Hotdog & Friends

Call me Karabell.

As of Wednesday morning, none other than Hotdog currently stands in sixth place overall in ESPN’s Euro Challenge 2008. No big deal.

In the mini-group, Cojo’s Dirty Croatians have cemented their hold on second place, with Lars and Shannon battling it out for the bronze. As might be expected, it appears half of the league has stopped checking their roster - fantasy sports are a game of attrition, people.

Major point swings are possible in the eight-team knockout phase, so follow these tips on your way to hypothetical glory:

• Use your 10 transfers…wisely: In the knockout stage, you only get 10 transfers. With only eight teams being whittled down to one champion, it makes sense to load your team with players from your favorite team. More games = more chances for points.
• Less scoring: We’ve been lucky in the group stages: more goals than usual. Teams have been playing positive football and getting forward. This won’t be the case in the knockout stages. With the exception of the Dutch and the underdogs (Russia & Turkey), teams generally play more defensively, hoping for the 1-0 victory. Keep that in mind as you set your formation.
• Don’t write Italy off: The Italians are built for the knockout rounds. It’s not uncommon for the Azzurri to struggle in the group stage (World Cup 06) and then go on to win the tournament. Defensive minded teams historically have success in this stage (Greece, 04).

Accountability:

We now know who the eight teams will be; let’s see how I did with the predictions.

I nailed six of the eight teams correctly, missing on my homerist pick of Switzerland (Turkey advanced) and Sweden (Russia).

Russia’s Resurgence:

I’m watching Russia put the final deathblow on the Swedes. Granted the Swedes are old and Ibrahimovic is playing on one leg, but in Arshavin and Pavulychenko the Russians have some quality. They seem to be hitting their stride at the right time and their youth and attacking style should make for an entertaining game with the Netherlands.

I also wouldn’t be surprised if Pavulychenko makes a move away from Spartak this summer - Barcelona and Celtic are both rumored to be interested.

Holland’s impossible situation:

It’s not easy to be Orange. After their stellar performance in the group stage, most people will be expecting Holland to win the tournament. Anything less will be a disappointment. However, some expectation management would be in order here.

Like I mentioned earlier, the knockout phases are a more defensive struggle - teams will be more careful to avoid the counterattacks the Dutch capitalized on against Italy and France. Holland is clearly still a strong choice to take home the trophy, but we should be aware that the format of the tournament emphasizes defense and not offense.

Predictions:

Predicted winners in BOLD.

• Portugal - Germany: Frings’ injury lets Ronaldo run free. (Have I mentioned you should go to Oktoberfest?)
• Croatia - Turkey: A technical Turkey team keeps its shape defensively and advances.
• Holland - Russia: Holland advances in a high-scoring game.
• Spain - Italy: To Shannon’s delight, Toni screws the light bulb late and leads Italy through clash of Titans.

Semifinals:

• Portugal - Turkey: Portugal in a rout. Quaresma and others run riot as Turkey scrambles to defend Ronaldo.
• Holland - Italy: I may be 1/4 Italian but the CANNOT win this game.

Finals:

• Holland - Portugal: In the final that everyone wants to witness, Sneijder and Holland triumph in a fantastically entertaining final. The world rejoices.

What do you think? Who do you got to win the tournament?

This entry was posted on Wednesday, June 18th, 2008 at 2:10 pm and is filed under . You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.