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| I wrote a
few comments as they came to mind after the first round
of matches of Euro 2000 which I'll post here. It was written a couple of days ago. GROUP A Germany A very even group I predicted Germany (first) and Portugal to proceed but by a very bare margin. So it's not that I think that much of the Germans, more that I had to pick somebody. And I think I may have picked wrong given the result of the first game. The absense of Effenburg has such an emormous impact, robbing the German midfield of the creativity and energy that he gives Bayern Munich, and of any chance of repeating their previous success. Scholl was impressive in the first match in providing some of this spark but I'm not very confident of him playing as well again. Bringing Hassler back in midfield only highlighted the problem that still doesn't seem to be being resolved. I kept expecting Germany to bring on Rudi Voller. The defence is horrendous by German standards. Fantastic goal against the Romanians, it's hard to know what this German team will achieve in such an even group. Hopefully Jancker will play up front against England, he's Germany's best striker. England It has to be said, this is not a very good team. Take away Beckham and what offence are you left with? It's possible all their goals will come through him. England are just too predictable, with Owen still not back to his best their strikers cannot create any magic and neither can the midfield. The Portugal game showed that McManaman, Scholes and Beckham cannot really all play together as it creates a weakness in defensive midfield. It's a crime that Kevin Phillips is not on the field in place of Shearer, he provides what Shearer did at his peak (which was some time ago now), a quick world class finisher in fantastic form. Having said that England are poor, all the players will likely raise their games versus Germany (as will the German players) and the match is just too hard to call. Romania Good to see the coach promising attacking football and the team delivering it. Hagi's form this season has been excellent and so it was obvious he would play well at Euro 2000, being such a performer at tournaments. There was a moment vs Germany where he beat a player with pace and backheeled the ball to create a chance which would have been particularly impressive had the man he outpaced not been Lothar Mattheus! Hagi is still the best player in the world in the over 35s if that counts for anything. The rest of the team was rather solid as usual vs Germany but Ilie was poor. I'm calling the next game as a draw. This group will be the last to be decided. Portugal Everyone is talking about them after the win vs England but Portugal are not going to win Euro 2000. Their flair in midfield was no surprise, theirs is a world class midfield. The problem as ever is up front. What was unusual about the England game was Portugal's excellent finishing (indeed all 5 goals were brilliant), I don't see them maintaining this. Portugal will continue to play some of the best football but they do lose games they dominate. Either Rui Costa or Luis Figo will make the all star team for the tournament. A good bet to top the group now; if so they should beat Belgium or Sweden but I don't see them going further. GROUP B Italy I picked them as third favourites, more because of the faults of other teams than their own abilities. I'm writing this after having just seen their second match vs Belgium and despite two wins from two I'm not very impressed. One of the top three defences as always, but the attack is poor. Vieri is such a loss; it's quite a step down to Inzaghi and it's really his brother Simone who should be playing anyway. On top of that Totti is just not delivering and I can't help thinking that Baggio should have been brought along again! Yes, he's old but he's just so good on the big occasion and he showed he could still do it just recently in Serie A. Hard to say anything about the Italian midfield that hasn't been said many times, lack of creativity, etc, etc but Fiore has looked good. Not good enough to fix the problems though. For a number of years Italy has been awaiting the 4-3-3 that would suit the players at their disposal but it's certainly not going to happen now. Cruising to the knockout stages as expected but they'll likely need penalties to get to the final. Belgium Better than the sum of their parts they continue to look good since their renaissance. Mpenza-Strupar has been a much better partnership up front than you would expect on paper. Verheyen was very impressive vs Sweden. A dream group to offer them the chance to progress. The last game against Turkey is just the schedule they'd want. Sweden Good team spirit but don't have enough talent. Unlucky to lose to Belgium in a close game, they are capable of more than this. I'd like to see Ljungberg playing better. Will need to play a lot better to make the second round but they are capable of doing so. Turkey Possibly the worst team at the tournament. It's not that they're bad but, besides Hakan Sukur up front, they have no outstanding qualities or players. GROUP C Spain It happens time after time but no-one seems to learn. Every time Spain are heralded as one of the favourites but they just don't deserve the ranking. People need to separate the league from the national team. Three teams in the CL semis does not equal a Euro championship winning national team. The successes of Barca and Real mean nothing in national team play. While everyone rightly criticises the Italian midfield, is Valeron, Exteberria, Fran and Guardiola really that fearsome? No. Although it has to be said that Mendieta should start, his creativity is essential. But same as ever the Spanish are very competent but simply do not have one of the very best squads. In case this wasn't obvious I ask the question when was the last time the Spanish scored in open play against a decent team? And no, Austria does not qualify. Spain are good at efficiently dealing to weaker teams but don't have the quality to beat a France or a Holland to the title. Before the draw I said that I doubted Spain could beat a Norway, an Italy or a Czech Republic. They've fallen to Norway and would lose to Holland or France. Having criticised them, they are still