My loyalties for Euro 2008

With the news out today that the Tartan Army will support Poland in this June’s Euro 2008 tournament, I thought it was time to outline my own preferences and loyalties for the tournament. Without Scotland to scream for, or England to scream at, it takes a bit of thinking, so here goes.

First, the group stages. Since my ridiculous obsession with this sport is going to force me to watch all the games I can, I want to have a favorite in each of the four groups. My group A support is going to Turkey, because I can’t bring myself to root for Portugal and the Czechs are still going to be enemies in my eyes, since the May 30th Czech-Scotland friendly will be only a week past. And Switzerland? Yeah … no. In group B, I’m joining the Tartan Army and going with Poland. My family’s roots are in Inverness, also the home of my favorite club, and like most of Scotland, Inverness has seen a huge influx of Polish immigrants in the past five years. They have been fantastic neighbors and ingratiated themselves into Highland life very well. They really do deserve our support, and they have mine. In group C, it has to be Romania, for three reasons. First, I am covering the Tricolorii for World Cup Blog, and I’d like to have more than just the first week of matches to cover. Second, Marius Niculae of Caley Thistle might just make an appearance, which gives them a link to my club allegiance. And also, what could be better to shut up the constant bickering between Italy and France than for Romania to beat them both? Then, there’s group D, where I’ve decided to go for Russia, mostly for two Zenit players, Pavel Pogrebnyak and Slava Malafeev, who have really impressed me in their UEFA Cup run.

When it gets to the knockouts, if any of the above teams actually survive (none are favorites), I’ll have to pick and choose my favorites by the individual match. Frankly, if Poland and Turkey end up playing, or Romania and Russia, I’ll be so happy at how the group stages went that I’ll hardly care much who wins it.

Croatia does get an honorable mention, for doing the business against England and keeping them out. That Poland-Croatia match might just need to be a draw.