Euro 2008 Review - Group B
Group B: Austria, Germany, Croatia and Poland.
Austria are co-hosting this years event with neighbours Switzerland and like the Swiss are seeded to progress from the Group due to the fact that they are host. This only highlights the stupidity of this rule as they are in a tough Group with sides all rated higher then them in the World rankings
They also have not played a competitive game since they failed to qualify for the 2006 World Cup and also like the Swiss they have not been pulling up any trees in their friendly games.
For me the squad lacks depth though they have players of the calibre of Pogatetz, Ivanschitz and Vastic they for me will do well to get out of this group and bearing in mind their last game is against Germany one can only hope that we do not get the scenario of the 1982 World Cup when these two sides “manufactured” a result so that they could both progress.
Germany finished 2nd to the Czech Republic in qualifying and according to the statistics offered by oil giants Castrol are favourites to lift the trophy. Though it would be foolhardy to write off any German side and though I do expect them to make the knock out phase I believe there are stronger teams in the competition.
Having said that any team that can boost the likes of Lahm and Metzelder in defence Ballack and Frings in midfield and forwards of the calibre of Klose and Gomez a recent target of Arsenal’s will take some beating.
The worry for me is how solid their back line is, in a recent friendly they let a 2 goal lead slip against Belarus and if that sort of defending is carried into the tournament they will pay the price.
Croatia I am sure for all England fans will need no introduction! They topped the group with home and away wins against England and suffered only one defeat a surprise 2-0 reverse in Macedonia after qualification was assured. They scored 28 goals and conceded 7 in their 12 games and for me are the side most likely to be dubbed “dark horses” for this years event.
The loss off Eduardo will obviously be a massive blow to the team but coach Sliven Bilic has for me the perfect blend of youth, flair and experience needed to progress deep into the event. They were disappointing in the World Cup and they will be hungry to make amends,
With new Spurs signing Luka Modric and Portsmouth midfielder Niko Krancjar they have two of the most gifted midfielders in the competition and up front Klasnic and Petric can ease the loss of Eduardo again it is only the back line that cause me concern with Kovac and Simic in the veteran stage and Corluka coming into the tournament on the back of Manchester City’s poor end to the season it will be interesting to see if the attack can compensate.
Poland won their qualifying group ahead of Portugal and proved they will again be a hard side to beat.
The squad is solid with few star names and much will depend on Smolarek being in top form in midfield supplying forwards like Zurawski, Saganowski and Matusiak with ammunition
They will be hard to break down in defence and probably possess three of the best keepers in Boruc, Fabianski and Kuszczak and veteran coach Leo Beenhakker will be sorry he cant field all 3.
As with group A I cannot unfortunately see many goals in this group and little flair with the exception of the Croatian pair I have already mention. With Germanys history I am going for them to top the group just ahead of Croatia and for me the key game will be the final match for Croatia against Poland. I expect Croatia to come out winners in that encounter and finish behind the Germans.
