Portugal will hope to exact revenge over Germany for their Euro 2008 quarter-final defeat when the two sides kick off their campaigns in this summer’s tournament on Saturday, but they will find it tough going against one of the tournament favourites.
Portugal, 3/1 to beat Germany, were dumped out of the competition at the last-eight stage four years ago and know a defeat in this clash, with tough matches against Holland and Denmark to come, will leave them struggling to make the knockout stage.
They face a much-fancied German outfit (Evens, draw 12/5) in Lviv, with many people tipping a win for Joachim Low’s men to get their tournament challenge off to a positive start and, sadly for Paulo Bento’s side, we see it going the same way.
Germany were written off by some before both the Euros in Austria and Switzerland and the subsequent World Cup in South Africa two years ago but proved once again just how good a tournament side they are by only losing to eventual winners Spain in both competitions.
This time around and no-one is making the mistake of underestimating a squad that contains the talents of Mesut Ozil, Bastian Schweinsteiger, Thomas Muller, Mario Gomez and Lukas Podolski – to name just five – and they will hope to live up to expectations and be real contenders for the crown this summer.
Portugal, in contrast, only just about made it through to Poland and Ukraine via the play-offs and finished behind fellow group members Denmark in qualifying.
That has predictably led to claims they will struggle in a group containing the quality of Holland and Germany while the lack of a top centre-forward has been cited as one of the reasons why an early exit could loom.
The likes of Nelson Oliveira, Hugo Almeida and the experienced-but-inconsistent Helger Postiga do not exactly strike fear into opposition defenders, but there is real quality elsewhere in the camp.
Cristiano Ronaldo (5/1 to score first/last) is the obvious talisman and, if he produces his dazzling best, the Real Madrid man’s individual brillance can sometimes win games on its own. Premier League stars Nani and Raul Meireles are also impressive performers and, it it all clicks, they might just spring a surprise.
A victory over Germany on Saturday would certainly be one but, as Podolski has predicted, we see this going Germany’s way and the striker’s prediction of a 2-0 win also looks good value at 8/1.
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The second legs of the Euro 2012 play-offs take place on Tuesday as the final four sides book their places at the finals in Poland and Ukraine next summer. Portugal host Bosnia in one of most finely-poised ties but the home side should be backed to make it through