This time tomorrow we will be into the start of the second biggest football tournament in the world.
16 teams, almost all good, many with a real live chance of winning, at least one “group of death”.
So it’s time for a thread (although most of the people who used to post in football threads seem to have been culled in the great payment cull).
Here are some points to get the ball rolling:
Who’s going to win?
How’s your team going to do?
If your team can’t win it, who would you most like to win it?
What is your nightmare winner?
Who’s going to be the stars?
Refs have been told to crack down on diving – will Michael Owen even get to the end of the France game?
My answers below….
Who’s going to win? My Heart says France or Italy but I do think that there is a real possibility that England might actually stop underachieving at long, long, last
How’s your team going to do? See above. It really all comes down to Eng v France - if we can avoid defeat we sould make the semis. Lose and we might not even get out of the group
If your team can’t win it, who would you most like to win it? Spain are probably the only team to underachieve to the level of England - so I’ll go with them.
What is your nightmare winner? Got to be the Germans.
Who’s going to be the stars? I can see Gerrard making a name for himself, hopefully Lampard too.
Refs have been told to crack down on diving – will Michael Owen even get to the end of the France game? It will be business as usual with strikers going down quicker than a Bankok prostitute when the fleet’s in.
I got England in an office sweep so I’ll be wishing the boys in white all the best for the first time in my life 
Well… you are used to cheering on a team full of Englishmen
I’ll be rooting for Holland, but I’m not all that confident after the last couple of matches.
If not Holland, then it would be nice to see Spain finally win something. Anyone but Germany or Italy.
Ok, for those of us with no-to-minimal local coverage, how about a bit of a preview? What are the groupings? Which do you consider the “group of death”? Who is your first and second pick in each group? Do only the top two go through in each, or is there a chance for third place teams to win through? Anyone here attending (I know a lot of Yank footie fans are making the trip)? I’ll be checking if anyone is showing the games in Florida when I get back down on Sunday, but even then I won’t have much chance to watch.
I think I’ll be cheering for the Orange this time since Coldfire is usually gracious in his assessments of our side (we have what should be an easy opener in WC '06 qualifying in Columbus this weekend).
Well the “Group of Death” is definitely group D, with the Czechs, Germans, Dutch and poor old Latvia. They have got a mountain to climb, and most would see them as certs. to go out early doors.
I tell you what though, there are no easy games at this level. And that Michael Owen, he’s going be going down like Buddy Holly there. Mind you, with the boy Ronaldo chucking in a few lolipops, you will be seeing a few amusement acrcade scenes round the onion bag if the Portugese are in the wide awake club.
So that is all clear then.
Portugal.
Wow, not sure that this shouldn’t be in MPSIMS, but what a stunning result on the first day!
Greece shock Portugal 2-1! First opening game loss by the Host since the current format was adopted in the forties! That’s got to hurt!
the russian attack was the most negative thing I have ever seen. didn’t even shake up their formation after going a goal down. Their keeper kept them well in it though.
Moving this to Cafe Society.
Who’s going to win? Italy. They should have won Euro 2000 and had so many goals wrongly disallowed in the World Cup it beggared belief. It’s surely their turn now.
How’s your team going to do? England are… well… umm… ok, let’s just say I’m not hopeful. We only need results against Croatia and Switzerland to progress, and all of our possible quarter-final opponents looked unconvincing on day 1. Still, Sven doesn’t seem to know how to pick strikers who can actually score or defenders who defend.
If your team can’t win it, who would you most like to win it? Latvia. I’m English, so I always love the underdog.
What is your nightmare winner? The Germans, as per usual. France too, for that matter.
Who’s going to be the stars? Thierry Henry, Frank Lampard and, in terms of home crowd support, Luis Figo. I reckon a few of the Latvian players will soon be at a lower-half Premiership club near you too.
*Refs have been told to crack down on diving… * Going by the theatrics of the Greek team yesterday, they’re doing no such thing. Not to say it wasn’t a penalty, because it quite clearly was, but was all that rolling around really necessary?
Is there a good website that’s capturing results and posting some match details?
The BBC has a pretty good site. The official site is here.
Can we do it without spoiler boxes? Probably not, since the game ended 10 minutes ago. [spoiler]France 2, England 1
England had been leading up until the 90th minute!! Bartez skilfully stopped Beckhams rather poor penalty… and then, well… what can one say. My heart goes out to the English, bu I think we all need to bow deeply for the Great Zinedine Zidane. To take a free kick like that - James never expected it in that corner. And then keep your cool enough to secure that penalty… WOW!
It has to be rough, losing a match that way. I know, as my team have lost a few this way. But I think we have our tournament MVP already. WOW.[/spoiler]
And now, my answers to the OP’s questions. 
Who’s going to win?
France are the likely winners, with Italy and of course Holland as outsiders. Portugal lost some serious cred yesterday.
How’s your team going to do?
A lot will depend on Tuesday’s match against Germany. We’re way better on paper at the moment, but it’s Germany. If we keep our heads cool and win by a good margin, it might just be the confidence booster that can get them through to at least the semi-finals. If Germany beats us… it’s going to be hard to qualify for even the quarters.
If your team can’t win it, who would you most like to win it?
Italy are overdue for one, but I wouldn’t mind seeing Portugal take it, either. England would be nice, too.
What is your nightmare winner?
Any team that gets it by negative play. But I doubt they’ll make it that far anyway. I’d say Switzerland winning would be a downright insult to the sport.
Who’s going to be the stars?
Zidane, Morientes, Van der Vaart. Possibly Owen.
God, I’m nervous already, and the match is still 2 days away.
I was mightily impressed by your boy King, though. Played an absolutely flawless match!
What the hell happened there? I am feeling sick right now.
Sven - why did you take Rooney off???
Please get a clue before the next match!
Didn’t think Rooney was all that good, although he did secure that penalty Beckham failed to capitalise on. And on top of that, he was partially responsible for altering the atmos in a match that started as very respectful both ways.
So, meh, I don’t think Sven can be blamed for this. France are a better team than England, and just managed to find their composure in time. In other words - their star rose to the expectations, and way beyond. If anything, blame Beckham for not securing the 2 goal margin when he so easily could have.
Having said that, I do feel for you lot. It’s a damn tough way to lose, and England played a good match.
Still, on the plus side, Croatia and Switzerland both proved themselves to be utter pants earlier today, so it’s still looking good for France and England both to qualify, which is what we hoped for before the tournament. Still, three points there would have been a real bonus.
One of my mates was round here watching it - he had a £5 bet at 13/1 about England to lead at half-time and France to win the match. He won £165 and yet was still pounding the walls. I didn’t even have the consolation of winning money on it 