Brazil are the overwhelming favourites to win the World Cup on home soil.

No matter which way you look at it, Brazil are the overwhelming favourites to win the World Cup for a record sixth time.

They have the talented world class players, tactical quality & the added advantage of home soil in "South America" where no European team has ever succeeded.

As my regular World Cup posts kick in from this week, here I will make some personal observations (rather than tactical) about some of the favourites & dark horses & what can potentially make or break it for them:

Brazil can & will most probably win the World Cup. In the Confederation Cup final, they comfortably beat the defending World & European Champions, potentially their strongest opponent, 3-0.

However, the high expectations as well as home crowd pressures can play against them. The ghost of the defeat in the 1950 tournament in home soil & the widespread discontent with the costs associated with staging the games mean the slightest hick up can turn things against Brazil, both psychologically & in terms of home crowd support.
However, in my personal opinion, Brazil's biggest worry is in fact their coach Scolari. Unlike most fans, I am not a big fan of "Big Phil" & believe if Brazil get in trouble, he may not have the tactical ingenuity to save them. 

Spain, the defending Champions, also have the players, the tactical ability and a brilliant coach in Del Bosue. The fact that they will not meet Brazil unless both teams reach the final is another advantage for them. The only thing against Spain is that their style of play is no longer an unknown factor (as demonstrated by their loss to Brazil, and Barcelona's decline in the last two European season). Also, there are lingering doubts in the quality of Spain's defence & who Del Bosque decides to use as central defenders & full backs.

However, a Brazil vs Spain Final is a the most probable outcome.

Germany are in one of the two very tough groups in the tournament & must be very careful not to get embarrassed at this World Cup by any of their more than capable opponents in the group stage.

They do have an enviable World Cup record to defend after all! They have reached the last 8 in every one of the last 15 World Cups, whilst making it to semi finals in 12 occasions & the final 7 times. However, the psychological barriers are disturbing! Germany lost their semi final matches to the eventual winners Italy & Spain in the last two World Cups in 2006 & 20010 respectively. They also lost out to Spain in the final of Euro 2008 & Italy in the semi final of Euro 2012.
The advantage for Germany is that the core of the players in those tournaments are at their prime in the current side & their experience may take Germany all the way.

Like Spain & Brazil, Germany have both the player quality & tactical capability to win the tournament. However, not only absence due to injuries of the likes of Gomez & Gundegan (and even Scheweinsteiger & Khedira's lack of fitness) will potentially play havoc to Germany's tactical plans, but also, Germany will probably meet Brazil in the semi finals where their suspect central defence and lack of a world class quality left full back can catch up with them & be their undoing. However, if they get through the current psychological barrier of being tagged as losing semifinalists, this time Germany win through to the final, I strongly believe they will win the Cup.

Argentina can only seriously challenge if they have learned from the lessons of World Cup 2010, where despite being entertaining, they relied too heavily on an underwhelming Messi & had major defensive shortcomings which were exploited in the 4-0 thrashing by Germany in the quarter finals. They are tactically better post manic Maradona period & will go a long way if Messi can reproduce his Barcelona magic. However, they cannot succeed if they try to use Messi for Plan B if things go wrong.

Italy, in my opinion, will go far in this year's tournament. Italy were thrashed in the Euro 2012 Final by Spain following their surprise 2-1 semi final win vs Germany in Euro 2012. Following that loss, they have been continuously overlooked by the media as a major contender. Since then however, Prandelli has done a magnificent job of refining the team tactically. They have massive World Cup winning (2006) experience in defence supporting the evergreen Buffon in goal, whilst another evergreen master, Pirlo, is still at the top of his game & can dictate & turn most sticky situations t Italy's favour.This year however, Italy also have a very potent attacking line up in the unpredictable Balotelli but also the likes of hugely dangerous & talented Immobile, Cerci & Insigne. This is why they must be considered one of the favourites.

England & Holland on the other hand, in my opinions will potentially fail to get past the group stage.

