A Semi-Educated Euro 2008 Preview Part II
That last one was a rousing success, no? Let's keep it going.
Group C
Before we get going, I just gotta say, this group is a doozy. My god.
Romania: This team's always got some good young attacking firecrackers. And with Adrian Mutu, they got a humungously talented sometimes coke-headed offensive lynchpin. So you can't count them out of any competition. Unless they're grouped with three absolute behemoths. Which they happen to be. Good luck, guys!
France: You might be tempted to write this team off as too old, with the likes of Henry, Viera, Mackele and Thuram still anchoring the squad. But, in fact, they might have the best mix of young and new talent at the tournament. Franck Ribery is so good that Zidane might not even be missed. Lassana Diarra might be the next great French holding midfielder and Karim Benzema might be the next great French offensive talent. This team can turn it on at any time and ride their momentum right into the final four.
Italy: Italy has not exactly brought out the young athletes for this tournament, but they have so many straight-up ballers, that they're a top pick anyway. Pirlo, Gattusso, Toni, Del Piero, we all know what they can bring on the international stage. And they have Superman Gianluigi Buffon manning the net. They might be the team that everyone is least looking forward to playing. For a 90 minute, grind-it-out, tournmanet game, it's hard to pick against them.
Netherlands: This team is the wild-card of the tourney. They have as much talent as anyone, but something's not quite right about them. Having two veteran leaders--Clarence Seedorf and Mark Van Bommel--just quit on the manager, Marco Van Basten is not a good sign. But with young guys like Sneijder, Van Persie and Robben and deadly veterans like Van Nistelrooy and the wily Edwin Van der Sar still around, this team could do some things. Or Van Basten could refuse to play Ruud against Italy after the two have an argument about who is better-looking and the whole damn thing falls apart.
My Prediction: I'm gonna go with my gut and say the whole damn thing falls apart and Netherlands loses once or twice. Romania, while an extreme longshot to finish in the top two, is perfectly capable of beating any of these teams. But I still see France and Italia sliding through. I'd like to go out on more of a limb, but those two teams, while they might ultimately be a little too old to take it all, are built for these tournaments.
France and Italy advance.
Group C
Before we get going, I just gotta say, this group is a doozy. My god.
Romania: This team's always got some good young attacking firecrackers. And with Adrian Mutu, they got a humungously talented sometimes coke-headed offensive lynchpin. So you can't count them out of any competition. Unless they're grouped with three absolute behemoths. Which they happen to be. Good luck, guys!
France: You might be tempted to write this team off as too old, with the likes of Henry, Viera, Mackele and Thuram still anchoring the squad. But, in fact, they might have the best mix of young and new talent at the tournament. Franck Ribery is so good that Zidane might not even be missed. Lassana Diarra might be the next great French holding midfielder and Karim Benzema might be the next great French offensive talent. This team can turn it on at any time and ride their momentum right into the final four.
Italy: Italy has not exactly brought out the young athletes for this tournament, but they have so many straight-up ballers, that they're a top pick anyway. Pirlo, Gattusso, Toni, Del Piero, we all know what they can bring on the international stage. And they have Superman Gianluigi Buffon manning the net. They might be the team that everyone is least looking forward to playing. For a 90 minute, grind-it-out, tournmanet game, it's hard to pick against them.
Netherlands: This team is the wild-card of the tourney. They have as much talent as anyone, but something's not quite right about them. Having two veteran leaders--Clarence Seedorf and Mark Van Bommel--just quit on the manager, Marco Van Basten is not a good sign. But with young guys like Sneijder, Van Persie and Robben and deadly veterans like Van Nistelrooy and the wily Edwin Van der Sar still around, this team could do some things. Or Van Basten could refuse to play Ruud against Italy after the two have an argument about who is better-looking and the whole damn thing falls apart.
My Prediction: I'm gonna go with my gut and say the whole damn thing falls apart and Netherlands loses once or twice. Romania, while an extreme longshot to finish in the top two, is perfectly capable of beating any of these teams. But I still see France and Italia sliding through. I'd like to go out on more of a limb, but those two teams, while they might ultimately be a little too old to take it all, are built for these tournaments.
France and Italy advance.
posted by Alonzo @ 4:35 PM
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