Most people say Group C is the "group of death" and it definitely is. This is fact and I do not protest it, but while Group C is the toughest, the teams in Group D (which will open tomorrow) is not an easy one either. This group contains an overrated but still very good Spanish side, a Sweden team that many people seem to look down on, a Russian side that qualified in the slimmest of margins while in qualifying group that included Croatia, England, and an Israel team that refused to go down without a fight to the bitter end even though there was no chance for them qualify; and who am i forgetting?????? oh yeah, Euro Cup defending champions Greece.
Even though the cup already started, I will still do my group analysis for this group.
Tuesday June 10
Spain 1
Russia 1
Most people don't see Russia winning this one but with Dutch coach Guus Hiddink on their side anything can happen. Arguably the best coach in the world atleast think so, Hindink coached his native Netherlands to a 4th place finish at the 1998 World Cup losing to Croatia in the third place match. He then moved on to South Korea taking the hosts of the 2002 World Cup to the same position. Hiddink once again moved to Australia for the 2006 World Cup coaching the Aussies into a World Cup for the first time in more than 20 years after breaking the Aussie curse by defeating Uruguay in an extremely tough intercontinental qualifying two-legged series that went to penalty kicks. As coach of Russia, Hiddink (who has admitted to the Russians that he has never taken a sip of alcohol in his life) made a promise to the Russian players that if they qualified he will take his first sip of vodka and stay with the team and coach them in their Road to Vienna for the Final. When he made this promise, he probably had doubts because this is exactly what happened as Croatia defeating England sending Russia in their place. Sorry I can't get any proof of this deal Hiddink made with his team because I just read it passing. Anyway, the Russians can definitely give the Spaniards some trouble and the tie it 1-1. They have the talent.
Greece 2
Sweden 2
Defending champions Greece were extremely lucky in 2004. They were complete underdogs and no body considered them as a threat, but this time, many teams will be ready for Greece and will be able to stop them from making a repeat performance despite ending with the best record in Europe during qualifying. However, Greece is still a very good team that can do some damage which is why I think that they will end in tight but a high scoring game against the underrated Swedes.
Based on these prediction, at the end of day 1 of Group D (the final group before we end the first round of the group stage), all four teams will be in a tie with 1 point. However, Sweden and Greece will be at the top because they both scored 2 goals (more than Spain and Russia's one goal. In order to break the tie between Sweden and Greece, fair play will probably be considered and therefore they will probably look at number of red and yellow cards. Greece plays rather dirty most of the time so I cannot see them do well against Sweden without playing rough. Therefore, I would say that Sweden will be left on top, with greece in second place, Spain will be third while Russia fourth (also due to fair play).
Saturday June 14
Sweden 0
Spain 0
Both teams a very good, but I tend to look at Spain as somewhat overrated while Sweden seems to be somewhat underrated and not given credit. They play very well in my opinion. I think that this one will also end in a stalemate. 0-0 is my prediction.
Greece 1
Russia 2
Something tells me that Russia will do very well in this match despite recent successes from the Greeks. Ever since Guus Hiddink has taken the helm, there have been nothing but positive results from the Russians. I don't think the Russians will escape without one goal conceded but I still think that can take three points out of this one to put themselves at the top of the group.
Wednesday June 18
Spain 3
Greece 1
This is wear Greece will get destroyed by at least two goals or more. While I can't see Greece not scoring at least one against Spain, I can't see them taking even a point out of this one. With the situation that I created for Spain in my predictions, the Spaniards will fear for their Euro Cup lives and will fight every 90 minutes to qualify for the quarterfinals. They will not allow a loss.
Russia 0
Sweden 0
This will be an important match for the Euro 2008 future of both of these teams. Both teams will need a desperate win especially Sweden, but I don't will be able to overcome the pressure. Hiddink's team will be more relaxed because they would be in a good position to progress. I say it will be a scoreless match.
Based on my prediction, this how the standings will look in Group D:
1. Spain 5 points (tiebreaker: +2 goal difference)
2. Russia 5 points (tiebreaker: +1 goal difference)
3. Sweden 3 points
4. Greece 1 point
While Sweden is a good team and will probably end up spoiling a straight out group topper for Russia and Spain forcing them to separate their tie with goal difference, I don't really think their good enough to qualify with the like of Russia. Howver, being a spoiler, they will tie every team and even Greek team that they probably should win against but will probably lose because I see the Swedes messing against a team like Greece.
Even though most of my predictions are not correct for the first round games so far, I think my prediction for those qualifying for the quarterfinals are more or less correct (so far) based on how the actual scores went so far. Since this will not spoil any of my qualifying prediction, I will still do quarterfinal predictions as well based on my own predictions (not the actual teams who qualify). I will make adjustments as I go along.
In addition, I will also post in the near future, my own top 16 rankings for Europe (in other words, who I really think is the best in Europe considering recent friendlies and this tournament as well as all qualifiers).
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