The Euro 2012 tournament has been one of the most exciting the sport has seen in a while as the fans of the 16 nations taking park in the tournament were looking for greatness. For some teams, it has been the expected stars like Wayne Rooney and Cristiano Ronaldo who have led their teams to the quarterfinal round, while some teams like the Netherlands were unable to get their team past the group stage. While England and Portugal took part in some of the most exciting games of the tournament thus far, have they done enough to pass Germany and Spain as the favorites to win the tournament?
Germany 9/4
Spain 5/2
Portugal 15/2
England 8/1
Italy 8/1
France 10/1
Czech Republic 40/1
Greece 50/1
Thursday, June 21, 2012: Czech Republic vs. Portugal
Friday, June 22, 2012: Germany vs. Greece
Saturday, June 23, 2012: Spain vs. France
Sunday, June 24, 2012: England vs. Italy
To me, three of these games are up for grabs. The only team I think is a lock to advance to the next round is the German squad. Greece did enough to squeak into the round ahead of Russia, but I don't see them even scoring against the brilliant German team.
With Portugal, one never knows which team will show up to play and more importantly, which Ronaldo will show up. Portugal has incredible talent offensively and defensively, but as always, it is how accurate Ronaldo is with his strikes that will make or break this team. I don't see the Czech team winning the whole tournament, but an upset against Portugal is possible.
The Spain vs. France matchup is an interesting one. Heading into the tournament, it was a split between Germany and Spain when talking about the favorite to win. I think France has the experience and talent to compete with the gritty Spanish team and could also pull off the upset.
The odds makers don't know what to make of the Italy vs. England matchup and after watching the group stage, it is easy to see why. England was 2-0-1 in the group stage, while Italy was 1-0-2. Both teams competed in exciting games, especially England with their 3-2 win against Sweden.
More from this contributor:
Greece and Czech Republic Advance
Greatest Players in Women's World Cup History
Where are they now? The 1999 Women's World Cup Champions
Hobson Lopes has been a fan of soccer since birth as being born in Brazil will do that to someone. He can be followed on Twitter @HobsonLopes.
