[blazingvenom911]

Originally Posted by ande_ka_funda

Okay, so what if they were involved in the qualifiers? If this is the logic, we can very well start raving about the English players

dude....i told ya i was wrong....they r not in the team....

i jus said they were called in the qualifiers but not in the 1st team. u can rave about the the three lions if you want....follow em to Mallorca.

Originally Posted by ankitknp

WOW... portugal vs turkey on first day. That will be one hell of a battle. Turkey was unlucky not to qualify for euro 2004 after losing their final match to Latvia.

dude....even i'm rooting for Portugal. i hope they win euro cup this time being unlucky 2 b defeated in the 2004 edition. well look who do we have here ...the Ronnie boy...pride of the DEVILS!! they have lotzz of players who can play in the midfield as well as fwd like nani, ronaldo, quaresma. defence is jus fine with pepe, fereira and carvalho. but the proper midfield players are less quality and mostly from the clubs in Portugal. only deco is the one star from Barca. lets hope scolari, the mastermind, does enuff to mix the regular midfielders with some like ronaldo and quaresma in the midfield. hope Nuno Gomes fires in the forward line.

dunno why Pauleta retired so soon. a good season in france with PSG and winning the French Ligue 1 he must have not retired!! he was even the top scorer in Ligue 1 in the 2006-07 season.

[swagatsinha]

Germany let a two goal lead slip against Belarus in their penultimate friendly to draw 2-2. I am not sure whether Joachim Low can manage to fill Jurgen's boots well enough. But if any team loves the big stage and can step it up, it's gotta be Deutschland. Plus they have the easiest group.

[Jok3r]

Hi...for those who don't already know...

we are having a PG fantasy Euro league...
ESPN.com - ESPNsoccernet.com Fantasy Soccer

Mini League name : PG Football League
Password : pagalguy

Join in the insanity...:yell:

[ankitknp]

Originally Posted by blazingvenom911

dude....i told ya i was wrong....they r not in the team....

i jus said they were called in the qualifiers but not in the 1st team. u can rave about the the three lions if you want....follow em to Mallorca.



dude....even i'm rooting for Portugal. i hope they win euro cup this time being unlucky 2 b ...............
the French Ligue 1 he must have been included to the team!! he was even the top scorer in Ligue 1 in the 2006-07 season.

Problem with Portugal is that they dont have any world class striker. If Pauleta was one, then he would had been playing for a big club. Not PSG. Also nuno gomes is not what he used to be. But who needs a striker when u have Ronaldo ?? ....

Iam going for Holland, Germany and Turkey ( yeah!!) ..

[ande_ka_funda]

Originally Posted by blazingvenom911

dunno why Pauleta retired so soon. a good season in france with PSG and winning the French Ligue 1 he must have not retired!! he was even the top scorer in Ligue 1 in the 2006-07 season.

PSG winning Ligue1 this year????? :new_shocked:When did that happen? Last that I can recollect is of PSG involved in a relegation scrap....

Please get your facts correct...the Ligue 1 has been won by Lyon for a record 7 times running now.....I cant believe that you missed that!!

But yes...a pity that he retired...Portugal for all their midfield strength are woefully short of top quality strikers...and thats why I really dont fancy them

[vishal_9feb]

One of bigger surprise dis tournament could be Antonio cassano.he has been surprisingly included into Italy squad.He hasn`t played international since 2006.But he had really good season in Italian Serie A.

[polpot]

Teams:

Group A:
Czech Republic • One of my favourites, but without Rocisky and Nedved, nithing much they can do.
Watch out for: Jan Koller the Giant; Petr Cech if he doesnt get injured again

Portugal • Traditionally the Brzilians of Europe but as always lack a natural finisher/goal scorer up front. Play a 4-5-1 always and bore people to death.
Watch out for: Ronaldo, Nani, Deco

Switzerland • Did not lose a single match at the last World Cup but got knocked out in the first match. Do not expect alot of goals but a solid defese
Watch out for: Barnetta, young and quick; Senderos: Yes you heard it right

Turkey * Dark horses of the Group but may lose out to Czechs on basis of the superior technique that the czechs possess
Watch out for: Altiptop Brothers

Prediction: 1. Portugal 2. Czech Rep 3. Turkey 4. Switzerland

Group B:
Austria • Probably the worst team in the Championship.
Watch out for: Blah, dont watch thier matches

Croatia • Have a decent shot at qualifying. Very young and a talented team and full of energy. Definately lack the experiance and calm required in furthur stages
Watch out for: Luka Modric, new Spurs signing;

Germany • Favorites for the competition. Simply a class side
Watch out for: Klose, who scores alot alot; Scweinsteiger; Mertesacker

Poland * Another dark horse of the competition. May surprise a few because they are an unknown quantity. Remember they finished above Portugal in the qualifiers
Watch out for: Boruc and Dudka

Prediction: 1. Germany 2. Poland 3. Croatia 4. Austria

Group C:
France • Traditional powerhouses but dont seem to be peaking at the right time. However no one gave them a chance at the last world cup either
Watch out for: Ribery; Samir Nasri; Mexes

Italy • Another powerhouse. Have the immense ability to be diciplined in defense. Will nick 1 or 2 goals every match depending on Toni
Watch Otu for: Luca toni, Andrea Pirlo

