With a few hours from now, Switzerland will play the very first match of this year’s European Championship Football. It promises to be an entertaining championship, with lots of good teams competing. Most teams have players that play at Europe’s top football clubs, such as Manchester United, Liverpool, Arsenal, Barcelona, Real Madrid, AC Milan, Bayern München, Chelsea, and many others.

The top favorite this year is… Germany. The SPIEGEL, a German newspaper, has an article up about it:

The German national football team wants to end a dismal 12-year run without a win when the EURO 2008 football championships start this weekend. Bookmakers have every confidence they will, making them favorites to clinch a fourth European title.

You have to go back 12 long years since Germany last won a game at the European championships: Oliver Bierhoff’s extra-time goal in the final of EURO 1996 in England against the Czech Republic sealed the victory for Germany and the country’s third European championship title.

Since then, Germany has lost three matches and drawn three during its last two campaigns to win at Europe’s biggest sporting event. Despite this dismal run, Germany is now the favorite with bookmakers to win the competition this year.

The high expectations of a German victory are in large part down to the luck of the draw — the team will be playing against a weak lineup of countries during early matches, gifting the side a seemingly easy run to the quarterfinal. In the group stage the three-time champions take on Poland (more…), a team they have never lost to in 16 games, followed by Croatia who only beat them once in seven meetings and then co-hosts Austria whose last victory against Germany goes back to 1986.

And even if Germany cruise through the group stage, they will be spared from playing some of the other big sides — at least until the final: World Cup champions Italy, France and the Netherlands are all in a different half of the draw.

“The reason why Germany is the favorite is that they have the easiest way through to the semifinal,” Graham Sharpe, media relations director of British bookmaker William Hill, told SPIEGEL ONLINE. The bookmaker has set the chances of another German triumph at 4:1. Spain and Italy are second and third favorites, respectively.

The punters seem to agree with those predictions: On Betfair, the world’s largest Internet betting exchange, the three countries are also the pre-tournament favorites.

Although Germany has lost virtually every single war it has fought against its European neighbors, it’s an incredibly lucky country when it comes to football championships. For some reason, they are never in the so-called group of death (this year’s group of death is Group C with Italy, France, the Netherlands - all three countries that could win the title - and Romania - a possible outsider). On top of that, once the championships start, they always score important goals - winning goals - in the last 5 minute of the match. Mostly ugly, albeit lucky, goals.

And that is precisely why Germany has won so many European and World titles. They’ve won everything, and that more than once, to put it mildly.

Of course, it’s not all luck. All German players have something most players of most other countries lack; a passionate determination to win. Basically, German football players are like soldiers. They fight, and refuse to give up. No matter what.

Germany is the favorite indeed. But don’t count out France, Italy, Spain, the Netherlands, and Portugal. These countries could most certainly win as well. Individually, these teams all have better players than Germany. The only difference is that Germany’s player function like a team. A well oiled machine. French, Spanish, Dutch and Portuguese players (not so with Italy these days) have the tendency to think about themselves first. And second. And third. Germany’s players have no such problem; the team comes first with them.

Lets get it started!