Euro 2004 Predictions
 

I saw that there's already a thread about England's Euro team, but who do you think will win the whole thing? My bet's on Holland to win it all, although there are several favorites, and others that may be surprises...

France seems too strong for me,quite a lot under-estimate England though,so i think we'll have a chance.

Portugal

Wales :shifty:

or the russian drug barrons :shifty:

spain will win............................ah f**k im fooling noone with that










england will win...................ah f**k im foolin noone with that









ah f**k erm yeh wales

France will win, if not France then it will be England or Italy

Don't fucking Holland thats for damn sure.

Me thinking a Germany Vs Italy final.

Dunno, that Brazil looks pretty good :shifty:

Portugal do seem like a pretty decent bet actually.

England aren't going to do shit.

Holland should win everything really, but they never perform.

France have Fabien Barthez in net.

Holland are looking better than Germany,but then again so are most teams.:$

Holland are a great team on paper but it never seems to work out for them.

I want Spain to win, and they can field the strongest side in the competition, really, so I'd like to see them click, for once.

Don't count out the Czechs.

:y:

England are choke artists. I seriously can't see them making the semi's. Good luck to everyone with Man United players in their squad though :d

England's problem is that they are too one dimensional. Having Gerrard in this tournament will be a big boost, though not if he is played on the left. That would be an absolute crime, a waste. Shifting Gerrard to fit Nicky Butt in is absolute madness.

Greece. :shifty:

England have a chance cos Spain and Holland always choke in these big games. France was balls in the World Cup a few years ago, will they still be balls? I believe Italy has a great chance of winning, though don't count out Portugal.

Yeah Holland just lost a friendly game (i think at home) to Belgium,which isn't that great.

I'm going for an England Portugal final Croatia and Sweden to lose in the semi's.

Italy or Portugal

Whatever Italy need to do to have a stinker in the World Cup qualifers then I want that.

I'm hoping that France will see a mass retirement after Euro 2004, with Makalele, Pires, Lizerazu, Thuram and Zidane all deciding to quit international football.

I doubt Pires will, but the last 3 are a real enough possibility I suppose.

Pires is 30/31 this year. Same general age as the rest of them.

Learn to count :p

who what?

i think lizarazu is about 33, zidane 32/33. I reckon Pires could at least fit in another World cup. Zidane could probably do it too.

I'm hoping they will decide not to, though.

I hope France play Portugal somewhere down the line, just so I can watch Ronaldo take on all of their old duffers in defence :'(

All the way, I'm going for them to win it.

check out my Euro 2004 website: www.euro-2004.cjb.net I'll have a proper domain up in a few days. Sign the guestbook and tell me what you think. :y:

The layout of the groups would be better if tables were used. What program did you do that in?

freewebs

:cool: , that's my heritage. My friends, who are Portugese and have a house down there, just left for Portugual on Tuesday and are going to a few games. Lucky bastards.

The Dutch won't win sh</>it ever with thier current squad my bet is a Portugal V France/Italy final with Portugal winning it

I don't think the Czech side is any better than Ireland's, to be honest.

Decent team, but can't see them winning it unless something ridiculous happens. Nedved and Rosicky are class, but the rest of the side is ordinary in international terms.

Yeah, the Czechs are going to need some luck to pull off winning the whole thing. I really think Italy is going to do it, but they always seem to eathier screw something up or wind up getting screwed with calls and then lose.

BTW, ESPN better show a lot of games.

Italy or France

If you can make the quarter finals then it's anyone's to win really. Look at Denmark in 1992, they weren't even meant to be there and they won it.

Everytime I have seen them play (the Czechs) they've played as a team, everyone works for everyone else.

They have 2 of the most creative players in World football in Rosicky and Nedved, and with a guy like Koller (ok, he's not amazing, but his presence is) they've got a target man, and in Baros, they've got a player who has an amazing scoring record at international level.

Maybe a bit suspect at the back, but they have enough creativity to be contenders.

