Euro 2008 - what a betting experience!

Football Betting Euro 2008 - Betting Four years had been gone since the last European Football Championship Euro 2004 in Portugal and the big surprise of the Greek victory. This had been the last of many highlights the Championship had carried with. 2008 the Euro 2008 excitement was higher than ever, only english football fans were mourning as their team had not made it through the qualifiers. 16 teams were fighting for the desirable cup made of sterling silver. But the competition was not easy to go. The teams which got over the qualifying phase were motivated and each player of every nation wanted to show his best. Austria and Switzerland were the perfect hosts of the tournament and invited to 22 days of great football and no end of excitement. The nations had been drawn into four groups. The host of the previous European Football Championship Portugal met with Czech Republic, Switzerland and Turkey in group A. Host Austria were playing against Croatia, favourite Germany and Poland in group B. The most powerful constellation was formed in group C. When France, World Cup winners Italy, the Netherlands and Romania met in the first games of the tournament the viewers all over the world could see football on the highest level. In group D Greece were trying to defend the title. They were with Sweden, Spain and Russia in a group. Four years ago Russia were the only team who could win against the later winning team from Greece. This European Football Championship definitely was the highlight of european football in 2008. Already months before the first game the betting odds were focus of interest of punters. Euro and World Cup tournaments are always popular betting opportunities. The betting offers were ranging from single match betting to outright bets (which team were going to be the winners of the euro 2008) and live betting throughout the tournament. Many bookmakers also offered a lot of different betting markets for each match. Who was going to score the first goal, yellow cards, red cards, penalties, ...? Especially during the Euro tournament it was very important for many bettors that they could bet live on the games. By betting live, the odds for many situations are changing all the time, which means pure excitement for many people and bookmakers try to improve their live betting offers all the time. Betting odds are calculated by oddsmakers with various factors in mind. Important points are how the teams played over the last two years and especially during the last months before the tournament. Injuries, players' form, home field advantage, ... based on those factors the odds show favourites on winning the cup. Germany were top favorites followed by Spain and World Cup winners Italy. Even France, Portugal and the Netherlands had good chances for the title. All the other teams' odds were estimated weaker but with a look at the outcome of the previous Euro that did not necessarily mean that no big surprise would have been possible. Defending champions Greece were in the middle of the bookmakers' opinions while host Austria got the lowest chances of winning the title. The European Football Championship Euro 2008 brought betting on the finest level More information on Euro 2008 betting and Euro betting tips. Generally we advise you to gather valuable information on Soccer Betting, Online Betting and if English is not your mother tongue also in your languages - e.g. Sportwetten (german) / Apuestas Deportivas (Spanish) The 13th European Soccer Championship - Euro 2008 took place in Austria and Switzerland (7 June - 29 June 2008). The Euro 2008 matches were played in 8 austrian and swiss hosting cities: Vienna, Salzburg, Innsbruck, Klagenfurt, Basel, Zurich, Bern, Geneva 16 teams had qualified for the tournament and were playing in the following 4 groups GROUP A: Portugal, Czech Republic, Switzerland, Turkey GROUP B: Austria, Croatia, Germany, Poland GROUP C: France, Italy, Netherlands, Romania GROUP D: Greece, Sweden, Spain, Russia After the group stage the following matches were played as quarter finals: Portugal 2 v Germany 3, Croatia 1 v Turkey 1 (Turkey proceed on penalties 4:2), Netherlands 1 v Russia 3 (after extra time), Spain 0 v Italy 0 (Spain proceeded on penalties 4-2) In the semi-finals the results were: Germany 3 v Turkey 2, Russia 0 v Spain 3 And in the big final Germany met Spain for the final decision. Germany 0 v Spain 1 There had been suprises in that tournament but they were not as big as 2004. Turkey costed a lot of punters' nerves with their late goals and turning over the matches against Switzerland, the Czech Republic and Croatia, before being defeated themselves by a goal in the 90th minute by Germany. France suprised only with their weak performance and Russia were not expected to beat the excellent playing Dutch team in the quarter final. That's what soccer betting is about, getting a feeling for possible surprises and betting on them. Try to find out in which bets there might be value. But also if you had bet on Spain to win the title before at odds of about 7 you could make a nice win of 600£ for a 100£ bet. Other interesting things of Euro 2008: Topscorer was David Villa with 4 goals. Xavi was named best player of the tournament. Both players from the winning Team Spain. The mascots' names were Trix & Flix. Let's see what the next tournament Euro 2012 in Poland and the Ukraine will bring us. But before there's the World Cup 2010 ...