Euro 2012 finals general thread

[Darkon]

I agree, Italy's squad is not particularly impressive this year. Never underestimate them enterily, Italy are normally a good tournament team.

Could benefit from having 7 Juventus players in there, seem to have a good spirit going.

[Harv]

Whens the Frog squad get released?

Hopefully Pete Jenkins gets a gig again. Never shows up for Metz, but he's an ever present at the big tourneys

[Chris]

Worse squad than they usually have, but will they be fielding a team that is really anyway worse than England?

England aren't the main competition though, they are ****.

[Darkon]

Sweden's initial squad:

GK's: Andreas Isaksson (PSV), Johan Wiland (FCK), Pär Hansson (Helsingborg)

Defenders: Mikael Lustig (Celtic), Olof Mellberg (Olympiakos), Andreas Granqvist (Genoa) Martin Olsson (Blackburn), Jonas Olsson (West Bromwich), Mikael Antonsson (Bologna), Behrang Safari (Anderlecht)

Mid's: Rasmus Elm (AZ), Sebastian Larsson (Sunderland), Anders Svensson (Elfsborg), Kim Källström (Lyon), Pontus Wernbloom (CSKA Moskva), Samuel Holmén (Istanbulspor), Emir Bajrami (Twente), Christian Wilhelmsson (Al-Hilal)

Strikers: Zlatan Ibrahimovic (Milan), Johan Elmander (Galatasaray), Tobais Hysen (Göteborg), Ola Toivonen (PSV), Markus Rosenberg (Werder Bremen)

[Liverpel]

Sorry, jumping 8 years ahead here:

Scotland and Wales are considering a dramatic late bid to host Euro 2020, possibly involving Ireland as well.

UEFA's deadline for formal expressions of interest is midnight at the end of Tuesday and so far only Turkey have come forward to confirm they are bidding.

Officials at the Scottish and Welsh FAs have refused to confirm or deny that a bid will be submitted but sources said talks about bidding have taken place. The expansion of the tournament to 24 teams means that they would need a third country to provide the necessary number of top-class stadiums which is where Ireland would come in.

A source told the Press Association: "Discussions have taken place about bidding but we would not be able to bid alone. It may need to be three countries involved."

A final decision is expected to be taken by the boards of the FAs involved on Tuesday.

UEFA president Michel Platini had signalled he would support Turkey's bid but only if Istanbul failed in its bid to land the Olympics in the same year.

Scottish Football Association chief executive Stewart Regan confirmed the idea of bidding for Euro 2020 had been discussed.

Regan told www.insidethegames.biz: "I'm not able to comment publicly at this stage because it has not gone to our board but there will be an exchange of correspondence before the deadline.

"It's obviously something that has been discussed."

Asked if Scotland and Wales would be able to meet the UEFA criteria for stadiums, Regan replied: "There are other ways of skinning a cat and alternative ways of being considered for a major tournament."

[ChesterDave]

Cant see a triple host format going down well. 3 countries given a free pass and not having to qualify.

Can see why they want to, but cant see it being allowed

[Liverpool]

why dont england go for it?

[Darkon]

I remember a few years back the Nordic countries had the same idea, and were told that they would not get that many free passes, but it was possible if they entered through normal qual. Bid never happened.

[Exiled_red]

why dont england go for it?

Because they hosted it fairly recently (Euro 96)??

[Darkon]

Portugals initial squad:

GK's: Rui Patricio (Sporting), Eduardo (Benfica), Beto (Cluj).

Defenders: Bruno Alves (Zenit), Fabio Coentrao (Real Madrid), Joao Pereira (Sporting), Pepe (Real Madrid), Rolando (Porto), Ricardo Costa (Valencia), Miguel Lopes (Braga).

Mid's: Carlos Martins (Granada), Joao Moutinho (Porto), Miguel Veloso (Genoa), Raul Meireles (Chelsea), Ruben Micael (Zaragoza), Custodio Castro (Braga).

Strikers: Cristiano Ronaldo (Real Madrid), Hugo Almeida (Besiktas), Helder Postiga (Zaragoza), Nani (Manchester United), Ricardo Quaresma (Besiktas), Silvestre Varela (Porto), Nelson Oliveira (Benfica)

[Darkon]

Decent squad, but can't really see Portugal going through the group stages.

[Gingawaria]

Portugal look a little light in Midfield there although the last time I checked, Nani and Quaresma weren't strikers!

[Darkon]

True, they will be playing 451/433 formation with two very versatile inside forwards.

[Gibbo]

Torres not in the Spain squad

[Reece]

Ukrainian football hooligans have warned black and Asian England supporters not to travel to the country for Euro 2012.

A Sky Sports News Special Report investigation has discovered that racist thugs in Donetsk will be targeting England fans when the tournament kicks off next month.
The report exposes The Donetsk Company as a group motivated by a hatred of foreigners and fuelled by neo-Nazi politics.
UK police have already issued a warning to English fans travelling to the event, saying racist Ukrainian football thugs could provide a "flashpoint" for violence.
They said English supporters and players were more likely to be on the receiving end of abuse than to be starting trouble themselves.

http://news.sky.com/home/world-news/article/16228209