I think they'll win the group. Germany are nothing special, and Holland are way to inconsistent. By doing this, they should have either Sweden or Denmark in the Quarter Finals, and I'd fancy them against either of them.

If they were to get Portugal or England in the Semi's I think they'd beat either of them. So I honestly believe they have a chance

BTW, if anyone is interested

http://www.euro2004.com/Fanzone/Free...ast/index.html

Gonna look at form guides etc... and decide the most plausible outcomes

They have an outside chance, definitely, but both Portugal and England have alot more quality in their sides, and on their day would trounce the Czechs.

The Czechs are a good side, but they're not tournament winners. We (Ireland) beat them in a friendly not too long ago. They were missing Nedved, I think, but still, we didn't have our best side out either.

Class counts at the top, and while I can see the Czechs causing an upset, I can't see them upsetting their way to the final. Again.

Germany's side is better than the Czech's, also. I fancy Germany and Holland to beat them, but it's certainly possible the Czech's could topple them.

I think Portugal are hugely overhyped

So do I, but they repackaged their team a lot from the World Cup I think. They don't want to be embarassed again, especially on thier home turf. Figo really needs to play top class as well.

At the moment I’d put money on the Dutch and French…

France would seem to have the trophy for the taking but they’ll have to get past the hurdle of their appalling world cup. If Henry is on top of his game and the rest of the players are half up for the thing then I can’t see past them.

The Dutch I’d go for purely in hope that they finally get their act together and the tournament performance they’ve threatened to give for so long finally comes off. The squad they have surely rivals just about anyone in the tournament but as most will point out and history has shown they just seem to lack the mental side that all winning teams need…shocking when you consider the club honours that the majority of the players could put on the table.

Having looked at the Portugese squad, I am not overly impressed at all.

They have a few players who have a lot of quality, they are top-class players, and that is what the midfield is all about. The problem with that is that they really lack someone who is gonna mop everything up. They have in some respects are similar back 5 to the Czech's because its nothing special, but it gets the job done, although, I'm not overly sure about them.

They also don't exactly have a lot of firepower up front. Pauleta and Nuno Gomes are not exactly the kind of players who will strike fear into defences. Maybe if Ronaldo and Figo are on top form, sure, but to be honest, I can't see how the Portugese are supposed to be world beaters with a team like they have

Yeah, I've followed the Portuguese pretty closely the past four years cause my freind has the satelite thing where he gets thier games. Pauleta can be very good and I think he is proboably there best all around player going into this for Portugual. Simao is starting to play really well and Costa is still a threat. As for Figo, I really don't know. Injuries and age have caught up to him and he really isn't the same as he used to be anymore. Ronanldo is going to be great someday, i think, but he still needs to learn a lot more. He could very well be that "key" player they need out there though.

I don't rate Pauleta at all.

Deco, Figo, Ronaldo, Costinha, Maniche, Paulo Ferreira, Jorge Andrade, Ricardo Carvalho, Nuno Valente, Petit, Simao Sabrosa and Rui Costa are all quality players.

They should choose Deco over Rui Costa.

I'd play Deco in the hole, with Figo and Ronaldo swapping flanks with each other. That would be amazing.

Have Maniche and Costinha holding in midfield, and Paulo Ferreira bombing on at right back.

WHAT

Allow me to lick your elbows.

As Robbie Savage said to the ref.

LOL

France should win it if everyone plays to their potential.

I hope Spain do better.

I reckon England can get to the Semis at best probs only Quarters.

I just have a nasty feeling the German's will nick it, i hate it, but I feel it

Englands progress depends on the form of Scholes, Gerrard and Lampard IMO, if they perform, we may go semi's if not final

Well Eriksson has said today that the diamond formation looks likely to be used (at least against France),which will probably mean Butt ahead of Lampard.:|

He said he's going to pick his strongest side for tomorrows match too.

