I hate the Germans as much as i hate L.A. But the saying goes:"...and in the end Germany wins."
Though they were knocked out early last time around (2004) they seem to be keen again. Also the draw has favoured them a lot, they're on the soft side of the schedule.
Still, if the Cloggies survive Italy and France, and stranger things have happened, i see them getting to the finals. Italy's always a contender, the French are old, Russia's got a wondercoach. Not easy to predict this one. Still, Orange clad and rooting, let's go Holland!!!
Having a busy tv-schedule, today watched Federer get huniliated, Hamilton making a big mistake, Austria lose, Germany win. All i need to make it a perfect weekend is at 3am for my C's to take #2 and Holland to beat Italy monday night. Hey, weekend's over already...
Oops, there is an agency in holland actually checking up on people who call in sick the day after a holland match. Good thing they haven't a clue about the NBA Finals, i'm going to be late for work this week.
Uhm, well, TP for being honest.
I´m german, needless to say that I hope they will win it all. Our biggest strength is our coaching staff, imo. We never had modern coaches, and Löw and his staff are radical in that regard. I absolutely love their work. Compared with 2004, we are much more offensive, aggressive and straight forward. All of our strikers have international class, and each one of them brings different strengths to the table, with Klose being the Centerpiece of that offense. But we also have our weaknesses. Goalie Lehmann did not play for Arsenal, Metzelder did not play for Real Madrid. Same goes for Podolski in Munich. Right midfielder Schneider, one of our most experienced and important players, is injured. Additionally, we seem to fall back to the old times, the league is lazy when it comes to develop german players, so our talent pool is not as big as the pool of other nations.
Other teams who are able to get the cup:
Portugal: They are a real team, and Scolari is an excellent coach. C. Ronaldo is a very special player. Their defense is excellent, something you could not say about Portugal`s D for a long time. Many experts say Ricardo, their goalie, would be subpar, but he´s one of my favourite goalie´s in europe.
France: Endless pool of talent. Having seen Ribery in the german Bundesliga, I have to say he´s better than advertised. What an exciting player. Coming from someone who despises Munich, his team. Every player is fundamentally sound and blessed with a lot of talent.
Netherlands: Van Nistelrooy is a beast. One of my all-time favourite Strikers. He seems to get along with van Basten, finally. Snijder and Van der Vaart are also players who can dominate a game every time. You can never count them out, because all of their players are trained to fit in their tactic. That`s a strength that few teams world-wide posses.
Greece: Laugh all the way you want^^, but Otto Rehhagel is the best german coach, top 3 worldwide, imo. If you`d have seen what I have seen, you would know what I mean. He coached my team Kaiserslautern, and took them from the second division to the champion title next year. He has an uncanny knack for underrated players, is a phenomenal motivator and tactician. Ottmar Hitzfeld might have the better vita, but Rehhagel`s achievements are definitly more impressive. I can´t give him enough praise. To prove my point, I picked Greece as the winner four years ago before the tourney started. I wasn`t serious back then, my argument was that any team with Rehhagel as their coach has a chance to win it all, but we all know how that turned out. In fact, being a Celtics fan, I like to compare him to Red Auerbach!
So, the usual Suspects, I guess.