Holland are a very inexperienced albeit talented side which as entertaining as they may be, simply do not have the player experience at this level & are in danger of losing their spot to an impressive & dangerous Chile who will undoubtedly cause a headache or two for Spain as well. Whilst Van Gaal is a master of getting the best out of young talent, the experienced players in his squad who are on top of their game are only a handful. With the news this week of Van der Vaart injury blow Holland's prospects have got even worse. Even if Holland make it out of the group stage, they will most probably face Brazil, and unlike 2010 when they beat Brazil, this Holland team is not experienced enough to cause a huge upset this time around against the tournament favourites.

England have also finally started to produce some real quality young talent again. The likes of Shaw, Barcley, Oxlade-Chamberlain, Wilshere, Sturridge have the potential to shine at the world stage this year & make an impact.
However, England are in a very tough group (group of death) & must overcome Italy & Uruguay to go further. The British media's unhealthy obsession with their domestic league (EPL) as usual does not help either as it makes the English myopic. At the same time, whilst Roy Hodgeson is an excellent manager & much more suited to the job than Capello ever was, his capacity to guide a team to the world summit must be questioned.
I don't believe England can finish first in their group. However, if they manage to finish second, they will meet a hugely talented Colombia side which will probably beat them in the next round.

France meanwhile, will get through their easy group as well as round of 16th before coming unstuck at the quarter finals when their tournament will end. All that the French public are hoping for is a united team of talented players to make up for the farcical embarrassment of World Cup 2010 group stage elimination.

As for the teams with lower profiles, Colombia, Uruguay & Chile are all capable of causing huge upsets this year. Not only all three teams are tactically superb, their players will find playing in South America easier than most of their European counterparts.

Chile have only built on Bielsa's great work & their unlucky elimination in the last World Cup & if anything are even more entertaining & dangerous this year. I predict they will go through at the expense of Holland this year....and then in the elimination rounds anything is possible.

Uruguay are not doubt sweating on the fitness of their star player Luis Suarez. They have the quality to pip both Italy & England to the post in the Group of Death & have the memories of their famous World Cup triumph of 1950 in Brazil to carry them psychologically.

Columbia, like Uruguay, are also praying to have their undisputed start Falcao fit just in time for the games (although after a lengthy absence due to injury). However, there are several other talented players in the side that can carry them in Falcao's absence. Whilst it appears they may have an easy group on paper, they are in fact in a tough group as matches vs Ivory Coast & Japan will be anything but easy. However, it is in the round of 16 that Columbia's world cup plans may unravel, when they will meet one of the trio of England/Italy/Uruguay from Group D

Amongst the remaining European teams, Belgium offer the best of the rest. They have a young talented side with several stars playing across Europe's top leagues & in Champions League. They are also in a reasonably easy group on paper. However, in the round of 16, they will potentially meet Germany & Portugal. This is where their palyers' lack of World Cup experience can potentially work against them. nevertheless, this Belgium side will be a force for the next few years.

And how about the so called minnows of the game? 

There is no doubt that Australia's Socceroos have been incredibly unlucky in drawing the 2010 World Cup finalists Spain & Holland, as well as one of the dark horses of the tournament Chile. Hopefully, the Socceroos will use Brazil to prepare for Asian Championships which are held in Australia in January 2015.

As for the rest, Japan & Ivory Coast have many talented players but are unfortunately drawn in the same group! Boznia-Hertegovina on the other hand, can potentially overcome Nigeria & Iran & make it to the knockout stage in their first ever World Cup as an independent state.

The most watched event in the history begins on June 13th. All matches are live & exclusive to SBS. No doubt we will witness the full spectrum of sporting drama, good, great, not so good & ugly.......from heartache to bad luck, to time wasting, poor refereeing decisions to player cheating. No matter what THE WORLD GAME will once again entertain, enrage & thrill the fans all over the world!

To paraphrase the words of the legendary Liverpool Manager Bill Shankly: ..."...to the fans......football is not about life & death! It's much more important than that!"

Bring it on!

Brazil 2014 FIFA World Cup draw, the winners & the losers

The FIFA World Cup draw for Brazil 2014 was conducted on Friday night & as usual, some groups ended up being more difficult than others. This year however, South America have 6 representatives (instead of 5) & Europe have 13 instead of the usual 14.

