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Ante-post preview for the 2012 European Championships:

The 2010 World Cup proved to be a fantastic success & an amazing celebration of football for the World to enjoy and all football fans are greatly looking forward to the 2016 World Cup in Brazil with great excitement & anticipation of what is sure to be a feast of football.

However, in terms of international football in the here & now, the attention now switches back to individual continental challenges with our focus on the 2012 European Championships with qualification for that starting on friday September 3rd.

61 european countries make up the 9 different qualifying groups & this qualifying campaign should prove to be a fantastic, entertaining mix of footballing cultures as the smaller nations do battle against the larger, proven countries of european football.
Here is how the current ante-post outright market stands for the 2012 European Championships:

SPAIN 7/2
GERMANY 5/1
HOLLAND 7/1
ENGLAND 9/1
ITALY 10/1
FRANCE 12/1
PORTUGAL 14/1
RUSSIA 20/1
CROATIA 22/1

33/1 Bar
There is no surprise to see SPAIN at the head of the market & being reigning European & World Champions clearly marks SPAIN down as the team to beat and easily the most solid bet to consider at this stage, any team that stops SPAIN will almost certainly win the trophy.

GERMANY had an excellent World Cup campaign & their young, progressive squad will have had 2 more years experience by the time this tournament comes around so they will clearly also expect to be major contender & especially  given their proven ability to perform in major tournaments.

HOLLAND deserve great praise for reaching the World Cup Final & they have the extra motivation of playing well & trying to win this tournament in the right way after their shambolic & disgraceful loss of discipline in the World Cup Final, they undoubtedly have the talent to be major contenders if they keep their best players fit & in form.

With regards to the other countries then of course ENGLAND will be regarded as challengers given the talent at their disposal but they have to recover from the World Cup disaster & always under too much pressure to win that they ultimately fail.

ITALY have to re-build an ageing squad, FRANCE have to completely build a squad destroyed by a major split in the camp but new manager Laurent Blanc is capable of doing that, PORTUGAL have to prove they can learn to play football and win games that way, not be so negative in the big games while RUSSIA & CROATIA have great talent but also have to prove they have the right mentality in tournaments.

Summary:

It has to be SPAIN all the way for us, 7/2 might seem a short price to be taking 2 years in advance but assuming SPAIN qualify with the minimum of fuss, they will be shorter than 3/1 by the time tournament starts & given all the talent they have at their disposal, they are clearly the team that everybody will have to beat.

GERMANY have a progressive bunch of young, talented players & we expect them to progress massively over the next 2 years and as long as those players learn to handle the pressure of expectancy that will come, then GERMANY rate the most solid dangers to SPAIN at this point.

EURO 2012 Qualifying – Group by Group Analysis:

Group A:- Germany, Turkey, Austria, Belgium, Kazakhstan & Azerbaijan

GERMANY are generally 1/4 shots to win this group & they should deliver on those odds barring a disaster, GERMANY showed their class at the World Cup and with that squad likely to get better over the next few years, qualification looks guaranteed & it will be a major shock if they don’t win the group.

TURKEY have been re-building over the last few years but they are clearly the 2nd best team in this group and they should have enough to finish as runners-up
Group A Forecast: Winners: Germany, Runner-Up: Turkey

Group B:- Russia, Republic of Ireland, Slovakia, Armenia, Andorra & Macedonia

8/11 is the general price for RUSSIA to win Group B and that looks a rock solid bet in our mind, this group looks at the mercy of RUSSIA & REPUBLIC OF IRELAND and RUSSIA to win the group & REPUBLIC OF IRELAND to finish 2nd looks the way to go in our view.
Group B Forecast: Winners: Russia, Runner-Up: Republic of Ireland

Group C:- Italy, Serbia, Northern Ireland, Estonia, Slovenia & Faroe Islands

ITALY are rated as marginally odds-on shots to win Group C but in our view those are too short judged on how much work needs to be done to the Italian national team & we are taking SERBIA as a value bet at 5/2 to win Group C & edge out Italy who can qualify with them.
Group C Forecast: Winners: Serbia, Runner-Up: Italy

Group D:- France, Bosnia, Romania, Belarus, Albania & Luxembourg

FRANCE where completely & utterly disgraceful at the World Cup in South Africa & they have to re-build from that, particularly the spirit of the squad, but in Laurent Blanc they have a manager who should be able to do that & have a squad of players that should prove too good for their group rivals.

It looks hard deciding between the other countries as to who will follow France through but our vote goes to BOSNIA who will be intent on reaching the Final stages of a major tournament.
Group D Forecast: Winners: France, Runner-Up: Bosnia

Group E:- Holland, Sweden, Finland, Hungary, Moldova & San Marino

World Cup Finalists HOLLAND are the headline team in Group E & clearly set the standards for their group rivals to aim at, 4/11 is the price for HOLLAND to win Group E & while that seems short, those odds look entirely fair & they must rate as a solid bet to win Group E with SWEDEN looking the standout bet to follow them through Group E in second.
Group E Forecast: Winners: Holland, Runner-Up: Sweden

Group F:- Croatia, Greece, Israel, Latvia, Georgia & Malta

This Group does look one of the tougher, more complicated ones to solve with confidence although the general 11/10 available for CROATIA to win Group F looks well worth a play & we are going to take GREECE to prove solid & earn their place as group runners up.
Group F Forecast: Winners: Croatia, Runner-Up: Greece

Group G:- England, Bulgaria, Switzerland, Wales & Montenegro

Clearly England’s presence in Group G makes this the most interesting group in our view & with WALES also thrown into the mix, Group G should prove well worth watching.

General quotes of 2/7 for ENGLAND to win Group G are too short in our view but at the same time ENGLAND must be ranked as favourite to win Group G & look the most solid option for that.

In terms of who will follow England through then it will not be easy as BULGARIA & SWITZERLAND have talented players and they both look closely matched and we just give the edge to BULGARIA to earn their place as Group G runners up.
Group G Forecast: Winners: England, Runner-Up: Bulgaria

Group H:- Portugal, Denmark, Norway, Cyprus & Iceland

This group looks a straight match between PORTUGAL & DENMARK in our opinion and deciding between the two is not easy by any means but PORTUGAL definitely have more naturally talented players & are generally hard to beat so they look the bet to win Group H with DENMARK the team for the forecast.
Group H Forecast: Winners: Portugal, Runner-Up: Denmark

Group I:- Spain, Czech Republic, Scotland, Lithuania & Liechtenstein

SPAIN all the way in this group & even before a ball has been kicked, it is hard to see SPAIN dropping too many points in this group & they could certainly win every group stage game.

SPAIN are bankers for this group & the CZECH REPUBLIC should be the team to follow them through as surely Scotland, Lithuania & Liectenstein don’t have the players to do any damage.
Group I Forecast: Winners: Spain, Runner-Up: Czech Republic
Well those are our ante-post views for the 2012 European Championships & hopefully you find them interesting & informative and that they help guide you towards successful punts on what should prove to be a truly fascinating qualifying campaign before the Euro Finals in 2012.

Remember to shop around for the best odds & best terms available and good luck with whatever bets you have.