05/06/2024【Feature】Marco Materazzi/Robert Pires - Euro Championship Group winner and forecast analysis

Marco Materazzi – Euro Championship
Former Italy international defender Marco Materazzi played at the 2004 and 2008 Euro Championship.

Robert Pires – Euro Championship
Robert Pires won Euro Championship with France in 2000. Also, he played at the 2004 Euro Championship.

Group Winner and forecast
Group A
Materazzi – Group A in my opinion will be won by Germany, it is the team that plays at home so I think it will start strong from the first game, then I see Switzerland as second, it has several players who play in major leagues and have acquired the international mentality. Scotland we know is a very difficult team to face and will make life difficult for all the teams in group A. As for Hungary, they could be the outsider because they did very well in the last European Championship, they have an Italian coach who built a very good team and gave them a great mentality.

Group B
Materazzi – Group B I think is the most difficult, I see Spain as favourites because they play very well and are used to major competitions and have a good mix of young and more experienced players. Behind Spain I see Italy because it is the defending champion, so everyone will have to have respect, as well as having excellent players. In my opinion they will all have difficulties, we all know Croatia, they have great individuality and have been playing together for many years and then they have a maestro like Modric who always makes the difference. Last of the four but with great expectations is Albania, they have excellent players who have grown a lot in recent years, but with Croatia ageing and Albania inexperienced it’s hard to see them 1st or 2nd.

Group C
Pires - I expect England to win the group. They have a very good squad, even if a few players are coming back from injury. The manger will feel the pressure after some successful tournaments recently but no win. Jude Bellingham, whilst not captain, can be a real leader on the pitch for them. Second place will be Denmark I think who have good tournament pedigree over the last few years.

Group D
Pires - France will be top, but I think this group will have a few twists and turns. Austria are very strong, maybe with no huge superstar but a team with good character and will surprise a few people. Holland are a good team, who came through a difficult few years but are in a good place, maybe a little under the radar but will be ready to fight. Poland with Lewandowksi maybe in his last big tournament will find it difficult in this very difficult group. I will go for Holland as I expect them to have the individual quality to overcome the others.

Group E
Pires - Belgium should be favourites - this team will be under a lot of pressure as many people will say they have not fulfilled their potential in recent years like England ‘golden generation’. The other three teams will be fighting for the second place, and I dont see a clear favourite for this spot so there should be some very tight battles for them to try and progress. I will go with Ukraine as I feel their togetherness as team can see them through to the last 16.

Group F
Materazzi – I see Portugal and Turkey as clear favourites, Portugal in addition to having CR7 has a large number of players of great quality and great individuality from the midfield upwards, I think they are the favourites to win the round. Turkey is coached by the Italian Montella who makes his teams play very well, he knows the environment and the Turkish mentality, so he will certainly be able to make an important mark, and he has an important ally in captain Çalhanoğlu, who knows the Italian mentality very well, as well as being one of the strongest midfielders in the world at the moment. The other two teams in the group are, in my opinion, weaker and they will perhaps have to aim at reaching the next round by finishing as the best third of the group, something more in my opinion Georgia will be able to do because they have some good individuals and some players who play in big European clubs.

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