Also, Belgium, Colombia & Switzerland were seeded due to their superior FIFA rankings in Nov 2013 & as a result powerhouses of England, Italy, Holland, Portugal were demoted to the 2nd pot.

It is too early to try to predict which teams will be successful in the first round simply because teams' forms can dip or improve between now & June next year and key players may get injured & miss out.

However, whilst playing at the World Cup is difficult regardless of the draw, there are groups which are more difficult to prove than others: Here are my early tips until I decide on my final tips by around March 2014:

Group A Hosts Brazil are the clear favourites following their mesmerising triumph at Confederation Cup. On the other hand, Mexico have had a torrid time with 4 different coaches & only qualified through the play offs by beating New Zealand. Croatia are always difficult to beat & possess enough talent to overcome Cameroon & finish second.

Group B is the first group of death & sees the two finalists of WC 2010 ie Holland & Spain paired against each other. You can't help but to feel sorry for Chile for being paired with Spain for the second WC in a row, and for the Socceroos who will no doubt have a torrid time against all of their 3 vastly superior opponents. However, Chile are a brilliant team & with a bit of luck are capable of knocking out either of their two most illustrious opponents.

Group C see hosts Columbia as a well deserved seed. Columbia are once again spoilt with talent & should win the group. Greece are on the other hand becoming an experienced tournament nation & are slight favourites to outdo Japan & Ivory Coast.

Group D, at least on paper, is THE group of death. However, reputations aside, I believe Uruguay & Italy are clearly far stronger sides than an England side which is desperately short of creative talent in the midfield & lacks depth in many positions including in defence. Costa Rica can & probably will pinch crucial points too.

Group E sees Switzerland seeded & France as the main giant in the group. If Ribery & co play the way they played against Ukraine in the 2nd leg of the play offs, they will be the clear favourites to win the group. Switzerland coach has on the other hand built a team which is extremely difficult to beat although Switzerland have in the past got eliminated unbeaten!

Group F will see Argentina as comfortable winners. Bosnia, Nigeria & even Iran, are all capable of finishing second if they take their chances & other results go their way.

Group G is a tough group for Portugal & Germany & there are no easy matches in this group. Ghana only lost to Germany 1-0 in the group stage in WC 2010 & finished 2nd, and USA in fact topped their group in WC 2010. On top of that, USA is coached by the former Germany Captain & coach Jurgen Klinsman & the USA team consisted of several German born players who play their football in the German Bundesliga. However, at least on paper, a talented Germany side & Portugal by the irreplaceable Ronaldo are favourites to go through.

Group H see the seeded Belgium side oozing with young talent. Whilst I believe Capello's Russian side are overrated, in South Korea & Algeria, they have two of the weakest teams in the tournament & both Russia & Belgium will easily qualify for the knockout round.

Euro 2012 Champions Spain take their deserved place in history & find their goal scoring touch in demolishing a gallant Italian side in the final

At last, relief for all purist football fans! WE can all once again love & admire Spain! They deservedly retained their European title by finally showcasing their rampant goal scoring touch against a gallant Italian side which themselves brought so much to the tournament.

Spain can now deservedly be considered one of the greatest teams of all time. The only mild criticism of this Spanish side in Euro 2012 was their lack of goals. They silenced their critics with their rampant 4-0 win in the final. With David Villa coming back from injury & Fernando Torres finding his goal scoring touch again, and new talent such as JORDI ALBA (in my opinion, the player of the tournament) coming through the youth system, this team can continue to win more trophies in the years to come.


And Spain's dominance once again highlighted the fact that Barcelona & Real Madrid can only be dealt with by other clubs in Europe in a 2 leg home & away format). Spain (& Real & Barcelona) can be absolutely ruthless when it counts, as evident by the final of Euro 2012.


The powerhouses of South American football better watch out! No European team has ever won the World Cup when staged in South America. But Euro 2012 proved European football, at least in the mainland, has never had it better & is in great shape.

Spain have been & are a delight to watch. As their tactically difficult passing possession game was about to turn the fans away, they turned their guns on & in a rampant performance reminded the fans what they are capable of by retaining their crown.

Italy & Germany, the professional tournament teams once again went far, but this time both teams entertained & scored delightful goals. Whilst this has been Germany's trademark for a while, Italy surprised most pundits, including me, with their attractive attacking & tactically sophisticated football, spearheaded by the rejuvenated Andrea Pirlo.

