1 EXPERT ANALYSIS 8


Caption


England players put through their paces


If You Think You Know the Result, Think Again!


ITV Sport’s Clive Tyldesley previews this major international competition and, despite the array of team talent bringing a degree of predictability, he reminds us that it’s the excitement of those unpredicted upsets that make these matches well worth watching.


the trophy… Ireland might even beat them… you never know, England could get past the quarter-finals… but whatever happens, no-one can say they haven’t been warned. At a World Cup, you can still face a Neptune or a Neverland or a North Korea, teams that nobody knows much about.


T his is always a tournament


to get excited about. Dreams cost nothing. Surprises can happen. Spain may not retain


However, at the European Championships, everyone is familiar with everybody else. Most of the players will be household names.


Despite the biggest single name in


world football not being there, most of the claimants to being the second best player on the planet will be on parade. Even if Lionel Messi’s Argentina were to be miraculously adopted by Europe on the eve of the finals, they would start fourth or fifth favourites at best. This


ITV GUIDE | EURO 2012 www.itv.com/sport/football


is a tournament in which even the likes of England, Portugal and France will be considered no more than dangerous outsiders. The current powerhouses of the international game are all European nations. Traditionally, the labyrinth of the qualifying stages claims at least one famous scalp. This time, all of the seeded teams that went into the draw in Warsaw over two years ago have taken their allotted places in the select 16. Ireland


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