EURO 2008 INFO

It is not rare in football, a small team arrives to blur maps from the threat of a tournament favorite. The index performance Castrol identified candidates under outsider for the championships in Europe this year.

The line that separates the assurance of complacency is tenuous. To win Euro 2004, the Greeks, who were figure malaimés, have qualified at the expense of Spain held a favorite. By the same token, Italy was eliminated by Denmark, while Germany lost face the Czech Republic.

GROUP B - Poland-shaped
Behind Germany, which dominates the Group B, Croatia, Poland and Austria compete for a second place favorite. But while many believe the potential challenger of Croatia, the team may suffer badly from the absence of its top scorer Eduardo, rejected on grounds of injury. As a result, Polish - who were able to stand up to "big" football nations in the prelims - could create the surprise.

According to a Polish blogger, the team has modernized and will be difficult to beat. First of its qualifying group, ahead of Portugal, Serbia and Finland, Poland seize his chance to go in the quarter-final, regardless of its opponent. And this is not the favorite of Group A, Portugal, which makes it scary. The Poland of Leo Beenhakker has pulled four points the Selecção das Quinas, after two meetings last year. Furthermore, if Portugal has the best possession of the playoffs with an average of 57 minutes holding a match - against 45 for Poland - the Poles have been more ferocious in front of the nets. Ebu Smolarek scored nine goals (Cristiano Ronaldo did show that eight), while "white and red" have squandered that 58 shots against 112 for Lusitanians.

GROUP C - Defense, the key to success?
Faced with Italy, the Netherlands and France in the "group of death" (named because three of the nations which compose it have won four European titles), Romania naturally endorses the role of outsider. Yet the group of Victor Piturca has been solid during the playoffs and has been afraid of anyone, not even the Netherlands.

During the playoffs, Romanians have pulled four points the Oranje to get the first of his group - a certain psychological advantage for their next meeting on June 17. Their performance in their defence have earned a fifth place and three of their players are ranked in top 20 defenders in the CPI, including one of the fastest: at the victory of Romania 3-0 against Russia, Gabriel Tamas recorded a time of 34.9 km / h.

Romania will also knows well retain the ball and has a powerful attack. In his race for qualification for Euro 2008, she kept the ball for 51 minutes per game (average), more than the Netherlands and Italy. With 26 goals to his credit, it is the fourth ranking teams most prolific, far ahead of the Netherlands and 15 goals. And while seven Romanians have found the net twice at least, and qu'Adrian Mutu (2291 points) and Ciprian Marica (1289) - with seven goals between them in the final seven qualifying matches - are respectively the 5th and the 17th places classifying CPI, Robin van Persie is the sole representative of his nation in the list of top scorers with four achievements.