The young German side , having reached their 4th consecutive semi final in major tournaments & set a world record 15 consecutive competitive wins, made defensive as well as tactical errors against Italy.
However, their major weakness exposed vs Italy was lack of a true leader that can rally players when the chips are down. Ballack & Kahn were the last true leaders. A role that eg Pirlo perform so effectively for Italy. Both Lahm & Schweinsteiger have proven less than effective as motivating leaders both at Bayern Munich (eg vs Chelsea at CL final) & when playing for Germany. That was the undoing of the side. The legendary come back from behind Germany mentality as a result tends to be missing in the big occasions these days mainly because Germany tend to lack the inspirational leadership to rally them when they fall behind in big games. (although coming back from behind vs Italy or Spain is a tall order for any team)

Portugal were also great to watch & unlucky at times but impressed. France & Holland demonstrated they will be highly competitive & should do well in Brazil in 2014. Even the likes of Greece, Poland, Czech Republic, Ukraine & Croatia showed plenty of flair & promise.

But Spain, with its star studded side, technical superiority of leaders such as Xavi, Iniesta & Alonso, and with its highly complex tactical approach proved itself to be miles ahead of the rest, and one of the greatest teams in a once in a life time era of football for Spanish football.


As for the player of the tournament, in my view the choice is clear: Jordi Alba (Andreas Iniesta was officially chosen the player of Euro2012 but Iniesta & Xavi are legendary figures & in my view two of the greatest players of all time)


Alba, the Valencia left back had a great game in every match & capped off his tournament by scoring the brilliant second goal in the final, and by signing for Barcelona)

Over all in many ways Euro 2012 will go down as one of the greatest football tournaments of the modern era for a variety of reasons:


Ukraine & Poland organised a great tournament
Tactically the football was great
Only two matches ended scoreless
There were almost no controversial decisions based on play acting/diving etc
The final produced 4 goals (equal highest with the 1976 final) after the last two finals had ended 1-0


And in Spain, the tournament earmarked one, if not the greatest national football team of all time, a team that silenced its critics by showcasing its technical & tactical superiority when it counted the most, in the final!

European powerhouses storm into semi finals....as expected, whilst England flopped badly, also as expected!

Spain, Portugal, Germany & Italy have reached the semi finals of Euro 2012....as expected.
The only surprise flop & potential other team would have been Holland...and there were no surprises in one of the worst every England teams of all time being a major flop vs Italy in the quarter finals!

As predicted at the time the draw was made, Group A was too light to have any potential semi finalists. On the other hand Group B was deemed the "Group of Death" & 2 teams, Portugal & Germany from this group have rightfully earned their place in the semi finals. Spain were expected to be there & Italy have surprised everyone with their skilful approach & are now the dark horse of the tournament.

Andrea Pirlo, like old wine has had a renaissance year. Having led Juventus undefeated to Serie A title in Italy in a year many predicted his demise into eventual retirement, masterfully is leading Italy's charge towards the Euro 2012 title. Italy may have only won on penalties vs England, but the close result was by no means indicative of the huge gap between the teams.

By the way, if you have not seen Pirlo's silky smooth penalty vs England, watch it on youTube here. It's one of the most skilful penalties of all time, under the intense pressure of a penalty shoot out.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PcGU_gUH1F0

France on the other hand were never expected to go beyond the quarter finals & like Holland seem to continue to struggle with internal strife due to uncontrolled egos.

And as for those perennial underachievers England, well, potentially had their worst ever team in a tournament in living memory & played one of their worst ever matches vs Italy with unbelievably negative statistics heavily against them in terms of possession, shots on target & completed passes etc.

Hastily appointed coach Roy Hodgson had obviously read too much into the lucky ways of the negative defensive & boring CHELSEA, who totally undeservedly & through shear luck had got past the silky ways of Messi & Barcelona on the way to beating an unlucky Bayern Munich side in the final of the Champions League weeks earlier.

