My friend Chris, my brother Tim and I are battling it out with the excellent UEFA Euro 2012 downloadable add-on for FIFA 12 to see who’ll be the master match predictor across all of the games at Euro 2012.
The rules are simple: 3 points if you predict the outcome of a match exactly right (e.g. you say England will beat France 2-0 and they do). 1 point if you get the result right but the score wrong (e.g. you say England and France will draw 2-2 and they actually draw 1-1).
After the final round of group matches, the current scores are:
Tim: 25
FIFA: 17
Chris: 15
James: 12
So, here we go then, the final furlong of this epic race that started out with Europe’s 16 finest fillies is upon us. But which prize-winning pony will be first past the post in Kiev on 1st July? The Czech’s or the Portuguese who were both slow out of the stalls? The thoroughbred Germans with their “Vorsprung horse Technik”? Or The Greeks, who, for various reasons, no one’s willing to put their money on? Can the French go from cheval noir to championes? Will the Italian stallions win it by a (Roman) nose, the English by a nag’s head (Andy Carroll)? Or will it be the Spanish Lone Ranger, Fernando Torres, riding off into the sunset with silver once again.
Here are our predictions:
Quarter Final 1
Czech Rep. v Portugal
James – I think it’s fair to say that both these teams have grown into something of a pleasant surprise as the tournament has gone on. FIFA says that this will be a tight match with the Portuguese taking a two goal lead, only for the Czech’s to fall just short of pegging them back. I’m going 3-0 to Portugal who have been very impressive defensively, have a Ronaldo who now seems to be back to form and are playing against a team who I think were slightly lucky to come out of the ‘Group of Meh’.
Chris – To quote our former glorious England Manager, Steve McLaren, ‘it’s squeaky bum time’ now. This is where it gets serious. As a Liverpool fan I’m used to late comebacks, but I think even they would struggle to pull back the Istanbul-style deficit that I’m currently experiencing in this mini-league. But everyone loves the underdog, so here we go! Ronaldo has started to come to life in this tournament and the Czechs were far from convincing during the group stages. I think they will challenge Portugal but Ronaldo will continue to grow into this tournament. 2-1 Portugal to win.
Tim – After a week that has seen me change my name to Predictasaurus, I’m ready for the next round. Chris is trying everything, James needs to try something. I can recommend the rune stones popularised by Mystic Meg in the early days of the National Lottery. Anyway, this one will be 1 – 2 to Portugal now that Ronaldo has found his swagger. A late comeback from the Czech’s won’t be enough.
Predictions: FIFA 1-2; Chris 1-2; Tim 1-2; James 0-3.
Quarter Final 2
James – Congratulations to Greece for getting this far; commiserations to Greece for going out to the superior Germans, who march on ominously once again. FIFA has the final score as 3-0, I think it will be 2-0 as the Karagounis-less Greeks mix stubborn resistance with insubstantial attacking threat.
Chris – From nowhere Greece pulled off the Group Stage shock so far by managing to qualify ahead of Russia. This is where their party ends however as fate is once more pulling Germany and England together for a semi-final date. The German defence will prove too strong for Greece to penetrate resulting in a tidy 2-0 win to Germany.
Tim – 2-0 to Germany, surely the Greeks can’t get any further? Podolski and Podolski.
Predictions: FIFA 3-0; Chris 2-0; Tim 2-0; James 2-0.
Quarter Final 3
Spain v FranceJames – Recent Spanish teams haven’t fully got fully into their stride in international competitions until the knockout phase begins, and I think it will be a similar story here. The French, on the other hand, seem to be going the opposite way. FIFA has Spain winning 2-1 in extra time. I don’t think it will be as close as many others do. I’m saying 3-1 Spain.
Chris – Despite some assertions from the Spanish camp that this squad is better than that which won the world cup two years ago, Spain have largely struggled to display the flowing football we have become accustomed to. Will they or wont they have a recognised striker at the start of this game? I think not, which will give France a chance. 1-1 after extra time but Spain to win on Penalties 3-1 (Note to editor: I want 20 bonus points if I get all of this right!). (Note from Editor: I’m not sure 20 points is going to be enough to help you, mate).
Tim – I’m not sure why, but I think France will pull off a shock here and win 2-1 after going a goal behind. This will be a game of 2 halves.
Predictions: FIFA 2-1; Chris 1-1 (Spain to win 3-1 on penalties); Tim 1-2; James 3-1.
Quarter Final 4
England v ItalyJames – What is it about England and the way we always seem to wilfully distort our view of our national team? We’re either uncultured no-hopers or world champions in waiting, and as soon as Wayne gets his transplanted barnet on a cross, we ignore the fact that it’s a squad of players like Gerrard, Welbeck, Walcott, Carroll, Terry, Lescott, Cole, Hart and Johnson that have actually got us this far. When expectations were realistic and we were much more than a one man team, we did pretty well. Now the pendulum is swinging back in the other direction and I think it’s going to knock us straight out of the competition: 2-1 to Italy. FIFA has Italy progressing on penalties after extra time finished 1-1.
Chris – It’s the big one and, as alluded to earlier, I think fate is pulling England and Germany together again for a semi-final date. Expect Carroll to start in place of Wellbeck and for him to unsettle the deep sitting Italian backline. Balotelli will get sent off as Lescott and JT wind him up and England will stay true to form and sneak a 1-0 win.
Tim – 1-0 to England, similar to the Ukraine game. There’ll be nervous moments & we won’t play that well, but we’ll get through. Ashley Young.
Predictions: FIFA 1-1 (Italy win on penalties); Chris 1-0; Tim 1-0; James 1-2.
No comments:
Post a Comment