I voted Spain, but then i thought about Germany. I think Germany will win, but i think Italy will be hard to stop. Portugal and Spain are full of amazing young players, (Nani, Quaresma, Ronaldo, Fernandes, Pepe, Ramos, Fabregas, Silva, Iniesta, Torres etc.) The they really could be a huge force, especially when attacking. But Spain always under achieve, so picking them would be a risk. Although a nation of that talent has to come good eventually, doesn't it? Could this be that moment? Many of their players in the world cup were young, so they have experience in major tournaments already.

Portugal will probably go close. Although they lack a quality striker, the attacking prowess of their midfield will surely destroy most teams.

Italy.

France will knock themselves out (you need to score to win), Germany will lose to Italy (as usual). Portugal have nothing to attack Italy's defense with, Spain not enough experience?

I'm now officially supporting Poland

Than I'll take Romania

Yeah, it would be great to see Modric over here. Arsenal been linked with him for a bit.

Never heard of Rakitic before. I take it he is pretty good?

Ive seen Croatia play some fantastic football, and some of the worst football Ive seen in my life. But they have qualified and possibly win the group. More to come.

Miki, Im feeling pretty confident about them going far, and even winning it.
Some guy in the paper said they wont get past the quarter final. Can see why he said that, based on form, rather than results - but theyre not one of the best ranked teams in the world for nothing.
I suppose Eduardo is the star, but the rest are just very talented players (no stars) who generally play well together as a TEAM. Young at that!

Actually, there is one star in the team - good old Bilic.
They should name an island after him.

Because of their past success in big tournaments?

No offence to our Spanish posters, but your national side has a tendency to underperform on the big stage. But i have to admit that, when Greece is not playing in the Euro, Spain is one of the teams i like to see do well.

Imo, Italy are favourites, with Germany second and maybe France or Portugal third. Traditional European forces like England (if they qualify), Holland and to a lesser degree Sweden and the Czechs will probably fall short.

As for dark horses, i believe the teams that could do really well are Croatia and maybe Greece again. The Croats have been very impressive in their group and Greece actually has the most points out of any team in the qualifying stage at the moment, a record they'll get to keep if they beat Hungary on Wednesday. Poland, Romania and Turkey (qualification is in their hands now) might also turn some heads but i doubt they can do enough to win it.

As for the hosts, the Swiss are probably the better team but i don't see them going far. They'll be lucky if they reach the quarterfinals. Austria are possibly the weakest side in the tournament but having the home advantage might see them get 1-2 decent results in the group stage.

Whats wrong with that?

Hahaha:)) agreed.

Did you even read all of my post? I picked Spain, but i gave reasons as to why i chose them. I clearly said that their past success had been pathetic, and that they had always under achieved. But, i think with their young talent, they are only going to get better, and they surely have to perform eventually in a big tournament. They've underachieved for the best part of half a century - surely that can't go on forever?

Describing Croatia as Dark Horses is like saying England are World Class.

More front runners than dark horses.

Good old Spain. It's hard to imagine them not getting far with THAT team. Where is the weakness?

I only weakness, is probably that they've got about 3 world class players in each position, which could lead to unrest in the camp.

That's SOME weakness...

Always a good dilemma to have.

Maybe if he plays a few youth players, that could be a negative thing too. Can't do much wose than the previous lot.

Are you talking about Spain? And which ''lot'' are you talking about?

The voting is void. Why are you assuming that it will be one of those teams to win it? There are more than 7 teams! England & Portugal aren't even through yet. I think it's a bit disrespectful on the other teams. I mean, there's not even an 'other' option!!! What a shambles!

Good man.

he sounds like Sticky

Yes, if we fail to qualify tomorrow he will jump on another bandwagon. Like Poland, perhaps.

Mother[beeps!]. Can one of you two bumbandits edit other peoples posts?

i can

It'll be a dark day for forums worldwide when you have the ability to edit posts

what is that supposed to mean!?

terrible!

No.

Ah I see what your doing now!

CFCBhoy

Location: Ireland