Euro 2008 Thoughts

Overall:  I know it's not bold, but I like Germany to take the Euro 2008 title.  As a surprise team, I'd back Russia.  Here's my ladder of rooting for teams in this tournament:

1.  Spain

2.  Germany

3.  Croatia

4.  Russia

5.  Sweden

6.  Holland

7.  Turkey

8.  Greece

9.  Romania

10.  France

11.  Switzerland

12.  Austria

13.  Czech Republic

14.  Poland

15.  Italy

16.  Portugal

If you like money, you should now bet on Italy or Portugal (and Poland for the big payoff).

As for today's games...

I started writing this post while watching the Swiss/Czech match.  Going into the game, I thought I'd root for the Czechs.  Over the course of the first 60 minutes or so, I found them to be annoyingly defensive, completely unable to maintain possession and simply boring.  The Swiss were organized and pressuring, though it looked pretty clear that they weren't that talented.  Then the Czechs scored on a brainfart from the Swiss defense.  Not sold on either of these teams going too far.  But the Czechs aren't playing enjoyable football.

The second match...  Well, I'm pulling for Turkey, but I doubt they'll pull anything off.  Can I root for a Ronaldo comeuppance without being a dick?