Looking forward to the weekend?

HELL YEAH!! Well, sort of.

List of things to look forward to the weekend
1. EURO2004
2. EURO2004
3. EURO2004
4. EURO2004
5. EURO2004
6. EURO2004
....

OK, yeah, we're gonna be back in business. I know it's not gonna be Liverpool, but as a football fanatic myself, any sort of football action is better than nothing. And this is not any football action, it's THE FRIGGIN' EURO2004 we're talking about here. The second largest football tournament on earth! Oh, I am soo looking forward to "staying up late to watch matches at ungodly hours of the morning and then to be spending the rest of the day in the office in a perpetual comatose state". Seriously, when was the last time i did any of this? I mean, World Cup 2002 was in Asia, so all matches were on decent hours (including the Brazil v England match which i missed cos i couldn't get off work!!), and Euro2000, well, was in Europe and i was still in London at that time. World Cup 98 was in France (still in London) and Euro 96 (It's coming home, it's coming home) was in bloody London as well. So the LAST time i had to stay up late to watch a major football tournament was probably World Cup 1994. Man!! That was AGES ago!

Team to support
England, well, no difficult to choose, with me being an England fan and all. Need to dig up and find my England jersey. I used to have the Euro 96 white England jersey (one of the best ones they had, and nothing lately comes close to it), however, sadly, it got lost during the times when i was packing up in London.

Teams to watch
Holland, a team with stars and skill. Although they do have the tendency to self destruct, like in World Cup 2002 in Japorea, where they totally disappointed me there.

Spain, the perennial under achievers, and I guess the team that just somehow ALWAYS manage to lose their bottle once they reach the finals. I hope they do well this year, especially with playes like Raul, Morientes, Joaquim.

France, sad to say, but the Arsenal connection is going to make or break this team this time. If the trio of Henry, Pires and Viera click together, and put into that Zidane and Trezegol as well, can you see me salivating here?

Portugal, home team, last chance saloon for the players from their so called "Golden Generation". I like this team as they have loads of attacking players with flair, like Figo and Rui Costa.

Czech Republic, i think they are the dark horses, but they have several quality players as well, like Tomas Rosicky (who is being linked to Liverpool) and Milan Baros, who has 50-1 odds to win the tournament's Golden Boot award

Players to watch
Steven Gerrard - I think this tournament is the tournament that will make him into an world class international player. He has been carrying Liverpool throughout the season on his own, and if he can achieve the same feat, the sight of the English players lifting the cup might become reality.

Rafael van der Vaart - I've heard so much of him, seen so much of him on CM4 as a wonderkid, I just want to see him in action in real life and see whether he can live up to all the Championship Manager hype.

Fernando Morientes - He has proved himself in the Champions League this year and I would LOVE to see him partner up front with Raul, leading the Spanish attack at Euro2004. He might just be the player who actually brings the Spanish team to another level. If that happens, then it would be the perfect way for him to give a "F*CK YOU" back to Real Madrid, especially after the way that they have treated him, to make way for the so called "Galacticos".

Kim Kallstrom - Another one of those CM4 wonder-players who are actually decent players in real life. Would like to see how good he is in the flesh playing for Sweden, who, now come to think of it, also has a pretty decent team as well, with Larsson and Ibrahimovic up front. But they do still have Ljunberg playing, so they must be crap. Ha Ha!

Wayne Rooney - I know, as a Liverpool supporter, it's quite difficult to actually support one of those bluenoses. However, for this little kid (He is 18 or something right), i am willing to take an exception. This tournament could make him an international superstar, however, like what i read in Football365, I also have a strange feeling that during the wee hours of Monday morning, after 60 minutes, we will see him, heads down, being replaced by Emile Heskey.

Prediction
For my predictions as of who would be crowned the next Euro Champions, I would have said that Spain would have an excellent chance, if only they didn't have their absymal record of being tagged as "the team that ALWAYS lose their bottle at the finals". Portugal as well should have an excellent chance of winning, especially with them playing at home and all. Germany and Italy, it's hard to say, and somehow i just don't prefer the brand of football that they play as well. Holland *could* make it far as well, but as per all Major Final tournaments, the sounds of discontent in the Holland camp are slowly starting to be heard as well. France, I am pretty sure, would be somewhere up there as well, but although I am sure they would be leaving us all "breathless" with all their flair and attacking prowess, the fact that they still have Dessailly and Barthez at the back, just makes me feel that they might be leaving major holes at the back as well.

However, I am gonna stick my head out here and say England (or it could just be me being the biased England supporter i am )has a GREAT chance of winning this trophy this season if they play with Gerrard and Lampard in the center, and I have a feeling that this tournament could see Rooney burst into the international spotlight as well.