Smarkets Blog

The biggest football event of the summer is set to start this Friday, June 8th. 16 teams battled through qualification rounds and are now all vying for a shot at winning the European Championship trophy. Spain triumphed in 2008 under the direction of Luis Aragones. They come into this tournament as the favourite, helped by a World Cup title in 2010. However the absence of key players Carlos Puyol and David Villa will certainly hamper their efforts somewhat. Germany is the other key team to watch. Hungry for revenge after a 1-0 loss to La Furia Roja four years ago, they will be looking to capitalise on their opponent’s weaknesses. Winning the title is not out of their reach, especially with a team that boasts talent like Mesut Ozil, Mario Gomez and Miroslav Klos.

We’ve got all the matches over here for you to bet on, as well as an outright winner market and a breakdown of the 4 preliminary groups below:

Group A:
Poland, Czech Republic, Greece, Russia

Group B:
Netherlands, Denmark Portugal, Germany

Group C:
Spain, Ireland, Croatia, Italy

Group D:
Ukraine, France, Sweden, England

And lest you get tired of all this footballing speak, there are lots of other sports events taking place this week, most notably the French Open. As we write, Nadal and Murray are playing for spots in the semi-final. After an outstanding display of athleticism yesterday against Tsonga, Djokovic will face Federer on Friday. On the women’s side, Australian Samantha Stosur will play against Sara Errani tomorrow afternoon while Maria Sharapova faces Petra Kvitova for a place in the final.

The IPL is over but the ICC Test Championship has England meeting the West Indies tomorrow.