death.

Luca Toni will be the man to watch out for as he is tall and is a very good target man. He can create havoc in the Dutch penalty area easily with his height. Another man to watch out for will be Andrea Pirlo. His precise passing and his deadly free kick will be another factor for the Dutch to be fear of.

Possible Starting Lineup:

(GK) Buffon - (DF) Panucci, Barzagli, Materazzi, Zambrotta - (MF) Gattuso, De Rossi, Pirlo - (FW) Camoranesi, Toni, Di Natale

Form:

Netherlands

Netherlands haven’t been fighting for the trophy since 1998 as they were beaten in the semi-finals on a few occasions. The Dutch side is filled with young energy with the likes of Klaas Jan Huntelaar, Ibrahim Afellay, Nigel de Jong, Wesley Sneijder and etc. But they also have experience players like Edwin van der Sar, Giovanni van Bronckhorst, Ruud van Nistelrooy and etc. With the mixture of young blood and experienced players, the Dutch side will be an interesting side to watch out for.

Netherlands will be looking to boost their confidence with a win over World Champion Italy in the opening fixture of their Euro 2008. This will put them in pole position to qualify if they are able to beat one of the big 3 in the group of death.

Netherlands will be without trio Robin van Persie, Arjen Robben and Ryan Babel.

Possible Starting Lineup:

(GK) Van der Sar - (DF) Heitinga, Ooijer, Mathijsen, Van Brockhorst - (MF) Engelaar, De Jong, Sneijder, Van der Vaart, Afellay - (FW) Van Nistelrooy

Form:

Personally I would love to see Netherlands get a win over Italy as I’m a supporter for Netherlands and Spain with England out of the finals. But I have to be realistic and go for a 1-1 draw. If being lucky a 2-1 win for Netherlands.

The Pick:

Italy 1-1 Netherlands.

Popularity: 90% [?]

France

In the opening fixture of the group of death, France will be going head to head with Romania. Captain Patrick Vieira from France will miss out on this match.

Although France will be without their Captain, the likes of Mathieu Flamini or Claude Makelele will be stepping up to replace him in that position. Although Vieira is a huge lost for the French side but I think either AC Milan’s new boy Flamini or Chelsea’s veteran Makelele will be able to step up to this fixture.

Beside Vieira, France may be without Thierry Henry and Franck Ribery due to minor injuries. But with the talents available in the French squad they will be able to cope even if the duo is unable to start in this fixture. Karim Benzema and Samir Nasri or Jeremy Toulalan will be able to step up to the occasion if called upon.

Possible Starting Lineup:

Coupet, Sagnol, Thuram, Gallas, Abidal, Ribery, Makelele, Toulalan, Malouda, Anelka, Benzema

Form:

Romania

Being touted to be the underdog in this group of death, Romania will try hard to make a dream start by winning the previous world champion France. Romania will be praying hard that Henry and Ribery will not be fit enough to face them as they will terrorize their defence. With Adrian Mutu upfront and Christian Chivu at the back, Romania will fancy their chances.

Possible Starting Lineup:

Lobonţ, Contra, Tamaş, Goian, Raţ, Cociş, Rădoi, Chivu, Nicoliţă, D. Niculae, Mutu

Form:

Personally I will go for France to get a comfortable win here with the possible score line of 2-0 or 2-1.

THE PICK:

Romania 0 - 2 France

Popularity: 82% [?]