If Chelsea's win was a win for "anti football & money", England's elimination was a positive gain for football. England were once again lamenting their bad luck in penalty shootouts. From memory they have got eliminated on penalties in six major tournaments in 1990, 1996, 1998, 2004, 2006 & now in 2012 (don'y quote me on exact years as I may be wrong).

But the question the English press never asks is this: "Why England are incapable of winning matches in normal time in tournaments? Most other teams have been involved in one or two or at most three shoot outs during the last 22 years, England have had in six!!. 


In my view the reason for this is because the English teams are not tournament teams!" In fact I would go as far as saying the Rugby codes culture of friendly "test matches" style is engraved in the England football team as well! Win a match here lose one next playing the same teams over & over & over again as it boringly happens in rugby codes is alien to the world of tournament heavy football where there are 206 national team members & teams like Italy, Germany & Brazil thrive in.

Now to the semi final pairings:

Both matches are simply too close to call and it is even more difficult to predict the scores.

Spain are the more likely winner out of the battle with Portugal.

The problem with Portugal is that they rely too much on Ronaldo as a match winner, and if Ronaldo misfires as he did in the first match vs Germany Spain have enough to pounce & win the match. Spain know the Real Madrid  trio of Ronaldo, Pepe & Coentrao (as the trio do the Spanish players) & how they operate.
Overall, Xabi Alonso, Xavi, Iniesta & co are good enough to neutralise Ronaldo & win the match, and we all know the only & only criticism of this highly tactically & technically gifted Spanish team is their overwhelming tendency to win crucial matches 1-0 (as they did in their way to winning the World Cup in 2010). The trick is to stop Ronaldo, and if any team can do that, it's a Spanish side full of players who are used to playing with or against Ronaldo.

On the other hand, amazingly Germany have never managed to eliminate Italy in knockout stages of World Cup or European Championships! Their last such encounter was the WC 2006 semi final in Germany. Italy won 2-0 after extra time, as the match was about to head for penalty shootouts.

The two power houses' encounters have however always been close & tactically fascinating. This time, if this young & exciting German side are to break the jinx, they must mark the amazing Pirlo out of the game. In order to do so, Schweinsteiger must be at his best in the middle of the park. Against Greece, he was clumsy & obviously less than 100% fit. Nevertheless, this time around Germany have the depth in their bench not only to beat Italy, but also to go all out and avenge their Euro 2006 & World Cup 2010 losses to Spain.

As an astute witty friend of mine cheekily said the other day (thanks Tim, with your kind permission):
"It is Germany's duty to continue to cut a swathe through the debt ridden countries of Europe.  Having done away with the wasteful greeks, they can now see off the diving Italianos this week and then the best of the Iberian peninsula". 
(no offence to the suffering masses in those countries whilst the mining boom in Australia enriches the few lucky ones!)


My tip for the final: Spain 1 Germany 2

Euro 2012 firing up as quarter finals get under way & promise potential mouth watering semi final clashes

The best news out of the group round of Euro 2012 was an unusual statistic for football. For the first time in living memory, there were no 0-0 draws in the entire group phase matches!

OK! now that I got rid of the football sceptics reading my blog, let's talk about the flops, dark horses & favourites: :)

Flop of the tournament:

Major: Holland: How long will the Dutch blame clash of egos & lack of team spirit for their frequent tournament failures? They were arrogant, tactically naive, out of form & as usual  divided. There are major question marks over this team & even during their qualifying campaign they produced several questionable narrow wins.

Minor: Poland: For the first time since finishing third, Poland had a talented crop of young players starring in teams such as Dortmund & Arsenal. Whilst they were never favourites to go all the way, many, including me expected them to reach the quarter finals. I believe they paid for their lack of competitive matches (due to hosting rights). However, they will probably qualify for the 2014 World Cup.

Overachievers: Czech Republic & Greece. In Group A, considered the only weak group in the tournament, Russia & Poland were overwhelming favourites to go through. Czech Republic, whilst a force in Euro competitions with a great history, are in transition & started the tournament with a moral sapping 4-1 defeat to Russia. But they ended up topping the group. On the other hand, the Greeks with all their economic problems had to beat Russia in their final match in order to go through & they did.

