Another football gala that is coming around in a couple of days time and there seems to be not that much amount of excitement even just days before the kickoff of the event. I have not seen the sort of enthusiasm that we expect from the players, add to it some sort of rift in certain camps. The latest saga of match fixing allegations in Italy did the help the cause any further.
One main reason for all these low key factor is to deal with the hard long season that all these players had and how much they value the tournament. With the Olympics coming up followed by the start of next season maybe the players are not so focused. Or it may be that players consider the champions league as the most glamorous event of this sport. Let's keep those issues aside and focus on the platter that we are about to be served. I will be having an insight into some of the top teams and who I feel are the real contenders to lift the cup.
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GROUP A: Poland, Greece, Russia, Czech Republic
It's a good group for the co-host to be in. I am not saying that it will be easy for them but then when you consider the other groups this can be one of those open groups where any team can qualify for the knockout round. Playing at the home and in front of the home supporters Poland will definitely be looking to qualify for the next stage.
Greece as we all know sprung a major surprise when they beat the Portugese to win this tournament years ago. Will they be able to do it the same way as they did that time. I don't think so but they might have the fare share of deciding who will qualify to the next round.
Russia: Coached by Dick Advocat they have a great chance of qualifying for the next round and they have couple of good players and the discipline is always there when coached by Advocatt. I expect them to have a good tournament.
Czech Republic: They are the ones who will be struggling in this group.
KNOCKOUT QUALIFIERS: Russia, Poland
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GROUP B - Group of Death: Netherlands, Denmark, Germany, Portugal
Well what a group we have got here. All the matches will be exciting to watch and there will definitely be a huge disappointment for one big team here. And for me we have got two contenders in this group.
Netherlands for me is a real contender to lift the trophy come the end of the tournament. They are scoring goals for fun and have a very strong team. They have the quality and talent and the world cup disappointment will definitely be in their minds. You look at the squad and all the players are in excellent form. Van Persie and Huntelaar has been free flowing in scoring goals in their respective leagues and Robben is also in exciting form. He will be looking to erase his Champions league setback. This can be the generation where the Dutch can win a major trophy.
Denmark will struggle with the other three teams around and all of them will be looking to score maximum points against Denmark and then take it from there. I feel pity for them as I cant see them scoring points against any of their opponents and it will be an early exit for them.
Germany is the second contender in the group I was talking about. If they play to the full potential then the can really be a handful for other teams. It all depends on how well and quickly they can gel together an the football they played during the world cup was breathtaking. The only issue that they may be worried of will be the goal scoring department which I think they have to distribute well across the team.
Portugal as always will be depending on their talisman Ronaldo and I think we can see they will be over dependent on him and can be the real problem. There are other exciting players for them but I cant see them going past the Dutch or the Germans. They will be looking for a points against those two teams to combine with a victory against Denmark to progress through to the next round.
KNOCKOUT QUALIFIERS: Netherlands, Germany
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GROUP C - Spain, Italy, Republic of Ireland, Croatia
The reigning champions Spain are favorite to defend their title but sadly I don't see that happening this time around. They will miss Carlos Puyol than David Villa becasuse we all know the influence that Puyol has when he plays for the team. Their successes in the previous edition and also in the world cup had a lot to say about the binding between the players in the team which is not the case this time around. The players from Barcelona and Real Madrid are having some real problems when they come in the national side. That area would have been taken care with the presence of Puyol. But without his presence it could be a rela problem. Perhaps the federation has identified the problem and that could be the reason they asked Puyol and Villa whether they will be able to join the squad. Also the fatigue issue will play a major part as I believe the Barcelona and Real Madrid players are very tired. Most of the teams will be playing Spain the way Chelsea played the semifinal against Barcelona but I think when you look at the national team they have got that width and pace to damage other teams. But one just cant rule them out of contention. Can we?.
Italy has been rocked by the match fixing allegations that surfaced recently and there was even talk of boycotting the tournament. They are one team who knows how to win football matches by playing their own way. Other teams should not expect them to play any different and they are more than capable of surprising other teams. I would say they will be the dark horses for this edition though they are not the favorites. I would choose Italy to go through from this group not because they have the right team but because I don't feel the other teams have the quality to topple them.
