Euro 2008: Saturday’s results and previews of Sunday’s matches
Euro 2008: Saturday’s results and previews of Sunday’s matches
Saturday’s Results
The opening games of Euro 2008 kicked off with Group A matches for co-hosts Switzerland against the Czech Republic and Portugal facing Turkey. Despite dominating large portions of the match and looking threatening going forward, the Swiss went down to a single goal scored by Czech substitute Vaclav Sverkos. Portugal v Turkey was an interesting game for the neutral, with both teams favouring counter-attacking football. Defender Pepe (a 40/1 shot for first goalscorer) got the Portuguese in front, and finally with the Turks pressing for the equaliser at the end of the second half, Cristiano Ronaldo started a breakaway move that led to Raul Meireles slotting home a second to put the tie out of doubt.
Results:
Switzerland 0-1 Czech Republic
Portugal 2-0 Turkey
A £10 Double on Czech Republic and Portugal winning their matches would have returned £45.30 with Blue Square
Sunday’s Previews
Austria v Croatia – 17:00 kickoff, live on BBC1
The co-hosts kick off their Group B campaign in Vienna with a tough test against a strong Croatian side that England fans know all too well. Austria have never qualified for the European Championships before, and so this will be their debut match too. Croatia have failed to impress at the last two European Championships, having failed to win in their last five – The last victory they had was at England 96, when they reached the quarter finals. Head Coach Slavan Bilic played in all Croatia’s matches that year.
Croatia are strong going forward, particularly across the middle of the park, although they do have some defensive frailties which Austria will be hoping to capitalise on. I think Croatia should have too much firepower for the Austrians though, and think they will sneak a victory. Here are the odds for those looking to bet on Austria v Croatia:
Match Odds:
Austria to win: 47/10 (VC Bet)
Draw: 23/10 (888sport)
Croatia to win: 5/6 (Ladbrokes and William Hill)
First Goalscorer:
Petric: 6/1 (Ladbrokes)
Budan: 7/1 (Blue Square)
Klasnic: 7/1 (888sport)
Kalinic: 9/1 (888sport)
Linz: 9/1 (Blue Square)
Germany v Poland – 19:45 kickoff, live on BBC1
Germany Head coach Joachim Loew will leave it late to decide who partners Mario Gomez up front as the Germans face Poland in the evening game of Group B in Klagenfurt. Miroslav Klose looks favourite to lead the attack, with Lukas Podolski dropping back to the left-side of midfield. Amazingly, Germany have not won a game in the European championships since they won Euro 96. It looks likely that they will get it against a poor Polish side, who have been kicked whilst they are down, losing Celtic keeper Tomasz Kusczak to a back injury on Friday whilst Jakub Blaszczykowski pulled a hamstring.
The two teams have met 15 times previously, with Germany winning 11 and Poland winning none. The last time they met was at the world cup in Germany in 2006, which Germany won 1-0 thanks to a late, late goal from Oliver Neuville. All signs point to a comfortable victory for the Germans, but how often have we seen teams struggle to find their top form in the opening matches? And is it worth betting on Germany v Poland?
Match Odds:
Germany to win: 8/15 (Bet 365)
Draw: 31/10 (VC Bet)
Poland to win: 13/2 (888sport)
First Goalscorer:
Klose: 5/1 (Ladbrokes)
Gomez: 11/2 (888sport)
Podolski: 13/2 (Bet365)
Kuranyi: 7/1 (Ladbrokes)
Ballack: 8/1 (William Hill)
Neuville: 7/1 (Blue Square)
Smolarek: 11/1 (skybet)
A £10 bet on both Croatia and Germany to win their matches would return £27 with Blue Square
Tomorrow’s Matches
Monday 9th June – Group C
Romania v France
Holland v Italy
All odds correct at time of writing. Please click here for the latest odds
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