Have you booked your flights to be at London - HA9 0WS on July 3 ? No....then ... you better, especially if you are an English football fan because Stevie G may well be holding aloft the Euro Cup on that day at the FA Headquarters in Wembley. As we begin to leave our footballing widows to enjoy the lovely summer and shopping, here are my predictions for the month long tournament (just a friendly reminder that readers of this blog will recall my highly accurate World Cup winner predictions of 2010 !!).
So you would imagine that I would pick my favourite team - Del Bosque's Spaniards or Loewe's Germans. Or the country I call home for the past 5 years - Netherlands. Well - I am about to take the highly unpopular view. While I will be hoping for a Germany-Spain finals, I think the footballing Gods will smile on the English to lift the trophy on July 1 (and if you are a betting person...then Portugal to be the dark horses ...William Hill is offering a 20-1 odds on the team led by Ronaldo to pip everyone else !!)
http://sports.williamhill.com/bet/en-gb/betting/e/840/Euro-2012---Tournament-Winner.html
Why do I think the English may very well pick the trophy. For one - The Euro cup will follow the trend we have seen across Europe this year. We have a new set of champions pretty much all across Europe, sides led by underdogs with new bosses and ones that have had a consistent defensive/attack record. Chelsea in the Champions League, Real Madrid in Spain, Manchester City in the EPL and Juventus in Italy. England has long been a good side for the longest time but this time their time of glory may just have arrived.
Second - the team has looked good this season at various levels. Joe Hart from Manchester city has been outstanding in goal all season. Terry, Cole and company have had an outstanding defensive record with Chelsea against powerful opponents like FCB and Bayern while Welbeck and Rooney have been very good in the front for Man U in the EPL. While the mid field looks bare, Gerrard will rise above the ordinary to provide support along with James Milner, Ashley Young, Alex Chamberlain and Theo Walcott - who for their respective teams have had outstanding seasons.
And third and most importantly, for the first time - England will play without the pressure of being branded favourites by the nasty English press or the public (everyone is partying to the Queen's music this year and getting ready for the Olympics). Roy Hodgson has clearly downplayed the team's chances in Ukraine and Poland and this will greatly help the team play at their very best. Something we have not seen at a major tournament since 1966.
So England vs. Netherlands final ???? At 40-1, it is a great time to make some money while the odds stay this way. However I will be booting for a Spain-Germany final....
Here we go....
So you would imagine that I would pick my favourite team - Del Bosque's Spaniards or Loewe's Germans. Or the country I call home for the past 5 years - Netherlands. Well - I am about to take the highly unpopular view. While I will be hoping for a Germany-Spain finals, I think the footballing Gods will smile on the English to lift the trophy on July 1 (and if you are a betting person...then Portugal to be the dark horses ...William Hill is offering a 20-1 odds on the team led by Ronaldo to pip everyone else !!)
http://sports.williamhill.com/bet/en-gb/betting/e/840/Euro-2012---Tournament-Winner.html
Why do I think the English may very well pick the trophy. For one - The Euro cup will follow the trend we have seen across Europe this year. We have a new set of champions pretty much all across Europe, sides led by underdogs with new bosses and ones that have had a consistent defensive/attack record. Chelsea in the Champions League, Real Madrid in Spain, Manchester City in the EPL and Juventus in Italy. England has long been a good side for the longest time but this time their time of glory may just have arrived.
Second - the team has looked good this season at various levels. Joe Hart from Manchester city has been outstanding in goal all season. Terry, Cole and company have had an outstanding defensive record with Chelsea against powerful opponents like FCB and Bayern while Welbeck and Rooney have been very good in the front for Man U in the EPL. While the mid field looks bare, Gerrard will rise above the ordinary to provide support along with James Milner, Ashley Young, Alex Chamberlain and Theo Walcott - who for their respective teams have had outstanding seasons.
And third and most importantly, for the first time - England will play without the pressure of being branded favourites by the nasty English press or the public (everyone is partying to the Queen's music this year and getting ready for the Olympics). Roy Hodgson has clearly downplayed the team's chances in Ukraine and Poland and this will greatly help the team play at their very best. Something we have not seen at a major tournament since 1966.
So England vs. Netherlands final ???? At 40-1, it is a great time to make some money while the odds stay this way. However I will be booting for a Spain-Germany final....
Here we go....
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