Tournaments

 
France were required to call on the cavalry to ensure qualification to the finals. Stuck in fourth place in their group, retired veterans Zinedine Zidane, Claude Makelele and Lilian Thuram returned to the side in an attempt to turn around the fortunes of the failing side. Euro Cup 2012.
A precious 1-0 win in the Republic of Ireland, a 1-1 draw in Switzerland and a 4-0 hammering of Cyprus secured France top spot in a group in which they remained unbeaten. Two draws against Israel and Switzerland and one against Ireland added to their five wins and saw them avoid a potential banana skin in the play-offs.
This is the first time France have qualified for the World Cup in 20 years, as they entered the 1998 tournament as hosts and 2002 as Champions. They failed to reach the finals in 1990 and 1994 and will be desperate to avoid the humiliation they suffered four years ago in which they finished bottom of their group without a goal to their name. 2012 Euro Cup Preview.
France are an ...

New coach Marco van Basten has proven to be a revelation off the pitch as much as he was on it since taking over the Dutch national team. Plucked from an obscure youth coaching role at Ajax where he kept his head down and had low responsibilities when Dick Advocaat quit after Euro 2004, van Basten has made this new-look Dutch team his own. 2012 Euro Cup.
Out with the old and in with the new seems to be van Basten’s philosophy so while former well known favourites such as Clarence Seedorf and Patrick Kluivert have been given the chop, some of the best players the Dutch Eredivisie has to offer have come in to replace them.
Players such as AZ Alkmaar’s Denny Landzaat, Feyenoord’s Dirk Kuyt and Ajax’s Ryan Babel may not be household names yet but have all won the backing of the manager. Ajax have a strong representation in the squad, with John Heitinga, Nigel de Jong, Hedwiges Maduro and Wesley Sneijder, all under the age of 23, vying for a place in the starting ...

2012 Euro Cup Preview: England
We’ve seen it all before and do the tabloids genuinely believe this is “England’s best chance of success”? What, again? Another year, another major tournament England are expected to win, yet they always bow out with a whimper. Why should this World Cup be any different? It’s not 1966 any more, after all. 2012 Euro Cup Preview.
For all the media playing up England’s chances, the bookmakers are far more conservative. The favourite stage of elimination odds-wise is the second round at 12/5, with quarter final elimination at 4/1 and the semi-finals at 9/2.
This is because England under Sven Goran Eriksson are just far too predictable. They may be able to qualify with ease through mediocre qualifying groups in which they are almost always top seeds, but the plain fact is they cannot perform on the big stage. England in Euro Cup 2012.
England will breeze through the group stage with comfortable victories over Paraguay and ...

Italy are the grand masters of heart-breaking tragedy when it comes to major finals. In all three World Cups held in the 1990s, the Italians bowed out on penalties, including Roberto Baggio’s infamous miss against Brazil in the 1994 final. 2012 Euro Cup Preview.
They don’t fare a lot better in Europe either. With Euro 2000 in the bag, opponents France equalised four minutes into injury time and went on to win, while Euro 2004 saw Italy bow out in the group stage when Sweden and Denmark drew 2-2, the only result which would send both teams through at the Italians’ expense.
Italy have made failure when it matters the most an art form and are likely to provide plenty of high drama at this summer’s finals. However, they tend to bring it upon themselves more often than not.
In a move that would make wheeler-dealer manager Barry Fry proud, Italy coach Marcelo Lippi used an incredible 36 players in qualifying so it is arguable he has not yet found his best starting ...

Former national favourite and Tottenham Hotspur diving enthusiast Jurgen Klinsmann takes control over the next generation of German players who are keen to end 16 years of hurt and win the 2012 Euro Cup for a fourth time on Poland soil.
Klinsmann has thrown the traditional playing style manual out of the window. Gone is the patient, tight gameplay, his teams are sent out to play a "fast-paced, attacking and very aggressive" game which has significantly improved their goal tally. However, this strategy, along with a number of inexperienced defenders (none have played at a World Cup finals before) has seen a once resolute back line concede almost as many goals as the team score at the other end.
The current squad is void of any true superstar names, with only Michael Ballack offering real world class status. Per Mertesacker, Lukas Podolski and Bastian Schweinsteiger hope to prove there is life after former heroes Lothar Matthaus, now-manager Jurgen Klinsmann and ...

