Euro 2012 Predictions

As Deyan notes, this tournament is predictable in that it is unpredictable. There will inevitably be a team in the semis that no one expected.

I break the field up into three groups:

Teams that will be happy to get out of their groups (but probably won't): Ireland, Ukraine, Greece, Sweden, Czech Republic, Denmark

Teams that would expect to get out of their groups (but won't expect to lift the trophy): Poland, Russia, Croatia

Teams that feel they have just a good a chance to win as anyone: Portugal, England, France, Italy, Spain, Holland, Germany 

It would be a surprise if the semi finalists don't come from those 7 teams, and from there it's anyone's tournament. (Not much for analysis I know, but that's what makes this the footballing purists favorite).

Below are my predictions of the tables, don't question the point totals, they add up I swear.

Group A
7-Russia
5-Poland
4-Czech Republic
1-Greece

Group B
9-Holland
4-Germany
4-Portugal
0-Denmark

Group C
6-Spain
6-Italy
3-Ireland
3-Croatia

Group D
6-France
5-England
2-Sweden
2-Ukraine

Semis- Holland over Italy, Spain over Germany

Final - Holland over Spain. and Dirk Kuyt/Ruud Van Nistelrooy win the joint golden boot.

I only give the edge to Holland over Germany because I didn't like what I saw from Germany in their friendlies at all.  They might even have a bit of a hangover from the CL final.  Germany are an excellent side, but there's just too much on Ozil's shoulders and although he's the 3rd best player in the world at the moment, I like Hollands balance of creativity and brute force in the midfield and I think they avenge their WC final loss over Spain this time around.