3 days to go and counting!!!!
The opening day of a major tournament is quite often a cagey affair with no teams wanting to be the first to concede in a championship.
The opening games on Saturday are Switzerland vs Czech republic and Portugal vs Turkey.
I can’t see there being too much to get excited about in the opener and expect it to be a 1-1 draw, both teams have a couple of decent players but neither have anything that makes the pulse race and get me jumping off my feet.
The second game on that opening day of Euro 2008 though is a different story. Portugal are many peoples favourites, with the remarkable Christiano Ronaldo lining up to drive his country men on to greatness. Let’s not put them down as a one man team though as they are anything but. They have oodles of talent throughout in the likes of Deco, Nani, Gomes, Postiga and Carvalho and that is why I am thinking that perhaps the best time to play these guys is in the opening game. Hit them before they have a chance to get into their stride. A couple of games in they’re going to be hard to beat as players find their form and the team starts playing a high tempo, smooth passing game. Turkey therefore are in for a difficult opener but not an impossible one.
If they can hit the Portuguese early on and stun them with an early goal I fancy the Turks to cause an upset right there on day one!
Turkey, fresh from a 2-0 win against finland, are quietly fancying themselves to do a job on Portugal an I for one won’t be surprised to see them get that job done. My prediction Turkey 2 – Portugal 1
What makes a good footballing nation?
June 2, 2008
With all the uproar about no British clubs making it through to Euro 2008, I started wondering what exactly it is that makes a nation good at football.
Being from Wales I’ve grown used to having a mediocre National team who don’t qualify for major tournaments, but can more than hold there own against some of the big boys and even occasionally cause the odd shock or two.
Many of my English friends though just can’t believe that their national team is not good enough to qualify for the Euro’s. When you look on paper you’d think they’re good enough or is it just familiarity blurring our judgement? I mean if Gerrard, Terry, Ferdinand etc where really as good as we think why hasn’t a club like Barcelona, Real Madrid or Inter Milan tried to take them off abroad?
These English players are, I must admit, players I would welcome into any club I support, but just how good really are they?
I’d rather have a team of 11 good players who were willing to work hard together and play as a team than have a team of 11 excellent players who won’t give the ball to one another.
Having watched a couple of England friendlies lately it’s been quite notable that one of their brightest players David Bentley is excluded from most moves and passing sequences and even seemed to warm up and down on his own. If I were an England fan I would find it quite worrying that a man who can use both feet and work so hard at club level should be pushed out of “the click”.
It would also worry me a little that one of the teams best performers is a man who in effect plays part time football in a minor league. Of course I mean Mr beckham. I have always been a massive fan of his football. His workrate puts a lot of the younger players to shame even now and he actually looks like it means something to him to pull on the national shirt. Unfortunately when it comes to a lot of the other players who seem to think having a glamourous wife and multicoloured football boots makes them a star. Maybe I am a little unfair, but there is no doubt whatsoever that several players, more so in an England shirt than any other nation I can think off, have one eye on who they’re playing in the premier league next week than caring about the opponents in front of them at the time!
So what does make a good footballing nation? Well It’s hard to say but when premier league teams pay millions for players that are only just teens, then train any natural ability out of them until they reach an age where they are told they are not good enough, it’s unlikely we’re going to turn up the gems we once did.
Unfortunately in building the wonderful league that the premier league has become we’ve created a monster. A monster that eats up talented youngsters and spits them out, to be replaced by hard working foreign imports who will do the job for half the price.
I think the sooner the 6 plus 5 rule kicks in the better, at the moment it looks like 2012 so role on world cup 2018!! We should be in with a shout!
I love the big International football tournaments.
Everything about them gets me excited, the passion, the skill, the colours.
Obviously the big two for me being The World Cup and The European Championships. Ok so this year it will be a bit strange that there’s no British teams to support, but I don’t think it will make the tournament any less enjoyable. It’s not as if any of the home nation teams ever do anything exciting like looking as though they stand a chance of winning it anyway. So this year I’ll adopt a team, and cheer them on.
Most people I speak to seem to think that it’s going to be between Croatia, Portugal and Spain and I’d be a fool if I said I don’t think they’ve got a chance. Spain in particular look a bit tasty with Torres in fine form.
My favourites though are the Italians. Ok they’re not everyone’s cup of tea but hey they’re World champions and still have a quality set up. I think if they can get through their group, which will be an achievement in itself, they’ll become their usual tight at the back unit who can pull off a one nil against anyone.
With the recent turmoil and scandal involving italian clubs I think it would be a fitting return to the top of the pile and I dare say UEFA would like to see some good reports about Italian football at the moment, so don’t be surprised if there’s one or two dubious decisions in favour of the Italions and they end up with another trophy.
