Euro 2008 First Round Review

Now that all group matches for Euro 2008 have concluded, it is time to tally the actual results against the predictions I’ve made in the Countdown to Euro2008. Those in brackets are my initial predictions.

Group A
Winner: Portugal (Portugal)
Runner-up: Turkey (Czech)

Turkey fought an epic battle with Czech Republic in the Mother of all Comebacks to win over many neutral fans and book themselves a well deserved quarter-final berth.

Group B
Winner: Croatia (Germany)
Runner-up: Germany (Croatia)

For Group B, I predicted the correct teams to go through, except the position was switched. Croatia played intelligent football and won all three group matches to progress into last eight. Pre tournament favorite scraped through a narrow win over co-host Austria to gate crash the quarter-finals party.

Group C
Winner: Holland (France)
Runner-up: Italy (Romania)

My predictions for this Group of death were totally off! A new look Holland team did not self-destruct in the dressing room as in previous tournaments and not only win but win with style over their more illustrious opponents!

Reigning World Champions Italy barely scrap through, only booking their place in the quarter-finals after overcoming an aging French team in the last group game.

Group D
Winner: Spain (Spain)
Runner-up: Russia (Sweden)

Taking Spain to win this easy group is a no brainer. Instead, the rumbling Russians were the surprise package, sending Sweden - whom I've predicted as runner-up, packing home swede home.

The group games are all water under the bridge now. Let’s move on to the Quarter-Finals match-ups and let me gaze into my crystal ball and get my predictions.

Q1 : Portugal vs Germany
My prediction: Portugal

Q2: Croatia vs Turkey
My prediction: Croatia

Q3: Holland vs Russia
My prediction: Holland

Q4: Spain vs Italy
My prediction: Spain

I'm pretty confident my predictions will be spot on in this round. Enjoy the football, and the betting, in the knock-out stages!