Nations / Editor / 22 May 2008 / Leave a comment

The tournament favourites have an easy group, masses of experience throughout the side and a tactical genius in charge, but will it be enough?

Germany are the favourites on Betfair to win Euro 2008 and that's probably right. They have a pleasant draw away from the Group of Death, and they have a motivated and richly talented bunch of players of the right age to do really well at the Championships. In Joachim Low they have an imaginative and forward thinking coach, although the doubts surrounding their defence are a little bit un-German, and they certainly won't bore their way to victory, like German teams have done occasionally in the past.

QUALIFYING:

Germany were the first team to qualify for Euro 2008, and were the top scorers in qualifying (although they DID win 13-0 in San Marino), and yet the end of their campaign gave off an unfamiliar air of overconfidence which is my only worry with regard to their chances this summer. In their final four games, they drew in Ireland, lost at home to Czech Republic, beat Cyprus 4-0 and then drew at home with Wales. Injury problems shoulder some of the blame, and yet Germany should still have been good enough to produce a better set of results than that. Earlier it was the battling 2-1 win in Prague that laid the foundations for a successful campaign. The 1-1 draw in Cyprus also gives cause for concern. Comfortable, but not convincing.

Key Players:

Per MERTESACKER

Even though Low is a forward thinking and attack minded coach, he is still German and the spine of his team is what's crucial to him. Jens Lehmann is a sometime rickety last line of defence, and Germany may ultimately suffer because the man always perceived as Oliver Kahn's long term replacement, Timo Hildebrand, has lost his form. But in front of Lehmann is a strong defence, and the crucial player at its heart is the superb Per Mertesacker. Groomed since he was a youngster at Hannover 96 to be the rock of the national side, he hasn't disappointed, and, while there's a doubt about who will play alongside him, Metzelder if fit, or even Heiko Westermann, Mertesacker will be rock steady, and a reassuring influence for those of you who have backed the Germans at short prices to win the tournament.

Michael BALLACK

There won't be a better central midfield partnership at the Euros than Michael Ballack and Torsten Frings. It's a close call between the two of them as to who is the "key player" as I am a huge admirer of the fantastically versatile Frings. But Ballack has everything as a player, and will surely turn it on for the national side in Euro 2008. Towards the end of the English season, he showed Chelsea fans how good he really is, and like every great player, he wants to make his mark on one tournament, like Platini in 84 or Van Basten in 88. Euro 2008 could just belong to Michael Ballack.

Mario GOMEZ

It may seem crazy to pick Stuttgart's "Super Mario" as a key player ahead of the 2006 World Cup's top scorer Miroslav Klose, but I'm a big fan of Gomez and think that he'll be a major star. His Bundesliga scoring record is phenomenal, and he was the driving force behind Stuttgart's title win last season. He will start alongside Klose and if he was more famous, he would be half the price he is to finish as the tournament top scorer. Back him now, at [22], he won't be that price for long.

COACH: Joachim LOW:
Bayern Munich fans are worried. Because they know that it wasn't Bayern's new coach Jurgen Klinsmann who masterminded Germany's exhilarating performances at the 2006 World Cup, it was his assistant Joachim Low. Low now has the big job and has, in the most part, done it very well. I say in the most part because of the curious end to Germany's qualifying campaign when they seemed to lose focus completely. That would be my only worry about a coach who favours unusual training methods (like getting the players to dismantle and put back together watches) and is on the brink of the big success that he deserves.

I think that Germany are rock solid favourites for Euro 2008. The word that concerns me with regard to them is value. Those of you who take the money buying approach to Betfair markets will be interested in the [1.15] about them to qualify from Group B, and I wouldn't put you off. I suspect that Poland peaked late last year, and Croatia are very good, but not quite as good as everyone seems to think. I will also be backing Germany to win Euro 2008 at [5.2]. They are bound to trade at a shorter price and, even if you're not impressed with the way that they make it through to the quarter finals, you will have a chance to trade. I also think that Mario Gomez is a great price to finish the tournament as top goalscorer, and will also be having a look at Group B in the "Group with most goals" market.