So it’s round two of the qualifying matches. After last night’s fantastic match with Spain and Russia, the question everybody is asking is……Was the Russian substitute who was substituted after playing 22 minutes taken off due to fatigue?…No no really, it’s…Can Spain finally meet expectations?

Czech Republic v Portugal- No doubt this game could be a potential cracker.  Out of the eleven times the two have played each other, the Czechs have won four matches and the Portuguese have won three.  The two teams last played each other in Euro 1996  and the Czechs won that match 1-0.

Euro 2008 free betting tip:  The Czechs looked slow in midfield and didn’t really create much in the first game, but with Baros coming into the lineup this could change.  I would think that the Portugeuse will be too quick for this Czech team, although the longer the game stays at 0-0 the more risks Portugal will take to get a goal, leaving them open to a counter attack.  Looking at the Czech team that started the last game, I don’t see them scoring more than a goal.  Based on the first game, I’ll back Portugal to win that match at odds of 1.85, maybe also bet on the 0-0 scoreline currently at odds of 7.8, just in case Chech is in fine goalkeeping form today. 

UPDATE- In the end Portugal were too strong for the Czechs and to me were worthy 3-1 winners.  Just in case you wnated to know, some player called Ronaldo scored the 2nd goal for Portugal, I’ve never heard of him before, apparently he would love to play football in Spain….  A winning bet comes in for us once again, even at odds of 1.85, it was worth it!!

Switzerland v Turkey-The hosts will be looking to bounce back against Turkey and if they had a little bit of luck on their side they could of snatched at least a point in their opening game.  Unfortunately for Switzerland captain Alex Frei will take no further part.  But Turkey are also missing a key player in Emre through injury.  Turkey have history on their side in this tie with 7 wins out of fourteen matches.

Euro 2008 free betting tip: In front of their home fans Switzerland will definitely give this match a go, but I’m asking: Do they have enough fire power up front to finish?.  I don’t think they will really threaten Turkey, the lay of Switzerland to win this match is pretty good value at odds of 2.28.

UPDATE- Another winning bet, Turkey win with a late late goal which just sealed our already winning bet.  If only we had bet on Turkey to win then we would of been even more in profit!!  But let’s just be glad that we have another winning bet! 

It’s the final round of the first match group games today and we have 2004’s surprise winners Greece and Spain one of the tournament favourites playing Sweden and Russia.   

Greece v Sweden

Greece don’t look to have any injury problems for this game and 36 year old Henrik Larsson is expected to lead the front line once again for Sweden.  The two teams have only played each other 6 times in the past and Greece are unbeaten against the Swedes in the last 5 times they played.

Euro 2008 betting tip: This could be a very defensive game, especially if Greece play their solid and organised game which they did in 2004.  I’ll go for under 2.5 goals at 1.45 odds especially based on previous games in Euro 2008. (which probably means this is overs!!!).

UPDATE:  Well Greece never really wanted to come out to play football and even at odds of 1.45 unders was worth a good bet.   Greece fans may not agree but it’s good to see football winning tonight.  Sweden looked good, one of my four tips to  win Euro 2008 ( see my pre tournament post).

Spain v Russia

Russia have some problems up front, with Pogrebnyak missing through injury and the ever present Arshavin suspended for the first 2 group games.  Spain only have a few minor injury problems.  Spain have only lost once to Russia out of the 8 times they have played each other. 

Euro 2008 betting tip: Spain are big favourites for this match at about 1.75, I’ll be going with a small bet on the draw due to the Hiddink factor at odds of 3.7.

UPDATE: Well it’s lucky I recommended a small bet on this match, the Hiddink factor just wasn’t enough for Russia to get a result and Spain ere worthy of the 4-1 scoreline.  But don’t rule out Russia from qualifying just yet, they showed some flashes of brilliance which could get them through, it’s a shame Arshavin will miss two games.

So far during the tournament in each match we’ve seen all the favourites win their matches, under 2.5 goals scored and  4 clean sheets with only one team scoring.  So what does this information tell us about the betting on Group C the ‘group of death’?  Not much!! Group C should bring us some of the best matches at Euro 2008, what the tournament has been really missing so far is a thrilling match with loads of goals, maybe the France match will bring this?

