Well everyone here at American Soccer Reader is looking forward to Euro 2008 kicking off this Saturday on ESPN. We thought we’d let you know our picks to win the tournament, along with a full view of the upcoming games schedule across the ESPN networks. Enjoy, get those TiVO remotes ready, it’s going to be a tournament to remember!
Staff Picks:
Trevor Hayward: Netherlands
Alex Gutierrez: Undecided
Andrew Weckenmann: Spain
Dave Martinez: Undecided
Dan Thompson: Sweden
Jared DuBois: Germany
Andrew Padgett: France
Ian Martin: Germany
Richard Farley: Spain
Patrick Wood: Germany
Scott Viar: Portugal
Full US ESPN Schedule(all times are Eastern Time):
Saturday 6/07
11:50 a.m.- Switzerland vs. Czech Republic A (ESPN Classic, ESPN Deportes)
2:30 p.m.- Portugal vs. Turkey A (ESPN Classic, ESPN Deportes)
Sunday 6/08
11:50 a.m.- Austria vs. Croatia B (ESPN2, ESPN Deportes)
2:30 p.m.- Germany vs. Poland B (ESPN2, ESPN Deportes)
Monday 6/09
11:50 a.m.- Romania vs. France C (ESPN2, ESPN Deportes)
2:30 p.m.- Netherlands vs. Italy C (ESPN2, ESPN Deportes)
Tuesday 6/10
11:50 a.m.- Spain vs. Russia D (ESPN2, ESPN Deportes)
2:30 p.m.- Greece vs. Sweden D (ESPN2, ESPN Deportes)
Wednesday 6/11
11:50 a.m.- Czech Republic vs. Portugal A (ESPN2, ESPN Deportes)
2:30 p.m.- Switzerland vs. Turkey A (ESPN2, ESPN Deportes)
Thursday 6/12
11:50 a.m.- Croatia vs. Germany B (ESPN2, ESPN Deportes)
2:30 p.m.- Austria vs. Poland B (ESPN2, ESPN Deportes)
Friday 6/13
11:50 a.m.- Italy vs. Romania C (ESPN2, ESPN Deportes)
2:30 p.m.- Netherlands vs. France C (ESPN2, ESPN Deportes)
Saturday 6/14
11:50 a.m.- Sweden vs. Spain D (ESPN2, ESPN Deportes)
2:30 p.m.- Greece vs. Russia D (ESPN2, ESPN Deportes)
Sunday 6/15
2:30 p.m.- Switzerland vs. Portugal A (ESPN2, ESPN Deportes)
2:30 p.m.- Turkey vs. Czech Republic A (ESPN2, ESPN Deportes)
5 p.m.- Turkey vs. Czech Republic (ESPN Deportes)
Monday 6/16
2:30 p.m.- Poland vs. Croatia B (ESPN Classic)
2:30 p.m.- Austria vs. Germany B (ESPN, ESPN Deportes)
5 p.m.- Poland vs. Croatia (ESPN Deportes)
Tuesday 6/17
2:30 p.m.- Netherlands vs. Romania C (ESPN Classic)
2:30 p.m.- France vs. Italy C (ESPN, ESPN Deportes)
5 p.m.- Netherlands vs. Romania (ESPN Deportes)
Wednesday 6/18
2:30 p.m.- Greece vs. Spain D (ESPN, ESPN Deportes)
2:30 p.m.- Russia vs. Sweden D (ESPN2)
7 p.m.- Russia vs. Sweden (ESPN Deportes)
Quarterfinals Stage:
Thursday 6/19
2:30 p.m.- 1st Group A vs. 2nd Group B (ESPN, ESPN Deportes)
Friday 6/20
2:30 p.m.- 1st Group B vs. 2nd Group A (ESPN, ESPN Deportes)
Saturday 6/21
2:30 p.m.- 1st Group C vs. 2nd Group D (ABC)
Sunday 6/22
2:55 p.m.- 1st Group D vs. 2nd Group C (ESPN, ESPN Deportes)
Semifinals Stage
Wednesday 6/25
2:30 p.m.- Winners (ESPN, ESPN Deportes)
Thursday 6/26
2:30 p.m.- Winners (ESPN2, ESPN Deportes)
Final:
Sunday 6/29
2:30 p.m. - Euro 2008 Title Match from Vienna (ABC)
I hope all of you are just as excited we are for Euro 2008. A whole month of some of the worlds best playing each other, should be a treat for every soccer/football/futbol fan on the planet. If you haven’t read Andrew Padgett group by group preview series for Euro 2008, make sure to do so, click on the Euro 2008 category!
June 4th, 2008 at 5:55 pm
no love for italy in the staff picks. i was thinking about picking them, but didn’t want to have a trendy pick. forza azzurri ; )
June 5th, 2008 at 1:43 pm
I did pick Italy, but changed at the last moment.
I had been picking Spain all spring by changed when Trevor asked, reasoning the one weakness I saw, their center backs (and their poor club seasons) isn’t a weakness at all, as both Cannavaro and Materazzi always seem to play great for the Azzurri. But when Cannavaro went down, that was enough to make me switch.
Overreaction?
June 6th, 2008 at 3:16 pm
I thought about Italy as well, but decided on Germany. One reason is because to win a tournament you need such attention to detail and no team is as disciplined for 90 minutes as the Germans. They make so few mistakes, and mistakes are what lose championships. Plus they are practically playing at home.