Until the latest football bonanza kicks off with Switzerland versus the Czech Republic in Basel. It’s going to be quite odd here in the UK with no home nations competiting in a tournament for the first time since USA 94 but everyone I’ve talked to is really looking forward to it without the numbing pangs of expectation that usually accompany our ultimately glorious failures.

Everyone seems content to choose a team to follow and I think the international nature of league football these days allows people to know so much more about the competiting nations to give us far more knowledge as neutrals than ever before. I’m really looking forward to it as USA 94 saw some marvellous matches that didn’t really get the publicity they deserved, especially Romania’s 3-2 victory over Argentina and Bulgaria beating the defending champions Germany 2-1. If we get two games as good as those too, I’ll be very happy.

I’m really grateful for the opportunity to contribute to the site and hope you find my posts interesting and informative and don’t dwell on my bad jokes too much. If you’ve any suggestions for me or questions or general chit chat, please feel free to post.

So I’m going to start the ball rolling with my potential winners. Romania. They’ve quietly crept through a group that included Bulgaria and finished top above Holland. Two out of the last four tournaments have been won by rank outsiders and I’d love to see it happen again. They’re coming with no illusions or expectations and play an expansive fluid game that will suit the group of death. France, Italy and the Netherlands will do well not to undestimate them and no-one thinks they’ll qualify from the group let alone win it! So I’ve put my marker down and expect ridicule by the bucket load.

Anyway, thanks for reading and I hope I can do the site justice.