England have also quietly overachieved. having only installed their coach just before the tournament, and with injuries to Lampard & Cahill & Rooney's suspension for the first two games, one would have expected them to flop yet again. But for once, with no pressure on their shoulders, they have performed well.

The favourites however, are still the defending Champions Spain.

Spain vs France: Spain will have a difficult encounter with France in the quarter finals. France can & probably will cause Spain some grief but not if they repeat their inept display vs Sweden, who by the way in my view were unlucky in all three games overall.

Spain & Germany have a competitive advantage vs the other teams, and that is the depth & quality of their bench. France on the other hand, have just lost their first match in 20 outings & are again displaying the signs of the old powerful team we got to know & admire.

As Chelsea (and Croatia) have proved in recent times, there are nevertheless tactics that can stifle the silky smooth passing games of teams such as Spain, Barcelona & Bayern. However, in doing so, you need opportunistic players of highest calibre who are capable of scoring from the odd chance or mistake they are presented with. Otherwise Spain will make you pay & eventually find a way to score, as they did in their narrow 1-0 final wins in both Euro 2008 & World Cup 2010 vs Germany & Holland respectively.

Portugal vs Czech Republic: A once again confident & free scoring Ronaldo will lead his resurgent Portugal side over the overachieving Czech side.

Semi Final tip: Spain vs Portugal

Germany vs Greece: Germany, the only team to go through to quarter finals on maximum points must improve if they are to beat the likes of Italy, England, France or Spain to win their first major tournament since Euro 1996.

They will have 7 or 8 Bayern players in their starting line up again. And Greece can make Germany suffer if the encounter turns out to be like Bayern vs Chelsea or Barcelona vs Chelsea, ie passing possession patient game of Germany vs all out defending & counter attacks of Greece. The Greeks have proven themselves to be hard to score against, & Germany (and Bayern for that mater) have at times found it difficult to break down the type of defensive walls which even Messi found hard to break down vs Chelsea.

Therefore, in order to beat Greece, Germany need a much faster attacking & less cautious approach than they have displayed so far. ie more of the first half vs Holland.

And on a minor political point, it's just been announced the German Chancellor Angela Merkel, the most disliked European politician in Greece for her hard stance on financial bail out of Greece, will be attending to watch the match!

Italy vs England: I was confident before the tournament these two giants of world football were both destined to fail at Euro 2012. Both, in particular Italy have surprised many with their results & displays to the point that I now consider Italy the dark horse of the tournament.


On the other hand, I am yet to be impressed by England & can't see them getting past the likes of Italy, Germany or Spain. I think whilst Gerard has stabilised the midfield, England's defensive vulnerabilities have yet to be tested & whilst Rooney is back & has already scored, their forwards will find it extremely hard to break down the up to now impressive Italian defence, even though Italy currently have major injury worries.

Semi Final tip: Italy vs Germany

And the verdict for the final? It is too early to predict the semi final pairing as both luck & tactics will play a major role in the outcome of the quarter as well as semi finals.

And then there's the boggy team phenomenon! And in case of Germany, their boggy team is & will always be Italy! Just to name a few matches, Italy have always seem to outdo Germany where it counts! Just to name a few:

Italy famously beat Germany 4-3 in extra time in one of the greatest WC games of all time, in the 1970 WC semi final. They beat Germany convincingly in the 1982 WC final and most recently, Italy beat Germany in the WC 2006 semi final on the way to winning the World Cup!

Having shared with you that little piece of trivia, a Germany vs Spain, in my view will once again pair the two best & most exciting football nations in Europe against each other & in their respective top club sides representing the majority of the starting 11 in both sides, ie Barcelona & Real Madrid in Spain & Bayern Munich in Germany, they have the most attacking & free scoring club sides in Europe.

And surely after losing the Euro 2008 final & the WC 2010 semi final to Spain, both 1-0, Germany's time has arrived?

Spain are favourites to retain their crown at Euro 2012

Euro 2012 is only a week away. Considering the economic & political upheaval in Europe, this tournament & the London 2012 Olympics are necessary distractions for those millions of people affected by the financial crisis in Europe.

Most teams are fine tuning their tactics in friendlies at the moment in anticipation of the opening match On Saturday 9th June.

