Comments on: Euro 2008 Power Rankings, 1 to 16

By: sago

sago — Sun, 29 Jun 2008 05:59:18 +0000

LOL. Turkey 8th.dont be silly.Look the semi-final performance of Turkey and Russia.how can Russia and Portugal higher than Turkey? Be serious

By: ordeal_rules (JCS)

ordeal_rules (JCS) — Thu, 19 Jun 2008 16:11:06 +0000

dude, Austria was by far the weakest side in the Euro and should be higher up the list, they created so many chances with such a limited squad and only recieved 2 or 3 goals against… they deserve at least a top 10 ranking

By: nsd

nsd — Thu, 19 Jun 2008 14:57:09 +0000

Russian exile, its hard to put anyone but Greece last…they didn’t even manage a point. While the Polish draw with Austria may have been “easy”, its not like Greece was in the group of death.

They played ugly, terrible football and definitely deserve to be last on this list

By: Marco

Marco — Thu, 19 Jun 2008 11:24:04 +0000

Being Italian and bleeding Azzurri, I must add this. Italy has shown their slow, old and tired. I agree with GD, Sheps etc. The france – italy game showed only one truth, age. Italy are too slow to even compete against Russia and or Sweden. That is either down to Coaching and the age of the team. Their transition game has been awful in comparison to what we produced under Lippi in 2006. Even more however, this team seems to be so poorly prepared. against teams like spain, germany, et al, I think their single minded attack (cross the ball from the right side to luca toni) will be easily foiled. Italy should rank 10th imo.

I agree with the rest of them, but heck we’ll see what happens. This tournament reminds me of Superman 3, when clark kent and superman get seperated and have to battle each other. Half of me wants Italy to win, the other half doesnt for fear of giving Donadoni the credibility he doesnt need.

By: GD

GD — Thu, 19 Jun 2008 10:31:22 +0000

I’d put France about Romania. Those guys lost to the Dutch’s B Team with 2-0, which is a good reflection of how the game went (actually, they should have lost with way more, they’re lucky the B team wasn’t really in the mood till at the end). However, France fought a pretty decent game against the Dutch. While the Dutch won convincingly, I think the 4-1 doesn’t reflect how the game went necessarily. France played a better game against the Dutch than Italy did. France losing to Italy 2-0 with a deflected ball and a penalty, with one of your two best strikers gone and a red card doesn’t really reflect the difference in skill level IMO. Although for that game, I thought both teams played bad, actually.

By: Sheps

Sheps — Thu, 19 Jun 2008 10:05:42 +0000

Italy -> 7th at least for me. I’d go, Holland, Spain, Portugal, Croatia, Germany, Russia, Italy, Turkey in order of most likely to win this thing. Not sure if that’s what you were going for… I just put the most ridiculous bet of my life on. £1 on Arshavin to win the tournament as top goalscorer, 2000-1. Unlikely, but not 2000-1 unlikely…

By: Mehemet

Mehemet — Thu, 19 Jun 2008 07:54:14 +0000

These rankings are bang on especially Greece I see many Greeks posting fot Turkey this is ultimate what i would call peeing in another mans pocket I congratulate my arch rival cause my teams trash

By: Jots

Jots — Thu, 19 Jun 2008 07:53:36 +0000

good list….id say its just about right

By: russian exile

russian exile — Thu, 19 Jun 2008 05:03:40 +0000

Your list is pretty good, however placing Greece in last place and criticizing their performance in 2004 shows some real bias. First of all Poland should be last. Does Boruc having a great tournament raise their power ranking in any way? I shouldn’t think so. They scored one goal; an off-side, against the run of play, tap in against the weakest of the teams (Austria). The rest of the 89 minutes they were absolutely dreadful, looking fragile against Austria’s feared strike-force. Then they headed into the final match with everything to play for, still having a real chance to progress, yet they were out-played by Croatia’s 2nd team playing for nothing.

As for Greece, I don’t particularly like their style, however 2004 was a monumental victory for all-around team football. That was team sport the way it was meant to be played, every player giving it his all. Iraq’s victory in the Asian Cup was inspirational, but Greece in 2004 is the stuff Hollywood films are made of. It was a miracle plain and simple. They didn’t even have the advantage of being at home, the reason most teams usually play with full passion (Austria this year, Portugal previously)

This tournament, they simply fucked up. Some of their players have retired, the others are getting old. They really blew it that first game, coming in not looking like the team we know. They had non of the spirit, and once Ibrahimovich struck with a piece of brilliance, they came undone. They had no belief, it was like the game was already lost.

But you know, in their final meeting with Spain they showed the team we all know, at least in spurts. You could see some hope, for 2010. With Poland? It’s depressing, you almost feel it’s better to close-up shop and give up the game, less pain that way. Did I mention I’m really happy I’m not Polish this month? Sorry guys, but it happens to everyone at one time or another (even Brazilians).

By: Babyshoes

Babyshoes — Thu, 19 Jun 2008 05:01:36 +0000

Turkey should move up a couple spots–after all, Hakan Yakin (a Turk) was the entire Swiss offense.

And how does Spain end up below Croatia? Wins against the #14 and #15 teams shouldn’t count for more than the destruction of the #7 team.