RealGM

dang. its gonna be a tough group for Croatia. if they beat Ireland and steal points off Spain/Italy... who knows.

Updated with poll.

friendly yesterday:
Croatia - Estonia 3:1

friendlies today:
Ireland - Bosnia 10.00 am ET
Spain - Serbia 12.00 pm ET

I think Italy will have a strong tournament. Nobody is talking about them right now and there team has improved a lot in recent years. They still have some holes in their team but they've taken huge steps into the right direction.

Watch out for Nikica Jelavic. He's had an amazing season(well, half season) with Everton.

Also, Mattia Destro is a nice young talent but I'm unsure whether he'll get a chance to show himself.

I think Croatia makes it as #2, Spain beats Italy and Ireland, thus have less to play for and give Croatia the draw. They have to beat Ireland and at least draw Italy though.

Seriously no Soldado? I think he deserved more than the some other selections such as Pedro, Negredo and Torres.

Italy 0 - 3 Russia.
Italy still experimenting while Russia is ready for euro. Italy has a lot of work to do in 1 week...

I think this is actually the 2nd toughest group, more so than Group D

theTROOF wrote:I think this is actually the 2nd toughest group, more so than Group D

Well group D has the better worst team and is much more even. Spain is far superior to any of the other teams in either group while the rest of pack would go France, Croatia, Italy, Ukraine, England, Sweden and Ireland.

I'm liking Spain-Croatia to advance. I don't trust the Irish to play up to their expectations.

Sleeping on the Italians?

Italy has WAY too many distractions with their soccer scandal right now. Too many divisions among the ranks will make it tough for that roster to gather and focus together.

2nd toughest group IMO. Italy & Croatia are the two most difficult to judge. Not every favorite will win & it could be Portugal & Croatia that do the damage. I'll stick with Italy.



1. Spain
2. Croatia
---------
3. Italy
4. Ireland

AdamTheGreek wrote:Italy has WAY too many distractions with their soccer scandal right now. Too many divisions among the ranks will make it tough for that roster to gather and focus together.

the past 2 times the country has had big betting scandals, they won the world cup. however this year they definitely lack the focus they should have and the unity a team needs going into a big tournament.
Despite a talented roster, this is the least confident I've felt in my life in the azzurri. I expect Spain to wipe their butts with us, then hopefully we can react and get results vs Croatia (who historically Italy struggle against more than anyone else) and Ireland (whose Italian coach definitely has a few tricks up his sleeve.)
The earthquake last week cancelling their first friendly was probably one of the worst things that can happen for this team, who simply have no identity or tactical plans.

Updated my picks in this group. Croatia snags the 2nd spot over Italy

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/footba ... rinho.html

Always so arrogant

Croatia are a dark hoarse in this tournament, I think they can get 2nd place in the group and get to the semi-finals, I'm a bosnian so with my team not in the tournament it's all Croatia and Germany for me

I'm predicting an Italy win tomorrow