Today it’s:

Holland vs. Italy

France vs. Romania

I’ll be mainly concentrating on the France match today, I would like to see Holland win today, although I can see Italy winning this match by 1-0. 

France vs. Romania- France have quite a few injury problems, Henry looks like he is going to be missing for the Romania game along with maybe Viera and Ribery.  Ribery is the player I think France will miss the most, alot of the good plays come through him and if he doesn’t play then Romania could pick up at least a point.  The furthest the Romanians have ever got in the Euros was the quarter finals in 2000.

Euro 2008 Betting tip- France are missing alot of potential key players  and Romania having never won an opening match in the Euros.  Romania are a massive 5.5 on Betfair and 5.0 on William Hill to win this match, but I’m not sure if they have what it takes to pick up all three points.  Lets go with the draw at 3.4 currently on Betfair or lay France at 1.9 odds.

UPDATE:  Well winning bet number 4 comes in for us!! There were very few exciting moments in this game(except for the final whistle of course!!), but I’ll take a boring game and winning bet over exciting any day.  At odds of 3.4 that’s the biggest winning odds tipped so far in the tournament, lets hope there a many more of them to come.   I had a feeling for a 0-0 scoreline, if only I backed that too!!  So now we can sit back and watch a potential cracking 2nd game (or animal lovers can take their profits and watch Springwatch on BBC 2).

So day 2 of the football feast continues, on to group B today where co-hosts Austria play Croatia.  There’s no doubt that a home crowd should be a major advantage to Austria, but that theory might be toally wrong in this case after 10,000 Austrian fans petitioned for them to pull out of Euro 2008 due to embarassement!!

Austria vs. Croatia- I can’t really see past a Croatia win here, they have some great players and Austria have only won two out of the last sixteen matches. 

Free betting tip- Back the win for Croatia, great odds of 1.91 currently on Betfair and 1.83 at William Hill.

Germany vs. Poland- Although Poland have played Germany 16 times and never beaten them once, this game still looks to be a tricky one for Germany.   With Germany seen as the favourites to win their opening match and to win Euro 2008, there is alot pressure on them. 

Free betting tip- I’ll try to avoid predicting the winner in this match, the last time both teams played each other was at the World Cup 2006 and Germany won by a slim 1-0 margin.  So I’ll take a risk and back under 2.5 goals at odds of 1.96 currently on Betfair.

UPDATE- Well two out of two winning bets for day two of Euro 2008…not bad!!! Both bets pretty much went down to the wire, Croatia held on to the 1 goal lead until the end against a very impressive display by the Austrians and the Germany game delivered the under 2.5 goals which we were looking for!!  Lets hope the form continues into tomorrow, keep a lookout for  more bets on Monday.

After the long long wait, Euro 2008 finally starts on Saturday!! 

Switzerland vs. Czech Republic-  The home nation will kick off the tournament against the Czechs.  It would be easy to discount the Swiss straight away, but the Czech do have vital players in midfield missing and it’s hard to not take into account the big advantage the home fans will give the Swiss. 

Betting tip: The opening games of tournaments can always be a bit dodgy and hard to call, but I really can’t see past the Czechs.  Just to be sure, lay the Swiss in this opening game at odds of 2.98 on Betfair.

Portugal vs. Turkey- Portugal are big favourites to win this match at odds of 1.79. But Portugal have struggled in the Euro 2008 qualifying matches, not being able to beat Poland, Serbia and Finland. 

Betting tip: Turkey will be hard to beat, at odds of 5.9 I’ll be taking a risk and backing them to win the match.  Try also to back the draw at 3.6.

UPDATE- In the end it was one winner and one loser.  Switzerland gave the Czechs a few scares and made some decent chances in the match.  They were unlucky not to come away with a draw.  But 1 goal was enough to win the match and win our bet.  In the end the Portuguese class told over Turkey and our risk of backing Turkey backfired.  Although Turkey did display some good moments in the match, it just wasn’t enough to make a second winning bet for us.