Well the group stage is over now and there have been a lot of surprises. Holland has kicked ass, and I only hope they can keep it up cause they’re not known for it. Germany, Italy, and France were all extremely disappointing. They lacked an attacking mindset and their defenses have been soft. Amazingly Germany and Italy have advanced though. It’s been very refreshing to see attacking teams actually do well. It’s against the trend of playing defense first which is so ugly and boring. Turkey has been amazing to win twice coming from behind. I’d like to see them go further, but I don’t think it’s going to happen. Anyway, here’s how the rest of the tournament should shape up. (I was completely wrong that France might find their form again. Very disappointing.)

Quarter Finals
Portugal to beat Germany
Croatia to beat Turkey (I’d like to see Turkey advance though.)
Netherlands to beat Russia
Spain to beat Italy (This might be optimistic if Italy has their tails up.)

Semi Finals
Croatia to beat Portugal (It’s possible, and Portugal has been known to collapse.)
Netherlands beat Spain (If this game happens, it might be the game of the tourney.)

Final
Netherlands beat Croatia

Croatia loses their “dark horse” status, and Holland takes all the glory. Or at least I hope so, cause it’s been awesome to watch them play and they are my favorite team. Hopefully their form continues over the next week and a half.

In my Fantasy league I actually won my group with three wins, so I’m into the knockout quarterfinals. Hopefully, I can keep up the streak!

Well Euro 2008 starts later today basically, and a lot has happened since my preview. Most notably, Italy has lost their star central defender, Fabio Cannavaro. As much as I dislike Italy, Cannavaro is an amazing defender. Amazingly strong and a good reader of the game, this is a huge loss for Italy and I think it will mean they don’t get past the group stage anymore. Here are my revised predictions for the tournament. (Now less optimistic about Holland’s chances with Van Persie missing some games most likely.)

Group A
1. Portugal
2. Czech Republic
3. Switzerland
4. Turkey

Group B
1. Germany
2. Croatia
3. Poland
4. Austria

Group C
1. France
2. Netherlands
3. Italy
4. Romania

Group D
1. Spain
2. Greece
3. Sweden
4. Russia

Quarter Finals
Portugal to beat Croatia
Germany to beat Czech Republic
France to beat Greece
Netherlands to beat Spain

Semi Finals
Germany to beat Portugal
France to beat Netherlands

Final
France to beat Germany

In any event, it should be a good tournament and being a soccer nut I’ll probably be watching every minute of it.