Euro 2008: Who will you be supporting?

With Euro 2008 set to kick off in only a couple of weeks it’s time to put the hurt of England’s failure to qualify to rest and decide which team you’ll be supporting instead.  If you’ve got some kind of European connection in the family then the decision may be simple but if not you’re going to have to be a bit more inventive when deciding which team to back.

With so many people over from Eastern Europe to the UK you might fancy getting behind newcomers Poland, or previous qualifiers Czech Republic or Romania.  Of these, the Czech Republic will probably go furthest in the contest, on the strength of their performance in Euro 2004 where they made it to the semi’s.  Alternatively, if you want to keep the British connection going then you could back the team with the most players from UK leagues.  France are the leaders with seven players at UK clubs Arsenal, Man United and Chelsea, while Spain are second with five players at Liverpool and Arsenal. 

The best way to get enthusiastic about Euro 2008, in the absence of the England side, might be to put a bet down on a team and follow their progress throughout the tournament.  Football betting websites are already taking bets on who will be the outright winners, with Blue Square offering odds on tournament favourites Germany at 4/1, second favourites Spain at 13/2, and joint third favourites Portugal and Italy at 7/1.  Betting on a team will certainly spice up the games they play in plus you could end up pocketing a tidy sum at the end of it.