Favorites:
1. France-They won the World Cup and have the most talented team. They should runaway with this tournament, but it rarely seems like they play a cohesive team game. Coaching seems like a big issue to me.
2. Portugal-They won the last Euros, they're well coached, and they have a good up and coming generation. They probably come in with the best team.
Could Win If Everything Goes Right:
3. England-They are probably the second most talented team in this tournament. I have almost no personnel questions, relative to the other teams, but it's a young team and England has a history of not playing up to their talent level.
4. Italy-It's far from their most talented generation, but I think a lot of people aren't giving them enough credit. They've gotten better results in recent years than you'd think, given the drop in talent, and they have really good midfielders. The questions will be that their CB's are old and slow, and they don't have the offense to outscore the top teams.
5. Belgium-They are well coached, they've had success with this generation, and they have some standout individuals. The path is there to winning the tournament. They also have old and slow CB's, non-existent wingbacks, and they are relying on a 32 year old who hasn't played since January to anchor the team in midfield.
Will Not Win:
6. Spain-They probably have the talent to win, if everything goes right, but they have had a terrible preparation for this tournament, and their young generation is probably still a few years away from being able to win a big tournament.
7. Netherlands-I don't doubt the talent. They have the talent to win this tournament. They also have by far the worst coaching of the big countries.
8. Germany-Their defense will give up goals because their defenders aren't that great, and they don't have the goals in the team to outscore the goals they will give up. I expect an early exit. I think they could be eliminated by a weaker team.
