The field of 16 teams in Euro 2012 has been cut down to just eight, as the top teams on the continent battle it out in Poland and in Ukraine for the right to win the Euro Cup. Join us once again here at CappersMall, as we look at all eight of the teams left standing and their betting odds to win Euro 2012 at Bookmaker Sportsbook!
The two tournament favorites every step of the way have been Germany (+220) and Spain (+230). It shouldn’t come as all that much of a surprise that both were able to get through their respective groups as the winners, and that means that these two won’t be meeting until the Euro 2012 Final as long as they keep winning. Germany was the only team in the first round of the tournament that was able to take the maximum nine points from its fixtures, and it did so without really having all that much doubt. Spain struggled a tad against Italy and against Croatia, but that 4-0 win against Ireland was the most impressive match that you will see in this tournament.
Mario Lopez has three goals, and he is leading the way in the chase for the Golden Boot of the Euro Cup. He is the only man of the three that have three strikes that is still playing in this tournament, as both Croatia’s Mario Mandzukic and Russia’s Alan Dzagoev have been bounced.
The Netherlands was surprisingly knocked out of this tournament without getting a single point, making it one of the two teams that had a stake to that dubious claim. That really leaves the rest of this field wide open. Portugal (+600) has been in good form of late since losing its first match to Germany in the Group of Death. Cristiano Ronaldo had a miserable start to the tournament, but he has since battled back, scoring two goals against the Dutch to ensure qualification for the second round. The draw for the Portuguese figures to be relatively easy going against the Czech Republic (+4500), a team that did win its final two matches in Group A. However, the Czechs haven’t played against a team with anywhere near this much talent yet in Euro 2012, and the best team that they ran into in Group A, Russia, killed them 4-1.
Italy (+750) and England (+750) are going to be playing each other in the final quarterfinal match of Euro 2012. Both have to believe that they can get the job done and get into the semifinals, but both also know that this is going to be the nerviest fixture that both have had in this tourney to date. The strikers on both sides have been awesome here in Poland and the Ukraine, as Wayne Rooney, Danny Welbeck, Antonio Cassano, Antonio Di Natale, and Mario Balotelli all have goals to show for their work in the first round. Don’t be surprised if there are fireworks here in the quarters between two teams that have to be thrilled to be here at this juncture.
The problems for France (+1000) and Greece (+5000) are just beginning. The French were embarrassed in their final match in Group D, getting punished by already eliminated Sweden 2-0. Their punishment is a date with Spain, the team that won both the World Cup two years ago and the Euro Cup four years ago, in the quarterfinals. Greece does have the Euro 2004 championship to fall back on, but the team is clearly up against it versus Germany in a match that will take place on Friday evening.
Comments
Powered by Facebook Comments