The Group of Death

The group rounds will be finished in 2 days time and so far it has been the Euro Tournament to remember with empathic wins and pulsating finishes.

What's in a name?
The group of death is usually the name given to the group where most of the strong teams are pitted into. Group C (Euro 08's Group of death) comprises of the current world champions, Italy, World Cup runners up France, van Basten's Netherlands and the dark horses Romania.
Many wrote off Romania when they saw the group, but they aren't dubbed the dark horses for no reason and also remember the current cup Euro cup holders are Greece (out of all teams).
Past experiences have shown that the two teams that usually progress include the
-most supported one
-the one that can grind results
Them two added together usually make out England, where watching their games used to cause death (England vs Paraguay) giving a new twist to the group nickname, however they did not manage to qualify.

The most supported team in Group C is Italy, a BBC poll showed that most people in the Homenations said they would support them and not surprisingly since they are the current World Champions.
The ability to grind results out is none other than Romania, with talent in their team that won't even make the C team in most other teams, they had to result to other means to win. With Mutu up front, their best player by a couple of leagues, they certainly have the ability to get a goal and then sit on it for all eternity. I said even before then tournament rule them out at your peril, they aren't 12th in the world for nothing.

Italy
Current world champions and has an average age above 31 years old. It comes to signify one thing, there are obviously not enough young talents in Italian football. How wrong that statement is, young Italian talent floods the door of nearly all of the European clubs but the way that they play, the conservative style of tactical and structured football is designed for the tactically developed. However the problem arises, tactical prowess either comes as
-raw talent
-experience
although the last sentence suggested that there is indeed Italian talent everywhere, the world has yet to be amazed by any recent Italian players that has shown exceptional talent. By exceptional talent it means the likes of Fabregas, Bojan, Benzema or Rooney. The last such Italian talent was Totti and we all know how long ago it was when he first broke into the world scene and he even retired after 2006. With this lack in exceptional talent, Donadoni has to rely on the experienced. The problem is this, why would want to drive a Daihatsu after getting a Ferrari? After winning the World Cup, no matter how much players deny that they have lost motivation, it is simply untrue, the commitment to the national team is a drain and after winning the ultimate prize the Euro seems nothing more than another metalware. That inner desire would have drained and no longer will the player go past that pain threshold to pursue a win. Many have argued against this point but many teams fail to win cups or leagues after winning it for a prolonged time (ie Manchester United, Nottingham Forest, Lyon, AC Milan, Urawa Reds, Liverpool, the list goes on) After United won the treble or when Nottingham Forest won the Champions league twice in a row, their teams performance instantly dropped and the players had to be sold because the desire to win had gone. They now play to save their reputation rather than to win.
France won the 1998 World Cup and then the Euro afterwards in 2000 but one has to realise that they had a new influx of talent like Henry and that their age average was far from 31.
I am not convinced about Italy because simply the team they are fielding now is the same one they did in Germany two years ago, let that be the cause of a lack of talent or another reason, Donadoni has got one heck of a job to do to make his team want to win the Euro after their 06 success.

France
France is currently suffering from the generation gap where players are fossil age (ie Thuram, Makalele) or totally inexperienced (ie Evra, Benzema, Gomis). Their talisman Zidane definitely left a gapping hole (look for it on Materazzi's chest) in the French team. The French has got Makelele and Toulalan to plug the centre gap, both together they have amassed 73 caps but a big 0 in the goal count. They are hardly the type to break down the opposition's defense like Zidane used to do in his sleep. This job has now resides with Ribery who to his best of efforts is the reason why France is even in the tournament however with Henry's form hitting a near career low and walking-bank-Anelka who looks more likely to score an own than for France, the attacking options are far from perfect. The highly rated Benzema was criticised repeatedly for wasting opportunities in their opening match, however at least he took the opportunities unlike some other 'walking anomalies'. France right now seem like they have hit a sticky-patch and the more Raymond Domenech tries to put his foot down the further the teams seem to get stuck. This is to mean the team is underperforming so he uses the veterans and the promising players of Benzema and Nasri remain on the bench who are in serious need of international experience. What France needs to do is cut their loses and start afresh with their new talents, Benzema is not rated at 30 million pounds and Nasri dubbed the new Zidane for no reason, Domenech needs to set sight for things to come and if done correctly their team should be in perfect form for South Africa in two year's time. However international football has always been about the present and victories now, and the safer Domenech plays, the riskier their future is.

Netherlands and Romania to come