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#1
11-22-2007, 06:29 PM
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Re: *Official Euro 2008 Qualifying Thread*
[ QUOTE ]
they lack a top-class striker which I think will prevent them from making a deep run. [/ QUOTE ] [ QUOTE ] rumania, Portugal, Spain are all teams I'd concider to somewhat lack the mindset for a big tourney. [/ QUOTE ] Euro 2000: lost in the semi-finals Euro 2004: lost in the finals WC 2006: lost in the semi-finals Other than our horrible performance in 2002 we've been great in big tournaments. My obviously biased opinion is that we're clearly the best team in that pot. 
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#3
11-22-2007, 09:16 PM
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Re: *Official Euro 2008 Qualifying Thread*
[ QUOTE ]
Euro 2000: lost in the semi-finals Euro 2004: lost in the finals WC 2006: lost in the semi-finals Other than our horrible performance in 2002 we've been great in big tournaments. My obviously biased opinion is that we're clearly the best team in that pot. [/ QUOTE ] In that same time frame Italy, France and Germany all put up (slightly) more impressive results. Portugal are a good team, they are probably between 7th-12th best in the world and have run a little hot the last few tournaments. Portugal have the 5th best odds to win the tournament. If wouldn't be a big shock if they did. I think everyone agrees they are a very strong team. Still, I'm sure you wish they had a better striker. France has at least four or five strikers (Henry, Anelka, Cisse, Trezequet, Benzema) that are better than Portugal's first choice. Since you think they are the best team in their pot, I'll give you 2 to 1 odds that Portugal don't finish better than Spain and Germany.
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#4
11-22-2007, 09:51 PM
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Re: *Official Euro 2008 Qualifying Thread*
[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ] Euro 2000: lost in the semi-finals Euro 2004: lost in the finals WC 2006: lost in the semi-finals Other than our horrible performance in 2002 we've been great in big tournaments. My obviously biased opinion is that we're clearly the best team in that pot. [/ QUOTE ] In that same time frame Italy, France and Germany all put up (slightly) more impressive results. Portugal are a good team, they are probably between 7th-12th best in the world and have run a little hot the last few tournaments. Portugal have the 5th best odds to win the tournament. If wouldn't be a big shock if they did. I think everyone agrees they are a very strong team. Still, I'm sure you wish they had a better striker. France has at least four or five strikers (Henry, Anelka, Cisse, Trezequet, Benzema) that are better than Portugal's first choice. Since you think they are the best team in their pot, I'll give you 2 to 1 odds that Portugal don't finish better than Spain and Germany. [/ QUOTE ] France and Italy were two of the top 3 teams in the world for the past ten years or so, saying they were better than portugal isn't really saying much [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img] Germany on the other hand wasn't (and isn't) no where near as good as any of the teams mentioned, imo. They are way overrated right now because of Germany's history and the fact that they did well in the previous WC. PS: that doesn't seem like a good bet for me, at all [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img]
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#5
11-22-2007, 11:23 PM
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Re: *Official Euro 2008 Qualifying Thread*
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France and Italy were two of the top 3 teams in the world for the past ten years or so, saying they were better than portugal isn't really saying much [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img] Germany on the other hand wasn't (and isn't) no where near as good as any of the teams mentioned, imo. They are way overrated right now because of Germany's history and the fact that they did well in the previous WC. PS: that doesn't seem like a good bet for me, at all [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img] [/ QUOTE ] I agree with you on Germany. In 2006 they played really well, but even football minnows such as Korea and United States have done well at home. In 2002 they benefited from a rash of upsets and only had to beat Paraguay, United States and Korea to get to the final, where they were outclassed by Brasil. At the European Championships Germany have looked awful recently, failing to make it out of the group stage the last two times. Still, Miroslav Klose is a great striker and Michael Ballack is much more comfortable in German colors than in Chelsea blue. Frings and Schweinstiger provide long-range scoring threats from mid-field. Germany waltzed through qualification and got good results in friendlies (England) and meaningless qualifiers fielding lesser-known players. I think Germany is a bit overrated. I'd put them below Italy, France and Spain, but they are still contenders.
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#7
11-22-2007, 11:14 PM
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Re: *Official Euro 2008 Qualifying Thread*
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If I wanted to score tickets to some of the games, when/where should I start looking? Or is it already too late? Thanks in advance. [/ QUOTE ] Start here UEFA.com Ticketing . It's never too late to buy tickets until the matches have been played. Ideally you should have entered the ticket lottery before the end of last March, but even if there aren't tickets available through UEFA you can always buy them on the secondary market. I just have no idea how much you'll end up paying.
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#8
11-23-2007, 12:44 AM
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Re: *Official Euro 2008 Qualifying Thread*
[ QUOTE ]
If I wanted to score tickets to some of the games, when/where should I start looking? Or is it already too late? Thanks in advance. [/ QUOTE ] You could try here, although the initial 'ticket lottery' finished a few months ago: http://www.uefa.com/competitions/eur.../overview.html Failing that ebay or other internet touts...
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#9
11-23-2007, 03:11 AM
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Re: *Official Euro 2008 Qualifying Thread*
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Here is the approximate chance that each team has to win Euro 2008. I used the odds from bodog and then made it so the percentages summed to 100%. Italy 11.17% Germany 11.17% France 9.08% Spain 9.08% Netherlands 7.26% Portugal 7.26% Czech Republic 5.59% Croatia 4.84% Switzerland 3.82% Sweden 2.50% Greece 3.16% Russia 2.14% Romania 2.79% Turkey 2.50% Poland 1.77% Austria 1.08% [/ QUOTE ] If those are based on odds I like bets on Switzerland and Turkey On Greece vs Netherlands: The Dutch just don't seem comfortable with the efficient style they are supposed to play and quite frankly I want to see them play their amazing offensive football, too. Make no mistake they are one of the best teams if it comes to pure skill but something just seems wrong with the way they have played during the qualifiers. On the strenght of Greece: They don't play beautifull at all but they play very clever and disciplined and I think they are a lot stronger on offense than they used to be (when they won the Euros).
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#10
11-23-2007, 01:20 PM
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Re: *Official Euro 2008 Qualifying Thread*
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On Greece vs Netherlands: The Dutch just don't seem comfortable with the efficient style they are supposed to play and quite frankly I want to see them play their amazing offensive football, too. Make no mistake they are one of the best teams if it comes to pure skill but something just seems wrong with the way they have played during the qualifiers. [/ QUOTE ] Van Basten has literally no clue what he is (supposed to be) doing. With a competent manager we'd have a shot, with van Basten we have a 0,1% shot. Unless he gets lucky again and we get a really weak group (we arguably had (by far) the easiest qualification group and still struggled) he might (might!) make it past the group round. PLEASE [censored] OFF TO AJAX ALREADY YOU USELESS SACK OF [censored]!
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