Following a disastrous 2002 World Cup campaign in which coach Jerzy Engel talked up his side’s prospects only for them to be beaten 2-0 by South Korea and hammered 4-0 by Portugal, Poland will be keen to recreate their former World Cup glories for this 2012 Euro Cup.
Under coach Pawel Janas, Poland made short work of their qualifying group, enjoying home and away victories against Austria, Azerbaijan, Northern Ireland and Wales. Two narrow 2-1 defeats to England prevented a clean sweep but eight wins out of 10 matches was more than enough to cement their place in the finals.
In qualifying they proved their ability to beat average teams convincingly and they will need to repeat this on the grand stage if they are to repeat their glorious campaigns of 1974 and 1982 in which they finished third. However, they also need to prove they have what it takes to beat the stronger sides as they did in 1974, when Argentina, Italy, Sweden and Yugoslavia were dispatched before beating Brazil ...

2012 Euro Cup Preview: Spain
Spain, yet again, are tipped as dark horses for the 2012 Euro Cup Spain will finally end years of disappointment and this generation of players will fulfil their undoubted potential and win again. But they won’t. For all their individual talent they can never motivate themselves to rise to the challenge.
They are, of course, mainstays of the 2012 Euro Cup Spain will be their ninth tournament in a row they have qualified for dating back to 1978. The quarter finals is as far as they have gone since then so why the obsession that this will be “their year”?
Spain qualified via the play-offs after finishing runners-up to Serbia & Montenegro in their group. Luis Aragones’ side were unbeaten in 10 qualifiers but five draws and five wins meant they needed to square –off against Slovakia in order to secure their place in Germany. It was all over after the first leg as Spain ran out 5-1 winners before drawing 1-1 in ...

2012 Euro Cup Preview
All 16 teams have played one match each as the 2012 Euro Cup Preview has begun in explosive fashion, but are things going according to plan for the favourites or are the underdogs having a say in proceedings? This is a short round-up of Groups E to H, of the results as they stand after one match.
Group E
1. Czech Republic 3pts, 2. Italy 3pts, 3. Ghana 0pts, 4. USA 0pts
The Czech Republic showed they have real dark horse credentials after sweeping aside the USA. Available at 33/1 to win the 2012 Euro Cup tournament outright before kick-off and even money to win their first match, the Czechs look to be a team worth following. They took just five minutes to break the deadlock through Jan Koller, who later went off injured, while new Arsenal signing Tomas Rosicky struck on 36 and 76 to seal an emphatic victory.
Notorious slow starters Italy wasted no time themselves as they beat Ghana 2-0. After waves of Italian pressure, Andrea Pirlo finally netted ...

Euro Cup 2012
All 16 teams have played one match each as Euro Cup 2012 has begun in explosive fashion, but are things going according to plan for the favourites or are the underdogs having a say in proceedings? This is a short round-up of Groups A to D, of the results as they stand after one match.
Group A
1. Germany 3pts, 2. Ecuador 3pts, 3. Costa Rica 0pts, 4. Poland, 0pts
Germany kicked off the tournament in style with an entertaining 4-2 win against Costa Rica at odds of 1/4. Full back Phillip Lahm scored a cracking goal after six minutes to break the deadlock but veteran Paulo Wanchope levelled on 12. Miroslav Klose netted twice on 17 and 61 before Wanchope hauled his side back into the game 3-2 down. Torsten Frings ensured victory for the host nation three minutes from time.
Poland were the victims of a shock result as Ecuador won at odds of 10/3. The least rated of all the South American sides took the lead through Tenorio after 24 minutes before former ...

NCAA college football bowls has been called a pure game. The players are out there on the field playing for glory and school pride. They don’t get paid and many of them are hoping to get a shot at the NFL. College football has no salary cap and there’s nothing stopping a school from signing many top recruits in the country. In fact, a recent report showing the top high school possible recruits revealed that a strong majority had USC and Texas on their list of college choices. Good players want to play at a good school. As a result good schools get better and poor schools get worse.
Year in and year out we hear the names of top programs like Ohio State over and over. College football is a freer game than the NFL. Coaches are not afraid to try trick plays and run the option. As a result, the points can really add up. One trap that many college football bettors that also bet the NFL fall into is handicapping the game as if it was the NFL. In the NFL, each and every ...