I wonder whether all the confidence that Rep. of Ireland gained after getting qualified for the tournament has gone missing after the thrashing by Netherlands. It was such a devastating loss and I do wonder how the players will take it going into a big tournament like this. They might be looking to finish third in the group as they themselves know the big task that lie ahead of them to progress through.
Croatia is not the team that we all started looking and considered very seriously earlier. They have not got quality players like Sukar but the likes of Modric, Kalinic and Jelavic can more than capable of causing other teams some trouble.
KNOCKOUT QUALIFIERS: Spain, Italy
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GROUP D - Ukraine, Sweden, France, England
Ukraine is not a team that would cause much of a threat to other teams nut I can see them scoring some points which will eventually decide the group.
How many times we have seen Sweden playing in the same group as that of England. I think they are kind of a bogey team for England and the English have always struggled to find a way past Sweden. Sweden will be really hard to beat and I fancy their chances to go through to the next round.
Under Blanc France have resurrected themselves quite a bit after those big saga at the world cup. I felt that the players who did those antics during that tournament should not have ever played for the national team again. But past is past and now they have a balanced team and under Blanc they have the discipline that keeps them away from all other things in mind. They can go a long way in the tournament.
England is in total disarray I would say. First they lost their coach months before the tournament and then their federation took hell lot of a time to appoint the next one to make the job much harder for the incoming one to select a team with just two weeks to go. Then they have some injury issues as well. There has been talk in the English media about using the same approach as Chelsea did. But I think they will find teams that can really hurt them in other ways too. Not every team except Spain will play the similar way to that of Barcelona. And their two recent friendly matches were not convincing either. I don't really fancy any chances for this side.
KNOCKOUT QUALIFIERS: France, Sweden
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FINAL: Germany vs Netherlands
WINNERS: GERMANY
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Lets hope that it will be a cracker of a spectacle in the next few weeks and lets not forget and hope that some new talents will pop up during the course of the tournament to make it more interesting to see the clubs who will get interested in those players.
I will be back with preview and review of some important matches. Catch u later guys...
Keep Smiling...
Playmaker
One main reason for all these low key factor is to deal with the hard long season that all these players had and how much they value the tournament. With the Olympics coming up followed by the start of next season maybe the players are not so focused. Or it may be that players consider the champions league as the most glamorous event of this sport. Let's keep those issues aside and focus on the platter that we are about to be served. I will be having an insight into some of the top teams and who I feel are the real contenders to lift the cup.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
GROUP A: Poland, Greece, Russia, Czech Republic
It's a good group for the co-host to be in. I am not saying that it will be easy for them but then when you consider the other groups this can be one of those open groups where any team can qualify for the knockout round. Playing at the home and in front of the home supporters Poland will definitely be looking to qualify for the next stage.
Greece as we all know sprung a major surprise when they beat the Portugese to win this tournament years ago. Will they be able to do it the same way as they did that time. I don't think so but they might have the fare share of deciding who will qualify to the next round.
Russia: Coached by Dick Advocat they have a great chance of qualifying for the next round and they have couple of good players and the discipline is always there when coached by Advocatt. I expect them to have a good tournament.
Czech Republic: They are the ones who will be struggling in this group.
KNOCKOUT QUALIFIERS: Russia, Poland
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
GROUP B - Group of Death: Netherlands, Denmark, Germany, Portugal
Well what a group we have got here. All the matches will be exciting to watch and there will definitely be a huge disappointment for one big team here. And for me we have got two contenders in this group.
Netherlands for me is a real contender to lift the trophy come the end of the tournament. They are scoring goals for fun and have a very strong team. They have the quality and talent and the world cup disappointment will definitely be in their minds. You look at the squad and all the players are in excellent form. Van Persie and Huntelaar has been free flowing in scoring goals in their respective leagues and Robben is also in exciting form. He will be looking to erase his Champions league setback. This can be the generation where the Dutch can win a major trophy.
