Euro 2008
2008-06-19 - Portugal vs Germany
A Sports Betting Pick by chappers
EURO 2008 QF
Basel, June 19 1945 BST
Portugal
Portugal came top of group A but only on goal difference but this more due to the fact that they had made the knockout stages by the time the third game came around than that they struggled to get out of the group. For me Portugal were the top team in this group before the group games kicked off and they proved this by winning the group.
In the first game they defeated Turkey with ease by 2-0 and to be honest they wasted quite a few chances and should have really won the game by more. In game two they defeated the Czech Republic 3-1 and again for me it was pretty easy stuff, even when the Czech's made it 1-1 I felt at the time that Portugal were still going to go on an win the game. The final game of the group saw them lose 2-0 to Switzerland but with both of the games kicking off at the same time, this was a game I did not see. From what I understand they did put out a weaker side in order to keep players fresh for this game.
Germany
Germany were tipped by many to win the Euro's and to be honest, I wasn’t going to argue as when it comes to major finals the Germans always seem to do well and so it was with a little surprise to see them not win Group B. Making out of the group shouldn’t have really been a problem for them, but in the end they didn’t make it easy and could have found themselves going home.
In match one it started okay for them with a 2-0 win over neighbours Poland and for me while they didn’t play all that well they did seem to have more in the tank and if Poland had managed to score I felt as if the Germans would have stepped up a gear and still carried on and won the game. However as the 2-0 score line suggests they never really had the need to do this. Game two was the big shock for me as when I watched Croatia play their opening game they were poor and while like I’ve said Germany were not at there best for me they would still be to good for the Croats. However a 2-0 Croatia win told another story and this meant that Germany and to avoid defeat Against co-hosts Austria and while they did, again I was not all that impressed with the 1-0 win and for times it did look as if Austria were more than capable of sneaking something.
Verdict
It's knockout football from now on and this is normally where the Germans come into their own and move slowly about their business until they reach the final. Or does the Portugal side take a giant step towards doing better than they did last time out and win the whole thing.
Games like this are always hard to predict and to be honest sometimes you cannot go to far wrong than going for the draw and then even Pens, but for me I’m going to judge these two teams on what I’ve seen so far in these finals and on that basis I’m going for Portugal to go through to the semi finals as this will be a close game and to be honest I would not be surprised if this went to extra time and beyond.
So the price for Portugal to go through is 1.72 and this seems decent enough and will of course give you interest in ET and Pens should it go that far.
The Pick :
Portugal to go though to the next round
