The first weekend of the Euro 2008 can be summarize like this: Great Saturday, Boring Sunday.

The opening match between Switzerland and Czech Republic had tears, strategic battles - Switzerland playing offensively and Czech Rep. all the way back in defense - and an undeserved Czech goal scored by a substitute player. It was great.

Then we had Portugal vs. Turkey. A very interesting match. Portugal hit the Turkish post three times, Cristiano Ronaldo made his traditional funny/frustrated faces and defender Pepe scored his first goal with the National shirt after an excellent one-two play. Turkey has a good team but not good enough to beat one of the favourites to win the title and at 93rd minute Raul Meirelles sealed Portugal's triumph.

Then on Sunday Croatia and Austria played one very boring match. The goal scored by Croatia on a penalty kick on the 5th minute set the final score and for the other 85 minutes I had to force myself no to fall sleep.

The so expected clash between Germany and Poland was a little better (or less worse). Podolski respect for Poland (he was born there) and for his Polish family was admirable. He didn't celebrate the two goals that seal Germany's victory and what a beautiful goal was that second one. But besides that none of the teams really impressed me.

But monday has finally arrived (football is the only reason to make me happy on a Monday morning) and right now I'm here at OleOle's HQ sitting next to my friend Frenchi just waiting for the (hopefully) two great matches of the day...

In less than 24 hours we will be stuck in front of the telly following every pass, every goal from every match of the Euro 2008.

As I posted previously, OleOle invited me to write the "official" coverage blog for the tournament.

But remember that I'll write what I think, it's going to be my opinion so you're more than welcome to disagree, and even start your own blog to put things the way you think they should be.

For now I'd like to take a moment to analise group by group every team's possibilities and strengths (if I don't know enough abut a team please send your comments to help me)

GROUP 1
Switzerland	I don't expect much from Switzerland. The team has only 3 players that I really have good quality: defender Phillipe Senderos, midfielder Tranquilo Barnetta and forward Alexander Frei. Not enough to take the Swiss team far.
Czech Republic	A team that still bets on experience. Jan Koller, Marek Jankulovski are a proof of that but the main name is certainly Chelsea goalkeeper Petr Cech. The Czechs will probably move to the next round of the tournament but I don't see them going past the quarter-finals
Portugal	The strongest team of the group and oneof the strongest of the competition. Portugal has the best player in the world at this moment Cristiano Ronaldo and along with Hugo almeida, Quaresma, Deco, Nani, Pepe and Ricardo Carvalho the Portuguese want to claim the title they lost to Greece in 2004. I see Portugal getting to the semis but I wouldn't put my money on them to be the Champions
Turkey	Some quality players like Mehmet Aurelio, Hamit Altintop and striker Nihat might not be enough to take Turkey as far as they went in the 2002 World Cup when they finished in 3rd place. They could fight for a second spot in the next stage with the Czechs but it all depends on how they will perform on their first match against Portugal

GROUP 2
Austria	A few months ago Austria supporters begged their team to withdraw from the Euro. That's just how bad they are right now. Austria is only participating in the competition because they're co-hosting. Do I need to say anything else?
Croatia	The lost of Eduardo was a huge upset for the Croatians. The Brazilian-born striker played a crucial role in the qualifying stage helping Croatia finish as first of their group. The responsibility of leading the team now lays on 36 year old captain Niko Kovač and forwards Darijo Srna, Ivan Klasnić and Mladen Petrić.
Germany	Germany didn't convince me in the 2006 World Cup but compared to the the problems that the other teams are having with serious injuries the German side looks more balanced and ready to advance. Keep an eye on 22 year old striker Mario Gomez. I don't know if he'll have a chance to play but the half-spaniard kid is good.
Poland	Another team that could cause surprise, specially to Croatia. But the match the Polish fans really want to win is exactly the opening against Germany. They would certainly go back home happy if they win that one. I don't think it will happen but who knows? This is football.

GROUP 3
Netherlands	All I can say is that I've seen better and more balanced Dutch squads in the past. Reubben, Van Nilsterooy, Huntelar, Van Pierce: the mid/offense is good but the team has a weak defense and lots of ups and downs. If they can impose their offensive style they can do some damage but if the attack fails to work the team might not resit the tough opponents in the group.
Italy	The lost of Fabio Canavarro might be a problem for the World Champions. But with Luca Toni and Del Pierro playing their best and also counting on stars like Pirlo, Zambrotta, Gattuso... the Azzura is an admirable squad.
Romania	I know, I know... People think I'm nuts when I say that Romania has a great squad. They really do. What many don't realise is that some names are now in the great teams but Chivu, Contra, Radu... they all play very important roles in their teams. And then you have the talent of Adrian Mutu. I'm just saying but I think Romania could have the strength to upset someone in this group.
France	The best midfield and offense in this Euro in my opinion: Makelele, Malouda, Diarra, Ribery, Govou, Nasri for the middle and Anelka, Gomis, Henry and Benzema upfront. The defense has experience with Thuram, Gallas, Evra, Abidal and Sagnol but make some silly mistakes. Still I believe that France is the team to be beat.

