And so it begins.
10 years is too long a wait to see Ireland really struggle in a major championships and I for one can't wait for it. The draw, while on one hand, was incredibly unkind to us, giving us the remotest chance of progressing, but, in my opinion, does at least guarantee us three great oppositions and matches and means we don't have to endure anything in any way similar to Egypt in 1990. Also you could argue being the underdog in every game suits us, but in Croatia and Spain anyway you have two teams who will really relish having the ball for 89 minutes and could do some real damage to us if they're up for it. Been hearing a lot of people expecting us to progress which is insane, hoping's fair enough.
So who to back as overall winners, now this is where it gets tough. Spain, surely can't win 3 tournaments in a row, Germany maybe, but for me it could be France, now you'll guffaw I'm sure but I genuinely think if they emerge from the groups they could go all the way. But don't forget I said the same for Italy in the World Cup!
Top scorer, could be Gomez but I've gone for Lewandowski at 22/1, hence the overly optimistic scoreline I've predicted for Poland in their first game. Bendtner at 88/1 was too much of a temptation to not put a fiver on it, but he's in the group of death, but with it being the Euros, 4/5 goals might be all that's needed to end up top scorer.
Looking forward to: Apres Match, Harry Redknapp slagging off everything Roy Hodgson says and does out of sheer bitterness, Roy Keane, RTE panel, Germany/Holland match (although I'll be playing 5-a-side at the time so watching it recorded, could go wrong), footage of the Walkinstown roundabout if we win a game.
Not looking forward to: Racism possible ruining the whole thing/listening to UEFA excuses, England/Ukraine match, overdosing on Sky Sports News, working during early kick offs.
Match Predictions:
Fri 8th
Poland 3-0 Greece
Russia 1-1 Czech Rep
Sat 9th
Netherlands 2-1 Denmark
Germany 3-1 Portugal
Sun 10th
Spain 0-0 Italy
Rep of Ireland 1-1 Croatia
Mon 11th
France 1-1 England
Ukraine 0-2 Sweden