ESPN's Tommy Smyth’s take on UEFA Euro 2012 preview

Smyth lends his 20 years of experience - predictions on how the contest will go

Tommy’s Take: With the World Cup looming in Brazil, you get the feeling the Germans are going to want to collect a trophy at this tournament.

What about Cristiano Ronaldo and Portugal?

The thing with the Portuguese is that this tournament is an incredible chance for Cristiano Ronaldo to stamp himself on the world game. He’ll be able to have a break out tournament where all of the attention is on him. In any other age, Ronaldo would be far and away the greatest football player in the world, but with Lionel Messi around, Ronaldo will want to use this tournament to break away from Messi’s shadow.

We’ll get to Ireland’s group, Group C, in a minute, but let’s talk about some of the intriguing matches in Group D. France and England are both coming off disappointing World Cup runs, while Sweden and Ukraine will definitely be tough outs. Is there any hope of moving out of the group stage for either the host nation or the Swedes?

England and France are the big favorites in that group – even with Rooney out for the first three games. Personally, I think that England are simply going to be a very average team. With Rooney serving the suspension, they won’t have a star to come in and take the game over, in the way a Ronaldo or a Schweinsteiger would. With Sweden, you have a player in Ibrahimovic who has the potential to carry his team. The thing with this tournament is that, if one player gets hot, he can bring everyone else with him.

Tommy’s Take: I’m certain that France are going to come out strong. This group of players has something to prove, and they know that have a chance to make amends for the calamity in South Africa.

Ireland was unlucky with their draw and are forced to try and dethrone reigning champions Spain, while holding off tough competition from Italy and Croatia. Do you see much opportunity for Ireland to make it into the second round?

It’s a very difficult group to come out of, but Irish teams play well when they’re confident. After their road through qualification, they definitely sound confident. The key to the group is the first game against Croatia. To get a result there will be incredibly important, especially with Spain and Italy battling it out on the same day. Trapattoni will have the group ready to go for their final match against Italy, but it could be a meaningless one unless we pull something off against Croatia.

Thing is, players use the European Championships as a type of shop window. With Modric potentially on the transfer market from Tottenham, he will be trying to showcase his skills to buyers. If Modric cuts himself loose, I don’t know too many players who are more talented.

Meanwhile, I don’t see view this Spanish side as the Spanish team that everyone keeps telling me they are. Defensive stalwart Carles Puyol is out, offensive juggernaut David Villa is out, and trusty defender Gerard Pique has fallen off his game. With all of those guys out or struggling, and playmakers Xavi and Andres Iniesta worn out from a long season, Spanish coach Vicente del Bosque is going to have a rough time picking a squad.

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Nster.com