June
4, 2021
FFB-5.1 "CONTENDERS, PRETENDERS, and DARK HORSES: EURO 2020"
by Eric Foster
CONTENDERS, PRETENDERS, and DARK
HORSES: EURO 2020
Who
Will Exceed and Fall Short of Expectations?
Readers be warned, the views I’m about to inflict upon you
are skewed, formulated by a huge soccer fan who cancelled his cable plan in
2020, almost exclusively following top European players in the English Premier
League thru Barclay’s Fantasy Football.
Furthermore, the rest of the insight expressed herein originate from
dated impressions made during World Cup 2018!
When I compared the odds (based on
betMGM) for
teams to win the Euro 2020 (oddly not renamed Euro 2021) with
FIFA rankings and Power
Rankings (The
Athletes Hub), I scratched my head.
Recent team playing form aside, there are definitely some underrated and
overrated teams. These disparities
made me rethink which of the top teams in the Euro 2020 are Contenders, just
Pretenders, or Dark Horses that may surprise us!
I’ve listed these teams in descending order of my own personal rankings
of their chances to win the tournament.
1) BELGIUM
Power Ranking:
3rd
FIFA Europe Ranking:
1st
Odds to Win: +550
Verdict:
CONTENDER!
Some bookmakers had Belgium level with France, or at least better than England…and they may have slipped after Kevin De Bruyne broke his face in the UEFA Championship game. The Phantom of the EurOpera should be ready to make an appearance with a protective face mask. He won’t let down his teammates!
