EURO Fever

The opening ceremony of the 2008 Euro championships is only days away and the hype is really building up here in Freiburg, less than an hour away from it’s venue – St. Jacob’s Park. Flirting with the danger of sounding supercillous, I would say I get quite annoyed with people back home whose un-quenching passion for football sprouts after every two years (in some cases even 4). But with Germany favourites for this year’s championships, I am happy to be at the right place with genuinely passionate fans all around. I am no football-pundit but some of my audacious predictions did come right during the World Cup – like France going all the way after beating Spain when hardly anyone gave them a chance against the Brazilians and Hargreaves scoring the only successful penalty in case the 3-lions were faced with a shoot-out. So here are my views on the Euro 2008

1. Italy - The world champions are renowned for their steadfast defending. Even without Cannavaro, it will be difficult to break them down for defending is more about teamwork and discipline than individual brilliance. Their problems might arise further up the pitch. Although Luca Toni is banging goals for fun in the Bundesliga, I wasn’t impressed by his world cup performance which followed his 30-goal season with Florentina. He needs a big tournament here if he does not wish his name to be taken in the same breath as Andy Cole and Hasselbank.

2. France – They are clubbed with Italy, Netherlands and Romania in the Group of Death and will need star man Frank Ribery to be firing on all cylinders to go all the way. Most of their players, with the exceptions of Ribery and Benzema, are coming to the Euro on back of disappointing club campaigns but don’t bet against them doing a Brazil-2002.

3. Netherlands – Along with Spain, they are the traditional chokers and I don’t see them getting rid of that tag. RVN, Huntleer, Snejider and the mercurial duo of Van Persie and Robben - Van Basten is spoilt for options up front but they are woefully out of depth in the centre of the park and that is where most big games are won or lost. They will find it extremely tough to progress from arguably the toughest group.

4. Germany – They brought a nation to life with their exuberant performances in the world cup. It is said that Joachim Löw was the brains behind the Jurgen revolution and it will be interesting to see if he can deliver as the man in the hot seat. With the like of Ballack and Klose peaking at the right time, Germany go into the Euro as huge favourites.

5. Spain – With the likes of Fabregas, Torres, Villa and Iniesta, they have a forward line which will be envied by the best but in Puyol and whoever plays with him, they have the weakest defence among the big boys. How Luis Aragones would have loved to take Ferdinand and Terry on loan for a month! Having spent all his professional career at the Bernebau, Casillas has great expertise playing behind fragile defences and it would take a herculean effort from him for the Spanish to be in Vienna on 29^th of June.

6. Portugal – Christiano Ronaldo is their man. Touted by many as the best player in the world, he needs to deliver in Austria-Switzerland. With Deco, Quaresma and Nani also in the squad, the Portuguese, like their Iberians rivals, have plenty of ammunition in their ranks. They also have a more than decent backline marshalled by Ricardo Carvalho. Whether they can go one step better than 2004 will depend on whether Nuno Gomes and Postiga can fill the void left by Pauletta’s retirement.

Any of these six can win the Euro but they will need things to go their way at crucial points in the tournament. It is very difficult to pick a winner from among them and so I take the easy way out and predict the underdogs.

1. Russia – I was amazed by the way Zenith St. Petersburg tore the mighty Bavarians apart in the UEFA Cup semifinals and also by how they forced the resilient Rangers defence into submission in Manchester. Zenith surely will have 4-5 representatives in the Russian team and with the tactical genius of Guus Hiddink, whose record of bringing the best out of limited resources is admirable, at the helm they are a team the big boys should be wary of.
2. Croatia – Many would say that England were downright pathetic on that rainy night in London but many visiting teams have been over-awed by the 90,000 plus Englishmen on the hallowed Wembley turf. A team which more than held its own in such intimidating atmosphere simply cannot be discounted.

Don’t be surprised to see one of these two playing in the semi-finals and remember you heard it first here!