It is generally acknowledged that the European Championships are the most competitive & difficult football tournament in the World. In fact outside Brazil & Argentina, the tournament usually features the best footballing nations in the world. For example, six of the seven teams reaching the final four of the last two World Cups feature in Euro 2012 (the 7th being Uruguay with Germany featuring in both semi finals). sadly however, the next European Championships in France in 2016 will be extended to 24 teams. This is a purely commercial decision & will undoubtedly reduce the quality of the event as a whole.


In my view, and most other commentators & fans, Spain, the defending European & World Cup winners are again the clear favourites this year. With the exception of the absence of the injured David Villa & the influential Barcelona Captain Puyol, Spain have a near full strength team based on the stars of Barcelona & Real Madrid & supplemented by the talents from Atletico Madrid, Valencia & Athletic Bilbao. If Fernando Torres continues to improve his form as he has during May, Spain may very well will the title again. However, if Torres misfires as he has for most of the past two years, then, in the absence of the free scoring David Villa, Spain will struggle.

After Spain, the young, attacking & skillful Germany & the ever scoring Holland are the other favourites with the 19 game undefeated France as an outside chance. Two major issues for favourites Germany are:
a) Poor recent form of their only two out & out strikers Gomez & Klose
b) Whether the shattering psychological impact of Bayern's loss to Chelsea has a lasting effect in the minds of the 8 Bayern players in the squad, considering that as many as all 8 are potential starters in any of the three group stage matches.

I believe England, without the injured Lampard & the suspended Rooney (for the first two group matches) & their newly assigned coach will once again disappoint whilst Italy are still in transition & the latest corruption allegations will not help them. Both Italy & England will have problems scoring goals

And the likes of Portugal, Croatia, Russia will be the usual difficult opponents for the so called favourites whilst out of the two co-hosts Poland have more potential to reach the quarter or semi finals.

My predictions for the quarter finals, not in any particular order:

Group A: Russia & Poland
Group B: Germany & Holland
Group C: Spain & Croatia
Group D: France & Sweden (or Ukraine with home support)

Euro 2012 Finals promise plenty of drama & thrills!

The draw for the next European Championships which will be held in mid 2012 in Poland & Ukraine was made in late 2011. The competition remains very popular & is widely acknowledged as the third most watched event in the world (after FIFA World Cup & the Olympics). As a result it will be expanded to 24 teams from 2016. In my view this is a silly money grabbing idea even though UEFA currently has 53 members!

Due to the fact that both co hosts were seeded, the group stage draw produced very uneven groupings with two groups being as groups of death. Poland & Ukraine would have both been in pot 3 (or even 4) normally, but due to hosting rights were elevated to the seeded pot 1 condemning many more competitive teams to pots 2 & 3 as a result!

Here are my predictions for the tournament: Spain & Germany are clear favourites to win the tournament, and they were the finalists in the 2008 competition. Holland & England are also strong & Italy may also pose a threat.

Spain will face Italy in the group stage & in Ireland & Croatia have very difficult opponents. I do believe both Croatia & Ireland are capable of surprising Italy into second place. In case of Ireland their wily Italian coach Trapattoni, knows all about Italian football & how to beat them!

Germany are once again drawn in arguably the toughest group in the tournament & in drawing Holland, Denmark & Portugal will have a tough task to qualify. But if Germany manage to continue to perform at the level they have been performing since the 2010 World Cup, they have the potential to win both Euro 2012 and World Cup 2014. On the other hand, I believe Holland will be too strong for Portugal & Denmark to qualify ahead of them.

Neither England nor France impress me! I find England's coach Capello pompous & out of touch & hope Sweden or Ukraine can at least knock one of these two teams out! England will be in trouble if they do not get a central defence pairing right, with injuries & aging legs of the likes of King, Terry & Ferdinand making them questionable defensively, AND will not be able to use Wayne Rooney for the first two matches in the tournament due to suspension, which was reduced from 3 to 2. On the other hand, France continue to show any sign of life & remain uninspiring.

In the easiest group of the tournament Poland & Russia are favourites to qualify for the knockout quarter final round but I can not see either team go beyond that!

I will be writing regular blogs during the tournament & will continue my predictions as the competition progresses! So please visit my page regularly!