Right, here we go again – Euro 2008 has landed, or will land, at the weekend.
Ok – well, who will you support?
The BBC has been banging on at me to pick a team to get me interested in the whole thing so let’s have a look at this logically:
Cesc Fabregas - Spain,
Robin van Persie - Netherlands,
William Gallas - France,
Philippe Senderos, Johan Djourou, - Switzerland
Lukasz Fabianski - Poland
Jens Lehmann – Germany
So – with a total of two Arsenal players, Switzerland it is... and Russia as I got them in the sweepstake at work.
Although – to be honest you I’ll be supporting whoever I’ve got my money on at the time – cash is the great equaliser of loyalties... Just ask Flamini!
Talking which... I hear that AC Milan are to be given a place in next seasons CL... now call me a cynical old cunt if you like but this stinks of Berlusconi influencing UEFA in a way that only a Mafioso billionaire can. Let me explain:
CSKA Sofia in the Bulgarian league had a CL place in the bag – but unfortunately had a few financial difficulties (no billionaire sugar daddy) and were banned from the competition. Normally this would mean that Levski Sofia would get the place... but NO – despite constant bitching from UEFA about smaller teams from smaller leagues breaking into CL football they look set to change the rules to allow the next ‘highest ranked’ UEFA team in – oh, and that just happens to be AC Milan.
Strange that.
Think Liverpool finishing 5th and getting in at the expense of Everton due to a rule change – oh wait, that happened. They also got the most dodgy-as-fuck decisions to cruise through to the semis at our expense.
Let’s get back to AC Milan – who by the way have just started an outrageous tapping up campaign of players via the media (including Adebayor) – this is the same AC Milan that were banned from the CL in 2006 due to match fixing... a ruling that they successfully appealed against and then went on to ‘win’ the competition.
Bullshit.
Now we have Porto, banned for precisely the same offence for next seasons CL (supplying whores and envelopes stuffed with cash to the primates in the black)… Could this be a backup in case they fail to rob Levski Sofia of their place – or will they do that anyway and maybe get another Italian team in the back door? Can you imagine – six Italian teams in the CL – how’s that for redistribution of CL places to lower leagues eh? As Blatter said rules can be changed to suit your agenda... but then again – he’s just a fat cunt.
Back to business – the Eurovision Soccer Contest. Where’s your cash going to go? Well – wherever it is, consider this. A new ball is in place that’s a swervey and slippery beast and benefits being lamped from outside the area. Randomising factor #1. The shit teams will be belting them – I’ll watch the weekend’s games with interest as to how that pans out:
Saturday 7 June 2008
18:00 Switzerland Vs Czech Republic
20:45 Portugal Vs Turkey
Sunday 8 June 2008
18:00 Austria Vs Croatia
20:45 Germany Vs Poland
I’m going to stick my neck out and say that they probably won’t be high scoring fixtures… let’s say that Switzerland will be playing at home so they might be up for it and nick a goal early, defend it and get beat in the second half... although the refs might be favourable to the nation that keeps all their bank accounts secret – so maybe a draw.
Portugal v Turkey looks like a lively fixture – I’m looking forward to this one, although this early in the contest neither team is going to want to knock their pipes out... but, equally, a loss for either team will be unacceptable. Portugal are superior on paper – but how will they play as a team?
Austria Vs Croatia – Croatia I reckon simply because Austria are shit.
Germany Vs Poland – Germany to win by 2.
Take my random guesses or leave them – but this early on keep all bets low until you get a feel for the playing conditions and the new ball - Happy hunting!
