The best group in terms of the big teams involved. No mistake - this is the group of death and one of the big names will be going out and maybe even two if Romania can spring a huge shock. You would have to fancy two from France, Holland and Italy to go through but which two? France were victorious against Italy in the qualifiers and aren't the team they once were. Top players are struggling for form (Henry and Malouda) but when you take a look at the squad you would be a fool to write off their chances. Exciting players in the form of Nasri and Benzema are coming through and the latter will likely partner Henry up front when they kick off their campaign against Romania on Monday if Va Va Voom can recover from injury. The inspirational Ribery may be ugly as sin but he is quality footballer and I would say that it is he and not Henry who is the key figure for Les Bleus.
Holland arrive with as good a chance as they ever have done in recent years of winning the trophy but will have to be at their best to escape from this group. Right through their squad their is quality. The hugely experienced Van Der Sar commands a back line with the ever reliable Mathijsen likely to start in the centre of defence. Melchiot is out of the opener so I would expect Ooijer to start at right back. Van Bronkhurst and de Cler will fight over the left back slot. The Dutch conceded just 5 goals in qualifying but scoring was a problem. Van Nistlerooy will start up front but I hope to see Huntelaar come on and get a game. His scoring record is outstanding. Robben is also injured but there will be a potent threat from midfield with the likes of Van Der Vaart, Van Persie and Sneijder all likely to get in on the scoring.
Italy suffered a big loss with Cannavaro being clattered by Chiellini in training. The same player then binned Cassano which led to a furious bust up between the Sampdoria forward and Donadoni. If Cassano could channel his anger into his game he could be a fantastic asset to the team. As a result of Cannavaros injury the mad Marco Materazzi and sturdy Andrea Barzagli will form the spine of Italys team in defence. A Milan trio of Pirlo, Gattuso and Ambrosini could feature in a midfield devoid of creativity especially if players like De Rossi force their way into the reckoning. While this restricts the oppositions chances of scoring Italy will be looking to the forward line of Toni and Del Piero to get the goals with Camoranesi filling the right hand slot of the three pronged attack. I'm not sure if they can score enough to get the wins they will need to get through but with their solid defence they might sneak through by virtue of not losing to the big guns when they come up against them.
Fixtures
Round 1
Romania v France
Italy v Holland
Round 2
Italy v Romania
France v Holland
Round 3
France v Italy
Holland v Romania
Results
Romania 0 v 0 France
Italy 0 v 3 Holland
The best group in terms of the big teams involved. No mistake - this is the group of death and one of the big names will be going out and maybe even two if Romania can spring a huge shock. You would have to fancy two from France, Holland and Italy to go through but which two? France were victorious against Italy in the qualifiers and aren't the team they once were. Top players are struggling for form (Henry and Malouda) but when you take a look at the squad you would be a fool to write off their chances. Exciting players in the form of Nasri and Benzema are coming through and the latter will likely partner Henry up front when they kick off their campaign against Romania on Monday if Va Va Voom can recover from injury. The inspirational Ribery may be ugly as sin but he is quality footballer and I would say that it is he and not Henry who is the key figure for Les Bleus.
Holland arrive with as good a chance as they ever have done in recent years of winning the trophy but will have to be at their best to escape from this group. Right through their squad their is quality. The hugely experienced Van Der Sar commands a back line with the ever reliable Mathijsen likely to start in the centre of defence. Melchiot is out of the opener so I would expect Ooijer to start at right back. Van Bronkhurst and de Cler will fight over the left back slot. The Dutch conceded just 5 goals in qualifying but scoring was a problem. Van Nistlerooy will start up front but I hope to see Huntelaar come on and get a game. His scoring record is outstanding. Robben is also injured but there will be a potent threat from midfield with the likes of Van Der Vaart, Van Persie and Sneijder all likely to get in on the scoring.
Italy suffered a big loss with Cannavaro being clattered by Chiellini in training. The same player then binned Cassano which led to a furious bust up between the Sampdoria forward and Donadoni. If Cassano could channel his anger into his game he could be a fantastic asset to the team. As a result of Cannavaros injury the mad Marco Materazzi and sturdy Andrea Barzagli will form the spine of Italys team in defence. A Milan trio of Pirlo, Gattuso and Ambrosini could feature in a midfield devoid of creativity especially if players like De Rossi force their way into the reckoning. While this restricts the oppositions chances of scoring Italy will be looking to the forward line of Toni and Del Piero to get the goals with Camoranesi filling the right hand slot of the three pronged attack. I'm not sure if they can score enough to get the wins they will need to get through but with their solid defence they might sneak through by virtue of not losing to the big guns when they come up against them.
Romania - no one cares about them! :016: