The qualifying round of the "Euro cup 2008" is currently reaching to its last stage. Teams will be giving their finest effort and making their last push to reach the first 2 spots in the group. The top 2 nations qualify automatically for the Euro 2008 along with the 2 countries that are hosting Austria and Switzerland.
In Group "A"
Poland and Finland are 1st and 2nd, with Portugal 1 game behind Finland, Ronaldo (Manchester United), Deco (Barcelona) and Nani (Manchester United) will have to work their magic to put the team ahead of Finland to qualify for the CUP. I mean come on, they scored the most goal in Group A, and Cristiano have 7 goals already, so it's not like they are lacking any firepower. They really need to step it up a notch since their coach Luiz Felipe Scolari was criticized when he clashed with a Serbian defender Ivica Dragutinovic at an Euro 2008 qualifying match on September 12.
My prediction: Poland 1st & Portugal 2nd, might have to come down to goal differential with Finland.
Portugal next 3 matches will be VS. Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, and Armenia.
In Group "B"
Italy, France and perhaps Ukraine are the teams that I hope to make it. But it's not looking good for my teams when Scotland sitting on top of the chart and since when Scotland gotten this good? They beat France twice, Italy once, I mean WTF. World Cup Cham. Italy and Runner-up France are suppose to be the top dogs. Italy still have pretty much their original squad from WC like Inzaghi (AC Milan), Del Piero (Juventus), Toni (Bayern Munich), and France have Malouda (Chelsea), Trezequet (Juventus), Anelka (Bolton), Henry (Barcelona). Ukraine have Voronin (Liverpool FC) and Shevchenko (Chelsea), although I highly doubt it that they will get the 2nd spot.
My prediction: Italy 1st & Scotland and France fighting for 2nd, but Scotland will comes out on top.
In Group "C"
Who would've thought Greece would be the Champion of Euro Cup 2004, I mean the odds of them winning were like 1:100 slim to none, and yet they beat everyone. Will history repeat itself? Ummm......not likely, almost every match Greece played in Euro 2004 was an upset. On the other hand, Norway would have a decent team if Ole Gunnar Solskjær (Manchester United) hasn't announced his retirement 2 weeks ago. Norway would have been a real contender with Riise (Liverpool FC) and the team top scorer Iversen (Rosenborg B.K). Also Turkey might secure the 2nd spot if Norway doesn't get the job done. With the Altintop twins, both used to play for (Schalke 04) in Germany, but Hamit Altintop transfered to Bayern Munich in 2007, while his brother Halil Altintop stays at Schalke 04. Now if you guys get to watch any German Bundesliga Soccer, watch the game between Bayern Munich Vs. Schalke 04 when the twin face-off each other for the 1st time on Sep. 15.
My prediction: Greece 1st & Norway and Turkey fighting for 2nd, then Norway advance in the end.
In Group "D"
Power house Germany will have a legitimate chance of winning the cup next year, their current roaster include Schweinsteigers (Bayern Munich), Kuranyi (Schalke 04), Klose (Bayern Munich), Podolski (Bayern Munich), and since Ballack (Chelsea) Captian of Germany was cut from the national team recently due to multiple injuries, Germany will have a hard time to keep their offense rolling smoothly for their next 4 games, but if he can recover in time from injury and get back in shape, the Germans will have no trouble lifting up the trophy again since 1996. Czech Republic is a very good team in my opinion. They have Cezh (Chelsea) one of the best goalkeeper in the world, Koller (AS Monaco) a 6 ft.8 striker with extremely good header, Rosicky (Arsenal) terrific midfielder with exceptional court vision, Nedved (Juventus), though he retired playing internationally, but he is definitely worth the mention, transfered to Juventus as a replacement for Zidane when he moved to Real Madrid.
Players to watch: Ireland - O'Shea (Manchester United), Dunn (Manchester City), Doyle (Reading), Keane (Spurs).
Wales - Giggs (Manchester United).
My prediction: Germany 1st & Czech Republic 2nd, other teams won't even come close to be a threat.
In Group "E"
Croatia without suffering a lose during the qualifying stage is sitting comfortable as the group leader and Silva Eduardo (Arsenal) currently rank no.2 as the top scorer in Euro 2008. England trailing closely to Croatia in the 2nd spot, has shown that they are ready to get down with a 3 goals scoring game back-to-back. Though England is seems to be in great shape, they're still hoping to get Gerrard (Liverpool FC), and Rooney (Manchester United) back into the line-up, so that they could get a feel to play with each other and be ready for next year.
My prediction: Croatia 1st & England 2nd, I'm just worry that England will start to get cocky and draw or either lose all of their upcoming matches, since they've done that before. Then Russia probably gonna take 2nd.
In Group "F"
Sweden is 1 game behind Spain in the group with 1less loss game, I know Sweden is a good team with Ibrahimovic (Inter Milan), Ljungberg (West Ham United), last but not least Henrik Larsson (Helsingborgs IF), former clubs includes Barcelona, Manchester United. He was in the WC squad in 1994, 2002, 2006, this guy is GOOD! But he too retired from international. I totally didn't expect they'll be leading the group over the Spaniards. Spain undoubtedly should be a better team than Sweden with dozens of star players like, Sergio Ramos (Real Madrid), Alonso (Liverpool FC), Fabregas (Arsenal), Torres (Liverpool FC), and goal scoring leader Villa (Valencia).
My prediction: Spain 1st & Sweden 2nd
Players to watch: Northern Ireland - David Healy (Fulham) top scorer in the EURO 2008 with 12 goals, 3 goals ahead of Silva Eduardo.
In Group "G"
Romania and Netherlands both share the same record but Romania with a +3 record in goal differential, I bet nobody had seen that coming (except Romanians, of course). As they are definitely the underdog of this group and to be in this situation as a group leader, they need to prove that it wasn't only luck that brought them here. Last but not least, the Netherlands. What an amazing country where you can "SMOKE" your troubles away in "PUBLIC". Well besides that, Netherlands has also produced some of the finest footballers in the world, Kluivert (Lille) not sure if people knew about him but he did score the most goals (40) for Netherlands, due to constant injuries he is not part of the national team. Bergkamp, used to played for Arsenal was one of the deadliest foward in the world. Current roster: Sneijder (Real Madrid), Seedorf (AC Milan), Babel (Liverpool FC), Kuyt (Liverpool FC), Van Persie (Arsenal), Van Nistelrooy (Real Madrid).
My Prediction: Netherlands 1st & Romania 2nd.
The Netherlands will be the CHAMPION of the EURO cup 2008. "Mark My Word"!