Euro 2008 Group A

Group A is made up of the following four teams: Portugal, Czech Republic, Turkey and Switzerland. Of these four teams I would rank Portugal as the best by far, then the Czech Republic and Turkey as a far behind joint second. Switzerland I'd rank last in the group in terms of talent, not by far though and the fact that they are the host nation could spur them on to a point or two in this group.

Not only will Portugal win Group A but they also stand a strong chance of winning the whole tournament I feel. The Portuguese team is absolutely excellent, the squad plays with such flair and never does a goal look too far away. Goals seem to com easy for Portugal, with players like Cristiano Ronaldo and Nuno Gomes in the side this is really no surprise and quality is in fact all over the field for Portugal. There is perhaps a little over reliance on Ronaldo in the Portuguese camp, without him I feel that the squad would lack confidence but with him the team always has plenty to offer.

The Czech Republic has been a great squad in the past, the glory days are now gone however and the excellent squad players of old have now long since retired. Czech Republic is not a bad footballing nation, not a great one though and at current the side is supremely spectacular. Group A is a very open group, Portugal is the obvious favourite to win it but second place is entirely up for grabs and could in fact be taken by anyone.

Turkey is not a country best known for it's football, more for its Turkish Delight confectionary in fact but still the Turkish football team is quite a decent one at current. Turkey did well to quality for the UEFA Euro 2008 tournament, they were unfortunate to be placed in a group with Portugal and even more so to be drawn them as their first game. Turkey has the potential to progress, it will be interesting to see whether the nation does or not but certainly the potential is there to do so.

As the host nation Switzerland has a little of a lift that could push the side to the last 16 of the tournament. Switzerland is not a great footnballing nation, the support of the home crowd should come in handy as that 12th player however and give the side the edge over their opponents in games. Switzerland has the potential to cause an upset through defeating Turkey and the Czech Republic and progressing through to the last 16 of the tournament.