Motty backs Holland and Spain

John Motson: "Spain are a good outside bet"`

Match of the Day commentator John Motson continues his preview of Euro 2000 with a look at groups C and D.

Group C consists of Norway, Spain, Slovenia and Yugoslavia and is dismissed by too many people as the easiest of the four groups.

This is perhaps a little unfair, as the group boasts a lot of people's best outsiders for the title in Spain.

The Spaniards booked their place in Euro 2000 thanks to a highly impressive qualifying campaign and you only have to look at the performances of the likes of Barcelona, Valencia and Real Madrid in Europe this season to see why they've got such a strong squad.

Similarly, a hard working Norway side cantered through to the finals without any really problems.

It will be interesting to see how these two sides will cope with the two east European contenders, Yugoslavia and Slovenia.

New nation

No disrespect to Slovenia, who are a comparatively new nation politically as well as in football terms, but it is hard to see them causing an upset and I fear they will be out-classed in the Low Countries.

I fear Slovenia will be out-classed in the Low Countries

John Motson

However, it would be wrong to completely dismiss their chances, especially after they sprung such a surprise against the Ukraine in the play-offs and matched France stride for stride in a recent friendly.

Norway and Slovenia will be sick of the sight of each other after they were paired together for a second time, having been drawn in the same Euro 2000 qualifying group.

Struggle

Both these sides will struggle against Yugoslavia, who are now back in the world fold after being banned from the competition on the eve of Sweden '92, when they were replaced by Denmark who went on to win the championship.

Sinisa Mihajlovic: Tipped to make the last eight

The Yugoslavs did relatively well in the World Cup in 1998 and have got some splendid individual players.

I don't think there is any doubt that they are good enough to qualify from this group alongside Spain.

Although Norway are notoriously difficult customers in the qualifying stages, they never quite fulfil their potential on the big stage.

They do have some quality players from the FA Carling Premiership, such as Tore Andre Flo, but I believe they will be out-gunned by the likes of Spain's Raul and Yugoslavia's Savo Milosevic.

Group D

Group D has justifiably been tagged the "Group of death", because it's packed with quality.

It consists of Holland, joint hosts and favourites with the bookmakers , France, the defending World Champions, the Czech Republic, who were the runners-up last time round and Denmark, who won it in 1992.

It's a dangerous thing to say but I don't think Peter Schmeichel's team have quite got the pedigree this time round to cope with the sheer quality of the opposition in this group.

Despite the Czech Republic's brilliant qualification campaign and their performance at Euro 96, I don't think they will be able to raise their game this time round

John Motson

Apart from the Danes, there's no doubt that it's going to be dog eats dog between the Dutch, the Czechs and the French.

I don't think the Czech's will be strong enough to reproduce the form they showed in 1996 - largely because Patrick Berger, one of their key players, will miss the first two games through suspension after he was sent off in their last qualifier.

Brilliant

Despite their brilliant qualification campaign and their performance at Euro 96, I don't think they will be able to raise their game this time round.

Holland look a very strong outfit man-for-man and although manager Frank Rikaard has had a bumpy ride since he took over, I fancy them to do very well in this tournament and that's why they're my hot favourites to go on and win the competition.

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Their ultimate problem has been that they haven't been able to play in any competitive matches for a long time.

They automatically qualified for the tournament this time around but that shouldn't hinder their chances and it will be hard to back against them on their own turf.

We all know so much about France from their unbelievable performances in France 98.

Indeed, it's hard to improve upon a World Cup winning side, but I think the French will be a stronger outfit this time if the likes of Thierry Henry, Nicolas Anelka and David Trezeguet can reproduce the form they have shown at club level.

That is why I tip the French to qualify from this group behind the Dutch.

So, Motty's predictions for the four quarter-finals are as follows:

England v Italy
Belgium v Germany
Holland v Yugoslavia
Spain v France