Germany in Euro 08 - forecast

Previously I have shared my views on the preliminary roster list in Germany national team in Euro 08. This Wednesday the final team roster has been announced. Now I'm going to share a little bit my point of forecast on the Germany national team.

I think Löw would like to balance between the experience and the young power in the team. Oliver Neuville (picture) is chosen instead of Patrick Helmes can explain the team needs experience. I think he will play for about 15-30 minutes in the game. When the team is leading, he can be subbed for distracting the defenders to avoid the defenders to push up; when the team is getting stucked, he can be the key player to break the deadlock. So even he is a bit old, I think he is quite useful rather than Patrick Helmes.

Same for David Odonkor (picture), even he is not fit in the club, but his pace and experience can break the deadlock for the team. I expect him to play about 30 minutes in the game. He fast pace can bring threats to the opponents.

A little bit forecast to the Germany team. I think normally the team can go to the final. This is not only becoz I'm supporting Germany, but their route to final can't be easier. The opponent they are facing in the same group are Austria, they are not very keen on performance this year, Poland, they didn't do very well recent years, and Croatia, they are strong, but not experienced enough to match Germany. So it can be predicted that Germany will win the group. When qualifying to the quarter final and semi final, the strongest opponents will be Czech Republic and Portugal, which are the worst case already, but for Germany, it is still capable to beat them. So you may ask where are Italy, France, Spain, and Netherlands? They are in the other side that Germany will only meet them in final. So that's why bookmarkers favours Germany to be the winner. So, what I can say is, they are only themselves to beat. If Germany goes home early, they are only person to blame.