GROUP 4
Greece	The 2004 Euro Champions kept coach Otto Rehagel and some of its main players to try what is almost improbable: a second title. Do you believe they have what it takes? I don't. Not this time.
Sweden	It's all on Zlatan Ibrahimović. But my opinion is that unfortunately the short-tempered Inter Milan's forward might not have the necessary consistency to lead Sweden ahead in the tournament.
Spain	Everyone's talking about Spain. Torres, Villa, Fabregas, David Silva... are just some of the names in this squad filled with great talents. But Spain always have talents and doesn't get past the quarterfinals. Will they revive the 1964 spirit and take this one? Hmmm... maybe
Russia	Motivated by Zenit's UEFA Cup recent tiltle the Russians brought 6 players from the club into the squad. A team that arrives with very few famous names but that we should keep an eye on. Striker Pavel Pogrebnyak is a name to be remembered.

Here we are my friends.

The Euro 2008 starts this Thursday and we will begin to find out who rules football in Europe.

Italy are the World Cup title holders, Greece won the last edition of the tournament, France and Spain are bringing lots of new talents, Portugal is counting on Champions League Champions Cristiano Ronaldo and Nani, Germany is always one of the main favourites, Holland is always a dangerous mystery, and then we got Romania, Russia, Czech Republic, Turkey and Croatia who might be more surprising than people give them credit for.

I personally still believe France is the team to bet on, followed by Germany, Spain and Italy.

So get warmed up because this Euro will be incredible....

And don't forget to follow all the action here on Samba Soccer Club

So we are less than two months away from kick off at the Euro 2008.

The main nations like Spain, Germany, Italy, Holland, France, Portugal … are intensifying their preparations for the most important competition in the continent.

After some research I could see that most of the betting sides point Germany as favorites to win the tournament followed by World Cup Champions Italy. Among internet users it seems that Spain is at the highest preference as possible winners.

I truly believe that none of these teams will take the title. I would put my money on France.

With Abidal, Diarra, Saha, Flamini, Vieira, Ben Arfa, Anelka, Ribery and Benzema … the French can even leave Thierry Henry and David Trezeguet sitting on the bench…

I don’t particularly support any of the teams although I always have hopes that Spain is going to perform well in and International Competition. (I’m getting tired of hoping).

But before getting to the finals the teams need to qualify in their groups so my first question for you, CRAZY FOOTBALL FANS is … who are the teams that will make to the quarter-finals

HERE ARE THE GROUPS:

Leave your predictions:

I have been watching a few games of the English Premier Football League and one conclusion came to my mind: the British style of football is outdated.

 I know a lot of my fellow English friends are gonna be very upset with me but this is my very honest opinion and I’ll explain how I got to this sad conclusion.

When you analyze the dynamics of modern football you will end up talking about teams like Chelsea, Real Madrid, Milan, Barcelona, Boca Juniors, São Paulo just to name a few. These teams represent a huge evolution in strategies, efficiency, and ability. An almost perfect balance of defense and offense without taking away the finesse that the sport requires. But when it comes to National Teams we don’t see that same balance.

Some National Teams were able to evolve and some others just got stuck in their own tradition. That’s the case of England.

I don’t like to analyze football using numbers but they will play an important role in this case so let’s check them out:

Even though being the inventors of football, England only started playing in the World Cup in 1950. Since then the event happened 15 times and England qualified for 12 of them. (England did not qualify for the 1974, 1978 and 1994 WCs)

In those 12 participations England only won 1, in 1966 when they were the hosts. The next best result was a 4^th place in 1990.

England never won the European Championship. The best results were a 3^rd place in 1968 and they also got to the semi-finals in 1996. That’s it.

I know that England gave the world of football some amazing players: Gordon Banks, Bobby Charlton, Alan Shearer, Gary Lineker,  David Beckham, Michael Owen, Wayne Rooney… but the question is: how many of them could actually lead the English team to a title? Well, Gordon Banks and Bobby Charlton did in 1966…

I’m not a fan of the British style of football. I grew up admiring Gary Lineker but I haven’t seen any transformation in the English team since then. I saw “the promise” Michael Owen become not more than a promise, I saw David Beckham rise in the eyes of the media but didn’t see him being really effective for the country, and I’m still waiting to see something amazing from Wayne Rooney.

England is out of the Euro 2008 so we will have to wait for the 2010 World Cup to see some changes. Well, that’s if they qualify (?)

What do you think should change in the English team to make them a winner team?

Is the massive presence of foreigner player in the Premier League a problem?

Is the fact that all players in the National Team only play in England a problem?

Do you think if England “exported” its players to countries like Spain, Portugal, Russia, Italy… the game style would be improved?

Let us know what you think…

 Hoping for some future Glory...