Denmark will struggle with the other three teams around and all of them will be looking to score maximum points against Denmark and then take it from there. I feel pity for them as I cant see them scoring points against any of their opponents and it will be an early exit for them.
Germany is the second contender in the group I was talking about. If they play to the full potential then the can really be a handful for other teams. It all depends on how well and quickly they can gel together an the football they played during the world cup was breathtaking. The only issue that they may be worried of will be the goal scoring department which I think they have to distribute well across the team.
Portugal as always will be depending on their talisman Ronaldo and I think we can see they will be over dependent on him and can be the real problem. There are other exciting players for them but I cant see them going past the Dutch or the Germans. They will be looking for a points against those two teams to combine with a victory against Denmark to progress through to the next round.
KNOCKOUT QUALIFIERS: Netherlands, Germany
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
GROUP C - Spain, Italy, Republic of Ireland, Croatia
The reigning champions Spain are favorite to defend their title but sadly I don't see that happening this time around. They will miss Carlos Puyol than David Villa becasuse we all know the influence that Puyol has when he plays for the team. Their successes in the previous edition and also in the world cup had a lot to say about the binding between the players in the team which is not the case this time around. The players from Barcelona and Real Madrid are having some real problems when they come in the national side. That area would have been taken care with the presence of Puyol. But without his presence it could be a rela problem. Perhaps the federation has identified the problem and that could be the reason they asked Puyol and Villa whether they will be able to join the squad. Also the fatigue issue will play a major part as I believe the Barcelona and Real Madrid players are very tired. Most of the teams will be playing Spain the way Chelsea played the semifinal against Barcelona but I think when you look at the national team they have got that width and pace to damage other teams. But one just cant rule them out of contention. Can we?.
Italy has been rocked by the match fixing allegations that surfaced recently and there was even talk of boycotting the tournament. They are one team who knows how to win football matches by playing their own way. Other teams should not expect them to play any different and they are more than capable of surprising other teams. I would say they will be the dark horses for this edition though they are not the favorites. I would choose Italy to go through from this group not because they have the right team but because I don't feel the other teams have the quality to topple them.
I wonder whether all the confidence that Rep. of Ireland gained after getting qualified for the tournament has gone missing after the thrashing by Netherlands. It was such a devastating loss and I do wonder how the players will take it going into a big tournament like this. They might be looking to finish third in the group as they themselves know the big task that lie ahead of them to progress through.
Croatia is not the team that we all started looking and considered very seriously earlier. They have not got quality players like Sukar but the likes of Modric, Kalinic and Jelavic can more than capable of causing other teams some trouble.
KNOCKOUT QUALIFIERS: Spain, Italy
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
GROUP D - Ukraine, Sweden, France, England
Ukraine is not a team that would cause much of a threat to other teams nut I can see them scoring some points which will eventually decide the group.
How many times we have seen Sweden playing in the same group as that of England. I think they are kind of a bogey team for England and the English have always struggled to find a way past Sweden. Sweden will be really hard to beat and I fancy their chances to go through to the next round.
Under Blanc France have resurrected themselves quite a bit after those big saga at the world cup. I felt that the players who did those antics during that tournament should not have ever played for the national team again. But past is past and now they have a balanced team and under Blanc they have the discipline that keeps them away from all other things in mind. They can go a long way in the tournament.
England is in total disarray I would say. First they lost their coach months before the tournament and then their federation took hell lot of a time to appoint the next one to make the job much harder for the incoming one to select a team with just two weeks to go. Then they have some injury issues as well. There has been talk in the English media about using the same approach as Chelsea did. But I think they will find teams that can really hurt them in other ways too. Not every team except Spain will play the similar way to that of Barcelona. And their two recent friendly matches were not convincing either. I don't really fancy any chances for this side.
KNOCKOUT QUALIFIERS: France, Sweden
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
FINAL: Germany vs Netherlands
WINNERS: GERMANY
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Lets hope that it will be a cracker of a spectacle in the next few weeks and lets not forget and hope that some new talents will pop up during the course of the tournament to make it more interesting to see the clubs who will get interested in those players.
I will be back with preview and review of some important matches. Catch u later guys...
Keep Smiling...
Playmaker
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