Euro 2008: Group C

[kompressaur]

Italy 7/4 Betfred - Bluesq
France 9/4 Boylesports
Holland 11/4 Betfred - Bet365
Romania 12/1 General

[Cityfan1893]

I've got a real feeling about Romania in this group. I know many will laugh at that, but they picked up 4 points out of 6 over Holland in qualifying and finished 3 points ahead of them in the table.

I feel that as the big boys of the group, France, Holland and Italy may take thier eye of Romania, and concentrate on each other and may very well cancel each other out. I think there might be a lot of draws between these teams and Romania are capable of picking up at least 6 points. I dont know, maybe im crazy, but 12/1 to win the group and 7/2 just to qualify from the group look mighty tasty prices to me.

If they did qualify, it means 2 out of Holland/France/Italy would be eliminated, weakening the competition and imo, Romania could end up being the shock troops of the tournament, a bit like greece 4 years ago. Thier price to win the entire thing is 50/1 and i'll be having a shot at that each way i think.

[kompressaur]

Interesting thought's Cityfan. I don't know much as romania would be the only team i would discount in this 'group of death' I really can't split the main 3 contenders and i would be shocked if romania could split them

[kompressaur]

FC Basher likes Romania Cityfan. I still aint convinced though. France are best priced 1.87 with Pinnacle to beat them next Tuesday. I couldnt take that either.

holland 3.2 with Bet365 and Italy 2.52 with Pinnacle in the later game. the Dutch to get off to a flyer and the italians to..hold on this really is a group of death isnt it. A must win game for both. Maybe the draw would be the call.

[AnothrSpacecat]

romania will do well to finish second to france.

ive seen alot of all of these teams in qualifying


theres a fans and press campaign in romania to get inverness forward marius nicolae starting the games at the euros, which is great for him but its a measure of the lack of quality in their side.

just tried to youtube him and found this




nae he is a good player but he doesnt deserve this song.

in qualifying the french ere better than the italians and i fully expect them to finish above them in the group. itll be upto the others to fight it out for second and id give italy the best chance of beating those two.

holland never played well against romania, they didnt have to, both were always going to qualify from their groupand i wouldnt read much into it. italy and france were bang under pressure from scotland throughout which made there games v each other must wins, france dominated both.


as i was saying in the who will win thread, this fortnight before any big tournament starts always winds me up, you get perfectly good punters and fans coming out with pish like 'i think that dica could go well for romania at 100/1' etc this support for romania is similar nonsense, 7/2 is not value for the to qualify, they should be 6/1 easily, theyll be 2/1 + in every game ffs.

i was actually going to come on here to say what an amazing price france are to beat them next week in the first game.

[Punter]

As mentioned the group of death and i'm in agreement that you cant rule Romania out of qualification either.

For me though the one thing i do have a sneaky feeling for is the world champions Italy to fail. It's just a feeling that without captain and player of the world cup Cannavaro and under a different, relatively inexperienced manager in Donadoni that they could slip up. The smallest of detail really could cost in this group. I also think that if Materazzi plays then his card is already marked for his behaviour in the WC final as well as a few other games, he could be a liability this time round. I dont think the Italians will be getting to many favours from refs this time round either. Just a hunch.

I've backed in the group like this anyway..

Holland outright, 4.00 @ 11/4 Bet 365
Italy not to qualify 5.00 @ 6/4 Stan James
Italy to finish bottom 5.00 @ 13/2 Bet 365

[kompressaur]

cracking start for you Kop

[Cinny]

i wouldnt right of he italians yet, a lot of good fortune about Hollands 3-0 win and the French were woeful.

[slick]

Aye theres a long way to go in this group yet but i think Kops now in with a cracking shout and couldent have got a better start.

The Italians are looking a bit one dimensional to me with Just Luca Toni on his jack up front, was like watching England in the Paul Mariner days , never thought I'd ever see the Iti's slump to such a level, hard to believe their the World Champs but they are and started the last world cup in a similar vein albeit not getting beat so are still very dangerous.
The French as usual have all the class players but fail to produce as a team, something we've become accustomed to now but having to beat Holland and Italy in that order will be a tough task for any side in the world. And they will have a few scores to settle when they meet Italy.

Hopefully anyhow the Dutch can go on from here and reach the next round as I've always had a soft spot for them and hope they win the comp, avoiding the Germans until the final, what a game that would be.

[mrmuzeman]

In reference to Hollands 1st goal

But what looked a desperately poor decision was, in fact, a brilliant piece of officiating, according to the chairman of Austria's refereeing commission Gerhard Kapl and Premier League referees' chief Keith Hackett.

Both said Van Nistelrooy was played onside by Italy's Christian Panucci, who had been injured seconds earlier and was lying behind the goal when the Dutch striker scored.

Kapl said the goal was "100% correct, without any doubt", quoting article 11.4.1. of the refereeing code that states "an opposing player cannot be offside when one of the last two defenders has left the field of play" - as in the case of Panucci.

Hackett added: "I have listened to the commentators criticising the first Holland goal stating that Van Nistelrooy was offside.
Christian Panucci went off through contact with his own goalkeeper Buffon.

"He is still considered part of the game.

"The fact is the assistant was correct. The defender who slid off the field is still regarded as active."

Just shows how stupid commentators and pundits can be as they were ALL calling it a blatant offside not even considering otherwise, should be part of their job description to learn the rules to some extent

[Punter]

Cheers Komp, Slick

I could of done without that 4th goal tonight though. Fingers crossed for France to beat Italy now.
The Italians can still qualify with a win too But top marks the Dutch

[rcgills]

Originally Posted by Kop66

I could of done without that 4th goal tonight though. Fingers crossed for France to beat Italy now.

If France and Italy draw, with the H2H level and the GD/goals for/goals against all level, it looks like it'd come down to the UEFA coefficient or the fair play ranking. Any idea how France and Italy compare on those, Kop?

Probably easier to just hope France beat them, I guess

[Punter]

Probably easier to just hope France beat them, I guess

Yes, i've no idea where i stand with a draw lucky dip?

[rcgills]

I wasn't making that up before, if they draw it'll go first on the coefficient, then on fair play.

Actually, no it won't, hadn't read the next paragraph. Apparently if two teams level on points, goals scored and goals conceded (which is the case here) meet in the last game and they draw, then they'll go to penalties

See paragraphs 7.07 and 7.08 here http://www.uefa.com/newsfiles/19079.pdf

[Cityfan1893]

Originally Posted by kompressaur

Interesting thought's Cityfan. I don't know much as romania would be the only team i would discount in this 'group of death' I really can't split the main 3 contenders and i would be shocked if romania could split them

Well they've done a bloody good job so far