Match 21 - France v Italy / Tareq Quiroz / 16 June 2008 / Leave a comment

What a tournament we have had so far, and we haven't even got past the group stages yet! Judging from the results so far you have to expect the unexpected and treat some of the tournaments big guns with a certain amount of caution.

There is no doubt that there are plenty more twists and turns to come before these championships are over. For us punters it's just a matter of anticipating them and taking advantage of the value out there.

Group C was given the group of death tag as soon as the draw for the tournament was made and it has not let anyone down. With the final round of group games still to play who would have thought that group favourites Italy and France would both still be looking for their first win.

They have both been well and truly spanked by the tournament form team, the Netherlands, and neither were at all convincing in scrapping out a draw with Romania. Now they face each other in a bid to qualify as group runners up but even that is out of their hands with Romania needing a win against the Dutch to knock both these super giants out.

Just two years ago France and Italy were fighting it out in the World Cup final and on Tuesday night they will be fighting for Euro 2008 survival. Despite heavy defeats to the Dutch, both teams showed flashes of what they can do and there has to be a good chance that at least one of them will find their top form in this crunch encounter.

Roberto Donadoni really changed it up against Romania and although they were reliant on the last minute penalty save to avoid defeat I felt that it was definitely something to build on. Domenech has a little less to work with and he desperately needs his big name players to show up.

There is no permutation that will allow France to qualify unless they record a victory and in many ways this may help them as they know they must go after Italy. Vieira should be fit to start in the centre of a midfield that is lacking creativity but the key is for big names like Ribery and Henry to start finding the magic that they are capable of. With the chips down I just get the feeling that it will be the French who raise their game and they will be getting my support in the Asian Handicap market. The best option appears to be the France +0&+0.5 line where you can get odds of around [1.87].

Coaches, fans and even the players will be keen to know what is happening in the game between Romania and the Netherlands as this will have a huge bearing on what is required. The permutations are plentiful and in places fairly bizarre. As far as France are concerned though, they must win and wait and see. I expect France to make the running but not exactly leave themselves exposed at the back during what promises to be a cagey first period. Looking through the Half Time/Full Time market the one option that sticks out is Draw/France and at current odds of [7.8] that looks to be a decent bet.

Neither team's strikers have hit top form and this is clearly evident in the fact that both teams have only managed one goal apiece thus far. Cometh the hour cometh the man is a phrase that generally applies to the world's great sportsmen and as far as football is concerned there is no doubt that Thierry Henry is one of the greats.

He was on the mark against the Netherlands and you just get the feeling there are more to come from the Barcelona man. Get on him at around [3.1] to score and I am sure the former Arsenal man will get some decent opportunities to find the back of the net.

Following the World Cup final that saw Zidane lose his head, there has to be some thought that revenge will be in the minds of some of these French players and this could lead to some quite tasty tackles. Neither side are short of fierce tacklers and with so much at stake it would be no surprise to see plenty of cautions, especially when the realisation dawns on one of the teams that they are on their way out of the tournament. Backing 9pts and Over in the Bookings Odds market is a must bet for this game.

Tuesday night will see at least one of the big hitters depart the tournament early and you can be sure that there won't be many tears in the other camps should these football powerhouses fail to qualify.

Tags: Euro 2008 bets, Euro 2008 betting, Roberto Donadoni