Do you reckon Marco Reus will start most games for the Germans? Could be an interesting punt for top goalscorer given the form he's been in this year.

The thing is, in the culture we live in nowadays, people with nothing to do with a situation get offended on behalf of other people, which turns a molehill into a mountain.

I dont think for a moment that he's racist. But I did wonder why he chose to use the phrase publicly after all of the fallout from the Suarez affair. Still trying to keep that incident, and the defense of Suarez, alive?

Fair enough if you think France will win the group however iv seen pub teams look better on paper than ukraine Shevchenko and voronin... Sweden aren't much better. As Harry redknapp said we are very good at underestimating our own team in this country. With the quality in our squad to not qualify would be a disgrace !!!!

I'm in total agreement. It's always all about him to the detriment of the team. If the players around him were good enough for him to indulge his wanderlust - in the manner the Dutch were in relation to Johan Cruyff - then it could be a plus, but they're not, so it isn't.

Probably right. Portugal have got some cracking players, and a team that could rival any on paper. However, when push comes to shove, a fair few of their pivotal players aren't quite as good as what some of the other top nations have and when they come up against them Ronaldo's free role isn't quite as effective.

Downing says he doesn't fear France. I'm sure the feeling is more than mutual.

Not only that, but also there appears to be a willingness for others to think "ah, we'll just give it to Ronnie and he can get us out of this mess". Not taking responsibility for their own performances, if you like.
Don't know if that is the case, but it sure is how it looks sometimes

The contrast between that Portugal display, and that of the German front four I saw in Turkey last October couldn't have been more marked.

While Ronaldo wandered about leaving his "station" the German's were far more fluid, filled in where space had been vacated and had the work-rate to match their prowess.

I think the idea for Portugal is that Coentrao bombs down the left and occupies that space but it does leave them exposed elsewhere.

We should beat Ukraine and Sweden, if we can get off to a flyer against France we stand half a chance of getting to the semis.

rlThis is for all the John Terry fans out thererl

I've read similar stuff all over the media and I'm curious where this almost arrogant confidence stems from?

I can only presume it comes from the '...we are England, so we should be beating these so-called lesser teams' school of thought, because without that thinking, both these games are tight, difficult-to-call, matches.

Sweden, for some reason, we always tend to under-estimate, yet I don't think we've beat them in a competitive game for about 40 years?....I don't see why this rather mediocre England side should suddenly be the side to change that run.

The Ukraine game is basically an away game in front of a hostile crowd - In normal circumstances, we'd happily take a draw, but this won't be normal circumstances - I only hope that we don't have to win that final group game, or that Ukraine don't need to win it, because I can't picture us coming away with a win against them in a winner-takes-all sort of game.

Just looking at the groups, I'd go with the following quarter finalists....

From Group A - Russia and Czech Republic

Group B - Germany and Holland

Group C - Spain and Croatia

Group D - France and Ukraine.

I won't go any further than that, mainly because its a similar task to picking the lottery numbers, plus, you can guarantee there will be a surprise or two along the way.....But from those predicted 8, I reckon at least one of the Eastern European sides will provide a surprise and make at least the semis.

I put a quid on that very outcome yesterday, would return just under £900 with Coral.