Euro 2008 has finally begun and Group A has completed its first round of matches.
In this post, I'm just going to go through my predictions for Group A and see if they were correct in addition to analyzing the match a little bit and see what each team has to do correctly in order to progress throughout the rest of the group stage.
Switzerland vs Czech Republic: The co-host fought against the Czech Republic quite nicely despite the fact that they lost and kept the score low even though they did not score at all. I found it quite interesting that Switzerland actually had way more shots on goal that the Czech Republic who had only one shot on goal and that was the one that found the back of the net. Czech Republic was lucky but Switzerland deserved a tie and point in this match. If they can keep this up, they can cause Turkey and Portugal a few problems even though they will probably lose these matches.
My Prediction: 1-0 Czech Republic win
Actual result: 1-0 Czech republic win (man, do I wish I signed up for some kind of prediction contest, but my prediction for the next match in Group A was quite off)
The second of the day was between Turkey and Portugal. This match was actually quite boring and one sided and I didn't even pay attention. Portugal was much better the struggling Turkish sided losing to the Portuguese.
My Prediction: 1-1 tie
Actual result: 2-0 Portugal win
Here is how the group standings look so far after today's matches:
1. Portugal 3 pts (tiebreaker: +2 goal difference)
2. Czech Republic 3 pts (tiebreaker: +1 goal difference)
3. Switzerland 0 pts (tiebreaker: -1 goal difference)
4. Turkey 0 pts (tiebreaker: -2 goal difference)
It is rather unfortunate that Turkey ended up opening their Euro 2008 campaign with a loss that puts them at the bottom of the standings. I guess it is just unlucky that they got Portugal at the beginning. I still think they are a fairly good team though.
When comparing today's standings to my prediction, my predictions are somewhat off, but the Czech Republic and Portugal are still on track to qualifying for the quarterfinals, and my prediction that Czech Republic will go forward with a perfect 3-0-0 record could still stand true. Their match Portugal will be extremely important on confirming this.
For more information regarding Group A, click here.
Tomorrow Group B matches will begin. Croatia will face co-hosts Austria then Poland will face a tough German side. I was supposed to go to the Bohemian Hall Beer Garden (a Czech bar and resturaunt in Astoria with some friends but the screens will be outside in the garden and I think it will be way too hot to watch it outside and inside--it would be kind of stupid if they didn't have tv's--there is probably going to be way too many people so I'm going to pass on it. Check the website for times ( eastern time is 6 hours back) and all matches are live on ESPN 2 or ESPN Classic.
If Croatia loses against Austria, they might as well as pack up go home tomorrow, but they should be okay. The Austrians are so embarrassed about their team that they were requesting their football federation to withdraw their team from the tournament (and these are the hosts...lol). I heard that one Austrian man is so embarrassed that he locked his wife and children in the basement because he didn't want them to see the matches.
GO HRVATSKA/CROATIA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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