an excellent team that will likely qualify for the quarters but Holland and France are just better teams. Raul needs better players around him to really shine. The day they have a team that looks as good as a Holland, France, Brazil or Argentina on paper, THEN I'll be the first to make them favourites. Slovenia Have to admit to not knowing much about Slovenia except for Zahovic and I was quite shocked to see them knock out Ukraine in the playoff (Ukraine would have been one of the most likely teams to win Euro 2000 IMO and Shevchenko would have been the best striker on show). Lovely football but they needed to have beaten their weakest competitor Yugoslavia to progress. Spain will beat them on their way to qualifying for round 2. Yugoslavia Never a candidate for the label of dark horse this time around, the stars are too old and the team spirit is too poor. 92 and 94 were the times they could have dazzled the world, the combination of Savicevic, Boksic, Stojkovic, Boban, Jugovic, Prosinecki, etc would have been breathtaking but for sanctions. It's rather a sad sight watching this generation play out their last days knowing what was missed. But still great to see Jugovic playing so fantastically in the comeback vs Slovenia though. Unlikely to make the second round. Mijatovic has not been much of a striker for some time. Norway Have been underrated for the last few years, almost one of the top dozen sides in the world. Did not disappoint at WC98, beat Brazil and could well have beaten Italy the way Italy beats everyone else. Hard team to beat and you never know when Flo and Solkjaer will conjure something on the break. GROUP D Czech Republic Before the draw I rated the Czechs as fourth favourites to win Euro 2000 but being drawn with the two top teams changed everything. The Czechs are the Croatia 98 of Euro 2000. Both have that key building point, a very sound defence, allied with creativity in midfield along with general allround talent, including a world class creator (Boban/Nedved) and up front a world class finisher (Suker/Koller). Koller is one of the most underrated players in Europe, I would much prefer him in my team over the much more well-known aerial talent, Oliver Beirhoff. And like Croatia in 98, they have the factor that adds 30% to your game, the right mood amongst the players and coach, a happy positive camp with something to prove. Given their abilities, I was surprised that the Czechs began so defensively vs Holland. The Dutch defense is weak enough that it should have been subjected to 90 minutes of attack rather than 45. Personally I would have started Lokvenc up front with Koller to give Nedved another talented target man to play off. The better team (although the Dutch will get better) lost and it looks bad for the Czechs. With even a draw I would have fancied them slightly over Holland to qualify for the quarters. Speaking of draws, they should manage one against the French in what should be a fantastic game with the Czechs showing more of their ability in attack. But the loss to Holland has probably put them out. Unfortunate as they would probably have won Group B or C. France The obvious favourites to win the title it amazes me that so many people ignore them. Much tends to be made of history, no World Cup winner going on to win the subsequent Euro champs but history is meaningless. All that matters is the factors of today (history only being relevant if the historical factors are still present). While the defence is slightly worse than 98, with Thuram not the force he was previously, the midfield is still the best in the world and the attack is far improved. Henry has been world class since his move to Arsenal and his conversion from a winger into an Anelka-like striker. My bet for tournament top scorer, he is in irresistible form. The French midfield will conjure more chances than any other side for their strikers but at Euro 2000 there will be someone to properly finish them. Anelka will probably get a couple but is more important for the space his pace will create, I'd bring on Wiltord half way through a match if Anelka's efforts have not created chances. As for the midfield I was surprised not to see Vieira starting, he is totally world class and must start every game, he's better than both Petit (as long as Petit's inability to pass like he used to continues) and Deschamps as a DM. Djorkaeff is lucky to be in the squad, Dalmat should have had his place. The French midfield is blessed with not only being the most creative but the best defensively. A rare combination that occurs because the defensive midfielders have such all round games. France are really the only team at Euro 2000 without a weakness. Along with Italy they will be the hardest team to beat. Holland I feared the Dutch would lose their opening game. For a long time they have lacked real incisiveness when faced with a sound defence and the Czechs may well end up having just about the best defence at Euro 2000. The continual passing of the ball around unproductively has made a number of the players ineffectual in attack and this side is not one easily finds the net. The problem is that the midfield doesn't link well with the attack, the midfield cover well but it seems that Davids has to perform every role at once. They need far more variety in attack, it's all very sterile. Overmars coming on was crucial and should have occured in the first half, without an in-form winger the Dutch are weak on offence. Should improve a little from the first game but I worry about what happens when they go down a goal to a decent team. One key point I think is that I don't think that playing at home is much of an advantage to the Dutch, unlike for almost every other national team. While I'm not that confident of Holland, a France-Holland final is still the most likely. Denmark Denmark are currently like a Scotland, tons of effort, hard running and covering, Gronkjaer & Jorgensen are talented but one of the weakest strike forces of Euro 2000 and a dearth of creativity. The worst Danish team in many years but still would have had chances in the weaker Groups B and C. Best matches of Round 1 in order : Portugal 3-2 England Slovenia 3-3 Yugoslavia France 3-0 Denmark Holland 1-0 Czech Republic Worst match : Spain 0-1 Norway Robert Chapman robertc@ihug.co.nz |