England’s Olympic hopes are misplaced
AS MUCH of a disaster you feel our Euro 2012 is going to be if we enter games against our three opponents with the same tactics as we had in the qualifiers, there is always the sight of  England tripping over themselves on their way to the exit to look forward to.
We are 100-1  to triumph at the tournament, while England are 11-1, although we might as well be the same price, because our neighbours have no more chance of winning it than we have.
Reason one is that a mere month and a bit before the tournament and they have yet to appoint a manager (whatever you say about Trap, he at least has had been with our squad for the duration of  our lucky qualification).
England still have Stuart Pearce at the helm, and it looks increasingly unlikely that Harry Redknapp (out to 4-7 with SkyBet to be the next England coach) will take over before June.
Pearce is, in fact, only confirmed to take charge of one team from Blighty during the summer — the Great Britain team at the Olympics in London.
The draws were made this week for the  Games football tournament groups and the GB & I (although whether they pick any Irishmen is moot)  men face a tricky  group  against Uruguay, the United Arab Emirates and Senegal.
The man nicknamed Psycho will lead a  team that are 6-1 for gold with Ladbrokes, who also  quote them at 10-11 about Team GB winning their group, while offering 16-1 that the women’s team take top honours.
The world’s dominant and underage (Olympic teams are allowed have three players over 23) and adult side, Spain, are grouped with Japan,  Honduras and Morocco, while joint favourites (at 9-4) Brazil have the fairly easy task of overcoming  Belarus, New Zealand and Egypt. Mexico will face Switzerland, South Korea and Gabon in the final group.
David Beckham is expected to join Welshman Gareth Bale in the GB team, but it is the presence of Neymar for Brazil that excites the most. The Samba men have yet to snag a gold, however they might have to wait until the Games hit Rio in four years before they break their duck.
Recommendation: Spain are going to win gold at 9-4, there is absolutely no doubt about that, but the 100-1 that BetVictor offer on African U23 champs Gabon is a terrific each-way bet.