Austria
There is no CHANCE in hell that Austria will win the tournament and if you’re being totally honest Austria did only qualify because they are hosting it along with Switzerland. They are in an interesting group with Germany, Croatia and Poland so I don’t expect them to even get out of their group. You’d expect both Germany and Croatia to beat them and even Poland will fancy their chances against the hosts. To win matches in International tournaments you need a strong defence, influential midfield and forwards who will score. Austria only has one of these qualities, therefore have no chance.
Croatia
Had Eduardo not suffered one of the most horrible injuries you’ve ever seen a few months ago I’d fancy Croatia to have gone very far. Unfortunately for them and the neutrals Eduardo is missing from the tournament however they have many other talented players such as Modric, Petric, Kranjcar, Srna and of course the two Kovac brothers Robert and Niko the captain. Croatia are my dark horses but if they finish second in the group and Portugal wins their group (which you expect they will) the two will meet in the next round. Against Portugal you just can’t see Croatia A) scoring and B) keeping a clean sheet. Never the less it should be interesting to see if Croatia can prove me and the critics’ wrong, if anyone can it’s the Croatians.
Germany
We all know about the Germans in International football competitions, they are brilliant and performing in the big tournaments and I expect them to turn up in June. They have forwards who can score serious goals and don’t be surprised if the top scorer from the competition is a German when you have Klose (39 goals), Podolski (25 goals), Kuranyi (19 goals) up and coming 22 year forward Mario Gomez who has 6 goals in 10 games. Defensively the Germans are strong too with centre backs Mertesacker and Metzelder along with the impressive full back Philipp Lahm. However apart from Ballack the midfield is not looking as strong as it once did, the same goes with the goalkeeper position which will suffer without German legend Oliver Kahn. Either way expect Germany to be around the semi-final places because they are so good in knock out competitions.
Poland
Can’t say I know much about the Polish team but what I do know is that all three of their goalkeepers play their trade on the British Isles. I don’t expect Poland to qualify from this group when you consider how strong Germany and Croatia will be in their group. I suppose stranger things have happened in these tournaments (Greece winning it four years ago comes straight to mind). I am sure Poland will have a strong following from this country and also that the commentators will have great fun in trying to pronounce the names of almost every player.
Croatia
Had Eduardo not suffered one of the most horrible injuries you’ve ever seen a few months ago I’d fancy Croatia to have gone very far. Unfortunately for them and the neutrals Eduardo is missing from the tournament however they have many other talented players such as Modric, Petric, Kranjcar, Srna and of course the two Kovac brothers Robert and Niko the captain. Croatia are my dark horses but if they finish second in the group and Portugal wins their group (which you expect they will) the two will meet in the next round. Against Portugal you just can’t see Croatia A) scoring and B) keeping a clean sheet. Never the less it should be interesting to see if Croatia can prove me and the critics’ wrong, if anyone can it’s the Croatians.
Germany
We all know about the Germans in International football competitions, they are brilliant and performing in the big tournaments and I expect them to turn up in June. They have forwards who can score serious goals and don’t be surprised if the top scorer from the competition is a German when you have Klose (39 goals), Podolski (25 goals), Kuranyi (19 goals) up and coming 22 year forward Mario Gomez who has 6 goals in 10 games. Defensively the Germans are strong too with centre backs Mertesacker and Metzelder along with the impressive full back Philipp Lahm. However apart from Ballack the midfield is not looking as strong as it once did, the same goes with the goalkeeper position which will suffer without German legend Oliver Kahn. Either way expect Germany to be around the semi-final places because they are so good in knock out competitions.
Poland
Can’t say I know much about the Polish team but what I do know is that all three of their goalkeepers play their trade on the British Isles. I don’t expect Poland to qualify from this group when you consider how strong Germany and Croatia will be in their group. I suppose stranger things have happened in these tournaments (Greece winning it four years ago comes straight to mind). I am sure Poland will have a strong following from this country and also that the commentators will have great fun in trying to pronounce the names of almost every player.
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