Here at ‘Fox Soccer Report’, we’ve been gearing up for Euro 2008 for a few weeks now.  Reading, researching – perhaps a little too much because it’s getting to the point where EVERY team looks like it could win the tournament.  Ok, not quite…..Austria and Switzerland have NO chance no matter how much I read!  With that, here’s a little Euro Preview to get you prepped – complete with predictions!!  (I need to give Luis someone to mock for a few weeks.)

The groups are presented in the order I think they’ll finish with their FIFA World Ranking in brackets and an explanation.

Group A
Portugal (11th)
Czech Republic (6th)
Turkey (20th)
Switzerland (44th)

This is Portugal’s group to lose.  With a healthy Cristiano Ronaldo (World Player of the Year – you read it here first) and his 42-goals (plus 8-goals in 13-qualifying) they will win this group with ease.  Luiz Felipe’s Scolari 4-2-3-1 system doesn’t have a set striker up top but with the options he has to chose from, it shouldn’t matter who’s there.  The Czech Republic will provide strong opposition but with no Tomas Rosicky, they lack a creative spark.  Turkey will be competitive but they don’t have the experience and the Swiss just don’t have the talent.

Group B
Germany (5th)
Croatia (15th)
Poland (28th)
Austria (92nd)

Just as Group A is Portugal’s to lose, Germany simply CANNOT lose Group B.  If they didn’t make it out of here, I’d call it one of the biggest upsets in football history.  This team is so stacked, I think coach Jaochim Loew could be able to rotate his squad for the 3rd game (vs. Austria).  Michael Ballack is in great form coming in and they are solid from back to front.  Croatia are one of the tournament ‘dark horses’ but I don’t think Ivan Klasnic and Mladen Petric can pick up the slack for the loss of Eduardo da Silva (10 goals in qualifying – more than a third of Croatia’s goals!).  They’ll get out of the group but lose in the quarters.  Austria could end up doing what fans hoped they wouldn’t – embarrassing the host nation.

Group C
Netherlands (10th)
Italy (3rd)
France (7th)
Romania (12th)

I’ve gotten a few stares from people who saw my Euro Pool picks because I picked Holland to finish so high.  But when you look at it, I may not be THAT out to lunch!  Holland are healthy, they have the best attacking midfield in world football (Van Persie, Van Der Vaart & Sneijder) and they have dumped the players that are usually at the center of their big-tournament implosions (Seedorf, Van Bommel).  Yes, Italy are the world champions but losing Cannavaro is HUGE – people don’t realize just HOW huge.  Luca Toni will lead them out of the group but that’s it.  And France – well, watching them in the lead-up has been anything but impressive.  Perhaps it is a ruse but I think not.  This is an old team with a weak defense and they will not get out of the ‘Group of Death’.  I will say Romania could sneak out of this group – if results go their way.  If they were any other group, I’d put them through, but not this time.

Group D
Spain (4th)
Russia (24th)
Greece (8th)
Sweden (30th)

Spain could quite possibly have the most talented team at this tournament.  Names like Fabregas, Torres, Casillas, Xavi, Iniesta, Villa & Guiza have many a pundit picking Spain to go all the way.  Not me.  This is a team that – while talented – is psychologically weak and coach Luis Aragones is not the man to rid them of that.  Spain are used to painful defeats and Euro 2008 will provide another one – in the last four.  Russia are coached by Guus Hiddink and on that basis alone I pick them to get out of the group stage.  Hiddink has some kind of jedi-mind-trick thing he uses on all his teams and they ALWAYS manage to get to the knockout stage.  That’s not to say Russia believe they are better than they are – this is a good team and while they play a safe 4-5-1, they will be far from boring.  Russia could be this tournament’s Greece.  Speaking of the reigning champs – they just don’t have the horses and their opposition will be prepared this time.  Sweden are healthy – but like France they are old.  Zlatan Ibrahimovic is a scoring machine at Inter.  He needs to finally do it for country if they have any chance.

In the Quarters:
Portugal beats Croatia
Germany beats Czech Republic
Holland beats Russia
Spain eliminates Italy

In the semis:
Germany just beats Portugal
Holland beats Spain 8-7

In the Final:
Germany beats Holland

Enjoy the tournament folks!