Tuesday, June 10, 2008

UEFA Euro 2008: First Match Rankings

Now that everyone's played a match, I figured I'd rank the sides based on first impressions.

1. Holland
2. Germany
3. Portugal
4. Spain
-Holland were the obvious stars of the opening matches. I could rank 2-4 in any order, but Spain looked the shakiest of those three defensively. A better opponent than Russia would have buried their scoring chances.

5. Sweden
6. Czech Republic
7. France
8. Croatia
-The other three opening round winners were less impressive. France, who drew 0-0, may have too many injuries to make a run, but the group is still there for the taking.

9. Switzerland
10. Romania
11. Poland
12. Italy
-Yes, Italy played one of the worst games of the first round, but I'd still take them over the likes of...

13. Greece
14. Russia
15. Turkey
16. Austria
-Austria are still the weakest team in the field, but they showed the gap isn't as wide as previously thought. Hard to believe Greece won the tournament four years ago after watching today's game.

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