Goal.com predictions: http://www.goal.com/en/news/2898/eu...trophy-italy-to-flop-benzema-to-be-top-scorer BET: RETURNS: Denmark £37.50 Draw £33.00 Portugal £18.00 Will they have the magic touch, or the Pele jinx? GROUP A Ryan Hubbard Poland Expert Winner: Germany Top scorer: Karim Benzema Dark horse: Poland Flop team: Italy Best player: Mesut Ozil Best young player: Maciej Rybus Poland prediction: Winners Mike Paterakis Greece Expert Winner: Netherlands Top scorer: Karim Benzema Dark horse: Ukraine Flop team: Portugal Best player: Robin van Persie Best young player: Kyriakos Papadopoulos Greece prediction: Quarter-finals Max de Haldevang Russia Expert Winner: Spain Top scorer: Robin van Persie Dark horse: Croatia Flop team: Italy Best player: Xavi Best young player: Mario Gotze Russia prediction: Quarter-finals Mark Smith Czech Republic Expert Winner: Germany Top scorer: Karim Benzema Dark horse: Croatia Flop team: England Best player: Bastian Schweinsteiger Best young player: Mario Gotze Czech Rep prediction: Quarter-finals GROUP B Stefan Coerts Netherlands Expert Winner: Germany Top scorer: Karim Benzema Dark horse: Poland Flop team: Italy Best player: Mesut Ozil Best young player: Jetro Willems Netherlands prediction: Semi-finals Michael Hansen Denmark Expert Winner: Germany Top scorer: Robin van Persie Dark horse: Poland Flop team: Italy Best player: Bastian Schweinsteiger Best young player: Danny Welbeck Denmark prediction: Bottom of group Cristan Nyari Germany Expert Winner: Germany Top scorer: Karim Benzema Dark horse: France Flop team: Spain Best player: Mesut Ozil Best young player: Andre Schurrle Germany prediction: Winner Luis Mira Portgual Expert Winner: Germany Top scorer: Karim Benzema Dark horse: Poland Flop team: Italy Best player: Mesut Ozil Best young player: Yann M'Vila Portugal prediction: Group stage GROUP C Ben Hayward Spain Expert Winner: Spain Top scorer: Karim Benzema Dark horse: France Flop team: England Best player: Andres Iniesta Best young player: Mario Gotze Spain prediction: Winners Mark Doyle Italy Expert Winner: Spain Top scorer: Karim Benzema Dark horse: Russia Flop team: Italy Best player: Andres Iniesta Best young player: Alan Dzagoev Italy prediction: Group stage Luke Matthews Croatia Expert Winner: France Top scorer: Robert Lewandowski Dark horse: Poland Flop team: England Best player: Franck Ribery Best young player: Yann M'Vila Croatia prediction: Quarter-finals Peter Staunton Ireland Expert Winner: France Top scorer: Wesley Sneijder Dark horse: Greece Flop team: Germany Best player: Franck Ribery Best young player: Kyriakos Papadopolous Ireland prediction: Quarter-finals GROUP D Michael Yokhin Ukraine Expert Winner: Germany Top scorer: Aleksandr Kerzhakov Dark horse: Sweden Flop team: England Best player: Andrea Pirlo Best young player: Mario Gotze Ukraine prediction: Group stage Svend Bertil Frandsen Sweden Expert Winner: Germany Top scorer: Mario Gomez Dark horse: Ukraine Flop team: Portugal Best player: Mesut Ozil Best young player: Yann M'Vila Sweden prediction: Quarter-finals Robin Bairner France Expert Winner: Germany Top scorer: Robert Lewandowski Dark horse: France Flop team: Italy Best player: Mezut Ozil Best young player: Andre Schurrle France prediction: Quarter-finals Wayne Veysey England Expert Winner: Germany Top scorer: Cristiano Ronaldo Dark horse: Croatia Flop team: Netherlands Best player: Mezut Ozil Best young player: Mario Gotze England prediction: Group stage THE FAVOURITES Winner Germany are the clear favourites amongst our experts to lift the Euro 2012 trophy, as 10 of the 16 picked Joachim Low's side as the winner. Defending champions Spain only had support from three of our experts, while two backed a resurgent France for success, and only one favoured Netherlands. Top Scorer If Germany were the red-hot favourites to claim glory in Poland and Ukraine, then Karim Benzema is the main contender to become top scorer, with eight of our experts predicting the France striker to bag the Golden Boot. Robin van Persie and Robert Lewandowski garnered two votes each. Dark Horse Group A's co-host Poland have been pegged as the team most likeliest to surprise with five of our experts choosing them as the dark horses. Croatia and France are also expected to go far in the tournament as three each from our panel predict they will impress. Ukraine earned two votes. Flop Two teams featured prominently in this category, and it's no surprise that they are the two nations struggling most in the build-up to the finals. Crisis-hit Italy was the pick to become the flop with seven votes, while injury-ravaged England received four. Two of our experts see Portugal as the major disappointment. Best Player Like all the categories so far, there was one clear favourite to emerge as the star of Euro 2012. Mesut Ozil left his peers in his wake as seven of our 16 experts believe the Germany playmaker will be the best player, with Andres Iniesta, Franck Ribery and Bastian Schweinsteiger trailing with just two votes each. Best Youngster The star of the future was the most closely-contested battle. Five of our experts choose Mario Gotze to become the best young player of the tournament, while highly sought-after Yann M'Vila won the backing of three panelists. Kyriakos Papadopolous and Andre Schurrle picked up two votes each.
Group A Russia Czech Rep. Group B Germany Holland Group C Spain Croatia Group D France Sweden Quarter Finals Holland over Russia Germany over Czech Rep. Spain over Sweden France beats Croatia Semi Finals Holland over Spain Germany over France Finals Germany over Holland
Netherlands players get racial abuse at training session before Euro 12 even starts, UEFA denies it http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/soccer-dirty-tackle/netherlands-players-racial-abuse-training-session-euro-12-231527219.html
5th time that the Polska was getting through on the right. But man it took them ages to finally score. Nice header. Lewandowski's stock rises..
