There are two potential tournament winners in Group B. There is nothing definitive to say that they are going to win, but Greece wasn’t supposed to do much in 2004 either. The headliner of Group B is the other half of the co-host nations, Austria.
It’s been 10 years since Austria has seen a competitive tournament. That’s the same length of time since Kerry Wood struck out 20 batters at Wrigley. Success for both soon followed. At the 1998 World Cup, Austria failed to make it out of the group stage.
The problem for Austria is the lack of offensive productivity. The inability to put the ball in the back of the onion bag (thank you, Tommy Smyth) resulted in only one win in 12 2007 matches. For any sports fan that is familiar with sports jargon and cliché phrases, Austria is in a rebuilding/retooling phase.
A possible saving grace for Austrian fans will be the defense, particularly the midfield. Young Sebastian Prödl, veteran Martin Stranzl and Emanuel Pogatetz are a solid presence in either a 4-4-2 or 4-5-1 formation.
The team expected to win the group, Germany, is essentially the same team that everyone saw at the 2006 World Cup. The lone exception is the man calling the shots. Joachim Low took over for Jurgen Klinsmann after Klinsmann resigned in July 2006. Many recall the brief flirtation and rumors surrounding the United States and Klinsmann about filling their vacant coaching position.
It’s this consistency that has Germany thinking toward late-June when they could possibly hoist the winners’ trophy. Among the returning favorites, Torsten Frings, Bernd Schneider and Michael Ballack are among fan favorites returning.
The formation that Low will use seems to favor a 4-4-2 alignment that will force the issue and attempt to put a few goals in the net a game. If the name Miroslav Klose doesn’t ring a bell, and I’m sure it doesn’t resonate, it will. He is one of the strikers that Germany will count on for offense. The second striker battle will come down to Kevin Kuranyi, 2007 German Player of the Year Mario Gómez, or Lukas Podolsk.
While Germany may be considered the favorite, Croatia is the upstart. They’re young, talented and at some point you have to figure that they won’t surprise a lot of people. Much like Austria, the Croatians haven’t done a whole lot since finishing third at the 1998 World Cup.
Slaven Bilic’s squad qualified for this year’s tournament by winning its group during qualification. There is a ton of experience on the back line with Robert Kovac, Dario Simic in the middle, Vedran Corluka at left-back and Josip Simunic on the right.
A player to keep an eye out for is Darijo Srna. The 26-year old has often been labeld “Europe’s Beckham” because of his ability to score from free kicks (Hello ‘Bend it Like Beckham') and the precision passes that set up his teammates.
The potential for a feel good story comes from the Polish team. I have to reference Greece again because of the improbable run and eventual championship that they pulled off in 2004. New coach Leo Beenhakker took over the job after leaving Trinidad & Tobago and quickly questioned the move.
Retirement of Mirosław Szymkowiak and uneasiness around team didn’t exactly inspire confidence. The result? They beat out Portugal for the top spot in their qualifying group. Not bad for a team that didn’t make it out of the group stage in the 2006 World Cup and wasn’t expected to do much in terms of making the UEFA EURO 2008 tournament.
"This is definitely one of the biggest successes of my career," said Leo Beenhakker after leading Poland to UEFA EURO 2008. We’ll see how far this new turnaround can last when play begins in June.
Match Schedules
2008.06.08 (18:00) Austria v. Croatia
2008.06.08 (20:45) Germany v. Poland
2008.06.12 (18:00) Croatia v. Germany
2008.06.12 (20:45) Austria v. Poland
2008.06.16 (20:45) Poland v. Croatia
2008.06.16 (20:45) Austria v. Germany
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