Netherlands • The starters of Total Football. Dutch sides are never known for their unity. The most talented side
Watch Otu for: Johhny Hietinga; Sneijder

Romania * Will not qualify. Do not know much about them

Prediction: 1. Italy 2. France 3. Netherlands 4. Romania

Group D:
Greece • Qualified with the best Qualifying record. Winners of the last Euro. Excellent, well gelled side
Watch out for: Basinas, Charisteas

Russia • Guus Hiddink is probably the best coach around. Expect the Russians to do very well.
Watch Out for: Arshavin; Palvyuchenko

Spain • Host of talent. Problems of selections. Poor defense. May lead to the expected downfall of a team that is considered favourites.
Watch Otu for: Sergio Ramos; Iniesta; Cassilas

Sweden * Always qualify. Have a strong solid side. May upset a few teams here and there
Watch out for: Henrik Larrsson is back baby..


Prediction: 1. Greece 2. Sweden 3. Spain 4. Russia

My Team: 1. Spain 2. Czech Rep
My Prection. Germany and Italy finals with Germany winning






PS: PSG hasn't won the ligue 1 for a long long time. Lyon have won it 7 years inn a row.

PPS: nice to see Footie thread regulars here.

[sumitrocks]

Ok, the Rampaging Reds powered by El Nino and Benzema have also been added to the mini-league.

[nikhilvohra2000]

holland!!!!!! its gonna be the same old story....plus they are not making it past the first round... rather put your money on italy or france

[getintoiimb]

well it's my turn to post

Group A: Czech Republic • Portugal • Switzerland • Turkey
Group B: Austria • Croatia • Germany • Poland
Group C: France • Italy • Netherlands • Romania
Group D: Greece • Russia • Spain • Sweden

let me start with Group A

Czech Republic : well no nedved and rosicky..thats a huge disadvantage and its like an elbow broken for the czech team..but they have koller and baros..so anything is possible and they got a good backline with jankulovski and grygera.expecting them to go through with ease

portugal : well nani,ronaldo,deco,gomes,bosingwa,ricardo,petit,car valho do i need to say more???..expecting portugal to finish at the top of the table.

swiss : well they have the home advantage but difficult for them to go ahead unless they pull back upsets like how greece did last time..

turkey : they would definitely miss hakan sukur..again they would be the underdogs compared to portugal and czech..
will be interesting because portugal should easily qualify..the second spot will be a battle between czech and turkey

Group B

austria : again home advantage but havent too much class football here..should go out in the first round most probably..

Croatia : again very unpredictable but with players like Dario simic,Ivica Olic,Ivan Rakitic expecting them to go through

Germany : well star studded as usual..might miss the services or schneider..but i think with the majority of the wc 2006 players still in the squad they should make it with ease..

Poland : underdogs of this group..should defeat crotia if they want to qualify..defeating germany will be a mammoth task..

expecting croatia and germany to go through..


Group C

Aaah my favourite group
Group of Death

France : hmmm without zidane they still have a great midfield..ribery,malouda,flamini in midfiled..henry in front and thuram,evra in defence..should be great to watch them..onlt concern for france is they havent had a good goalie for sometime..i dotn count barthez as a great goalie they had!

Italy : here we come ..totti's presence will not be missed as they have his junior de rossi(not comparing totti and de rossi here) ..expecting pirlo to continue his magic ..pirlo,de rossi,gattusso and camoronessi in mid..cannavaro and panucci at center back..zambortta in LB/RB and grosso/materazzi at RB/LB..should be great..forwards are in form..toni,del piero and cassano..no worries and of course we have gianlugi buffon to make the god level saves ..every department is in place!!

netherlands : the most unluckiest team i should say..their mid and forwards are their greatest strenghts..van batsen will find it tough on whom to start with in the strikers department..again star studded so have to wait and see..

romania : certainly the underdogs of the group..but got to watch out..anything can happen in football..

expecting Italy and France to go through

Group D

Greece : well euro 04 is history and its time for euro 08 ..come on spain show them the door..though they are euro 04 champs dont expect them to qualify..might try to play the euro 04 way..get an early goal and pressurise the opponents

russia : have seen them defeating england in the qualifiers :(..but dont expect them to progress here..not too many world class players to take away the match..

Spain : gosh!!!one of the most star studded teams ive seen in euro!!the only team capable of beating Italy..yeah im expecting an Italy vs Spain final..look at their forwards..torres,villa,garcia..midfield have fabregas,xavi,xabi alonso,joaquin and iniesta..defence have ramos,puyol,marchena and arbeloa..keeper casillas..they have everything in them to win it ..but unfortunately the biggest chokers in the history of football..but they should ease through the group stage!

Sweden : larrson should be a good bonus here..ibrahimovic is in good touch after winning the scudetto for inter..should be easy for sweden except the encounter they have with spain..

so expecting spain and sweden to go through..

so 8 teams should qualify hopefully

Portugal
Czech republic
Germany
croatia
Italy
France
Spain
Sweden

and last but not the least expecting ITALY to clinch the title
jus this one remaning..go on ITALIA..FORZA AZZURRIS !!!!!!



P.S : sorry couldnt come up with a better analysis