If Heskey is in his "Strongest Side" tomorrow, we can all give up now!!

Well I win over £200 if the Germans win it, so I hope you are right.

As do I my friend, I am not proud to be betting on a German victory, buy hey Football is business nowadays is it not

Can't see him picking Heskey over Rooney or Owen,but Owen and Heskey worked quite well at Liverpool so i woudln't be opposed to that.

If Heskey's picked in the midfield,i heard him say earlier that he wouldn't mind the left sided spot,then,as much as i like Emile,to have him and Butt ahead of Lampard is a joke.

After my calling just about everything that happened this year in the world of football, I'm on somewhat of a roll. In any case, I'm going with Italy for this one. If they don't win it, France will. They're the two teams that really have it all in their team, top to bottom. Italy are the only team I just cannot see us beating in this, which nudges things in their favour.

England are decent outsiders and it wouldn't be absurd to think they could win it, but I can't see them getting past the semis. Actually I could just as easily see them losing to Croatia as I could seeing them beat France, it's a tough one.

Portugal are good bets being hosts, but I dunno, I can't see them going all the way. Spain are good too, but until they start gelling as a team (which they can do great in the qualifiers against the dregs of European football, but not against anyone remotely good) I can't see them getting by on talented players alone.

Holland? Inconsistent right now - capable of winning the whole thing or crashing out in the first round. The tie against Scotland demonstrated that nicely. In one leg they were utter crap, losing to a team they shouldn't be losing to (no offence Rob) and in the second they were gloriously magnificent. How they do depends on which Holland turns up in Portugal.

Speaking of Holland, me and a whole gang of Dutch and German folks are making a night out of the Holland Germany match, with me (and most of the others it seems) solidly behind the Germans. Speaking of Germany, NEVER count them out. What they lack in raw talent they make up for in workrate, discipline and teamwork.

And for the record, the Czech Republic are overated in my opinion. They never qualify for the world cup, but everyone still trips up over themselves to say how brilliant they are.

A bit like Wales.

Except the bit about everyone saying how brilliant they are.

And Sweden? Most underated team in the tournament, maybe the world. Don't be surprised to see them do well. But they won't win the tourny. Probably.

On the other hand, would I be the first person to do the "I think Latvia will win it" joke if I did it now?

The Czech's got to the Euro 96 final so everyone thinks that they can do it again :lol:

I'm going with Italy. Defensively they SHOULD be fantastic, which is what the likes of France could be lacking going into the competition. They've got the proven fire-power of Vieri and if Totti is on-song and finally reaches his potential at International level then I really can't see past them.

My Predictions

Group A

Winners: Portugal
Runners-up: Spain

Group B

Winners: France
Runners-up: England

Group C

Winners: Italy
Runners-up: Sweden

Group D

Winners: Germany
Runners-up: Czech Republic

Quarter Finals

Portugal vs England

Spain vs France

Italy vs Czech Republic

Sweden vs Germany

Semi Finals

Portugal vs Italy

Sweden vs France


Final

France vs Italy


European Champions:



ITALIA

We were better than them at Hampden but they weren't utter crap by any stretch. They were freaking awesome 4 days later though. And you are right, they shouldn't be losing to teams like us but we are kinda a bogey team for them.

When you said Scotland are a bogey team for Holland, does that mean that Scotland beat Holland on a regular basis?

Not at all. It means when we have had to, we usually get a decent result against them. Their win record is still better than ours.

By the way, my new euro 2004 website address is www.euro-portugal2004.com if you wanna take a look. All aboard the showboat :D .

Can someone settle a bet?

When France won Euro 2000, who scored the winning goal? I'm pretty sure it was Wiltord, but my mate reckons it was Trez.

Oh that's right, Wiltord got the equaliser, Trez got the winner.

My bad.

Seedorf has refused to line out for Holland if he isn't picked in his favoured positon - behind the striker(s).

What a fucking dickhead. The Dutch are a group of bastards. Van Der Vaart should be in there, behind Van Nistelpuff.

I think either France, Italy or Portugal will win. Holland are a team of individuals and so I don't see them winning.

It's out of Italy and Germany.

Holland were great today :p


:shifty:

Good site man. :D

Like the look of France... but go Spain.

Why is Mendieta not in the squad just quietly?

Chelsea look to be set on buying Ferreira and Deco for £13 and £20 million respectably. I haven't really seen much of Ferraira but I would never rate a full back at that price. I think Mourinho is trying to help his old club out.

Puyol would easily fetch upwards of £13m if he were ever available

Well unless they're leading us into a huge false sense of security i wouldn't think Germany would have much chance.They lost 2-0 at home to Hungary tonight.I still think they'll be out at the group stages.One of the teams in their group,Czech Republic,won 2-0 but Milan Baros went off injured after 36 minutes.

France got a late winner from Zidane to beat Ukraine tonight,didn't see much of it so i can't really judge.

Ferreira is a good player,the one Porto were most concerned about losing and considering Deco's performances,that tells you something.

Price doesn't matter to Chelsea, so it's irrelevant. A quality player is a quality player.

However, Ferreira is the closet thing to Cafu I have ever seen (apart from the actual Cafu, that is). Tireless attacking fullback, but also excellent defensively.

So basically a Roberto Carlos who can also defend.

I know money is no object and all the rest of it, but still, the fact we are spending over the top prices for players is why stuff like season ticket prices ar still on the increase. This season my ticket costs £40 more, which isn't too bad because my parents pay for it, nah joke, what makes the price bad is that it has included all domestic games in the past, but now F.A Cup and League cup are seperate :|. Thats fucking ridulous, we spend so much money that ticket prices go up so Abramovich can recoup so money.

It was probably Kenyon's idea for the ticket prices so he can get an even fatter pocket, stupid manc twat.

England will win it. If not Portugal will.

LOL Mackem if I knew you in real life I would give you odds of about 15-1 on a ten pound bet that neither team wins it.

I'd go with Germany.
They're always good value when playing in big tounaments. Take the last World Cup as an example. They always step up to the big occassion.

Runner-up: Holland

Dark Horse: Croatia

Yeah I can see the Croats coming second and us getting knocked out of the group stages.

20/1 for Germany, bet on it.

Holland won't be runners up, garuntered, they are shit.

Can't wait to see the England VS Croatia match.
The hooligans are gonna run wild. I love that shit.

I used to like hoolagnism, but it will mess up Englands chances, I want our fans to behave well.

Is that you Dazz? "The Arse Bandit"?

Portugal or France.

BRILLIANT

Final Score: Greece 2-1 Portugal

Zagorakis :love:

It's 4:15am and I've just come back from a mates place watching Greece beat Portugal.

I'm tired but I don't care - WHAT A FUCKING WIN by Hellas! :D

Portugal were pretty ordinary I have to say. :| Nice goal by Ronaldo at the end, but his bad for giving away the penalty for the 0-2. Fucking nice finish by Karagounis for the 0-1, but what was with the Portugese defending? They just let him go for the shot. :|

Ah well doesn't matter, I just can't believe Greece won. I thought they were good enough to draw (cos we drew with Portugal 1-1 in a friendly in Portugal recently) but given the poor results in pre-Euro 2004 friendlies, plus the home ground advantage for Portugal, I didn't think we'd even bother coming close to drawing!

Ole ole ole ole Hellas Hellas! :D!

Greece deserved it. They were tough but fair and got stuck in and never let Portugal play their free flowing game. I said after 2 minutes I thought they would win because the Portugese team is full of pretty boys who don't like getting stuck in. Peter Schmeichel is right saying Rui Costa, Figo and Fernando Couto are past it. Ronaldo was their best player by a mile and he only got a 7/10 tops.

I think you just got proved right mate.

Changed my pick to Sweden two weeks ago and I'm glad I did.